Undergraduate Curriculum Forum

Minutes
Adanti Student Center, Room 301A
Thursday, April 1, 2010

 

Present: D. Weiss (Chair), K. McGill, B. Phelan, L. Carlson, S. Felsenfeld, R. Glinka, L. Foss,  S. Grubacic, M. Hartog, L. Bower, T. Radice, G. Bogel, C. Simoneau, J. Hong, R. Kustin, J. Irving, J. Strawn, D. Flynn, R. Cain, K. Gatzke, K. Marsland, P. Kahlbaugh, D. Smith, G. Adams, E. Keenan, L. Nye, S. Lotorre, T. Lin, J. Mielczarski, M. Fede, K. Barnett, G. Cochenet, A. Marsoobian, A. Reynaga, K. Laing, N. Cassidy, K. Rondinone

Absent: M. Narumanchi, M. Das, O. Gulacar, I. Antonios, A. Abugri, N. Marano, M. McClain, J. Fullmer, E. West, B. Nakamura, C. Dellinger-Pate, G. Brady, K. Cummings, J. O'hara, J. Tait, M. Kiarie, W. Elwood, G. Cochenet, S. Graves. M. Shea, P. Beals, S. Clerc, D. Bentley-Drobish, B. Kalk

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

II. Announcements
• T. Lin announced the 19th Annual Women's Studies Conference Friday April 16 and 17th.
• K. Marsland announced the rescheduled talks on Art Therapy for Mon. April 5 and the Child Life program on Wed. April 7th.
• K. Laing asked that we remind the advisees that they need to register for graduation by May 1st.  Students begin registration on April 13th.
• A. Marsoobian announced the Lecture Series with Yale on April 21, 22, and 23 with international philosophers speaking.
• D. Flynn announced the documentary about the Guatamala trip will be screened on Tuesday at 3:15 in the auditorium.

III. Approval of UCF minutes of March 11, 2010 - all approved with no abstentions.

IV. Standing committee reports (minutes and committee motions)
a. NPIC - did not meet
b. NMC - minutes received; several courses sent to UWIC
• Motion to approve:
Revised Course Proposals
HON 494 - Honors Prospectus
HON 495 - Departmental Honors
PSY 331 - Tests and Measurements
PSY 490 - Seminar for Psychology Majors
REC 331 - Programming Therapeutic Recreation Services
REC 391 - Interventions and Facilitation Techniques
REC 431 - Current Practices in Therapeutic Recreation
• All approved the courses.
c. PRAC - minutes received
• Motion: That the UCF accept the PRAC report that Economics and Finance has conditional approval.
• All accepted report.
d. UWIC - minutes received
• Motion: Hebrew I and II be approved as AUR courses.
• All approved motion.
e. WACC - minutes received; The Writing Center may be cut due to budgetary reasons.
• Motion: to approve the following courses as W courses:
Course:  PSY 259 Statistics in Psychology  Faculty:  D. Carroll
Course:  ENG 371 Literature into Film   Faculty:  A. Darrington
• All approved courses
• Motion as a block (see attached motions):
Motion for Writing Across the Curriculum Committee members to be elected during regularly-scheduled university-wide elections (please see attached motion).

Motion for UCF to approve a permanent Director of the Writing Across the Curriculum Program position.
• All approved with one abstention.

V. Ad hoc reports - GETF minutes - Jim Tait

Tabled until next meeting

VI. New Business - Wendy Chang from IT department came to answer questions from members. Some of the topics discussed were:
• The previous email addresses for students will continue to be forwarded to their new email addresses until October 1st of next semester.
• eLearning Vista will be replaced by 2012 because the company has stopped producing this software.  The new replacement program will be able to forward emails from within the program to faculty emails.
• Faculty email memory capacity will be increased in the fall.
• The rumor that Mac support or availability of Macs will be discontinued is false.  In fact, attempts are being made to hire an additional Mac support person.  Faculty expressed some concerns with technical support for Mac computers used in classrooms.
• The question was raised as to why faculty and students can no longer forward university mail to their personal emails or PDAs.  Dr. Chang explained that the Board of Trustees voted to disallow this practice.

These minutes are respectfully submitted by Kathleen Rondinone.  These minutes have been approved.
 
Writing Across the Curriculum Committee (WACC)
Membership Motion

Members
The WACC will comprise nine voting members, with one from each school and the remainder at-large. There shall be no more than one voting member per department.

