Wisconsin Technical College System Board
310 Price Place, PO Box 7874
Madison, WI 53707
Richard Carpenter, President and State Director

State Certification Committee Meeting
September 5, 2002
Wisconsin Technical College System Foundation
Waunakee, Wisconsin

MINUTES

Present:
Janice Jablonski, Milwaukee Area Technical College
Nicholas Triscari, Milwaukee Area Technical College
Mary Peters, Chippewa Valley Technical College
Terry Simmons, Gateway Technical College
Sharon Spangberg, WTCSB
Tom Grinde, WTCSB
Val Smith, Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College
Mary Halberstadt, Gateway Technical College
Stephen Holden, Chippewa Valley Technical College
Larry Kind, Northcentral Technical College
Jill Gmeinder, Madison Area Technical College

Members Absent:
Kitty Willkomm, Waukesha County Technical College


Approval of Minutes

Chairperson Mary Peters called the meeting to order at 8:30AM.  A motion was made by Larry Kind, seconded by Mary Halberstadt, to approve the minutes from the July 17-18th meeting. Motion carried.


Guidelines Review

Some general discussion on formatting consistencies was held.  It was agreed that state staff will check each guideline for consistencies with abbreviations, parenthesis use with program titles, use of names in examples, etc.  Also, the committee would like an explanation added on the website about the fact that some guidelines were combined into one, so there is no confusion over loss of numerical sequence.  The review began with the combined Guideline 19 and 54, and a question was raised whether the 2-week timeframe for notification was a Code requirement.  While it does not appear to be a Code requirement, it was decided to leave it in for fairness and consistency.  When Guideline 42 was reviewed, it was suggested that we begin to add other institutions such as the University of Phoenix, Franklin University and perhaps the George Meany Institute and develop a process to decide who is responsible for updating the courses they offer.  A motion was made by Val Smith, seconded by Nick Triscari, to accept the “guidelines ready for second review” packet with cosmetic changes to be made by state staff.  Motion carried.   The remaining guidelines were brought up for questions or changes.  Nothing noted.  A motion was made by Jill Gmeinder, seconded by Larry Kind, to accept the “guidelines ready for third review packet” (with cosmetic changes to be made by state staff).  Motion carried.  The guidelines to be archived were reviewed.  A motion was made by Val Smith, seconded by Jan Jablonski, to archive these guidelines.  Motion carried.  The archived guidelines will be available on the website under historical documents. 

New Guidelines

The following new guidelines were discussed:

#61 Use of Foreign Language courses for English as a Second Language (861) Certification

#62 Use of Reading Courses for Adult Basic Education (850) Certification

#63 Foreign Transcript Evaluation: It was recommended that a question related to Foreign Transcript Evaluation be added to the Frequently Asked Question site on the web.  State staff will do.

#64 Use of Courses for Counseling Certification
The counseling guideline received many comments from counselors at the districts and others.  There seemed to be a general misunderstanding of what the current language reads within the Code (with regard to allowance of less than a Master’s degree for provisional certification).  It was recommended that, instead of writing out the language verbatim from the Code, a reference to the citation be inserted in the first paragraph.

Some edits were made to Draft Guideline C, but the group was unable to come to consensus on whether or not there should be a limit of 10 credits when such credits would not be applied to an advanced degree.  The request was made to ask the Instructional Services Administrators for specific feedback and reaction to this proposed language.  Sharon will ensure the document goes to the next ISA meeting.

The guideline labeled “Courses and Credits used Toward Certification” which dealt with requiring a minimum grade of C- for credits used towards Requirement 57 or Requirement 59 or 60 was removed from the table.  This was based on the legal opinion sought from the State Assistant Attorney General’s Office, which concluded that doing so would require an administrative rule change to TCS 3.  A motion was made by Jan Jablonski, seconded by Val Smith, to accept Guidelines #61, 62, 63, and 64 with the corrections and additions made.  Motion carried.

Occupational Experience Documents

Sharon presented the redraft of the 10-623-7 Applied Engineering Technology document.  The job duties list was categorized under three headings and condensed.  The statement related to completion of a registered apprenticeship was added to the 50-307-1 (Child Care Development Specialist) and the 50-451-2 (Telecommunications VDV Installer Technician).  The 449 (Industrial Safety) document was also reviewed.  This is another area where no programs are associated with the instructional area, only courses.  A motion was made by Larry Kind and seconded by Terry Simmons to approve the occupational experience documents.  Motion Carried.  809 (Social Science) was again postponed until the December meeting, so that more discussion can take place between Instructional Service Administrators and other staff.

850 and 861 ESL-Foreign Language

Sharon presented draft language under the ESL section of the 850 document in response to questions raised by the Deans of ABE regarding what the definition of “Foreign Language Instruction” would be.  This language was developed in cooperation with the ESL Education Consultant and attempted to provide some consistency with other parts of the document.  After much discussion, it was decided to leave the language as approved at the March 2002 meeting intact.  The new Guideline on courses considered for use as Foreign Language Instruction should lessen the confusion, and members would like to see how the districts respond.  If there are continued complaints, the Committee can address them in the future. 

Mary Peters and Sharon discussed several situations that have been brought to their attention by individuals who have expressed difficulty in finding three-credit education methods courses.  These are people that are trying to become eligible for 850 and may have already taken a 2 credit in-service Ed Methods activity.  After discussing options, the group decided to modify the language in the 850 document that reads:  “3 credits of Reading Instruction and 3 credits of Ed Methods” to 6 credits of any combination of both Reading Instruction and Ed Methods Courses.  This will allow additional flexibility in all levels of ABE.  It was requested that state staff send out the word document for 850 to all local staff. It is easier to cut and paste from a word file than from the web PDF file.  A motion was made by Val Smith, seconded by Nick Triscari, to leave the ESL language as it stands, and to accept the new language for the 6 credits of reading instruction and Ed methods.  Motion carried.

Fall Workshop Planning and Scheduling of Meetings for Next Year

Sharon handed out a draft agenda for the Oct. 3, 2002, State Called Meeting.  Several suggestions were made: remind staff of documentation of unique criteria for ACE for review at time of audit, revisit old brainstorm list from two years ago, review changes to the 103 process again, possibly plan to roll out index and new guidelines.  Sharon also suggested the possibility of having the WFT and WEAC State Liaisons come for a discussion.  Mary Peters, Val Smith, Mary Halberstadt and Jan Jablonski volunteered to help with the session on guideline changes.   They will have a follow-up phone call to facilitate the planning of the session.  We hope to make it an interactive session.  The User Manual session will be a brainstorming session to identify things new certification workers need to know.  Larry wondered if a formal mentor program might be good to consider as local staff retire and new staff are hired. 

Future meeting dates:  December 4, 2002; February 26, 2003; and May 7, 2003, all at the State Board.

Nick Triscari made a motion, seconded by Terry Simmons, to adjourn the meeting.  The meeting was adjourned at 2:15 PM.