Human Services Advisory Committee Minutes of May 4, 2015 (will be approved at the Fall Meeting) Present: Hope Scott, Pat Paris, Howard Willis, Elizabeth Lara‐Medrano, Suzanne Shiff, Kathleen O’Neill, Melinda Tran Not Present: Kristi Guerrero, Rob Weiss, Erica McCray, Nancy Schulz, Carlos De La Cerda, Fiona Bullock Guest: Maria Tamayo 1. Welcome and Introductions Hope Scott called the meeting to order. There were no minutes from the last meeting to approve. Everyone introduced themselves. 2. Status of Human Services Coordinator Howard Willis introduced this item saying that Hope is doing a wonderful job as interim coordinator. Howard’s role in Human Services as Dean of Counseling is ensuring that there is consistency from coordinator to coordinator. He will do paperwork to ensure that Hope continues as coordinator and not just as interim‐‐that is the hope. He is available to support the program. Suzanne Shiff asked Howard how long he has been Dean of Counseling. He answered that he just started this semester, but that he has twenty years of experience doing administrative work in higher education. Kathleen O’Neill commented that she is happy that Howard is Dean. There was a need for leadership. 3. Status of Addiction Studies Program Hope shared having attended the “CADDE” Conference recently. She made networking connections and learned more about the process of certification for addiction counselors. There used to be eight certification agencies, but there are three now, and with varying policies. “CADDE” is the one that supports education for certification, so we want to get Napa Valley College accredited by “CADDE”. Hope has spoken with Melinda Tran about the need to get labor market data to see that the Addiction Studies program can be approved. Beth Pratt will be working with Hope to pull the assessment together. Hope mentioned seeing a high need for additional research on other addictions, including technology addiction. Suzanne suggested looking at the 2013 Napa County Comprehensive Community Health Assessment (NCCCHA) that was put together by the Live Healthy Napa Valley (LHNV) group. She gave some background on the group and described that it is composed of members from Napa County hospitals, the community, stake holders, and non‐profit organizations, among others. Every three years each hospital conducts a NCCCHA to identify Social Determinants of Health. One hundred and forty‐six indicators have been identified, including Alcohol and Drugs, Diabetes, and Smoking. Suzanne advised that Hope and the
Advisory Committee review the study’s findings so that no work is duplicated. Relevant data is already available there. Howard commented that there are opportunities for the internship piece/educational piece to fit into curriculum. Suzanne added that the LHNV study includes demographic data for conditions identified, so we just have to tie that data to the labor market. Howard mentioned that, while doing grant‐writing in Sonoma previously, he took similar data as the baseline of foundation to write the grant. Suzanne added that there are also mental health indicators identified in the study. Kathleen mentioned Mt. Diablo Community College because it offers AS degrees and certificates in Addiction Counseling and Addiction Studies. So, though there is a specialization within the addiction field, in health and human services it is not often made available. Furthermore, there is the opportunity to create a specialty certificate in senior health issues. Addiction in the senior demographic is much hidden. Suzanne agreed with Kathleen and said it is very clear that isolated seniors have addiction issues. But, going back to the assessment, the Live Healthy group includes senior stakeholders that are working on creating platforms and policy. Kathleen added that it would be good to advertise this initiative since it would make Human Services at NVC more marketable. 4. Other: Status of Curriculum Howard asked if the curriculum was on Curricunet. Hope answered that it is on Curricunet, but that it has not been approved. Elizabeth Lara‐Medrano added that it was approved at the NVC level but not at the Chancellor’s Office level. Kathleen specified that more labor data is needed. Elizabeth explained that because it has not passed, it will most likely come back to NVC for review and to gather further evidence. Hope indicated that NVC can start offering the courses, however the certificate will not yet be available; we do not have enough staff either. Howard mentioned being asked if the Counseling Department could provide additional classes for the summer session at a recent President’s Cabinet meeting. We could provide classes at high schools in the fall, but not in the summer. There are individuals in the community who can teach. Suzanne asked if, in general, classes can still be added to the summer session even though the schedule of classes was printed already. Howard indicated that there can still be classes added. Howard asked about the number of Human Services classes being offered in the summer. Hope answered that Counseling 120 will be offered in the summer. Elizabeth explained that at the last advisory meeting, a consensus was reached to provide Counseling 120 as an introduction to Human Services. Counseling 131: Intro to the Group Process will also be offered. Howard added that, at the last President’s Cabinet meeting it was indicated that as long as there is interest from 15‐20 people, he can move the process along to get the class
approved. Suzanne asked if the class would be 6 weeks long. Liz specified that it depends on the number of units. Suzanne asked if Beth has a mentioned a date when the report will be done. This information could be used to get the classes started. Howard asked if the Addiction Studies information will come back to NVC for a second review. If so, this would be a good opportunity to start of senior services certification. Melinda answered that it will. The college has to revamp it and develop curriculum; we cannot repeat courses for the second certification. She added that this process was delayed because of the transition, too. Pat mentioned that she has contacts in senior health at other colleges because she completed her Masters’ work in Gerontology. Pat was asked if she could teach a HS class because of the training she has on Gerontology. She clarified that she would only be interested in being a guest speaker. Melinda also mentioned that Beth reminded her that the Bay Area Career Technical Consortium (BACC) license needs to be renewed. BACC approves career technical programs. Howard commented that he would like to expand the reach of current faculty by putting the word out that instructors are needed and they could teach sections at the high schools. Suzanne asked who should be contacted about suggestions for instructors. Hope, as interim coordinator, should be contacted. Kathleen mentioned that she also has suggestions. Howard asked if there is a list serve where information on Human Services instructor opportunities can be posted. Elizabeth suggested that, when the information is gathered and placed on the Human Services webpage, for example, that link can be sent to the Advisory Committee members, and they can share that information with people they think would be qualified. Suzanne commented that there must be an addiction list serve already. Kathleen answered that CADY must have it. Hope suggested looking at other colleges as models to see how they are directing their Human Services Programs. She has been working with Melinda on Articulation, and Melinda is working to articulate Counseling 120 to more schools (accepted as part of the program). The issue is that Human Services is not particular to a Bachelor’s Degree; it is more geared toward social work. Any “hands‐on” degree is typically transferred to CSUs, not UCs. Howard echoed the concern that Human Services work does not transfer to UCs since he has heard it from students. Pat asked about the number of older students who come back to school to NVC. Howard answered the question since he has come across those numbers as part of the Student Equity Committee. Currently, 25% of our students are aged 20‐24, 35% are aged 25‐39, 15% is aged 40 and over, and 25% of students are under 20 years of age. Hope commented that Human Services typically has older student, but it is starting to get younger students. Howard added that there are disproportionate numbers between the age groups at NVC. He can advocate, providing support by pushing for the hiring of adjunct professors. Susan asked about the pay to adjunct professors. That is $35 per hour.
5. Course Offerings for Fall 2015 Howard asked for clarification on the classes that would be offered in the fall. Counseling 120, 130, and 122 will be offered in the fall. Kathleen asked if the college can offer classes on weekends. Howard answered that there have been discussions, but that he does not know if NVC has the capacity to do so; Upper Valley Campus could. Melinda explained that in the past, hybrid courses have been suggested to meet higher need of HS courses. It has also been suggested to provide courses at other sites, or do classes that are 100% online. Hope commented that HS courses offered completely online would be problematic because a lot of the students who take them come with their own issues, including problems communicating and with personal space boundaries. So, in order to send prepared students off to agencies, they need an instructor to model proper behavior to them. What is being taught is more than content and process. 5. Updated internship List Hope explained that the internship list is very outdated. Hope has been following through with them to verify the continued partnership. Suzanne offered help with the internship list since she is familiar with an estimated 75% of the agencies listed through her employment, and has time. She suggested organizing the list by category in addition to the current alphabetical order. Additionally, it would be helpful to include a note on the cover page of each agency’s file listing their mission statement. Hope liked the idea. Howard asked for a timeline to be established. Pat asked if Hope could get a student volunteer to help. Howard answered that that is definitely a possibility. Hope in turn expressed that it is a lot of work to contact all the agencies. Hope stated that there is a need for more oversight from the agencies to the students. Suzanne asked if there was something such as “Yelp for HS students” so students can evaluate the agencies, also. Melinda commented that internship students should be followed up with about their experience with the agencies that they internship for. Elizabeth asked if students get a packet (with notes for the student on procedures, expectations, etc.) when they go to orientation? Hope answered that students have to sign up for Work Experience 190 and 191 in which they are given a packet about expectations, but the packets have general information about the Work Experience class and expectations, not specific to Human Services’ expectations. Howard commented that there needs to be a process set in place to ensure that students and agencies know the processes that NVC’s HS program exercises. Suzanne added that procedures such as background checks and finger printing should be clearer. (Finger printing is a requirement that is paid out of pocket by the student, not by HS or
Hope answered that these processes are covered in the orientation, but, she thinks, the issue is continued supervision and support. Suzanne agreed, specifying that more involvement is needed besides at the beginning and at the end. Melinda commented that every agency is different about their requirements and processes (including who pays), and she also agreed that more support is needed from the college campus because the Counseling Department has been the only support‐‐the Napa community needs this program. She went on to say that the Human Services Coordinator role is a full time position and needs full time commitment. Howard agreed with Melinda and said that he is advocating to make it a full time position. Suzanne mentioned that she will reach out to Lissa Gibbs from the Office of Institutional Advancement about doing a better job or reaching out to the community. Additionally, Suzanne commented that she would like to have a smaller list of internships as long as they were strong. In response, Kathleen suggested that Hope attends a Coalition Meeting, where she can make connections with people from the community. Howard reiterated that he would like to have a packet made so that when HS reaches out to the community, there is consistency and preparedness. Suzanne suggested that Howard and Hope meet Howard Hines and Travis Stanley (Chamber of Commerce); they are great resources. Howard added that there are ways that we can market to the community. We can highlight former graduates of the program—work with Lissa. The meeting concluded at 1:25 PM. 6. Next Meeting: Fall 2015
