Liberal Arts/Health Careers Opportunity(HCOP)

AP Full Official

Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts/ Health Career Opportunity Program

Campus

National campus

AP Review Submission Date

Completed by

HCOP faculty

AR Review Cycle

AY2014, 2015
AY2015-2016

Program Goals

1. Describe the structure, function and basic pathologies of the human body.
2. Demonstrate a solid foundation in basic biological sciences.
3. Describe health care and allied professions and gain experience working effectively in groups and with health professionals to address human life sciences and health problems.
4. Discuss, analyze and interpret fundamental and current issues relevant to human life sciences and health problems and communicate information in a critical, scientific and technologically advanced manner.

Program History

The HCOP program was primarily created as an academic and practical response to the public health situation in FSM; namely the lack of professional, well-trained and skilled health care personnel and the shortage of opportunities for training and academic education in this field. Furthermore, the academic complexities of the healthcare system and the wide range of educational backgrounds and challenges faced by the potential “future” workforce meant a suitable and fitting program was required to help. HCOP began to provide this in 1980 and continues to grow and develop to suit the changing needs of its students and the realities and requirements of FSM within its health care system.

Program Description

The HCOP program is an opportunity for students who wish to enter studies in the healthcare environment. The primary aim is to provide students with the academic knowledge and skills required to thrive in this demanding field. A longer term aim is for the program to provide the academic “stepping stones” for students who wish to progress towards healthcare qualifications at a 4 year institution and ultimately become the future workforce in the healthcare industry for FSM and its surrounding nations.

Program Admission Requirements

Entry criteria;

• High school graduation or GED
• All candidates to sit the College of Micronesia – FSM entry test (COMET) and gain admission to the COM-FSM Degree Program.

Program Certificate/Degree Requirements

Total credits required for graduation : 66
Major credit requirements: 34
SC 101 Health Science (3)
SC120 Biology w/lab (4)
SC 122a Anatomy & Physiology I w/lab (4)
SC 122b Anatomy & Physiology II w/lab (4)
SC 180 Microbiology w/lab (4)
SC 230 Introduction to Chemistry w/lab (4)
SS/PY 101 General Psychology (3)
ED/PY 201 Human Growth and Development (3)
EN/CO 205 Speech Communication (3)
Math Elective (3)
Any 100 level or above mathematics (3)
Natural Sciences (3)
SC 112 Nutrition (3)

General Education credit requirements: 29 credits
English (9 credits)
EN 110 Advanced Reading (3); EN 120a Expository Writing I (3); EN 120b Expository Writing II (3)

Mathematics (3 credits)
Any 100 level or above mathematics course

Natural Sciences (7 credits)
A science course with Laboratory or AG 101, AG 110 or AG 140 (4); A non-lab science (3)

Social Sciences (3 credits)
SS 150 History of Micronesia (3)

Computer Applications (3 credits)
CA 100 Computer Literacy (3)

Exercise Sports Science (1 credit)
Exercise Sports Science course (1)

Humanities (3 credits)
Any course in art, music, history, culture, literature, philosophy, or language (3)

Open Elective credit requirements: 3 credits

Suggested schedule:
First Semester
EN 110 Advanced Reading................................3
EN 120a Expository Writing I............................3
MS 100 College Algebra....................................3
SC 120 Biology w/lab........................................4
Humanities Elective...........................................3
Total Credits:16

Second Semester
EN 120b Expository Writing II...........................3
SC 101 Health Science.....................................3
Any 100 level mathematics...............................3
SS 150 History of Micronesia............................3
SC 230 Chemistry.............................................4
Total Credits: 16

Third Semester
CA 100 Computer Literacy........................... ..3
ESS................................................................ ..1
SC 122a Anatomy & Physio. I w/lab...............4
Non lab science or AG 101..............................3
General Psychology....................................... .3
SC 112 Human Nutrition.................................3
Total Credits :17

Fourth Semester
ED/PY 201 Human Growth & Dev..................3
SC 101 Health Science.....................................3
Any 100 level mathematics...............................3
SS 150 History of Micronesia...........................3
SC 230 Chemistry.............................................4
Total Credits:16

Comments: Enrollment is falling for all courses within this program.

