Academic Program Review

ACADEMIC YEAR	2014-2015	Basic Skills Transfer Career Technical Education (CTE)
PROGRAM	Life Science
DESCRIPTION/PURPOSE	Life Science is defined as any one of the branches of science concerned with the structure and behavior of living organisms, such as biology, botany, zoology, physiology, or biochemistry. This curriculum is designed to provide the beginning basics of a two-year transfer program with emphasis on the uniformity and diversity of life. The course requirements fulfill the lower division requirements for such majors as biology, dentistry, liberal studies, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, environmental health, and microbiology.
DIVISION	Health and Sciences
DEPARTMENT	Science, Math, and Engineering
SUBMITTED BY:	Daniel Gilison

INSTITUTIONAL GOAL 1	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL 2	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL 3	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL 4
INSTITUTIONAL MISSION AND EFFECTIVENESS – The College will maintain programs and services that focus on the mission of the College supported by data-driven assessments to measure student learning and student success. 1.1 Develop systems and procedures that establish the mission of the college as the central mechanism for planning and decision making. 1.2 Develop an institutional score card to assess student learning that drives integrated planning and resource allocation. 1.3 Develop systems and procedures to ensure that the college maintains a collegial and self-reflective dialogue that improves effectiveness. 1.4 Develop systems that are inclusive, cyclical, and understood by all stakeholders.	STUDENT LEARNING PROGRAMS AND SERVICES – The College will maintain instructional programs and services which support student success and the attainment of student educational goals. 2.1 Ensure that all instructional programs, regardless of location or means of delivery, address and meet the current and future needs of students. 2.2 Review program learning outcomes annually (or biennially) to assure currency, improve teaching and learning strategies, and raise student success rates. 2.3 Ensure that all Student Services programs, regardless of location or means of delivery, address and meet the current and future needs of students. 2.4 Ensure that all Student Services programs engage in a process of sustainable continuous quality improvement by annual review of Service Area Outcomes, and annual Program Review. 2.5 Ensure that the Library meets as closely as possible that “Standards of Practice for California Community College Library Faculty and Programs” of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. 2.6 Ensure that instructional labs continue to collaborate in sharing financial and human resources, thus maintaining continuous quality improvement.	RESOURCES – The College will develop and manage human, technological, physical, and financial resources to effectively support the College mission and the campus learning environment. 3.1 Develop and implement a resource allocation plan that leads to fiscal stability. 3.2 Implement a robust technological infrastructure and the enterprise software to support the college process. 3.3 Build new facilities and modernize existing ones as prioritized in the facility master plan. 3.4 Design and commit to a long-term professional development plan. 3.5 Raise the health awareness of faculty, staff, and students.	LEADERSHIP AND GOVERNANCE – The Board of Trustees and the Superintendent/President will establish policies that assure the quality, integrity, and effectiveness of student learning programs and services, and the financial stability of the institution. 4.1 Review all Board policies annually to ensure that they are consistent with the College mission statement, that they address the quality, integrity, and effectiveness of student learning programs and services, and that they guard the financial stability of the institution. 4.2 Maintain a clearly defined Code of Ethics that includes appropriate responses to unprofessional behavior. 4.3 Ensure that the Board of Trustees is informed and involved in the accreditation process. 4.4 Ensure that processes for the evaluation of the Board of Trustees and the Superintendent/President are clearly defined, implemented, and publicized. 4.5 Establish a governance structure, processes, and practices that guarantee that the governing board, administration, faculty, staff, and students will be involved in the decision making process.

I. INSTITUTIONAL GOALS

II. PROGRAM GOALS

PAST – EVALUATION OF PREVIOUS CYCLE OBJECTIVES/PROGRAM GOALS (SET IN PREVIOUS YEAR)

List your previous objectives/goals and associated Institutional Goals. All program goals must address at least one of the institutional goals.

