SACS returns

The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools which spotlighted students desires when they made an initial visit last spring, is back to examine what North Lake College administrators propose to do to give students more access to professors.

Last year, students completed annual surveys concerning North Lake College. Surveys were tallied, and the analysis reflected one major barrier to learning - insufficient student access to professors. SACS recognized this barrier and challenged the administrators to find a solution.

SACS outlined multiple requirements that NLC must meet to retain accreditation. If accreditation was revoked, then class credits earned by students would not be transferable to other colleges. Credentials of instructors were examined, and those not meeting SACS requirements are no longer on campus.

In a memo, NLC President Herlinda Glasscock said, "Throughout the development of the schedule and registration process for the fall, Martha [Hughes] and the deans have worked hard to strike a balance between meeting student demand and meeting SACS faculty credential requirements."

Faculty credentials must meet SACS requirements, Glasscock said. "I have discouraged the addition of last-minute sections without assurance of complete documentation of faculty credentials for these last-minute additions," she said.

Hughes, vice-president of instruction, said, "Full-time faculty carries 149 percent of workload with the classes they are teaching this fall. Adjuncts are now at 49 percent of workload with the maximum number of classes they can teach at two."

To meet the schedule of classes, full-time faculty members increased their ranks by 21 percent in five months. Visiting Scholars were brought in to supplement semester instructional needs, as well as a dozen institutional appointments for one semester.

SACS members are back on campus this week reviewing the steps NLC has taken. The administration is committed to decisions required to achieve the goals set forth by SACS.

In an open forum, Hughes challenged deans and faculty "to put creative thought into developing solutions and how to implement the solutions." Hughes said the reorganization should be done one time. The intent is not to "move around deck chairs."

Space is a definite factor in the reorganization, including how to make adjuncts and faculty, who do not have offices, more accessible to students.
"Reorganization is long and tedious," said Hughes. "A fundamental change in the way the college is organized is to do things more efficiently, managed by fact, not feeling. This requires serving an increased student population on the current budget."

The reorganization committee and the campus committee have combined to address the criteria set forth by SACS, and have come up with desired outcomes and proposed solutions. Reviewed in the process were SACS objectives, budgetary restraints and student requirements. Two main outcomes are to shift the focus of the institution from teaching to learning and more fully address the needs of the adjunct faculty.

The reorganization committee is considering a reduction in divisions with a subsequent realignment of auxiliary staff. The eventual vision is a crossover between divisions through reorganization, which will enable interaction at multiple levels. This increased interaction should produce new and creative ways for students to learn.

Hughes summed up the SACS criteria and the reorganization efforts when she said, "The landscape may be different when looked at, but the vision is critical, functionality of the college is enhanced, and integrated teaching becomes the desired and achieved state."