Program Faculty

Dr. Don Buden
B.S., University of Miami, Florida USA
M.S., Louisiana State University, USA
Ph.D., Louisiana State University USA

Dr. Mihai Dema
B.S., University of Medicine, Romania
M.S., University of Medicine, Romania
M.D., University of Medicine, Romania

Dr. Kathy Hayes
B. Sc., University of Liverpool UK
Ph.D., University of Leeds, UK

Ms. Magdalena Hallers
AA, Community College of Micronesia
B.A., University of Guam
M. Ed., University of Guam

Ms. Jazmin Gonzales
BS. Central Philippines University
M.A., University of the Philippines

Ms. Pearl Habuchmai Olter Pelep
B.A. University of Hawaii-Hilo
M.A., San-Diego State University

Assessment of course student learning outcomes of program courses

The following shows the results for the assessment of CSLOs of all program

Comments: Average pass rates are all below 50% for these course SLOs indicating students are struggling to pass the course requirements.

Comments: Significant amount of data missing from tracdat making the assessment of the cSLOs difficult. This is perhaps due to the divisions still not replacing the instructor for this course and the course “covered” by existing faculty while this position remains unfilled. This will have led to confusion on who is responsible for inputting the data and carrying out the assessments. Please refer to the recommendation section where this issue is addressed.

Comments: Students passing both course SLOs with 100% pass rate.

Comments: All course SLOs are being passed successfully with an average of 81%.

Comments: All course SLOs are being passed with averages all above 60%

Comments: Data is missing or not correctly inputted into tracdat for this course. Please refer to the recommendation section where this will be addressed.

Comments: All course SLOs are being passed with over 65% pass rates.

14Assessment of program student learning outcomes

The HCOP program assessed all 4 PSLOs with the following results.

Comments: Students appear to be successfully achieving all the PSLOs for HCOP with an average of 82% passing the courses that were used to address and assess the programs PSLOs.

Program enrollment (historical enrollment patterns, student credits by major)

Comments: The HCOP program has seen a decreasing trend in enrollment in this 2 year period. From 136 students enrolled in fall 2014 to 80 spring 2016. This decrease in enrollment is seen across all campuses except Yap which showed a slight increase in spring 2016.

Average class size

Comments: Fall semesters maintain average class size at approximately 15 whereas spring semesters see a rise reaching a high of 18 in spring 2016. This is most likely due to the enrollment of freshmen.

Course completion rate

Comments: Average completion rate for fall 2014 is 55%, spring 2015 = 69% and fall 2015 = 54% showing that overall completion rate is falling. The lowest completion rates are consistently for sc101 (Health Science) whereas the highest is for sc122 (Anatomy and Physiology).

Student retention rate (Fall-to-Fall for two-year programs; Fall-to-Spring for one-year programs)

Comments: Retention overall appears to drop over this time period.

Success rates on licensing or certification exams (CTE, TP, Nursing, etc)

There is no current licensing or certification examination for the HCOP program

Graduation rate based on yearly number

Comment: Graduation rate has fallen by 7, however this is potentially lined to the observed decrease in enrollment.

Students seat cost

Information unavailable with IRPO

Cost of duplicate or redundant courses, programs or services

There are no duplicated or redundant courses in HCOP

Students’ satisfaction rate

In the 2014 Student Satisfaction Survey done by the college, it shows that majority of students strongly agree or agree that the program have performed well in serving their students.

Alumni data

1 graduate at UOG completing undergraduate courses in Nursing.
6 graduates at University of Hawaii at Hilo completing undergraduate courses.
2 graduates at University of Hawaii at Manoa completing undergraduate courses.
1 graduate at Fiji School of Medicine
1 graduate accepted at Fiji School of Medicine to start courses in January 2017

Employment data and employer feedback (employer survey)

No relevant employment data currently available.

