ASCRC Minutes 11/15/05

Members Present: J. Campana, S. Derry J. Eglin, C. Henderson, C. Johnston, J. Luckowski, D. McCormick, D Potts, M. Roscoe, H. Thompson, A Szalda-Petree

Members Absent/Excused: C. Healow, V. Hedquist, V.Pavlish, R. Welsh

Ex-Officio Present: L. Carlyon, M. Hoell, A.Walker-Andrews

Chair Luckowski called the meeting to order at 2:10p.m.

The minutes from 11/8/05 were approved.

Communication:

Chair Luckowski informed the committee that Faculty Senate voted to approve the curriculum consent agenda and the two bylaw amendments (membership of the Graduation Appeals Committee and the General Education Committee. There were no questions.

Subcommittee chairs were reminded to give their working copies to Associate Registrar Carlyon.

New Business- Subcommittee consent agendas

Social Science Subcommittee
The Social Science Subcommittee Chair Szalda-Petree completed his presentation of proposals, a process he began 11-1. One course was not approved for general education and one proposal was removed from consideration. The other items on the summary were approved for inclusion on the consent agenda to be presented to the Faculty Senate in December.

COUN 485, Counseling theories in Context PSC 460 Human Resource Management

Course was not approved for the Social Science designation. The subcommittee determined the course was too specialized. Request to drop a prerequisite was unnecessary; the change was approved last year.

The committee discussed concerns regarding the preceptorship course in Anthropology. It was noted that other departments that have had preceptorships for academic credit for quite some time. The concern is whether these activities merit academic credit, or whether this is an avenue for departments to have students do clerical work. The psychology faculty uses a screening process to select preceptors who lead discussion groups and study sessions as well as grade exams. The experience is advantageous to students pursuing graduate study and is an excellent learning tool to master the fundamentals of a discipline. The Committee agreed that they may want to study this issue in the future to clarify expectations and provide oversight.

Old Business:

Science & Math Subcommittee –curriculum follow-up
SCN 175T was not approved for the general education designation nor for the removal of the T designation. Subcommittee chair Thompson provided a detailed, written explanation to the Committee. The major concern is that the course covers a total of 118 learning objectives, allowing approximately 17.8 minutes per objective. This is not sufficient time to develop comprehension as required in the criteria. Therefore, the course must be mainly descriptive. Other proposals, CHEM 492 & 493 [changed to 488 & 489 because of Reserved Course numbers], CS 102, and the program modification in Welding were approved.

Education and Fine Arts Subcommittee –curriculum follow-up
The remaining curriculum items in Drama were approved, the items in Music are still pending. The Chair of the Music Department will join ASCRC on 11/29/05 to discuss their pending proposals. Subcommittee chair Potts reported that the program revision in the BFA, Fine Arts, Acting option has been modified so that the total credits total 80 and therefore do not exceed the limit set by the Regents for extended majors. The Chair of the Drama department contacted Associate Registrar Carlyon regarding the renumbering of 411 to 412 and 412 to 413. She granted them an exception to the 10 year number reuse rule. These proposals were approved.

Humanities Subcommittee—curriculum follow-up

There have been some discussions between Philosophy and Religious Studies concerning PHIL 330. They may be rethinking the proposal. The Humanities Subcommittee Chair McCormick will wait to receive direction from these two programs.

Forestry and Biomedical Sciences Subcommittee—curriculum follow-up

There has been no resolution with regard to funding the necessary 1 credit lab for the nursing program. The Provost informed the College of Technology that it needs to find the funds.

Writing course review
The committee reviewed proposals for inclusion of WTS 240, PHYS 330, and AAS 372 as writing courses. The proposals were approved.

Discussion on Internships was postponed.

Graduating Catalog Language
Professor Campana distributed the following draft of language concerning students’ choice of a catalog for graduation.

Students may graduate from The University of Montana by fulfilling University General Education and department requirements as specified in the catalog in effect on the date of their enrollment, or any subsequent catalog, provided that the catalog is not more than six years old at the time of graduation. * Students who declare a new major or add minors must meet catalog requirements in effect for that major or minor when the declaration or addition occurs. Students who interrupt their attendance, for reasons and circumstances other than formally acknowledged and verified by the University**, will be governed by the catalog in effect at the time of their reenrollment, or any subsequent catalog, provided that the catalog is not more than six years old at the time of graduating. Students transferring to The University of Montana may choose to graduate under the UM catalog in effect on the date of enrollment at their original institution, provided that the UM catalog is not more than six years old and there is no interruption in attendance between leaving the original institution and enrolling at The University of Montana.

*All students should be aware that during their period of enrollment at The University of Montana general education or departmental requirements may change to comply with accreditation requirements, professional certification and licensing requirements, etc. These and all other program changes will be documented in the UM catalog issued at the start of each academic year. Though students are permitted to graduate according to a previous catalog it may be in their best interest to meet new standards in order to prepare themselves for their work after their enrollment at the University. Pharmacy students should consult the Professional Pharmacy Curriculum section in this catalog.

**Students who must interrupt their studies to perform military service or honor a religious obligation may graduate according to the program they began on the date of original enrollment. In order to reenroll under his/her original catalog students must have the reason for their interruption acknowledged and verified by the Registrar.

There was concern that the draft language would not be less cumbersome for students and advisors. According to the Associate Registrar Carlyon there have been modifications in Banner that allow for a different catalog for each degree objective in the degree audit function. This will resolve some of the previous difficulty relating to students having the option to select separate catalogs for separate degree requirements. It is unclear whether the change to a single graduating catalog would solve any real problems. Since the issue was brought to the committee by the Associate Provost Walker-Andrew and she had another meeting to attend and missed the discussion, the issue will be on the next agenda for full discussion.

The Committee briefly discussed a desirable deadline for submission of the forms and syllabi for the review of perspective 5 and 6. The communication will go out on Friday electronically for a deadline of January 16, 2006 and paper copies will be sent after the Thanksgiving break.

There will be no meeting next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

The committee was adjourned at 4:00 PM.