1	PAST PROGRAM GOAL #1	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL(S) (Select one primary goal.)
Identify Program Goal and Budget request, if any, from the Program Review completed in 2013-2014 (Section II C): Increase number of anatomy and physiology course sections.	1 Mission & Effectiveness 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.4 2 Student Learning Outcomes 2.1 2.4 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.6 3 Resources 3.1 3.4 3.2 3.5 3.3 4 Leadership & Governance 4.1 4.4 4.2 4.5 4.3
Met	Partially Met	Not Met
Describe how this program goal increased student achievement and/or program effectiveness in 2014-2015: While we have added an additional section of BIOL 202 and BIOL 206 each semester by increasing faculty overload, in order to really meet this goal, we will need to hire another full-time faculty member. There is great demand for some upper-level biology courses, such as BIOL 200 (Human Anatomy). Being able to teach more sections of this course, and the other courses in the series, will allow students to complete their coursework in a timelier manner, allowing them to pursue their educational and professional goals.

2	PAST PROGRAM GOAL #2	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL(S) (Select one primary goal.)
Identify Program Goal and Budget request, if any, from the Program Review completed in 2013-2014 (Section II C): Offer more sections of BIOL 100 to meet demand for this class.	1 Mission & Effectiveness 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.4 2 Student Learning Outcomes 2.1 2.4 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.6 3 Resources 3.1 3.4 3.2 3.5 3.3 4 Leadership & Governance 4.1 4.4 4.2 4.5 4.3
Met	Partially Met	Not Met
Describe how this program goal increased student achievement and/or program effectiveness in 2014-2015: While some more sections have been added due to part-time faculty, we are still not offering the additional number of sections of this course as we should be. The only way to do would be to hire an additional faculty member to teach these courses. Since this is a popular course for students trying to fulfill their science requirements for GE or other degrees, offering more sections of BIOL 100 would definitely increase student achievement, not only in the Life Science program, but at IVC in general.

3	PAST PROGRAM GOAL #3	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL(S) (Select one primary goal.)
Identify Program Goal and Budget request, if any, from the Program Review completed in 2013-2014 (Section II C): Increase quality of education in life science courses through hands-on learning equipment.	1 Mission & Effectiveness 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.4 2 Student Learning Outcomes 2.1 2.4 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.6 3 Resources 3.1 3.4 3.2 3.5 3.3 4 Leadership & Governance 4.1 4.4 4.2 4.5 4.3
Met	Partially Met	Not Met
Describe how this program goal increased student achievement and/or program effectiveness in 2014-2015: Having improved laboratory equipment, such as dissecting microscopes, will allow students to have a more enriched educational experience in the life science courses.

PRESENT – DATA ANALYSIS AND PROGRAM HEALTH – ACCREDITATION

Summarize and analyze all disaggregated data by day, evening, gender, ethnicity, and distance education. Narrative only. Submit electronic excel file with graphs or trend data.

Enrollment and Fill Rates

Discuss the trends in enrollment and fill rate for each program by day and evening at the program level.

Enrollment and fill rates in the Life Science classes have been very high. In the day and evening, it ranges from 89-108% fill, and online it ranges from 105-135% fill. These numbers are very consistent, very high, and very strong.

Productivity

What are the trends in productivity?

The Life Science program has an average productivity of 481 WSCH/FTEF. While fill rates and enrollment levels are always high, productivity is lower than the goal of 525 due to the fact that science lab classes can only have a class cap of 28 students due to the size of the facilities that we have.

Success and Retention

Discuss the success and retention rates by day, evening (extended day), and online classes in each program and identify gaps.

While retention rates are pretty much the same for day, evening, and online classes, success rates are typically higher in day classes than in evening or online classes. There is an average of 68% success in day classes, but 57% success in evening and online classes. It will be important to look at the student population of these classes to see if there are any differences that could explain these numbers (for example, maybe night and online students are working during the day, and that affects their ability to spend time on their coursework).

Success and Retention by Ethnicity

Discuss the success and retention rates by demographic diversity of students.

Overall, the retention rates for all ethnicities (African-American, Hispanic, Other, White, and Non-responsive) are high in the General Science courses. While success rates are highest in the African-American and Other populations, the success rates in Hispanic, White, and Non-responsive populations have an average of about 68%. As these are our largest populations of student in General Science classes, this explains the overall success rate discussed in the previous section.

