The Ranger (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, April 20, 2007 Page: 6 of 31
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6 • April 20, 2007
Dean from Page 1
tv-
professor from Page 1
Derik Villanueva
Board from Page 1
s
bH
. 1
on
“Pick-a-Prof is using the staff time and
resources at this college and of the district, so
they can make money.”
Martha McCabe
general counsel
“\f I am told I am only going to be
funded for 90 sections out of 100
sections, I will kill the class, and I
expect you to do the same."
Dr. Thomas Billimek
psychology chair
Government Chair Paul Wilson speaks with Dr. Thomas Billimek, psychology chair
and dean of arts and sciences candidate, at the end of Billimek’s peer and stu-
dent interview Wednesday in Moody.
Pick-a-.Prof, like many other companies, will
still make a profit by using public information,
McCabe said.
“Pick-a-Prof is using the staff time and resourc-
es at this college and of the district so that they
can make money,” McCabe said. “Let’s be blunt.
That’s what they are doing.”
“They are socializing the cost of their doing
business and privatizing the gain.”
McCabe also believes that the laws for public
information are uncommonly strong in Texas.
“The Legislature says that the public’s right to
know is so powerful that it- is OK if it is commer-
cialized because the public’s right to know comes
first,” McCabe said.
www.theranger.org • The Ranger
__________Derik Villanueva
both campuses were using the site,” said Karen
Bragg, th.e Web site’s university relations direc-
tor.
Pick-a-Prof features more than 200 colleges
and universities from around the nation.
“Historically, every campus we expand to, we
find that students love it and find it invaluable,”
Bragg said.
“Course evaluations will answer more specific
questions that will be answered by a larger popu-
lation of the students.”
Pick-a-Prof has set guidelines to escape the
negative stigma other Web sites have garnered by
posting reviews about professors, Bragg said.
“With student reviews, we’ll edit them on our
end before they are posted,” Bragg said. “We make
sure that there is no profanity or personal attacks
on the professors.”
“While we do post negative reviews, they need
to be conservative and informative.”
Bragg also said that the student reviews com-
pared with the official data collected from colleges
allow for students have a more expanded view
of how the professors teach and what they can
expect in their classes.
Another safeguard for professors’ reputations
“I think that we approach remediation from the wrong stand-
point — requiring a student to enroll in a long series of remedial
courses isn’t the best way to go,” Billimek said.
He continued by saying that professors should be able to iden-
tify those students who have already attained the basic skills to be
competent in a regular class.
“Why should a student have to spend several semesters taking
remedial courses if they only need six weeks of extra help?” he
asked.
Billimek stated that the goal in developmental education should
focus more on an individual student’s level of competence, so that
they can enroll in regular math or English courses.
“I think we need to be prepared to look at things from a different
perspective,” Billimek added.
Billimek also had the opportunity to speak with his colleagues,
as the chairs within the arts and sciences department met with
Billimek during a separate meeting that followed the open forum.
“If I am elected to this position, I will not renounce my posi-
tion as a professor; that is what I am, a professor of psychology,”
Billimek stated during the meeting.
He also stated that he would continue to have the title of profes-
sor printed on his business cards if he became a dean.
“As chairs, we have had to work with each other and'with fac-
ulty, and it’s all for our students,” Billimek said.
Billimek stated that he knew if he became dean, he would have
to work hard to re-establish the foundation of trust with his col-
leauges, because of the stigma of isolation associated with higher
positions within the district.
“Lam still convinced that all administration, from the chan-
cellor on down,, should be required to teach at least one class
a year, because the further you are from the classroom, the
District of public saftey department Chief Don Adams discusses with the board
) of trustees Tuesday at the Killen Center the measures district police are taking to
prevent an incident like the one at Virginia Tech University.
Web sources for students to choose teachers:
• Pick-a-Prof at http://pickaprof.com
• Professor Performance at http://
, www.professorperformance.com-
• RateMyProfessor
at http://www.ratemyprofessor.com
• StudentsReview
at http://www.studentsreview.com
m 11 &
a-Prof allows professors to dispute any claim they
believe to be false.
“Because we read them beforehand, they have
to be very creative in the type of review that they
write to be able to post a false review,” Bragg said.
“However, if a professor contacts us to dispute
it, then we sometimes contact the student or just
take it down.”
The online service is free to many colleges
including this one, but they do charge certain
schools whose expenses in serving it are not cov-
ered by advertising fees.
