Kaua‘i community college

Planning Agenda

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  The master list of courses meeting the A.A.S. general education should be updated as all courses go through the CAF process. The planned position must be filled by Fall 2006.
  

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  SLOs for all general education courses should continue to be clearly documented in the CAF process over the next five years.
  

II.A.3.b. A capability to be a productive individual and life long learner: skills include oral and written communication, information competency, computer literacy, scientific and quantitative reasoning, critical analysis/logical thinking, and the ability to acquire knowledge through a variety of means.

Descriptive Summary

The skills that help graduates be productive individuals and life long learners are developed through oral and written communication, information competency, computer literacy, scientific and quantitative reasoning, and critical analysis/logical thinking. “Courses which include these outcomes encourage students to think clearly and creatively, to seek and assess information, to communicate effectively, to take pleasure in learning, to learn to adapt to change, and to live more consciously, responsibly, and humanely” (KCC Catalog, page 72 and the KCC Mission Statement).

To address the need for general education courses to clearly include these outcomes, in the Fall of 2001, Dr. Joyce Tsunoda, former Chancellor of University of Hawai‘i Community Colleges, formed an Associate in Arts Task Force with a two-fold purpose: (1) to facilitate compliance with new accreditation standards and hence expectations and (2) to allow for effective articulation and transfer of UHCC general education credits within the system. The task force developed the following themes: critical reasoning/cognitive skills, communication skills, comprehension and knowledge, and application of conception/communicative skills. Added to these traditional “themes” were information retrieval and management skills and a variety of personal skills such as teamwork, cooperation, self-management, and responsibility.
As noted above, this report and the companion report from the A.S. Degree Task Force were incorporated into system policy, CCCM 6004, which governs the degrees and certificates awarded by the college. In addition, the reports were foundational resources for the development of the college’s campus-wide SLOs of Communication, Cognition, Information Competency, Social Responsibility and Personal Responsibility. The general education component of each degree is primarily responsible for ensuring these student-learning outcomes are achieved.
Self Evaluation
The college is committed to assessing and improving one of the five campus-level SLOs each year (Exhibit II-25: Assessment Committee Convocation Presentation Power Point). In 2004-2005, the college began with the campus-level Communication SLO. During the 2005-2006 year, the focus has been on the Information Competency SLO. In 2004-2005 a series of workshops was offered by the Assessment Committee on developing and assessing Student Learning Outcomes, with a particular emphasis on the outcomes for communication. A variety of approaches were presented including the use of rubrics, objective testing, projects, oral presentations, and others (Exhibit II-26: Assessment Workshop). In Spring 2005, faculty members were supposed to ensure the Communication SLO was clearly documented in their course syllabi. All programs began a matrix to document how various SLOs are addressed through the required coursework (Exhibit II-27: SLO Matrices).
Although the process began strongly, due to major campus commitments, including program reviews, campus reorganization dialogue, and the accreditation self study process itself, as well as the loss of our Institutional Researcher, the campus-wide assessment step stalled. KCC is a small college with a limited number of faculty and staff, and it is difficult to work on several major initiatives at one time because everyone is already serving on numerous college committees, as well as working on their primary duties.
The Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC) developed and implemented a baseline test of IT skills, which is administered along with the COMPASS placement test. It will give us basic data about the skill levels of our students. Library staff throughout the system has developed an online training module on information literacy, which is available to all students. The Cognition SLO is the next focus, followed by Social Responsibility and Personal Responsibility.
Planning Agenda

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  The college should set realistic priorities and timelines on the Academic Calendar for managing all the various projects the campus needs to do and should hold people accountable for adhering to these deadlines to ensure that they are met.
  

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  The college should continue to support faculty working on major campus projects and initiatives, including the documenting and assessing of campus, program and course SLOs by providing adequate assigned time.
  

