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Undergraduate Curriculum Forum (UCF)

Minutes 9/16/04 (revised)

Present

C. Wieder, J. Feng, G. Kowalczyk, G. DeJarnette, R. Glinka, S. DiFrancesco, H. Podnar, K. Barrett, C. Coron, B. Abugri, N. Marano, M. Shea, M. Fede, E. Schmitt, L. Yacher, N. Chrissidis, T. Rondinone, W. Shyam, J. Fields, R. Mugno, K. Burke, C. Dellinger-Pate, S. Bochain, K. Gatzke, K. Buterbaugh, C. Novosad, R. Hunter, S. Jackson, J. Tolis, J. Tait, W. O'Brien, C. Suk Kim, P. Whelan, C. Barrett, J. Mielczarski, L. Kohrn, K. Laing, K. Mauro

I.  Call to Order

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

II.  Announcements

The chair informed the body that the UCF Secretary would be unable to attend the meeting, and the University Assistant for UCF volunteered to take the minutes.

The chair requested that the NPIC and UCF Steering Committee meet after the general UCF meeting for the NPIC to vote on a subcommittee chair and for the Steering Committee to find a common meeting time.

Volunteers were sought to create a poster to recruit student representatives for UCF. Jule Tolis volunteered.

III.  Approval of UCF Minutes of 9/2/04

The UCF minutes of 9/2/04 were approved.

IV.  Standing Committee Reports

Steering Committee

No report.

Notifications Management (NMC)

The NMC minutes of 9/9/04 were received.

The following NMC motions were approved:

1. "That the course revisions to PSC 210,PSC 244, PSC 245, PSC 300, PSC 301, PSC 304, PSC 305, PSC 306, PSC 307, PSC 308, PSC 309, PSC 310, PSC 311, PSC 312, PSC 314, PSC 315, PSC 316, PSC 318, PSC 319, PSC 320, PSC 321, PSC 322, PSC 325, PSC 328, PSC 331, PSC 334, PSC 335, PSC 337, PSC 339, PSC 346, PSC 350, PSC 351, PSC 353, PSC 354, PSC 356, PSC 357, PSC 398 be approved."

2. " That the course revisions to NUR 314, 319 and 460(L) be approved."

3. " That the program revision to the BS - NUR be approved."

4. " That the course revision to CSC 465 be approved."

5. " That the new courses ART 433 and 434 be approved."

6. " That the program revision to the BS - Studio Art Jewelry/Metals be approved."

Concern was expressed by representatives from the Registrar's office about the prerequisite changes on the above proposals. When a student attempts to register for a course, Banner does not count students' credits in progress when verifying prerequisites. It was suggested that NMC make a recommendation to departments to change the wording on prerequisites. It was suggested that this topic be further discussed at a later UCF meeting by making it an agenda item.

New Programs and Innovations (NPIC)

No report.

Program Review and Assessment (PRAC)

The PRAC minutes of 9/9/04 were received.

Concern was expressed about students' rights and the legal ramifications of the Web site "www.turnitin.com". It was mentioned that password protection solves part of the problem.

Clarification about SCSU's subscription to HERI (Higher Education Research Institute) was requested by a member. It was explained that HERI would provide a crosscheck of student and faculty surveys and provide data to the university in that regard.

University-Wide Impact (UWIC)

The UWIC minutes of 9/9/04 were received.

The question arose as to how decisions that are voted on by UCF subcommittees get into the undergraduate catalog. Members shared information about Bob Drobish, Scheduling Officer, and John Mattia, who assists Public Affairs in publishing the catalog. It was suggested that a UCF representative go to the final schedule reviews and catalog reviews to double check all UCF changes. Christine Stanton, the University Assistant for UCF, has been attempting to do this, but has still not been allotted the full-time hours in which to accomplish these tasks.

Writing Across the Curriculum Committee (WACC)

No report.

V.  Discussion of General Education Goals

The chair expressed interest in revisiting UCF's previous constitutionally related decision about having the vote of a majority of full-time faculty to approve changes to general education.

Jim Tait provided introductory information about the General Education Goals document and the General Education Task Force. He recommended reading the General Education Review Committee's Final report, which can be found on the UCF Web site. The General Education Task Force hopes to meet with each academic department to gain input from faculty and engage the faculty in a discussion about general education.

Mike Shea indicated that this is a two-step process:

1) Come up with goals we all agree on

2) Get faculty input to create and implement new curriculum

Joe Fields sought input from members concerning the document. A member suggested that "mind and body" should be a higher priority on the list of competencies.

Much discussion occurred about the foreign language competency. A member suggested that "intercultural communication" should replace "foreign language" to make it more inclusive. Some members disagreed with this suggestion, indicating that this might dilute the idea. A member suggested that American Sign Language be included. Another member requested clarification on whether or not this would include dialectical differences. Others mentioned "citizens of the world," "languages and cultures," "linguistic pluralism," etc. Mike Shea responded to these concerns. He asked whether one of the competencies of a liberal education should be to require students to speak a foreign language. Is it important for students to have a second language? Although the document is kept purposely vague, he indicated that these are the questions we should be asking when the General Education Task Force meets with departments.

Joe Fields suggested that the wording of the opening paragraph of the document be changed. He expressed his opinion that the paragraph was not carefully worded and he suggested leaving the sentiment out. Other members were for the sentiment. Some members decried the document as being "too vague". Some members suggested that our current system already does all of the things mentioned in this document and questioned the need for changing general education at all. It was pointed out the our current system has similar documents, and it was suggested to members that they read the information available on the UCF Web site to get a history of the situation. A member expressed his opinion that the General Education Goals document articulates and makes clear what a general education program should do and he finds the document to be a clear and important general statement of principle. It was mentioned by another member that documents such as these have to be vague so that all departments can agree. After much discussion, Mike Shea pointed out the fact that the document was not overly specific because it was meant to be the first step in a process.

The question remained as to whether members were comfortable with the level of generality, or whether members preferred a document that was more precise and defined. In a straw poll, it was found that the majority of members agreed that the Task Force was "on the right track" with the document, while only three members felt otherwise.

VI. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 10:45 a.m.

Minutes recorded by Christine M. Stanton, University Assistant for UCF