The cost to Pick-a-Prof for the district data it
requests, however, involves a processing fee by
the district under the Texas Administrative Code,
which has not been determined yet.
1
E
fwh $
are their actual participation in the online ser-
vice.
“When we first started, we mainly thought
that this was going to be a student resource,”
Bragg said. “Then we found that a lot-of profes-
sors were using the site’s reviews to tweak their
teaching style based on what students were
saying.”
Professors now have the options of registering
with the site to write their own reviews defending
their teaching styles or to just introduce them-
selves to students online. Professors can also post
their syllabuses.
While student reviews can be problematic
when a student who has never taken a course
from a particular professor posts a review, Pick-
less you know about your purpose in the education system,” •
he said.
Billimek teaches a statistics class at this college.
Chemistry Professor Bill Haley adressed issues directly affecting
faculty members.
“There have been rumors that members of administration are
speaking to faculty personally about not having enough students in
their classes making a C or better,” Haley said.
Billimek said he didn’t recall hearing such a thing, but that he
had heard about chairs having to deal with complaints from district
about the way class sections are managed.
“I happen to think that the chairs do an exceptional job manag-
ing class sections,” he said. ’
The perpetual issue of lack of funds within academic depart-
ments also was discussed.
Currently, 86 percent of the colleges money goes to salaries, leav- .
ing 14 percent for operations within departments.
“Dr. Zeigler feels more comfortable now telling the district that
we are underfunded,” Billimek said..
“If I am.told I am only going to be funded for 90 sections out
trustee, suggested placing speakers in all district buildings that
would allow DPS to send messages in case of an emergency.
If an emergency-were to occur, the district would also rely
11& 7'1
un
K flub
of 100 sections, I will kill the class,” he said. “And I expect yo"u to
do the same/’
Ongoing budget issues were brought up at a meeting in which
Chancellor Bruce Leslie was present.
Billimek said he had asked why the funding was short for
departments in the new budget. Leslie responded saying he was not
around when the new budget was made.
“I guess some conversation is better than.no conversation,”
Billimek said.
public announcement systems located in the patrol cars. DPS mainly
relies on the media to get the word out though, Adams said.
“This is a revision of current policy. It is an improvement by
expanding key items,” Chancellor Bruce H. Leslie explained.
Leslie explained that because of the ice storm in January, the dis-
trict noticed that revisions were needed. He also added that there is
now a team in place that has studied weather emergency procedures
and mechanisms to communicate.
The policy was expanded to clearly state that all campuses and
district offices must be equipped with safety emergency evacuation
plans and instructions.
The policy also states that the district must have procedures for
reporting emergencies; for emergency evacuations; in-place shelter-
ing; to account for all employees; to train personnel to safely help
others evacuate; and procedures to be followed by employees who
stay behind to shut down specific equipment.
“There are technologies that we are exploring that will tap into
university students who are digitally connected, primarily text mes-
sages,” Adams said.
Zarate suggested that there had to be a different way to reach
students other than television and radio.
Gary Beitzel, board secretary, and Bernard Weiner, District 1
e-mails to students.
Zarate said that by the fall semester, the district should have a set
plan in case a situation like the one in Virginia Tech should arise.
“They (Virginia Tech) have a student population of 28,000. We have
... about 155,000, including faculty, at the campuses,” Zarate said.
John Strybos, director of facilities operations and construction
management, let the board know that maintenance superintendents
have radios that are connected to the DPS radios, so that if a situa-
tion were to occur housekeepers would be notified immediately to
let people know.
Martha McCabe, general counsel for the district, informed the
board that a team is looking into a system that Harris County uses
to send emergency messages to phones.
Dr. Robert Zeigler, president of this college, sent an e-mail on
Thursday: “The ACCD officers are certified police officers ... our
officers have been trained to handle emergency situations including
shootings. Also; we have procedures in place to inform administra-
tors, faculty, students and staff of emergency situations and appro-
priate actions they should take. Some of those measures include
phone calls, e-mail, the Web site, and the local media outlets. Also
our buildings are equipped with alarms and police vehicles have PA
capability,” the,e-mail stated.
St. Philip’s college president, Dr. Adena W. Loston, sent a similar
e-mail to her faculty Wednesday.
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San Antonio College. The Ranger (San Antonio, Tex.), Vol. 81, No. 22, Ed. 1 Friday, April 20, 2007, newspaper, April 20, 2007; San Antonio, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1354398/m1/6/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting San Antonio College.