Section II: Core Requirements

2.9.  The institution, through ownership or formal arrangements or agreements, provides and supports student and faculty access and user privileges to adequate library collections as well as to other learning/information resources consistent with the degrees offered. These collections and resources are sufficient to support all its educational, research, and public service programs. (Learning Resources and Services)

JUDGMENT OF COMPLIANCE

Compliance.

NARRATIVE/JUSTIFICATION FOR JUDGMENT OF COMPLIANCE

Northeast Alabama Community College demonstrates compliance in the provision of sufficient, accessible resources to support the mission of the college. The college provides student, faculty, staff, administration, and community users access to the Cecil B. Word Learning Resources Center (LRC). The LRC houses a collection of over 51,000 cataloged volumes in its library as well as other learning resources.  According to data provided by the Library Management Network (LMN) (2003) and the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Standards for Community, Junior, and Technical College Learning Resource Programs (1994), collection totals are proportionally correlated with the courses offered at NACC and with the current community interest. 

The NACC library has a consortial agreement with the Library Management Network (LMN), a network consisting of 19 libraries across north Alabama. As a member of LMN, the NACC library provides access to approximately one million items via interlibrary loan. This service not only provides access to regional collections, such as LMN, but also includes books and materials that may be borrowed from any library/learning resources center in the nation. Included in the services provided by LMN is user access to an online catalog that may be accessed on or off campus. Also included in LMN’s services is an electronic book collection of over 27,000 titles.

The LRC maintains over 63 service hours per week and has an “open door” policy pertaining to user privileges. Collection availability is made to area high school students and community users as well as to the college community.

Dual enrollment students and distance learning students have equitable access to the LRC.  All students enrolled at NACC, whether on campus or off, have online access to the library’s catalog; the electronic book collection of over 27,000 titles; the Alabama Virtual Library (AVL), which provides several thousand full-text journal articles; the Reader’s Guide; the Humanities Index; and Opposing Viewpoints. The LRC faculty and staff are available to answer questions via telephone or e-mail five days and four nights per week. The faculty and staff work cooperatively with instructors of online courses and off-campus dual enrollment courses to provide library orientations and materials for students as needed.

The LRC, which consists of 30,560 gross and 22,504 net assignable square feet, also houses other learning resources. Located on the first floor are a video/teleconferencing site and an audiovisual room with the capability of satellite conferences. Twenty-three computers in the main reading area provide Internet and database access for research. Currently, five computers are housed in the audio/visual room for word processing.  Plans for the 2003-2004 school year include adding a total of five more word processors in the distance learning and audiovisual rooms.

A foreign language lab and paralegal lab are housed on the second floor. The language lab, with four computer stations, provides access to interactive online activities coordinated with course  texts as well as software and movies. Students may also use the stations for online research as well as for word processing. The paralegal lab, consisting of six computer stations, offers students access to various legal databases and has an extensive law library.

Also accessible on campus are Axonix SuperView video-on-demand servers with the capability of recording DVDs and videos for individual or classroom viewing from any networked computer. At this time both the Emergency Medical Services and Industrial Electronics departments have one

of these servers.

The library and other learning/information resources provided by NACC are more than adequate  to fulfill the requirements of the degrees offered. Various labs enhance numerous programs of study included in the Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, Associate in Applied Science degrees, and the Certification programs.

Pertaining to the Associate in Arts (A.A.) degree, labs are provided for the Music and English programs of study. The music program offers access to 12 Yamaha Clavinovas (digital pianos) and three computer stations for listening and music theory assignments. Collections of Norton Scores of classical works are also housed in the Music Lab. The English program provides a writing lab consisting of five computers with access to programs such as Mastering English and Student Writing by National Scholastic Products and Grammar 3D by Insight Media.  Resources for other programs of study within the A.A. degree are included in Table 1.

Table I

LEARNING RESOURCES FOR A.A. DEGREE PROGRAMS OF STUDY

The programs of study included in the Associate in Science (A.S.) degree providing additional learning/information resources are the Natural Sciences programs, the Computer and Information Science program, the English Education program, the Spanish Education program, and the Mathematics program (see Table 2).

The Natural Sciences programs offer students laboratory facilities for hands-on experiments and research. The Computer and Information Science program provides two computer labs that also serve as classrooms. The previously described writing and language labs are also used for the English and Spanish Education programs. The Mathematics program provides the Learning Logic Mathematics Laboratory through an agreement with the National Science Center Foundation.  This lab consists of 36 computers which provide primary instruction for developmental and technical mathematics courses and for intermediate algebra. The Learning Logic Lab is staffed full-time. Individualized course instruction and tutorial activities are conducted concurrently. A second mathematics lab is scheduled for operation by Fall 2004-2005.

