New Programs & Innovations (NPIC)

Meeting Minutes from 12/5/02 (amended)

Members Present: Sandy Lueder, Judith Mills, Troy Paddock (chair), Chuck Wieder, Nathan Wilder

The following 5 special topics courses were entered into the record for Fall 2003:

HIS 298 Canada since Confederation

HIS 398 (01) American Environmental History

HIS 398 (02) The Balkans

HIS 398 (03) Ancient Greece

HIS 398 (04) Military History through Film

Agenda:

Interdisciplinary Minors:

Having completed the guidelines for Area Studies minors, the committee turned its attention to the general question of interdisciplinary minors. The consensus of the members present was that current guidelines (no hidden pre-requisites and at least one 300 or 400 level class) should apply to all interdisciplinary minors. The bulk of the discussion centered on the minimum number of departments required to participate in any interdisciplinary minor. The committee consensus was that if two departments were willing to commit to creating a minor, then that would be sufficient.

A formal proposal for guidelines for interdisciplinary minors will be taken up by the committee next semester.

The second major topic of discussion was about the role of minors in the curriculum. The consensus was that UCF as a whole should take up this discussion next semester. One of the key early issues is the tracking of minors. At this time, there is no university-wide policy about the declaration or tracking of minors. The committee feels that an important first step would be to ask departments to formalize the procedure for declaring minors. At this time, some do require this (e.g. Exercise Science), while many, perhaps the majority, do not. This information would be useful for departments and the university as whole.

Submitted by

Troy Paddock