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Undergraduate Curriculum Forum

Minutes
Adanti Student Center, Room 301A
Thursday,
April 16, 2009


Present: Deborah Weiss (Chair), R. Vaters-Carr, O. Gulacar, S. Felsenfeld, L. Foss, N. Marano, D. Marino, E. Schmitt, B. Nakamura, T. Radice, M. Hartog, W. O'Brien, J. Irving, L. Rebeschi, D. Flynn, R. Cain, K. Gatzke, K. Marsland, D. Smith, M. Kiarie, J. Mielczarski, K. Barnett, G. Cochenet, K. Rondinone, M. Shea, D. Tomasko, K. Laing, C. Thompson

Absent:  R. Glinka, A. Abugri, M. McClain, C. Coron, E. West, J. McGinn, C. Simoneau, D. Pettigrew, K. Gatzke, G. Adams, J. Sullivan,B. Kalk, M. Narumanchi, K. Skoczen, S. Grace, I. Antonios, M. Fede, E. Frank, R. Kustin,K. Cummings, J. O'hara, J. Tait, M. Cameron, T. Lin, J. Fields, S. Graves, A. Marsoobian, D. Bentley-Drobish, Q. Bright

Guests:

I. The meeting was called to order at 9:35am.

II. Announcements - there were no announcements

III. Approval of UCF minutes of April 2, 2009
• All approved, pending edits, minutes from April 2, 2009 meeting.

IV. Standing committee reports (minutes and committee motions)

a. NPIC - did not meet.
b. NMC - minutes received
• Discussion about the electronic filing of Art Department submission.  The faculty member found it a smooth process for filing the forms. However, the NMC and SCC need to develop a plan for keeping track of the forms and where they are in the approval process. Sophia will 'unlock' the forms so that the committee chairs can edit directly on the form.  The administrative rights are assigned to: the UCF chair, the UCF secretary (Sophia Myers), and the chairs of NMC the respective committees.
• Motion to approve the following:
New Course Proposal

ART 441 - Advanced Sculpture: Studio Practice (Online submission)

Revised Course Proposal

ART 240 - Introduction to Sculpture: Casting and Subtraction
ART 241 - Introduction to Sculpture: Modeling and Construction
ART 340 - Metal Sculpture Online submissions
ART 341 - Wood Sculpture
ART 440 - Advanced Sculpture
PHI 297 - Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy
PHI 306 - The Age of Reason: Galileo to Kant
PHI 307 - 19th Century Philosophy: Fichte to Bradley
SOC 216 - Men's Studies
SOC 235 - Environmental Sociology
SOC 302 - Social Organizations
SOC 351 - Sociology of Religion
SOC 365 - Social Interactions


Revised Program Proposal

B.S., Studio Art: Concentration - Sculpture (Online submission)
________________________________________
• All approved motions.
c. WACC -  minutes received
• Discussion about summer W courses.  The committee will be compiling a list of guidelines for deans to use effective Winter 2010.  They will recommend that most courses be no shorter than 5 weeks, but will not preclude a course from being offered in a shorter time frame.
• Motion to approve the following:
THR 100,  Introduction to Theatre  Faculty: Lila Wolff-Wilkinson
PHI 301, History of Jewish Thought  Faculty: Krystyna  Gorniak-Kocikowska
PHI 302, History of Christian Thought Faculty: Krystyna Gorniak-Kocikowska
ANT 442, Advanced Forensic Anthropology Faculty: Valerie Andrushko
JRN 200, Basics of Journalism  Faculty: Josh Kovner
• All approved motion.
• PRAC  -  minutes received
• Discussion about the time frame for assessments. The list of departments is in the PRAC Assessment document and has not been altered.
• D. Weiss announced that the credit reassigned time for program review is still being worked out with the Provost and she hopes to have the .6 per semester totaling to 6 credits per 5 year assessment cycle in place soon.  Departments doing half of the assessment (up through 2010) will be given 3 credits of assigned time and those completing a full assessment will receive 6 credits.
• L. Rebeschi announced that self-study tools for alumni and employer surveys will be available soon.
• Information from Institutional Review will be automatically sent to each department.
• Evidence required for the self-assessment is required from the library. Compilation of these data requires the librarian to conduct research for each department.  PRAC will provide the library with a list of departments that need this information early in the process so the library will be given a reasonable timeframe. PRAC will request that the data be automatically sent to each department. 

d. UWIC  -  minutes received.

V. Ad hoc reports (per committee request) - no reports

VI. New Business - Open discussion re UCF priorities
• R. Vaters-Carr asked about UCF approving PRAC self-assessment documents.  She wondered why the UCF needs to approve the motion when that approval is not listed in the document.
• L. Rebeschi noted that we need to discuss the logistics of where UCF fits into the process, especially if PRAC does not approve a self-assessment.
• W. O'Brien requested that PRAC assessments be able to accommodate different schedules. For example, do all 15 members need to be present or can the committee size be adjusted if not all members can agree on an alternate meeting time?
• K. Gatzke asked about the priorities of UCF. Is there a place, he wondered, that could be a 'thinktank' where ideas are discussed?
• K. Gatzke also mentioned the availability of SCSU grade distributions by class which are available to the public. He commented that many classes have a lot of As and Bs, and wondered if these are inflated.
• R. Vaters-Carr mentioned that the definitions in the catalog may not be what many departments are using, for example cognates, specializations, and concentrations.  She suggested we look at what is available at the front of the course catalog and discuss its implications for teaching.
• C. Thompson argued that the possible grade inflation can be addressed by the competency exams in the new LEP which would be more objective.
 

The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 pm.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Kathleen Rondinone