Degrees and Certificates

Discuss the trends in the number of degrees and/or certificates awarded.

There have been a total of 4 Life Science degrees awarded since Fall 2011 – 1 in Fall 2011, 1 in Fall 2012, 2 in Spring 2013, and 1 in Fall 2013. While our Life Science courses are full, many students are likely taking these classes either because they need to fulfill a general graduation requirement, or they are planning on going into the Nursing program, and would therefore not be Life Science majors. Also, perhaps if some General Science majors have an interest in the life sciences, they should change their major to Life Sciences so we can more accurately capture their data, and students can get a degree that is more specific to their academic needs.

Program Changes

What program changes, if any, do you expect to have a positive effect on students?

The biggest change that we can make is to increase the number of classes that we offer to meet student demand. We are still turning students away from basic and upper-level courses. This could be fixed by hiring more qualified faculty to teach the classes that we need to offer to our students.

Summarize revisions, additions, deletions, and alternate delivery methods to courses and/or program based on the last program review.

We have increased the class cap size of BIOL 90 from 30 to 40 students to meet student demand for this course.

Evaluate the program’s viability by addressing program completion, size (FTES), projections (growing/stable/declining), and quality of outcomes.

While the number of students who complete the program is low, the size of the program, and the ability for the program to easily grow in size, make the Life Science program and overall healthy program.
C. FUTURE – LIST OF “SMART” (SPECIFIC MEASURABLE ATTAINABLE RELEVANT TIME-LIMITED) PROGRAM OBJECTIVES FOR NEXT ACADEMIC YEAR TO ADDRESS PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT, GROWTH, OR UNMET NEEDS/GOALS. ALL PROGRAM GOALS MUST ADDRESS AT LEAST ONE OF THE INSTITUTIONAL GOALS.

