Undergraduate Curriculum Forum (UCF)

Minutes 12/04/03 (amended)

Present

E. Emenyonu, C. Wieder, G. Kowalczyk, G. DeJarnette, S. DiFrancesco, R. Glinka,J. Tait, B. Eldridge, B. Aachpal, N. Marano, N. Henderson, M. Shea, E. Schmitt, L. Berman, M. Thompson, N. Chrissidis, W. Shyam, L. Bier, J. Fields, R. Mugno, K. Burke, M. Moss, S. Bochain, K, Gatzke, H. Applewhite, C. Novosad, M. Vancour, S. Jackson, J. Tolis, J. Sullivan, C. Dellinger-Pate, W. O'Brien, C. Ogbaa, C. Barrett, J. Mielczarski, M. Heidmann, K. Mauro

I. Call To Order

The meeting was called to order by Jim Tait at 9:41 a.m.

II. Announcements

Members were invited to the open house in honor of Roger Conway's retirement.

Some copies of the L Course Writing Contest winning papers are still available.

III. Approval of Meeting Minutes

The UCF minutes of November 13, 2003 were approved subject to some minor corrections. A member raised issue with the fact that the minutes and other relevant information for today's meeting were distributed less than 20 hours before the meeting, thereby not allowing members ample time to read the materials before coming to the meeting. The UCF Chair apologized and promised that this will not repeat.

IV. Standing Committee Reports

Steering Committee

Worked on new agenda.

Notifications Management (NMC)

The NMC minutes of November 20, 2003 were received.

NMC decided that the issue of bylaws should not be handled by individuals from any one committee but by a selection of people with interest in the topic.

New Programs and Innovations (NPIC)

The NPIC minutes of November 20, 2003 were received.

Program Review and Assessment (PRAC)

The PRAC minutes of November 20, 2003 were received as modified.

University-Wide Impact (UWIC)

The UWIC minutes of November 20, 2003 were received as modified.

Writing Across the Curriculum Committee

The WACC minutes dated December 4, 2003, were received.

It was discussed that WACC should communicate to the university the deadlines for L course submissions. In addition, the UCF should set deadlines for submissions to UCF, as Bob Drobish has set deadlines for courses(s) to be listed in the University's course schedule of classes bulletin. Bob Eldridge suggested that the UCF Chair should meet with Drobish to ensure that courses are not listed without the approval of UCF. Jim Tait agreed to act on that suggestion.

V. Discussion

UWIC motion 1 was approved as amended with one abstention.

UWIC motion 2 was approved as corrected with one abstention.

WACC motion 1 was approved.

WACC motion 2 was approved.

FACULTY ACADEMIC STRATEGIC PLAN PRESENTATION BY DAVID PETTIGREW

D. Pettigrew thanked UCF for inviting him. He gave a brief review of the history of the FASP Committee and an update on the current status of the work of the committee. Noting that the FASP document is still a work in progress, he encouraged members of UCF to feel free to make suggestions to help the committee to improve upon the document.

Mike Shea observed that, based on the Committee's mission statements, SCSU was described as the Flagship of Graduate Education in the CSU system. Shea asked whether or not the other schools in the system accept that and whether or not the BOT accepts that. He further suggested that a statement that says something about undergraduate liberal arts education should also be included in the mission statement.

A member encouraged the Committee to give pedagogy emphasis in the document and not subordinate it to faculty scholarship.

Another member objected that one way in which pedagogy can suffer is by neglecting scholarship, as good scholarship can also enhance pedagogy.

A member talked about the need to have a systematic approach to enhancing and measuring faculty development as teachers.

A member observed that the Statement on Faculty does not mention any commitment to diversity, and that this was the case with the Statement on Students.

Another member commented that there is the need for the document to specifically say something about knowledge of the world, not just the community.

A member commented that, in view of the fact that the committee was set up as faculty response against the former document that had no faculty input, showing a strong connection between teaching and scholarship can really help this document to be taken more seriously.

VI. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 10.47 a.m.

 

Minutes recorded by:

Emmanuel N. Emenyonu