Table 2

LEARNING RESOURCES FOR A.S. DEGREE PROGRAMS OF STUDY

As illustrated in Table 3, learning/information resources provided for the Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree programs of study include the following: Computer and Information Science labs, the Computer-Aided Drafting lab, the Computer Repair lab, the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) lab, the Nursing lab, the Office Administration lab, and the Paralegal lab. The Computer-Aided Drafting lab offers students access to 18 computers with Autodesk software and designates four computers in a smaller lab for word processing. The Computer Repair lab provides 12 computers for research and assignments.

A lab of four computers installed with a variety of Emergency Medical Services software is provided for students of the EMS program. Through numerous affiliation agreements, EMS students are provided opportunities for experiential learning. Agreements maintained by NACC with ambulance services include the Albertville Fire/Rescue Department, the DeKalb Ambulance Service, the Emergency Ambulance Services, Inc., and the Marshall Medical Center EMS. 

Clinical affiliation agreements maintained include the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority in Chattanooga, Tennessee (Erlanger Health System); Crowne Health Care in Fort Payne, Alabama; DeKalb Baptist Medical Center, also in Fort Payne, Alabama; Jackson County Hospital and Nursing Home, both located in Jackson County, Alabama.  NACC also supports physician office affiliation agreements with Dr. Roman Alder, MD, and Dr. V.H. Reddy, MD.  These agreements are reviewed and renewed, as needed, each academic year.

Similarly, the Nursing program provides numerous clinical affiliations.  Agreements are maintained with the following hospitals: Baptist Medical Center DeKalb, Jackson County Hospital, Marshall Medical Center North and South, and Mountain View Hospital.  Other clinical affiliations are with the Jackson County ARC (Association for Retarded Citizens), the Albertville Nursing Home, Hospice of Marshall County, Marshall Manor Nursing Home, and Mountain Lakes Behavioral Healthcare.  A nursing lab is also provided on campus for required assignments and remediation.

The Office Administration classroom/lab consists of 22 computers for student access and one computer for instructional purposes. 

Table 3

LEARNING RESOURCES FOR A.A.S. DEGREE AND CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS OF STUDY

Noncredit programs offered by NACC include, but are not limited to, Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA), Certified Truck Driving (CDL), and Occupational Computer Skills (OCS).  A Home Health Aide program is planned to be complete within the current academic year.

The Adult Education and Skills Training Division provides an Assessment, Development, and Training Lab (12 units) where students may hone their skills in areas of computer applications, Work Keys, and other business and industry-related curricula.  A four-unit certification lab is also provided for students to take monitored certification and assessment exams, including Work Keys, Microsoft Office Specialist, and other Certiport exams.

An off-campus noncredit program provided by NACC is the Alabama Hosiery Technical and Research Center in Fort Payne. As a learning/information resource, this center provides one lab of 12 computers for employee/student training. An additional six notebook computers have been purchased for training in the maintenance of hosiery machinery. Other certification programs include Drafting and Design Technology and Industrial Electronics Technology. Both of these programs access the Computer-Aided Drafting and Computer Repair labs.

Programs of study, credit and noncredit, that do not have individual labs encourage student use of the resources housed in the LRC. The sufficiency of these resources can be validated by data provided by ACRL Standards. According to these standards, NACC is in the Full Time Equivalent (FTE) range of 1,000-2,999 with an FTE of 1,402 (Fall semester, 2003-2004). The minimum requirement for volumes is 40,000; the LRC houses a collection of 51,727 volumes (Library Management Network, 2003) for circulation and reference.  The suggested minimum of current serial subscriptions is 300. The library subscribes to 120; however, the availability of the online Alabama Virtual Library, Readers’ Guide, Humanities Index, and Opposing Viewpoints databases provides users access to thousands of online periodicals with full-text articles. The library’s video collection totals 451, surpassing the minimum of 400. Other items such as microfilm and audiocassettes total 4,994 as compared to the minimum of 5,100.  Because of the current trends in media resources, the focus has been on upgrading the video, CD, and DVD collections rather than the microfilm and audiocassette collections.                            

The latest addition to NACC is the Northeast Alabama Adult Basic Education Program.  This noncredit learning resource provides various classes on and off campus for English as a Second Language (ESL) and preparatory classes for the General Educational Development Test (GED). Basic academic classes are also conducted on site for industries in the NACC service area. This program provides five computers and audiovisual equipment in the classroom at NACC.  Computers are also available at the on-site classes. A director, 4 staff members, 33 instructors, 8 aides, and 27 volunteers are available for day and evening students. GED graduations are conducted every spring semester. Plans are in process to conduct two graduations per year, possibly at two different locations.

The learning/information resources provided by the LRC, the numerous labs on and off campus, and the Adult Basic Education Program more than adequately support NACC’s efforts to provide quality educational resources.

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