FUTURE PROGRAM GOALS (Describe future program goals. List in order of budget priority.) You are not required to list 3 goals. Only list/identify goals that are viable in one year’s time or can be carried over a number of program cycles.	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL(S) (Select one primary institutional goal)
1	2015-2016 PROGRAM GOAL #1 Budget Priority #1	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL(S)
Identify Future Global Goal: Increase student access to Anatomy and Physiology courses.	1 Mission & Effectiveness 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.4 2 Student Learning Outcomes 2.1 2.4 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.6 3 Resources 3.1 3.4 3.2 3.5 3.3 4 Leadership & Governance 4.1 4.4 4.2 4.5 4.3
Objective: Increase number of anatomy and physiology course sections.
RESOURCE PLAN (Check all that apply.)
Facilities Marketing Technology Professional Development Staffing
Task(s)
Hire another full-time faculty member to teach Anatomy and Physiology courses.
Timeline: Without any budgetary constraints, this could be accomplished this year. Given the financial issues that IVC currently has, we could foresee this occurring within 3 years.
Expense Type	Funding Type	Budget Request
One-Time Recurring	General District Categorical (Specify)	$___80,000________
Timeline:
Expense Type	Funding Type	Budget Request
One-Time Recurring	General District Categorical (Specify)	$________________
C.
Timeline:
Expense Type	Funding Type	Budget Request
One-Time Recurring	General District Categorical (Specify)	$________________
How will this objective be measured? This objective will be measured by the addition of a faculty member, and additional Anatomy and Physiology courses being offered.
How will the completion of tasks identified improve student/program success? This will allow students access to classes that traditionally fill very quickly. Currently, students can wait for up to a year, if not more, to get into certain anatomy and physiology courses.
Who are the responsible party(ies) and assigned user(s)? Tina Aguirre – Health and Sciences Dean, Daniel Gilison – Science, Math, and Engineering Department Chair
FUTURE PROGRAM GOALS (Describe future program goals. List in order of budget priority.) You are not required to list 3 goals. Only list/identify goals that are viable in one year’s time or can be carried over a number of program cycles.	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL(S) (Select one primary institutional goal)
2	2015-2016 PROGRAM GOAL #2 Budget Priority #1	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL(S)
Identify Future Global Goal: Increase student access to general biology courses.	1 Mission & Effectiveness 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.4 2 Student Learning Outcomes 2.1 2.4 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.6 3 Resources 3.1 3.4 3.2 3.5 3.3 4 Leadership & Governance 4.1 4.4 4.2 4.5 4.3
Objective: Offer more sections of BIOL 100 to meet demand for this class.
RESOURCE PLAN (Check all that apply.)
Facilities Marketing Technology Professional Development Staffing
Task(s)
A. Hire another full-time faculty member to teach BIOL 100
Timeline: Without any budgetary constraints, this could be accomplished this year. Given the financial issues that IVC currently has, we could foresee this occurring within 3 years.
Expense Type	Funding Type	Budget Request
One-Time Recurring	General District Categorical (Specify)	$_80,000_________
Timeline:
Expense Type	Funding Type	Budget Request
One-Time Recurring	General District Categorical (Specify)	$________________
C.
Timeline:
Expense Type	Funding Type	Budget Request
One-Time Recurring	General District Categorical (Specify)	$________________
How will this objective be measured? This objective will be measured by the addition of a faculty member, and additional BIOL 100 courses being offered.
How will the completion of tasks identified improve student/program success? This will allow students to get into classes that fill very quickly, and help them meet their general education requirements at IVC.
Who are the responsible party(ies) and assigned user(s)? Tina Aguirre – Health and Sciences Dean, Daniel Gilison – Science, Math, and Engineering Department Chair
FUTURE PROGRAM GOALS (Describe future program goals. List in order of budget priority.) You are not required to list 3 goals. Only list/identify goals that are viable in one year’s time or can be carried over a number of program cycles.	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL(S) (Select one primary institutional goal)
3	2015-2016 PROGRAM GOAL #3 Budget Priority #1	INSTITUTIONAL GOAL(S)
Identify Future Global Goal: Increase quality of education in life science courses through hands-on learning equipment.	1 Mission & Effectiveness 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.4 2 Student Learning Outcomes 2.1 2.4 2.2 2.5 2.3 2.6 3 Resources 3.1 3.4 3.2 3.5 3.3 4 Leadership & Governance 4.1 4.4 4.2 4.5 4.3
Objective: Purchase additional or replacement equipment for science courses.
RESOURCE PLAN (Check all that apply.)
Facilities Marketing Technology Professional Development Staffing
Task(s)
Identify deteriorating lab equipment, or lab equipment that we are currently lacking.
Timeline: This could be done by the end of the fall 2014 semester.
Expense Type	Funding Type	Budget Request
One-Time Recurring	General District Categorical (Specify)	$________________
B. Identify costs for replacement or new lab equipment, including maintenance costs.
Timeline: This could be done by the end of the fall 2014 semester.
Expense Type	Funding Type	Budget Request
One-Time Recurring	General District Categorical (Specify)	$________________
Purchase equipment through general district funds.
Timeline: This would require additional funds, so we can foresee this occurring piecemeal over the next 3 years.
Expense Type	Funding Type	Budget Request
One-Time Recurring	General District Categorical (Specify)	$__100,000___________
How will this objective be measured? This objective will be measured by the purchase of the needed laboratory equipment.
How will the completion of tasks identified improve student/program success? This will improve student success by giving them a rich laboratory learning environment that will help them to better understand the course material that is being presented to them. This will allow them to perform better in their life science classes.
Who are the responsible party(ies) and assigned user(s)? Tina Aguirre – Health and Sciences Dean, Daniel Gilison – Science, Math, and Engineering Department Chair, Science faculty and lab technicians

(WSCH/FTEF) The goal is 525 as per state guidelines. A low number means that we are below target levels for productivity. For example, in a small class that has a mandated cap of 15 students, the fill rate may be 100% but the productivity number (WSCH/FTEF) will be very low. A class with a cap of 40 students with a 100% fill rate will have a productivity number close to or above 525.