Weekly Newsletter: Tuesday Is News Day

Updates to ACC's Grade Change Process

Faculty can now request Grade Changes and convert Incompletes using an online process through the My ACC Faculty Portal.  The Records Office has put together this detailed how-to: Grade Change Instructions for Faculty.  The online requests are sent directly to the Department Chair for review.

According to CLS's own Sarah Stayton, the new process is easy to use and allows faculty to quickly check on the status of requests.  Her one piece of advice: when working in My ACC Faculty Portal, keep your Roster Screen open in a separate window as you fill out the Grade Change Request.  This will allow you easy access to necessary information like course codes, semester codes, and student IDs.   

This new online process will entirely replace the paper Grade Change requests in Spring 2025 (both paper and online requests will be processed during the Fall 2024 semester).   

(CLS? Please, please, pretty please, do it the new way. It is MILES AND MILES OF OH MY SWEET LORD OF MISRULE BETTER. Why? Because the paper/pdf way Is persnickity, and this way is so much faster, sweeter, and easier. Your students will love you. I will appreciate you. And this change is massively welcome. Thank you Form Changers!!!!--Wendy)

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Please Promote: Stephanie Land Reading and Q&A, Nov 7 

Stephanie Land, author of Maid and Class, will be reading from her work and answering questions. This Is kind of a once-In-a-lifetime chance for students to get to meet and interact with a well-known author. The flyer for students will be coming from our BFFs in Creative Writing. We know It's midday...but if you can get some of your students there (Extra Credit, maybe?), I will be present with CLS English Majors stickers and swag to share. This is really cool--and we are lucky to have the option for our students!

Encourage your students to attend!

Please make a plan to attend a reading and Q&A from best-selling author of Maid and Class, Stephanie Land! Flyer to come! And  we'd love to see you:

Thursday, November 7th, 2:30p-4:30p

HLC, Building 2000, Room 2.1550

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LAHC Conference Support Policy

The LAHC Dean's office has shared the LAHC Conference/Travel Support Guidelines, which outlines available funds, considerations in the approval process, and the order-of-events for faculty requests.  Please review if you are planning to request support for an upcoming conference. 

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CLS Portfolios, Due November 15 

CLS Portfolios for the 23-24 Academic Year are due November 15. 

If you are a P1, P2, or P3, we need those Portfolios this semester.  You can check your Portfolio status here: CLS Due List.  P1, P2, P3 = portfolio due.  A1, A2 = Annual Review (no portfolio). 

Portfolio materials should be uploaded here:   CLS PORTFOLIO COLLECTION FORM (FALL 2024)

We apologize again for the earlier miscommunications about the Portfolio due dates. 

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Midterm Reminders for 8A and 8B Classes

For those of you ending your 8A sessions, be sure to get 1301 assignments tagged for our Assessment Team.  And if you are prepping for an 8B session, don't forget to submit syllabi to the AY 24-25 Collection Form and complete Lighthouse.  

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Collect and Tag ENGL 1301 Research Papers

From Rebekah Starnes, CLS Assessment Committee

Dear CLS colleagues--

This is just your friendly reminder that, for the 2024-2025 school year, the CLS department is collecting FALL 2024 ENGL 1301 RESEARCH PAPERS. (To reiterate, we are ONLY collecting research papers from ENGL 1301 this year. If you are not teaching ENGL 1301, you don't have to tag/submit anything.) We will be collecting our samples via BLACKBOARD.

To make this process successful, however, we need your help! Please make sure you do the following by the last day of fall classes--that's Sunday, 15 December for most classes, or Sunday, 20 October if you are teaching an 8A class. 

• • • Have your students submit at least this ENGL 1301 paper through Blackboard, in a slot set up as an ASSIGNMENT.

    • Include your PROMPT with the assignment, either as part of the text or as a PDF attachment.

    • Appropriately TAG your assignment so we can include your section(s) in the sample.

To help you with this process, we have several resources. Attached to this email, you will find three PDF Guides:

1.    Adding an Assignment to Blackboard

2.    Tagging Student Work  (which explains which three tags you need to put on each assignment)

3.    Walking Students Through Submission

In addition, here is a short video talking folks through the process of creating an assignment and tagging it. 

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Overview of NEW Faculty Evaluation Process (Spring 2025)

From Beth Frye

Dear Colleagues:

We have been receiving questions about the (New) ACC Faculty Evaluation Process.  To reduce your anxiety, I have created a short screencast video to provide an overview of the new process.  This year we are transitioning to the new evaluation calendar.  We are currently finishing up the 2023-24 evaluations (old process) and the evaluation of the materials we submit for the academic year 2024-25 will be next Fall (2025).  

Video: (NEW) ACC Faculty Evaluation Process: Overview 

In the Spring, I will be creating videos to help guide faculty through the portfolio creation process. I (Beth Frye) will be designated (P3) for 2024-25 which means I will be completing the full portfolio that is due by May 2025 inservice.  So, as I create my own portfolio, I will be sharing my approach with you.  My committee and I will also be hosting brown bag discussions on ZOOM to answer questions and give faculty an opportunity to share with one another.  

I hope this information is helpful for you, and you are off to a good start this semester.

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Co-Req Registration 

From Dr. Ursula Parker, Faculty Director of Co-Req Education 

All students needing a coreq, must complete a Google form located on the INRW website. If any student reaches out to you to enroll in your Comp 1/GQ/Socio classes connected to INRW 0340, please send them to that website or their advisor. Petitions are placed on ALL of our coreq courses. If you have questions, please reach out to Linda or Ursula.

