Undergraduate Curriculum Forum (UCF)
Minutes 10/27/05
Present
R. Vaters-Carr, G. Kowalczyk, R. Glinka, S. DiFrancesco, H. Podnar, A. Abugri, B. Achhpal, N. Marano, N. Henderson, M. Shea, D. Marino, E. Schmidt, E. West, N. Chrissidis, N. Disbrow, N. Bobreck, J. Fields, R. Mugno, K. Burke, C. Dellinger-Pate, R. Kustin, M. Moss, S. Bochain, M. Vancour, D. Flynn, K. Gatzke, K. Cummings, K. Buterbaugh, K. Marsland, R. Hunter, J. Kenty-Drane, J. Tait, C. Kim, W. O'Brien, J. Mielczarski, L. Kohrn, K. Laing, A. Christopherson, M. Kurowski, M. Heidmann, K. Mauro, T. Lin
I. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 9:40 a.m.
II. Announcements
Rachel Vaters-Carr reminded members that this was the last week for the City-wide Open Studios event, which includes work from Southern students and faculty.
Kim Laing announced that the prerequisite problem for English 217 had been fixed. She also announced that in relation to German requirements, the requirement will only show as being met when a student takes two of the courses that fulfill the requirement - 201, 202, and 203.
Tricia Lin announced that the 15th annual Women's Studies Conference was taking place this weekend.
III. Chair's Report
The chair announced the following:
The steering committee has asked that we invite the deans of all the schools to the next UCF meeting to discuss the roles of the SCCs in the curricular approval process.
The University Library Committee would like to have a representative from UCF. The chair asked if anyone would like to volunteer.
The UCF website has been updated, and will soon include our group photo. The website can be accessed at http://www.southernct.edu/committees/ucf/newindex.htm.
One of the goals we listed for the current year was to hold a discussion on "teaching and learning" and the chair wondered how we would like to begin that conversation. After a brief discussion, we decided that we would discuss how to begin either at the end of this meeting or at the next one.
The chair hoped that by the end of this meeting, we would be ready to form an ad hoc committee to rework the "Standards Document." He requested that when we get to the agenda item to discuss this document, we consider the following topics: course ownership, learning objectives vs. learning outcomes, specificity in student assessment vs. academic freedom, and bibliography issues. A brief discussion ensued in which members also expressed concern over the name of the document, pointing out contradictions with the constitution. It was suggested that perhaps the name of the document should be changed to "Criteria for Evaluating Proposals," which is consistent with the constitution language.
:
IV. Group Photo
We all smiled for a group photo to be included on the UCF website.
V. Approval of Minutes of 10/13/05
The minutes from 10/13/05 were approved pending the following change: to strike "and again."
VI. Approval of standing committee minutes of 10/20/05
New Programs and Innovations (NPIC)
NPIC minutes from 10/20/05 were accepted.
NPIC logged the following New Special Topics courses:
· HON 298-01: Heavenly Cities, Earthly Kingdoms
· HON 298-02: Science and Writing
· HON 298-03: Issues in Science and Society
· HIS 298: Popular Culture in China
· THR 398-01: Intermediate Tap and Jazz
· THR 498-01: Props and Scene Painting
· THR 498-02: Acting for Film and Video
NPIC presented two motions in relation to a timeline for the submission of Special Topic courses:
After some discussion of the motions, and friendly amendments that were accepted, (as well as a suggestion to make changes in the accompanying tables) the following motions were approved with one abstention.
ü Based on the print deadline provided by Administration, it is recommended that a correctly-executed form for summer and fall Special Topics courses be submitted to the UCF office by December 1st and by September 1st for spring Special Topic courses in order to appear in the printed course schedule.
ü In order for Special Topics courses that did not make the deadline for the printed schedule to be listed in the online Banner schedule, by the time registration begins, it is recommended that a correctly-executed form for summer Special Topics courses be submitted to the UCF office by December 1st. Forms for fall Special Topic courses should be submitted by February 8th and forms for spring Special Topic courses should be submitted by September 8th. This does not preclude Special Topics courses from being added online at a later date.
Program Review and Assessment (PRAC)
PRAC minutes from 10/20/05 were accepted.
PRAC announced that there will be an assessment workshop on November 9th. Marty Hartog will be discussing the use of portfolios in math courses as an assessment strategy.
Writing Across the Curriculum (WACC)
WACC minutes of 10/20/05 were accepted.
WACC announced that it has been discussing the following issues: how to move forward with the implementation of the "W" course process, the dwindling of the "L" courses being taught in the past few years, eliminating the "update form" part of the process for faculty who teach W courses every 2.5 years, surveying writing-course faculty to find out what kind of support they need, and using those surveys to make recommendations to support the development of a culture of writing at SCSU.
Notifications Management(NMC)
NMC minutes of 10/20/05 were accepted.
The following motions were presented and approved with one abstention:
ü To approve revision to PCH 351: Health in Society
ü To approve revision to MAT-BS in Secondary Education
ü To approve revision to MAT 300: History of Mathematics
University-Wide Impact Committee (UWIC)
UWIC minutes of 10/20/05 were accepted.
UWIC suggested we invite Jon Mattia, who is in charge of the catalogue, to the next meeting, so that we can all understand the process.
The following motion was presented and approved with one abstention:
ü UCF approves the following timeline for the flow of new and revised course proposals and revised program proposals:
DCC and Department September-November 15
SCC November 16-December 15
UCF Sub-Committee Until March 1
UCF (general body) March
Provost April 1-April 14
Public Affairs/Catalogue April 15
If a proposal for a new or revised course, or a revised program is approved by April 14 of a given academic year, the changes should be included in the course catalog of the next academic year
Proposers should bear in mind that the above timeline is a best case scenario, and does not take into consideration unforeseen delays.
VII. Motion from General Education Task Force
The General Education Task Force presented a "Motion to Fill Vacancies on the General Education Task Force and to Expand the Number of Mandated Faculty Members from Eleven to Thirteen."
A discussion ensued, which raised lingering concerns about why the Task Force is constituted as it is in the first place and why it isn't an elected committee. It was explained that the Senate Rules Committee is looking at this. Winnie Shyam also reminded the Task Force that, as they've expressed previously, the library would really like to be represented on the Task Force.
It was also determined that the first motion presented by the Task Force, asking for approval to fill vacancies didn't need to be approved because the original document states that when vacancies appear, they should be filled.
After friendly amendments were suggested and accepted, the following motion was approved (27 in favor/0 oppossed/4 abstentions)
ü That the UCF recommend increasing the number of faculty on the General Education Task Force from 11 to 13.
VII. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 a.m.
Minutes recorded by Nicole Henderson, Secretary for UCF
