Undergraduate Curriculum Forum (UCF)

Minutes 2/24/05 (amended)

Present 

C. LaDousa, B. Phelan, R. Vaters-Carr, J. Feng, G. Kowalczyk, G. DeJarnette, R. Glinka, S. DiFransesco, H. Podnar, K. Barrett, C. Coron, T. Fleming, A. Abugri, B. Achhpal, N. Marano, N. Henderson, M. Shea, D. Marino, E. Schmitt, L. Yacher, N. Chrissidis, N. Disbrow,  J. Fields, R. Mugno, K. Burke, C. Dellinger-Pate, R. Page, R. Kustin, S. Bochain, K. Gatzke, K. Cummings, K. Buterbaugh, C. Novosad, R. Hunter, S. Jackson, J. Tait, W. O'Brien, C. Kim, K. Laing, L. Kohrn, M. Heidmann, K. Mauro, T. Yi-Chun, T. Gemme (guest), D. Soneson (guest), E. Beatty (guest)

I.          Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 9:40 a.m.

II.        Announcements

A critique of the General Education Statement by Ken Gatzke was made available to members.
The chair announced that Dean Fredeen was ill and wouldn't be joining us today.  Instead Ellen Beatty, VP for Academic Affairs, would address the UCF.
 

III.       Special Guest, Dr. Ellen Beatty, VP of Academic Affairs

Dr. Beatty discussed the following issues with the UCF:

The BOT charge to review the math requirement
Following a charge by the BOT to see if individual departments were satisfied with the math requirement, particularly if those requirements were too high, Dr. Beatty's office has produced a document of its findings.  According to Mark Heidmann, the document finds that departments are mostly satisfied with the requirement, and that any interest in changing it would involve raising the requirement, rather than lowering it. 

The CAPP module
CAPP is available to students as of today.  It is now our official module for student records. If advisors need access to historical records not accessible by CAPP, they should call Lynn Kohrn directly.

C.     Load Credit Data

Dr. Beatty explained that great strides have been made in improving load credit data.  Departments should understand that effective tracking of load credit records does not constitute a new policy, but is simply an attempt to properly institute an existing policy.

D.    Departmental Representation on the UCF body

Dr. Beatty asked us to make sure we are acting as representatives to our department and diligently communicating the issues discussed by the UCF.

E.     Honor's Convocation

A lot of work has been done to improve the Honor's Convocation.  It is now held on a Sunday, improving attendance.  Faculty members had concerns it was too long, but were not willing to give up awards; therefore, it is still long.

F.  General Education Task Force Statement

Dr. Beatty recognized the work of the task force.  Although she understands that the task force is beyond the fundamental questions, such as, "what's wrong with the existing Gen Ed Program?" she urged the task force to engage in this discussion with faculty members who would still like to revisit these fundamental questions.  She said that as we move toward the referendum, there are still opportunities to educate faculty members, and that she doesn't believe this will cause a stall in the process.  Mike Shea said the task force understands this and is willing to talk about these issues.  He is concerned, though, that this represents a larger problem with workload:  faculty members don't have time to pay attention to even very large issues like Gen Ed reform until it's imminent because they are overburdened with workload.

IV.       Approval of UCF Minutes of 2/10/05
The UCF minutes of 2/10/05 were approved unanimously.

V.        Reception of Standing Committee Minutes and Approval of Standing Committee Motions
Steering Committee

No report.

Notifications Management (NMC) 

NMC Minutes of 2/17/05 received as amended.

NMC is now requesting a copy of the CAPP record with program proposals since CPR forms are no longer accurate records.

   

Motions:

New course NUR 457: Advanced Clinical Concepts: Selected Health Issues for             Practice be approved

Revised course PCH 499: Independent Study be approved

Revised course PSY 462: Data Gathering: Instrumentation be approved

Motions approved.

New Programs and Innovations (NPIC)

NPIC Minutes of 2/17/05 were received.

NPIC is requesting that departments send new versions of forms, since they are still receiving old versions in many cases.

Program Review and Assessment (PRAC)

PRAC minutes of 2/17/05 were received.

PRAC is looking for volunteers to showcase successful assessment strategies for an upcoming workshop. Faculty members who have been involved in completed assessment projects and are interested in presenting should email Cynthia Coron.

University-Wide Impact Committee (UWIC)

No report.

Writing Across the Curriculum (WACC)

WACC minutes of 2/17/05 were received.

WACC is looking for volunteers to read writing contest submissions.

VI.       Discussion of the draft document from the General Education Task Force

Members asked for clarification regarding the pending UCF vote on the Statement.  It was made clear that our approval would allow the Statement to move forward, as a statement approved by the UCF, for a faculty referendum.

Dan Soneson offered a review of the process leading up to this document.  Three years ago, the task force formed and engaged in a lot of research, including but not limited to a review of the current literature, attendance at national conferences, the formation of faculty and student forums to discuss the issue, conversations with the UCF, and conversations with individual departments.  At this point, the task force is seeking an endorsement.  The issue will come to vote at the next UCF meeting.

Nicole Henderson explained that even faculty members in her department who had concerns about the document supported her representative vote to approve it at the level of the UCF.  They want it to move forward, to be in the hands of the faculty, so discussion at that level can take place.

Mike Shea asked that when representatives share this document with their departments, they include the cover letter as well as the statement, which explains that it is up for a vote and not, at this point, open for revision.

Mark Heidmann expressed his concerns, supporting, even while not completely agreeing with, the concerns of others, who still want to understand the failure of our current General Education Program (GEP), which he believes has strengths not present in the GEPs of many other schools.  He acknowledged and supported what he feels has been a productive effort by the task force.  However, he is particularly concerned with the academic integrity of the document.  For example, he is worried that the lumping together of "knowledge" and "experience" into one category in an academically directed document seems troublesome.  As a representative of the VP's office, he will abstain on the UCF vote for this document, but when voting as an individual faculty member, he is currently inclined to vote against the document because fundamental questions haven't yet been addressed.  He would like to better understand the problems with the current GEP:  Are they problems of conception and design or implementation - or both?

Ultimately, though, rather than voting against the document, Mark would like to see the process on hold until the fundamental questions are addressed.

Karen Cummings suggested that when we distribute the document to our departments, we also distribute Ken Gatzke's critique, encouraging an opportunity to read critically.

Mike Shea explained that if this document passes, it is modifiable in a way that our current GEP is not.  He urged us to consider this when voting.  He worries about where we go next if this document does not pass.

Dan Soneson and the chair urged members to go back and read the General Education Task Force report, available on the UCF website, which does address these fundamental questions.

VII.     New Business

None.

VIII. Adjournment

Meeting adjourned at 10:57 a.m.

Minutes recorded by Nicole Henderson, Secretary for UCF