NPIC Committee Minutes (amended 10-25-01)
Oct 18, 2001

Present: T. Paddock (chair), C. Wieder, P. Hawley, M. Spence

Special Topics notifications received:

 ART 298 Roman Art
 COM 298 Communication: Focus on Television
 COM 498 Strategic Advertising Campaigns
 HIS 298 Islamic Fundamentalism
 JST 298 Introduction to Prophetic Literature
 JST 298 Hebrew II
 JST 298 Literature of the Holocaust
 JST 498 Ethnic Humor, Jewish & Other

As requested by J. Tait, the committee discussed the merits of increasing the levels of special topic shell courses departments can use from two to three and then passed the following resolution.

Resolution:

Whereas in the Spring of 2001 the UCF clarified the parameters for levels of course numbering,

and whereas the departments are currently restricted to two of the possible three levels available as a matter of policy,

and whereas the purpose of special topic shell courses is to encourage experimentation at all levels of course development,

therefore, be it resolved that all three levels of special topic shell courses (298, 398, 498) shall be made available to the departments at their discretion.

Re: Proposal for a Minor in Latin American and Caribbean Studies

The committee generally viewed the proposal very favorably. Yet, a number of questions arose.

 What kinds of logistical issues arise with interdisciplinary minors and how will these issues be addressed? (e.g., administrative commitment, housing of the program, implications for departmental resources, FTE credit for coordinators, etc).
 Will students be tempted to take the path of least resistance and choose 200 level courses over 300 level courses since both are available?

The following sentence in the catalog may be confusing to the reader and is in fact not necessary: "Students who do not wish to take the entire minor may elect any courses for which they are qualified".

Submitted

Patricia Hawley