The committee will include the following non-voting ex-officio members: Director of the University Writing Across the Curriculum Program, Coordinator of the Writing Center, and one member of the English Department Composition Steering Committee.

WACC members will have a demonstrated commitment to the concepts and implementation of the SCSU WAC program (e.g., interest in or experience with teaching "W" sections, teaching with writing in non-"W" sections, experience with WAC/Writing in the Disciplines in other contexts) prior to becoming a member of the WACC.

Chairperson
At the end of the spring semester, the voting members of the committee shall elect a chair to serve a one-year term with a limit of three consecutive terms.

Absenteeism

Members shall inform the chairperson of any anticipated absences from meetings.

In the event of recurring scheduling conflicts, members shall make arrangements to participate via email by submitting their proposal reviews and comments on other agenda items at least 24 hours prior to each missed meeting and by scheduling a follow-up discussion with the chairperson within one week of each missed meeting.

Given the importance of attendance, membership in the committee shall be terminated by the WACC for any member who misses more than three meetings in a semester without just cause (subject to appeal to the UCF Steering Committee).

If membership is terminated, an interim representative from the same school will be selected by the UCF Steering Committee In consultation with the school to complete the remainder of the original member's term.  The interim will serve until the next regularly scheduled election, at which time a representative from the school will be elected to complete the original term.

Elections
Each spring, three new members shall be elected to three-year terms with the terms beginning in the fall.

The selection of new members to the WACC shall take place during the regularly-scheduled spring university-wide elections administered by the Faculty Senate.

Interested faculty shall declare their candidacy for either a school-wide or an at-large position, but not for both.

For the school-specific positions, only members within that school shall vote.

Members shall be allowed to run for consecutive terms.

Alternates who have replaced a member during a given year shall be allowed to run for election as a member.
 
 Motion to approve a permanent Director of the
University Writing Across the Curriculum Program Position

Whereas SCSU exists for the primary purpose of furthering academic excellence;

and whereas the Writing Across the Curriculum Program was instituted as a mechanism for engendering such excellence

and whereas the Director of the University Writing Across the Curriculum Program (WAC) has been an interim position since the UCF approved the formation of the WAC program; 

and whereas this position is one of considerable responsibility, since the director oversees the running of the WAC program and WAC office, and works closely with the WAC committee, a standing committee of the UCF;

and whereas it is desired that the structure of the WAC Director position be aligned with both the FYE and LEP program director positions.

therefore be it resolved that a permanent position be created for a WAC Director; 

Be it further resolved that:

 the WAC Director be chosen from the faculty at large or hired following a national search. 
 candidates be full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty members, familiar with campus policies and procedures, and knowledgeable of the writing across the curriculum guidelines and budgeting practices.
 candidates have excellent written and oral communication skills, be efficient and well-organized, and have experience with academic program coordination. 
 the proposed term of appointment be 3 years:  July 1 - June 30th with the possibility of renewal. 
 compensation include:  9 credits reassigned time each Fall and Spring; 3 credits Summer.

Be it further resolved that the primary duties and responsibilities of the WAC Director include but not be limited to:

• Providing overall administrative leadership for and oversight of the Writing Across the Curriculum Program;
• Implementing policies and procedures developed by the WAC Committee;
• Working collaboratively with members of WACC to review and modify as needed the guidelines and procedures by which faculty develop Writing Intensive Courses; Providing guidance to faculty and departments in developing new courses or revising existing courses to meet the requirements of WAC;
• Developing support programs and workshops for faculty who teach with writing;
• Securing resources;
• Maintaining an active and up-to-date WAC Website and handling all publicity for workshops and other WAC-sponsored events;
• Processing student W-Waiver-applications;
• Maintaining a partnership with the Chair of WACC and the UCF chair;
• Maintaining records of Waivers & Workshop activities;
• Managing the WAC budget;
• Managing the WAC office including hiring and supervising student worker(s);
• Responding to WAC voicemails & emails;
• Serving as a liaison between the University Provost and the WAC committee;
• Developing and conducting program reviews and outcome assessments;
• Addressing student and faculty questions about WAC and/or related problems that may arise e.g., handling of transfer of student issues;
• Serving as the spokesperson for WAC at UCF meetings together with the chairperson of the WAC committee;
• Interfacing with the Writing Center Coordinator to support students who are writing in courses across the curriculum;
• Interfacing with regional WAC groups (e.g. NEWACC) and attending WAC conferences.