Undergraduate Curriculum Forum (UCF)

Minutes 10/13/05

 

Present 

J. Manzella, R. Vaters-Carr, J. Feng, G. Kowalczyk, R. Glinka, S. DiFrancesco, H. Podnar,

A. Abugri, B. Achhpal, N. Marano, M. Shea, D. Marino, E. West,  N. Chrissidis, J. Fields,

R. Mugno, K. Burke, J. Goralski, S. Bochain, M. Vancour, D. Flynn, K. Gatzke,

K .Cummings, K. Buterbaugh, K. Marsland, R. Hunter, M. Kiarie, J. Mielczarski, J. Tait,

W. O'Brien,  W. Shyam, K. Laing, A. Christoferson, M. Kurowski, M. Heidmann, T. Lin

 

I.          Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 9:43 a.m.

 

II.        Announcements

R. Vaters-Carr announced that City Wide Open Studios will be open for the next 3 weekends.  Both SCSU students and faculty will be participating and all are welcome.
W. O'Brien announced that the BA in Media Studies has been accredited.
M. Vancour announced that Toby Bates of HR will be discussing Work-Life Benefits on 10/13/05 from 1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Faculty and staff are welcome.
 

III.       Chairperson's Report

J. Fields announced the result of the recent deadline for submission of Special Topics to Scheduling.

 

IV.       Approval of Minutes from  9/29/05

The minutes from 9/29/05 were approved pending the following changes:

 

M. Heidmann requested change to WACC minutes on page 2.  Final "1998" should be changed to "2003".
E. West requested correction of his name from Adam to Eric.
 

V.        Approval of Standing Committee Minutes from 10/06/05
 

New Programs and Innovations (NPIC)

NPIC minutes from 10/06/05 were accepted.

 

NPIC sent three Special Topics courses back to the Honors College because they were submitted on old forms.  The following four Special Topics courses were presented and logged:

 

ART 298                                History of Roman Art
EDU 398                     Family, School Community Partnerships
MAT 398/WMS 398      Women, Math and Science
WMS 498                    Women & Education
 

NPIC also had a discussion about the deadline for Special Topics to be submitted to the body in order to make it into the Schedule of Classes.

 

Program Review and Assessment (PRAC)

PRAC minutes from 10/05/05 were accepted.

 

Some PRAC members will be attending the NEeAN conference at Connecticut College on October 28.

 

University-Wide Impact Committee (UWIC)

UWIC minutes of 10/06/05 were accepted

 

UWIC revisited the issue of deadlines for submission of New/Revised Course proposals and of Revised Program proposals.  Last year's objections to the timeline were taken into consideration and it was made clear that the timetable is for submissions to the catalog not the schedule of classes.

Discussion ensued, including a request that the timeline start with the required date of submission to UCF office, instead of starting with the print deadline and working backwards.   Some members questioned the need for a 6 month lead time.

Finally, a request was made for a compromise position of an April 15 deadline.  UWIC was charged with the responsibility of approaching John Mattia with this suggested deadline, requesting from him an explanation of the 6 month lead time, and further requesting a form that would standardize departmental changes.

 

Writing Across the Curriculum (WACC)

WACC minutes of 10/06/05 were accepted.

 

WACC recommends that UCF representatives ask their departments for UCF approval letters for W/L-courses. 

Question was raised about perceived gaps in data regarding W-courses approved by WACC and/or Writing Board, so request was made for hardcopies of L-courses housed in UCF office.

 

V.        Discussion of Standards document

UCF Chair, J. Fields, indicated that minor grammatical revisions were made to the document.

The following thoughts and concerns were discussed in relation to the new Standards

document:

·        Issue of 'ownership' of proposals

·        Question of need for assessment standards and learning outcomes in proposals

·        Question of learning outcomes infringing on academic freedom

·        Question of need for such specificity of the guidelines

·        Question of need for Standards document as a whole

 

A request was made that the sentence which begins, 'No one "owns" a course...', be removed, and the preceding sentence be amended to read, '...course proposals are understood to originate with, and belong to, departments, not individuals.'

It was explained that the Senate Rules Committee made a request for a consolidated source of standards; this request was the impetus for the current draft of the Standards document.

 

VII.     Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 a.m.

 

Minutes recorded by A. Jensen, University Assistant for UCF