Congratulations, Essie Childers! Essie is a professor, author, mentor, dynamic motivational speaker, an active member of many professional educational organizations, and now, the 2020 CASP Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. Most recently, she has embraced the virtual environment and developed online content to help her students succeed. She has contributed much to our educational landscape, and we are excited to see what she does next. Click here to watch KBTX give her some publicity. We are proud of you!
Event Recap--
The “Discovery and Opportunity” virtual conference was amazing this year!
In addition to networking with our friends and colleagues, we heard some prolific keynote speakers and experienced some dynamic concurrent sessions. THECB presented and shared the latest news coming down from Austin. All of us have been impacted in some way by the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Here is a condensed recap of the 2020 conference from the CASP board.
Discovery & Opportunity
Day One Recap
What a fantastic first day of CASP 2020 we had! From the inspirational “Rise UP” challenge to the informative ‘fireside chat’ with our executive panel.
We appreciate how today’s’ “theme” was not shying away from the challenges but acknowledging the opportunities and leading us into a genuinely enlightening conversation of the “current landscape of developmental education” and beyond.
We hope everyone was as engaged and encouraged as we were.
Discovery & Opportunity
Day Two Recap
Wow, how do we recap so many marvelous ideas, strategies, research, and motivation?
We kicked off the day with a keynote from Dr. Tammy Francis’ who shared strategies for planning and teaching ‘ON PURPOSE.’ She charged us to find our passion and to use our gifts to serve others with purpose and passion. What a powerful and positive message.
In Session 6, Dr. Denise Lujan dove deep into what collaboration means. Reminding us all of the importance of our role and responsibility in collaboration and also the importance of learning to “relax, do the best you can, and laugh a little.”
The two “bonus” lunch break sessions were a special treat!
Thank you to Leticia Villarreal for leading a discussion with practitioners on how tutoring programs across the state have been impacted by virtual learning and how the various IHE’s tutoring programs have adjusted and evolved during the past six months.
Thank you, Dr. Tammy, for energizing and empowering us with your latest book title, “R.E.A.P. More: 76 Seeds for This Season.” Attendees enjoyed you sharing practical strategies and helping us shift to positive mindsets.
Our first VIRTUAL annual TxCRLA & TADE state meetings provided updates and emphasized the importance of individual opportunities and volunteering at the state AND national levels.
We wrapped up the day with an information-packed session from THECB, as Dr. Morales-Vale and her team unpacked much new information and provided updates on previously announced changes regarding TSIA/TSIA2.
Again, we hope everyone was as energized and encouraged as we were.
Discovery & Opportunity
Day Three Recap
What an amazing end to a fabulous conference. We started the day with Dr. Tamara Clunis, who inspired us in her discussion of how Amarillo College became an Aspen Top 10 Community College and faced the giants that challenged them on their path to success.
We continued to learn about the challenges and insights from faculty in designing and implementing accelerated formats of mathematics courses from Professor Patrick Saxon and Associate Professor Nara Martiroysan.
We had a wonderful time with our choice of two breakout lunch sessions: Lisa Jones led a discussion on the collaboration between developmental education and adult education programs, while Dr. Tammy Francis continued to share insights from her latest book, R.E.A.P. More: 76 Seeds for This Season.
This took us into the afternoon session with Professors Brian Anderson and Dalel Serda discussing how the College of the Mainland moved to 100-percent corequisite English and math course offerings for their students.
Finally, we ended with the Lifetime Achievement Award given to Essie Childers, the induction of new board members, and a few door prize give-aways. We ended with a brief announcement of the 2021 CASP conference. We are proud to welcome our newly-appointed board members to their respective roles. The new board for TxCRLA is as follows: Melissa Jones, President; Jennifer Baldauf, President-Elect; Shannon Stoker, Secretary; Leticia Villarreal, Membership; Rachel Hunt, Past President .
The new board for TADE is as follows: Aaron Grimes, President; Patricia Hernandez, President-Elect; Catherine Thurman, Secretary; Mary Helen Martinez, Treasurer; Rene Leblanc, Membership; Mary Helen Martinez, Past President.
We are ONTO our 2021 CASP Conference, which is our 40th anniversary conference! We will have more upcoming details released throughout the coming year.
Join the CASP Listserv.
If you want to be part of Texas’s discussion about TSI and THECB decisions, please join the CASP Listserv. Our CASP-LISTSERV provides a discussion forum for members and affiliates of TADE, TxCRLA, the THECB, and anyone interested in developmental education and learning assistance issues impacted by Texas State law. The listserv provides vital information on frequent legislative updates affecting our pedagogy with an opportunity to connect with others in the field.
Click here to join the CASP Listserv.
If you have any questions about the listserv, please contact either Dr. Eric Paulson (eric.paulson@txstate.edu) or Dr. Kathy Stein (kstein@sulross.edu).