Comprehensive Standard 3.4.13: Program Responsibility

For each major in a degree program, the institution assigns responsibility for program coordination, as well as for curriculum development and review, to persons academically qualified in the field. In those degree programs for which the institution does not identify a major, this requirement applies to a curricular area or concentration.

Judgment of the Off-Site Review Committee:  Non-Compliance

Comments:  The committee finds that the institution has assigned responsibility for program coordination primarily to division and department chairs.  The on-site team should verify that designated persons with appropriate credentials coordinate programs in the following areas:

Program

Accounting
Early Childhood
Electronics/Engineering Technology
Forest Management Technology
Human Services Technology
Livestock & Poultry Technology
Manufacturing Technology
Turf grass Management
Arts & Sciences

College Focused Response:  Table 1 shows the academic program of study under question by the off-site team and lists the lead instructor (with credentials) who is responsible for the coordination of academic activities in that program area.  These activities include, but are not limited to, the coordination of annual planning and evaluation of program objectives, budget oversight, purchasing, curriculum modifications, and periodic program reviews, for the specific discipline.

Arts & Sciences

The designation, Arts and Sciences, refers to and represents all degree programs (AA, AS, and AFA) in the college transfer division, as well as the specific disciplines that fall under each degree program (such as English or History or Math).   The Arts and Sciences Division, chaired by a Division Head, is divided into three (3) functional departments - Language and Communication; Math and Science; and Social and Behavioral Sciences.    A qualified Department Head chairs each of the three departments.   Only faculty members with appropriate credentials (masters degree in the discipline or masters degree plus 18 hours) teach courses in the transfer courses within the division of Arts and Sciences.  

Table 2 provides the organizational structure in the Arts and Sciences division, including the 3 departments and the academic disciplines housed within each department.   Several of the disciplines (geography, political science, journalism, drama) have few courses (in some case only one course) taught in the discipline.  These courses are considered  “elective” courses and are not offered each semester.   The college does not have the student demand for a full-time “lead instructor” in these disciplines; therefore adjunct instructors who have appropriate credentials teach these courses.  The respective department head under which the discipline falls manages these courses. 

As a result, the college certifies compliance with this comprehensive standard.