II.A.3.c. A recognition of what it means to be an ethical human being and effective citizen: qualities include an appreciation of ethical principles; civility and interpersonal skills; respect for cultural diversity; historical and aesthetic sensitivity; and the willingness to assume civic, political, and social responsibilities locally, nationally, and globally.
Descriptive Summary
The college through its campus-wide SLOs, general education courses, and service learning opportunities recognizes the importance of students becoming ethical human beings and effective citizens. Some programs have specific components that focus on ethics and professionalism. For example, the nursing program requires two courses, Nursing 158 and 258 (Issues and Trends in Nursing) on ethical and legal aspects of nursing practice. A

medical ethics course, Philosophy 250, is strongly recommended to nursing and health science students. The Business Division requires all students to read and understand the Division Policy on Professionalism and Business Etiquette.

Liberal Arts offer a variety of courses that focus on ethics and effective citizenry. There are two philosophy courses, Philosophy 101 (Morals and Society) and Philosophy 250 (Ethics in Health Care). Speech courses, such as Speech 20 and 151, include interpersonal communication skills. Courses in Hawaiian studies and Hawaiian language, as well as French, Japanese, and Spanish offer opportunities to experience cultural diversity.
Also, history, literature, art and music courses, such as History 284 (History of the Hawaiian Islands) and History 284K (History of Kaua‘i), English 253 and 254 (World Literature), English 261 (Literature of the Pacific), EALL 272 (Japanese Literature in Translation –Modern), Art 101 (Introduction to the Visual Arts), Music 253 (Basic Experiences of Music), and Hawaiian Studies 261 (Hawaiian Literature in English) expose students to a variety of cultural expressions and aesthetic experiences.
Courses in the social sciences including political science, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and economics focus on the civic, political, and social arenas.
A major way to expose students to civil responsibilities is through service learning opportunities. Some courses require service learning, while other courses offer it as an option (See Section II.B.3.b).
Self Evaluation
With the adoption of the campus SLOs for Social Responsibility and Personal Responsibility in 2004, respect for diversity and effective citizenship were formally recognized in the curriculum. These campus SLOs will be further developed in 2007-2009.
While there are many courses listed in the catalog that contribute to the development of ethical and social responsibility, and cultural and aesthetic sensitivities, some have not been regularly offered (Enrollment History). The college must balance enrollment demand with the desire to offer a variety of courses. The multi-year plan of offerings (MYPO) is a planning tool which will allow programs to plan for course rotation in a meaningful way, anticipating, for example, offering certain courses in conjunction with significant historical anniversaries or events.
Planning Agenda

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  The Service Learning Coordinator should track service learning participation at the college by developing a list of courses that utilize service learning, a list of community organizations that KCC students work with and the number of students that participate in service learning opportunities. Faculty should evaluate the effectiveness of student learning and outcomes as a result of these experiences.
  

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  Campus programs should continue to use the MYPO to plan course offerings to insure a diverse selection of courses.
  

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  The campus should consider developing a business ethics course to serve the needs of students.
  

II.A.4. All degree programs include focused study in at least one area of inquiry or in an established interdisciplinary core.
Descriptive Summary
All 15 instructional programs that lead to an associate degree at Kaua‘i Community College are designed to provide students a significant introduction to the broad areas of knowledge, their theories and methods of inquiry, and focused study in a least one area of inquiry or established interdisciplinary core (KCC Catalog, pages 56-71). Of the 60+ credits required to meet the degree requirements at the associates level, programs generally expect over 50 percent of them to be major courses. Some programs, such as Auto Body Repair and Painting have organized the curriculum into modules which can be completed separately as certificates or built upon to reach a degree.
The AA degree, as a general education program, does not specify a major but is interdisciplinary in nature and, through distribution requirements, ensures that student learning encompasses the campus-wide SLOs. Academic Subject Certificates are also available in Hawaiian Studies, for those students who are particularly interested in Hawaiian culture. In addition, counselors can help students intending to transfer to professional schools to choose the proper courses to assure a smooth transition to a baccalaureate program.
Self Evaluation
The college meets the standard. The career and technical programs, in particular, regularly assess the competencies and skills delivered in each course to ensure that the Student Learning Outcomes are in line with industry standards.

The multi-year plan of offerings for the A.A. degree is an important planning tool to assure that the most useful courses are being offered to move students toward their degree goals in a timely way.