The El Camino College Radiologic Technology program had 23 students graduate last year who passed their American Registry of Radiologic Technologists tests on the first try, a college official said.
El Camino Dean of Health Sciences and Athletics Russell Serr presented an update on public safety and health programs during the Tuesday, Nov. 21 Academic Senate meeting.
“This is over 20 years in the program that students have passed their test on the first try 100% and it’s good to know that 100% of the students from last year’s graduating class all have jobs,” Serr said.
Serr also spoke about the public safety program that broke ground on a new fire academy and public safety training center and how the advanced technology will benefit students.
“We have a new [emergency medical technician] ambulance simulator for the program which is a really great experience for our EMT students,” Serr said.
El Camino’s Radiologic Technology program was also brought up during the meeting.
Eric Villa, a clinical coordinator for the program, spoke to The Union after the meeting about program director Dawn Charman.
“[Charman] is retiring after over 20 years of service next spring 2024 and we are striving and looking forward to continuing that success rate for all of our students,” Villa said.
Charman has been the professor and director of the Radiologic Technology program at El Camino since 2001 and will complete 23 years in the position by the end of next spring.
“Her success rate in the past 20 years and her many years of service to the [Radiologic Technology] program is super appreciated,” Villa added.
Later in the meeting, Vice President of Instructional Effectiveness Kevin Degnan spoke about Student Learning Outcomes and Program Learning Outcomes.
Student Learning Outcomes, or SLOs, are learning outcomes students are expected to achieve after they have completed a course.
Program Learning Outcomes, or PLOs, are statements collected from colleges to show the knowledge and skills students have learned from specific learning departments at El Camino upon completion of that course or program.
Degnan presented data that showed that of the 39 PLOs scheduled for the Fall 2022 semester, only 14 were assessed and finished, or 35.9% of the total.
As for Spring 2023, 12 of the 24 PLOs were finished, 14.1% better than in the Fall.
Degnan is in charge of collecting all of the data from PLOs and program reviews from El Camino to submit for review to the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.
The Accrediting Commission is responsible for collecting these reviews from every community or junior college in the nation, every six years.
“Some programs have been on a four-year cycle and they were supposed to assess all of the PLOs in the four-year cycle, but that really wasn’t happening,” Degnan said.
According to El Camino’s website, program reviews are a process wherein the work done by a program or department during the last three years is examined to evaluate the progress toward achieving existing goals, objectives and outcomes.
“We are really good at completing program reviews, it’s so much more than just looking at student learning outcomes, the programs are very good at getting them done,” Degnan said.
The data Degnan needs to submit for reviews is being submitted at a low percentage, which is why he is so adamant about fixing the process and making it easier for everyone.
“We are going to change the program review template so it more explicitly instructs them [to do their PLOs],” Degnan said.
Editor’s Note: The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists test was incorrectly referred as the American Academy of Respiratory Therapy test, article was corrected on Nov. 29, at 3:43 p.m.
