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Undergraduate Curriculum Forum

Minutes
Adanti Student Center 301A
Thursday, November 29, 2007

Present:  D. Weiss (chair), G. Cochenet, R. Vaters-Carr, G. Kowalczyk, S. Felsenfeld, I. Antonios, M. Generali, E. Foye, T. Fleming, D. Marino, M. Fede, E. Schmitt, E. West, B. Nakamura, T. Radice, N. Disbrow, C. Simoneau, R. Mugno, R. Conforti, J. Oppedisano, D. Pettigrew, K. Cummings, C. Weed, R. Hunter, J. Terpstra, M. Cameron, T. Lin, J. Mielczarski, J. Fields, D. Tomasko, J. Cheng, K. Laing, Andre Scott, M. Geelan,

Absent:  M. Narumanchi, J. Manzella, S. Grace, R. Glinka, A. Abugri, N. Marano, N. Henderson, C. Coron, J. McGinn, R. Kustin, J. Irving, L. Rebeschi, D. Flynn, K. Marsland, C. Rosado, J. Sullivan, M. Shea, K. Rondinone, S. Graves, A. Marsoobian, K. Mauro

I.    The meeting was called to order at 9:42 am.

II.    Announcements

  • The last film for fall 2007 Cinema du Monde will feature, "Black Orpheus" on December 4, 2007.
  • The Ceramics Department will have a holiday sale Tuesday, December 11th, 11am - 5pm and Wednesday, December 12th, 11am - 3pm.

III.    UCF Minutes from November 15, 2007 were approved with one abstention.

IV.    Standing and ad hoc committee  reports were per request:

Ad-Hoc Standards Committee - Rachael Vaters-Carr of the ad hoc committee would like UCF members to review the forms that were sent out. The committee is still working on the standards document. Dr. Weiss would like to have the forms approved at our next meeting.

WACC - 206 courses have been approved as W's. WACC encourages the submission of additional proposals for W courses.  Kelly Ritter will serve as interim Writing Director during the spring while a search will be started for the position of permanent Writing Director.

V.     New Business -Discussion of Program Review and Outcomes-Based Assessment with Dr. Kennedy.

 
Discussion:

Dr. Weiss reported that Provost Williams was unable to attend the meeting due to a scheduling conflict, but that he will provide information to UCF members via a written memo.  She stated that she is hoping to reach some type of resolution regarding resources for faculty to complete departmental program reviews (i.e. release time) and an economy of efforts in the consolidation and use of reports for multiple purposes whenever possible

Dr. Kennedy, Director of Planning and Assessment, opened the discussion with clarification of the difference between Program Review and Outcomes Based Assessment.  Dr. Kennedy stated that assessment refers to outcomes, i.e. measuring outcomes of student learning for courses while Program Review is more comprehensive encompassing assessment but also things like department and faculty resources, space issues, etc.

A question was raised about the Spelling Commission and the ramifications it will have on NEASC.  Dr. Kennedy will have more information on this after she attends the next NEASC meeting.

It was evident that there is confusion regarding terminology such as outcomes, goals, objectives, etc.  A suggestion was made to provide clarification and working definitions. A question was raised about rubrics being used for assessment.  Dr. Kennedy spoke positively about the use of rubrics; samples are available online.

Issues regarding report redundancies were raised with a suggestion made to have PRACC review the process and eliminate any unnecessary reports.

Questions regarding the manner in which Program Review was handled in the past were raised as well as budgetary issues.  There seems to have been some miscommunication between departments and administration in the past.  Dr. Kennedy stated her feelings about the importance of involving the Deans in the processes of assessment and program review.   She stated that there is money to help departments accomplish these tasks as well as funds for external reviewers.

VI.    The meeting was adjourned at 10:51am.