Iowa State is using a collaborative rather than a top-down approach to get community colleges around the area to adopt ISUComm’s curricular changes to communication requirements for undergraduates.

The Faculty Senate recently approved the ISUComm curricular plan, but questions still linger about community college transfer students who took English foundation courses at the community college.

“We have a responsibility to share new changes and ideas with our colleagues in the community colleges,” said Donna Niday, director of first-year composition and associate professor of English.

Judy Hauser, English instructor at the Boone campus of Des Moines Area Community College, said she believes adopting new written, oral, visual and electronic communication skills into composition courses is an exciting opportunity for students.

She said community colleges like DMACC provide for universities all around Iowa.

“Community colleges are about presenting options. It is our responsibility to provide for students,” Hauser said.

The Boone campus has been testing several sections with different written, oral, visual and electronic elements since June, Niday said.

English instructors at Boone have attended most of the training workshops provided by ISUComm.

Each session targets different aspects of communication, like oral and PowerPoint presentations, Hauser said.

She said the ISUComm curricular plan has a sound theory by looking at different aspects of language and reflecting on the results of language decisions.

Jerrine McCaffrey, English instructor at the Boone campus, said she attended all of the workshops provided by ISUComm.

“I have added a new Power- Point oral presentation project that my students do,” McCaffrey said.

She said the majority of DMACC’s students plan to move on to universities, and it is a good idea to prepare them for transferring.

Niday said a primary concern of ISUComm involving community colleges is the availability of resources such as computers and other technology.

She said ISUComm and community colleges have been working together to adapt different projects, such as using different formats that students will be able to do on their home computers.

Also, community colleges have asked for more workshops and professional faculty development, Niday said. ISUComm is attempting to gain outside grants to pay for these workshops.

Hauser said at the Boone campus technology is not an issue.