Undergraduate Curriculum Forum

Minutes
Adanti Student Center, Room 301A

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Present:  D. Weiss (chair), M. Narumanchi, J. Manzella, R. Vaters-Carr, O. Gulcar, S. Felsenfeld, R. Glinka, I. Antonios, L. Foss, S. Grubacic, N. Marano, N. Henderson, C. Coron, D. Marino, E. West, B. Nakamura, C. Simoneau, R. Mugno, K. Burke, M. Goralski, R. Kustin, L. Rebeschi, D. Flynn, D. Pettigrew, J. O'Hara, K. Marsland, M. Kiarie, M. Cameron, J. Sullivan, T. Lin, J. Mielczarski, G. Cochenet, A. Marsoobian, K. Rondinone, M. Shea, D. Tomasko, K. Laing, K. Mauro

Absent: S. Grace, E. Schmitt, C. Arboleda, J. McGinn, N. Disbrow, J. Irving, D. Chevan, K. Cummings, C. Broadbridge, D. Smith, G. Adams, M. Ryan, J. Fields, S. Graves, D. Bentley-Drobish, C. DiSano, M. Kennedy

I.  The meeting was called to order at 9:40 am.

II. Announcements
• D. Weiss welcomed the body to a new academic year and requested a moment of silence to commemorate Sept. 11th.
• K. Marsland announced that SCSU would be hosting the Day of Service at New Haven Reads in the Dixwell area. They are collecting backpacks and books for local students.
• G. Cochenet announced that ArtSpace, 50 Orange St is having a closed door exhibition on Sept.18th from 5-7pm with food and refreshments.  Also City-Wide Open Studios will be held the first week of October from Fri-Sun and SCSU students will be showing work on Friday Oct. 3rd from 4-8pm and Sat and Sun 10/4&5 from 12-8pm. Check the website cwos.org for more information.
• T. Lin - the Women's Studies conference Girls' Culture and Girls' Studies: Surviving, Reviving and ... will be held Oct 17&18th.  Deborah Prothrow-Stith from Harvard will be the keynote speaker.
• E. West announced that on Nov. 19th SCSU will be hosting GIS Day, the celebration for advancements in mapmaking in Adante Ballroom B. It is open to the campus and anyone is welcome to join them.
• O. Gulcar (Chemistry) - The Chemistry Seminar Series on drug development will be held every Thursday from 3-4pm in Jennings 306.
• M. Shea reminded us that the University Convocation is in the Ballroom today.
• G. Adams reminded us that we are part of the inter-university social science repository and that anyone interested in data in the social sciences could benefit from this resource.
• D. Pettigrew announced the books for the Southern Reads program:  Out of Africa, Weep Not Child, and Things Fall Apart are the chosen books.  They will be available free for students at the reserve desk in the library.
• K. Laing announced that on Sept. 19th there will be a concert in the Ballroom. Donations will be to aid victims of sex trafficking.
• K. Marsland announced that the Family/Work/Life conference is Sept. 19th.
• The WAC committee reminded faculty that all W-courses for Fall 09 are due by Nov.  1st.
III. Approval of minutes of May 8, 2008
 • Pending revisions, all approved with 5 abstentions.

IV. New Business

A.  D. Weiss introduced herself as the chair and defined the role of UCF in the Southern community.  She outlined the major goal for the semester: to discuss the Liberal Arts Program with the goal of a vote during the fall semester.  She then opened the floor for comments by UCF members on any topic.  Several topics were raised:
• J. Tait will present the Liberal Studies Program at the next meeting.
• K. Burke (Media Studies) was concerned that some FYE courses that were not math or writing related ended up being cancelled due to low enrollment, resulting in some faculty having a credit underload.
• D. Pettigrew proposed that a UCF meeting be available for faculty to present different issues/concerns with the Liberal Studies Program as it stands.
• T. Lin mentioned that we should find a way to track minors. It is currently done when the student applies for graduation.
• K. Marsland mentioned several UCF discussions.  She recommended that the by-laws ad hoc committee resolve the alternates role in voting.  She also wondered about the common course numbering issue. M. Hartog mentioned that the math department is the first to institute common course numbering.
• M. Narumanchi requested that the FYE program undergo assessment.  N. Henderson (FYE) explained that the FYE program has many assessment processes in place.
B. Standing committee introductions - Current committee chairpersons introduced their committees and discussed workload.  UCF members were then asked to choose a standing committee that they will attend on alternate Thursdays.
• NPIC
• NMC
• PRAC
• UWIC
• WACC (members by appointment only)
• By-Laws ad-hoc committee (only need 3-4 people)
• FYE ad-hoc committee (by election only)
C.  Standing committee selections by UCF representatives and alternates

V.  Adjournment at 11:00am.

These minutes respectfully submitted by Kathleen Rondinone.