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Undergraduate Curriculum Forum

Notifications Management Committee Minutes

December 9, 2004

Present:  Karen Burke, Nancy Disbrow, Jane Feng, Rich Glenka, Roy Hunter, Lynn Kohrn, Gregory Kowalczyk, Kathy Mauro, Troy Rondinone, Michele Vancour (recorder)

The committee discussed five proposals: NUR 467, WMS 403, EXS 308, EXS Human Performance Program, and EXS Athletic Training.


NUR 467 was discussed at the last meeting and recommendations were made that the course description be correlated to the course overview, and that "I" statements be changed under the section titled 'general policies'.  The committee reviewed the revised proposal at this meeting, and a motion was made to approve this course.


Motion - Karen Burke, Second - Roy Hunter

Motion passed 6-0 (only 6 committee members present at this time)

WMS 403 was brought before the committee previously, but the recommendation was that review/approval be sought from the Institutional Review Board, as the course required students to interview professional women and post the product on the Internet for public access.  After being notified that the course was under IRB review, a motion was made to approve this course.


Motion - Karen Burke, Second - Nancy Disbrow

Motion passed 7-0 (only 7 committee members present at this time)

A new course proposal was received and reviewed for EXS 308: Essentials of Strength and Conditioning.  This course is an addition to the EXS Human Performance and Athletic Training.  A motion was made to approve EXS 308.


Motion - Nancy Disbrow, Second - Karen Burke

Motion passed 8-0 (only 8 committee members present at this time)

A revised program proposal was received and reviewed for EXS Athletic Training Education Program.  The revision called for the addition of EXS 308 as a program requirement.  A motion was made to approve the revisions.


Motion - Nancy Disbrow, Second - Lynn Kohrn

Motion passed 8-0 (only 8 committee members present at this time)


A revised program proposal was received and reviewed for EXS Human Performance.  The proposal deleted several skills courses (i.e. Volleyball and Modern Dance); added three new required courses, including EXS 308; and reduced the elective credit load by 3.5 credits.  A motion was made to approve the revisions.


Motion - Karen Burke, Second - Troy Rondinone

Motion passed 8-1 (one abstention)


The committee discussed several course-related issues: 1) the range of time equivalent to one credit hour, 2) changes made to course learning objectives, 3) department listings of special topics courses in the current academic catalog, 4) responsible party for determining IRB review, and 5) tracking course changes once the CEPR form becomes extinct.


  1. It was made known to the committee that the minimum amount of time a one-credit course can meet for is 12.5 hours or 37.5 hours for a three-credit course.  However, the committee is unaware of an upper time limit.  This may prove problematic for a department trying to determine under what time circumstances a three-credit becomes a four-credit course.  This issue also is a concern for other types of courses (i.e. practicums, internships, labs).  A recommendation was made to contact the Senate President for clarification.
  2. There was discussion about departments' and instructors' freedom to change learning objectives without needing to complete a revised course proposal.  The committee determined that changes made to learning objectives fall under the departments' responsibility.  All departments should regularly assess their courses, determining if the learning objectives are appropriate to their measurement and in relation to their field.
  3. It was observed that various departments list course descriptions for Special Topics 298, 398, and/or 498 in the current academic catalog.  The department of a committee member recently misunderstood the presence of this course listing in the catalog and assumed that a Special Topics course could be offered without approval from the appropriate UCF-committee.  The committee discussed various options for making it known that all Special Topics courses need to be approved prior to the initial offering.  Also, some of the committee members thought that the course descriptions for Special Topics in the current academic catalog were misleading to students, since they will never match the real (approved) Special Topics course descriptions.  It was recommended that Special Topics be added to the Flow of Proposals Form on-line.
  4. Roy noted that departments should be responsible for potential problems with course proposals, like the need for IRB review.  Other committee members agreed.
  5. Now that CAP is in effect, CEPR forms have no purpose, and will become extinct.  The committee acknowledged that another system for tracking program changes will need to be created.  Karen volunteered to bring in a model the Media Studies Department uses to track program changes for review by the committee.


Motions:

New course NUR 467 be approved.

New course WMS 403 be approved.

New course EXS 308: Essentials of Strength and Conditioning be approved.

Revised program EXS Athletic Training Education Program be approved.

Revised program EXS Human Performance be approved.