Members Present: J. Campana, S. Derry J. Eglin, V.
Hedquist, C. Henderson, C. Johnston, J. Luckowski, D. McCormick, V. Pavlish D.
Potts, M. Roscoe, H. Thompson
Members
Absent/Excused: A. Szalda-Petree
Ex-Officio Present: L. Carlyon, M. Hoell, A.Walker-Andrews
Guests: Terry
Berkhouse-Director Internship Services,
Chair Luckowski called the meeting to order at
The minutes from
Old Business:
Internship Issues
Chair Luckowski explained that ASCRC is considering setting a credit cap for internship credits allowed towards a baccalaureate degree as well as mandating the credit/no credit grading option for internships. A communication was sent to department chairs requesting comments and/or an invitation to today’s discussion. The comments were distributed to members and guests for consideration.
Professor Van Driest said that he had researched how other
institutions handle the issue in preparation for the meeting. The results are quite varied. Some institutions have policies in
place. Most institutions allow some
internship credits to count towards graduation (1-12) and one allowed 15. Hours expected per credit varied as well,
from 40-100 hours per credit. UM’s
In reviewing the comments from other departments, he does not feel the
Professor Jones commented that the Information Systems and Technology program recently added a three credit internship as a requirement for the major. She argued that the breadth of experience afforded to the students in a real work environment provides for a richer experience in the classroom. Her department prefers the letter grade because it provides incentive for the student and the employer to take the work seriously. The employer evaluation of the student is critical to the assessment of the program. It provides the opportunity to review whether the program is successful in preparing students for the profession. After students are in the workforce for a few years the opportunity for feedback diminishes. She said that the employer has an opportunity to weigh in on grading, but the academic components (papers and projects) are evaluated by the faculty member who assigns the student’s grade.
Most of the internships are paid. Sixty-five to seventy-five percent of all
x98 internships are paid. The
Professor Frey expressed concern that students not be graded from the outside
(employers) who are not qualified to award grades on academic performance. She suggests the possibility of an internship
credit/no credit course coupled with a 395 graded credit for the academic
work. She surveyed the top ten
institutions and found that internships were encouraged but not required and
not allowed for academic credit. Where
used, they were not graded using a letter grade.
Director Berkhouse said the employer’s rating is only used
as information. The grading decision is
made by the faculty member. There is no
formal statement of how the employer’s input will be weighted in the grading
decision. Informally the employer’s
ratings range from good to very good. The
Several ideas were considered to improve the process. Internship credits could be taken in a
sequence to flag when a student is in a third or fourth internship. But it was pointed out that only a small
number of students are taking 7.5 or more internship credits. The grading
option for internships could be defaulted to credit/no credit, then if a
structure is in place to assess the student’s academic performance, the option
can be changed to traditional grading. A
more structured evaluation policy could be implemented.
Student member Pavlish commented that paid internships have
a monetary incentive and shouldn’t be given a letter grade. He feels similarly about lab credits. The experience is to reinforce or practice
academic instruction.
The inequality inherent in paid internships verses volunteer internships is
beyond the scope of the committee. The role of the modern university has
evolved to training specialists rather than educating generalists. Programs
have different needs and ASCRC should not be in the business of micromanaging,
but should focus on what it can address, such as how many non academic credits
should be allowed for a degree.
Director Berkhouse requested that if the committee is
interested in standardizing the title of all X98 courses, Internship Services
preference would be for “Internship.”
The guests departed and ASCRC continued its deliberations. Associate Registrar Carlyon indicated that there is a mechanism for setting the default grading option to credit/no credit and changing the option to letter grade is fairly easy. Next week the committee will try to reach agreement on whether to set a credit cap and regulate the grading option.
Declaration of a major
Just prior to the break, the committee had been asked to considered requiring
students to declare a major at 30 credits or after two semesters. The reason for the change is to increase
student retention. Little discussion
took place; some have suggested that students declare a major at 45 credits or
three semesters. The committee will try
to reach agreement on the issue next week.
New Business:
§
Chair-Elect Johnston announced that he has taken
a new job in
§
Approximately 70% of the materials for the
general education- ethics and science reviews are in and posted. Camie is conducting follow-up emails and
calls. During the writing course review it was helpful to send a final letter
to administrators indicating that courses would lose the designation if
materials were not received by a deadline.
The committee selected February 10th as the final deadline to
allow time to complete the review prior to the March Faculty Senate meeting.
Chair Luckowski will draft a letter to be distributed to chairs tomorrow.
§
The chair of Radio-TV would like the committee
to reconsider the proposal for the Preparation
for an Internship course because Journalism had a similar course approved
last year. Camie will distribute the
proposals to the committee for review at next week’s meeting.
§ There are a few late curriculum items that seem to have adequate justification for late processing. The subcommittees will be informed of these for action next week.
Committee Reports:
§
The
§
The
The meeting was
adjourned at