STC faculty team to lead presentation to a national audience
South Texas College Computer Science faculty members (left to right) Gabriel Viera, Nicholas Hinojosa, Saeed Molki and Meng-Hung Wu are on their way to Atlanta, Georgia in December to present at the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) National Conference.
It was a competitive process, but South Texas College Computer Science faculty members are on their way to Atlanta, Georgia this December to present at the prestigious Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) National Conference.
SACSCOC is the body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states for colleges such as STC.
“It is a great honor and gives our college prestige and speaks to the quality of our faculty to have been selected to present for one of the best accreditation agencies in the United States,” said Ali Esmaeili, STC dean for Math, Science, Information Technology and Bachelor programs. “I’m so proud of our faculty for putting together a proposal that impressed the selection team.”
The proposal and presentation, which focuses on Competency-Based Education, was created and submitted by four STC faculty members – Saeed Molki, associate professor of Computer Science; Menghung Wu, professor of Computer Information Technology; and Computer Science Instructors Nicholas Hinojosa and Gabriel Viera, under the guidance of Esmaeili.
Wu and Hinojosa will serve as the presenters at the conference.
“It is a great honor and gives our college prestige and speaks to the quality of our faculty to have been selected to present for one of the best accreditation agencies in the United States. I’m so proud of our faculty for putting together a proposal that impressed the selection team.”
“STC is a leader in competency-based education. We were the first to open these types of courses,” said Wu. “Transitioning curriculum to include CBE courses is a challenge and our expertise gets sought out by other institutions statewide and nationally; they want to know how we’ve become so successful in this area.”
CBE courses are designed to help a student complete a degree in significantly less time with shorter, seven-week courses versus the traditional 16-week term. Student can apply existing knowledge or experience to get ahead on coursework by testing skills. If the student passes the exam, he/she gets to jump ahead to the next course.
There are currently nine programs such as the Bachelor of Applied Technology in Computer and Information Technologies, Associate of Applied Science in Child Development and Early Childhood and Public Services Assistant Certificate, that offer CBE courses.
“We were so excited to hear that our proposal had been selected,” said Hinojosa. “We submitted this last May and barely heard back, so it was a nice surprise. We were hopeful though.”
Esmaeili agreed he is excited to have his team of CBE experts presenting to presidents, chancellors, administrators, faculty and staff from other institutions of higher education.
“This team is made up of experts in CBE. They’ve developed solid courses and we can’t wait to showcase them and help other institutions of higher education develop their own CBE courses,” said Esmaeili. “It’s all about working together for the best interests of our students. We want this to open doors for others.”
Molki said the presentation will give an inside, in-depth look into the CBE structure.
“We (STC) started from scratch when designing CBE courses, and this presentation is going to be instrumental for those exploring this option,” he said. “The point is to help our students keep going, growing and get that promotion with accessible, accelerated and affordable education.”
For more information on STC’s CBE programs, visit https://www.southtexascollege.edu/academics/cbe/.