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Call for Contributors: CLS Curriculum Conference--CCCs! Spring 2025

Austin Community College's CCCs (CLS Curriculum Conference) will take place on Friday, March 7, 2025, from 12:00-4:00 PM at the Highland Campus (HLC) in Austin, Texas.

This is a call for contributors who are interested in sharing their knowledge in a presentation or panel format. We are soliciting contributions in one of two ways:

1) Presenters: We are currently soliciting presenters (individually or to join a panel) on one of the six topics listed on the Call for Contributors. 

2) Topic Proposals: The conference has space for three additional topics, and we will select from among the Topic Proposals submitted. Topics may be combined to create a cohesive panel.

*Note: Sessions will run 50 minutes, so providing a sense of the length of your presentation will help. We will group presentations and/or topic proposals as necessary to fill the time slot. 

Complete the Call Here: CCCs! Spring 2025 Call for Contributors

Call for Contributors will close on Friday, December 6, 2024.

Registration for attending the conference will open at the beginning of the Spring 2025 semester.

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CLS Profile 2024-2025--Faculty Contributions

Please send us contributions for our next CLS Profile (2024-25).  We'd love to see a picture of you and/or your students, including selfies with students, photos with colleagues at conferences--especially CLS activities! (Don't forget to get photo permission forms from students signed.)  Aside from photos, we are looking for contributions in as many categories as apply to you; you can also nominate a colleague's reading(s) or assignment(s)!  Keep details concrete and short. The first CLS Profile was a BIG SUCCESS! And, we'd love to hear from loads and loads of our faculty for next years'! (Also, we'll ask for contributions through the first part of the Spring Term. This form will stay open--and feel free to share things as they come up)

Share your AWESOMENESS Here: Faculty Contributions for 2025 CLS Profile

Holler at Wendy Elle, Luanne Preston, or Dania Dwyer if you have questions or thoughts!

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Please Promote: Literary Events at San Gabriel Campus

The Student Life Department and Library at San Gabriel Campus have teamed up for National Book Month.  Every Tuesday in October, they're hosting Coffee & Lit in the Student Life Lounge from 9am-11am.  Students can stop by to enjoy coffee and a collection of books from the library.  Check out the details at Coffee & Lit. 

Also, throughout the Fall semester San Gabriel is celebrating The Wonder of Literature with monthly meetups that spotlight different literary genres.  Meetups are from 12pm-3pm in the San Gabriel Atrium.  October 24 is all about Gothic Literature.  November 12 will cover Mystery, True Crime, and Thrillers.  December 5 will explore Science Fiction.  There will be discussions, snacks, and a mobile library.  

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Please Promote: Honors Information Session, Oct 25

From Anne-Marie Thomas, Honors Program Chair

Please share with your students!

Curious about the Honors Program? The Fall Honors Info Session will be held on Friday, October 25th, at the HLC Welcome Center from 11:30 am-1:00 pm. Lunch will be provided, and the plan is to cover courses, scholarships, internships, specialized advising, transfer opportunities, and some of the leadership and service initiatives we've developed for Honors students (UT YCS Fellows Program, INRW peer tutoring, KOOP Radio project, etc.). Students who can't make it in person can join via Zoom; event information is here.  

For questions, contact athomas2@austincc.edu 

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Please Promote: Online Writing Tutor

Becky Villarreal, ACC English instructor and LELA tutor, assists students with papers via email. They can email her directly at bvillarr@austincc.edu (with their papers in a DOC file and their instructor's directions) or click here to fill out a form. Email Becky if you have questions or check out her website. She is also hosting writing workshops on Monday mornings and Wednesday afternoons this fall:

• Manic Monday Workshops 10 - 11 a.m. (Click here to sign in/up; Click here to join Zoom): 11/4 (MLA Part II); 11/18 (Scholarship Essays); 11/25 (Literary Analysis and Poetry); 12/9 (Resumes) 

• Wednesday Writing Workshops 4-5 p.m. (Click here to sign in/up; Click here to join Zoom): 12/4 (Literary and Academic Competitions)

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Apply: CLS Web Specialist

CLS is seeking a highly skilled and innovative Web Specialist & Technology Liaison.  You can check out the position responsibilities and qualifications here: https://austincc.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/External/job/Rio-Grande-Campus/Specialist--Web-ll_R-6741 

Application closes November 6, 2024 (at 12:00 AM)

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Blackboard Q & A, Fridays 3pm-4pm 

Need help setting up your Blackboard page?  Have a quick question about a Blackboard function?

Email Amber Clontz for the Zoom invite; she's hosting regularly on Fridays 3-4pm. 

• Can’t make the day/time? Send your availability to request an alternative :) 

Brought to you by the Textbooks & Technology Committee 📚🪱💻

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English Major Degree Audits

If you'd like to help our majors graduate on time, please volunteer to run a degree audit on one or two students who are near completion. It takes about 10 minutes. 

Email Theo Yurevitch to get the student names; he will get you onto the spreadsheet you need to be on and will assign you a student or two.

Basically, you get a student's ID, look up their transcripts, fill out the English AA audit form, and email the student, their advisor, and Wendy Elle or Theo Yurevitch the completed form. We have a template for the email to the student/advisor. So, the lion's share of the work is you + the audit form. Then copy, paste, attach, and send!

English Degree Audit Process

English Degree Audit Form

How to Access Student Transcripts - YouTube Video

The English Degree Audit Form - YouTube Video