Program added or cancelled at nearby regional institutions (PCC, GCC, Hawaii schools, UOG, CMI, NMC)

Not applicable

Transfer rate

Most of the graduates who pursued their education in another institution claimed that most of the courses were transferable to said institution.

Analysis and Recommendations

Findings
This section provides discussion of information discovered as a result of the evaluation such as problems or concerns with the program and what part of the program is working well and meeting expectation.

Problems and concerns:

• Program enrollment and thus course enrollment is falling and a growing concern for HCOP.
• Tracdat data for course SLOs is intermittent for this assessment period for SC230 and SC101. This has made the review of certain aspects of the program difficult and the issue is addressed in the recommendation section below.
• Chemistry instructor position, although currently covered, is still unfilled on a long term basis. This has caused complications in the inputting of assessment data for program review, but also causes concerns for the future and the programs ability to provide students with appropriate teaching of this demanding course.
• Course completion rates are relatively low, with an average of 59% over the reporting period. Whether this is caused by students not being academically ready for a strongly science based program or more external factors such as withdrawals due to attendance is not yet known. Comparisons with other science based programs may shed light on any possible similarities regarding the student’s academic readiness for these more “science” type of programs.
• Graduation rates are falling for this program perhaps due to a combination of falling enrollment and course completion rates impacting graduation. This is a growing concern for HCOP.
• Students appear to be struggling to pass the course SLOs for sc180 (Biology). Whether this is a result of students academic readiness for this course or another factor needs to be addressed.

Successes and improvements:

• Course level SLOs are overall being successfully passed with averages above 50% and some even at 100% woth the exception of sc180 (Biology).
• Program level SLOs are being successfully passed with an average of 81%.
• 11 graduates currently enrolled in healthcare related programs at tertiary level institutions. Although on paper a small number, this is still a major success for HCOP, particularly when considering the challenges faced by students to continue their education in this field.

Recommendations
This section provides recommendations from the program on what to do to improve or enhance the quality of program and course learning outcomes as well as program goals and objectives. This section should also include suggestions that describe how the program might be able to create opportunities for a better program in the future. Some examples are exploring alternate delivery mechanisms, forming external partnerships, or realigning with other programs.

The following lists some recommendations for the HCOP program;

• Missing data for course level assessment needs to be addressed immediately and improved with the assistance of all HCOP faculties. All course level data needs to be constantly and accurately inputted into tracdat to make it more readily available for assessment and review.
• Improve program enrollment by developing a more rigorous, updated and appealing “advertising” of the program for potential students. This review has triggered a much needed update of the program history and description, which will help provide a more streamlined and relevant direction for the program in the future.
• Improve the program through improving communication between HCOP faculty. All faculty within the HCOP program need to collaborate better amongst themselves to aid in the growth and development of the program. The program cannot thrive unless faculty work together, communicate effectively and help each other modernize, adapt and make HCOP stronger and more suited to the needs of the students. Perhaps monthly program meetings between HCOP faculty could help begin improving communication and opening up dialogue.
• Collaborate and communicate more effectively with the Public Health program to minimize any duplicity of courses and content, utilize the skills and expertise of faculty and facilities within each program, improve program alignment, merge ideas, and/or the transfer of skills, expertise and facilities. These 2 programs are strongly linked in subject area and it would be beneficial to all if communication were improved.
• Push to hire a permanent chemistry instructor as soon as possible to ensure this much needed course is more consistently taught by permanent faculty. If a permanent hire is not possible, the program and math/science division need to look at a more stable solution using existing faculty.
• Look into ways of improving students overall science knowledge to help them be better prepared for the more academically challenging courses like sc180, sc230 and sc101. This could be in the form of tutoring, study groups, peer counseling, and student clubs associated with the program and other ways to support students and improve their overall science background.