ASCRC Minutes 2/21/06

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

Members Absent/Excused: J. Campana, S. Derry, V. Hedquist

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

Guest: Nancy Mattina, Director Writing Center; Kathy Kane, English Department;

Len Broberg- Chair EVST

Chair Luckowski called the meeting to order at 2:13p.m.

The minutes from 2/14/06 were approved.

Communications:

· Associate Provost Arlene Walker-Andrews explained the reason for the rush requested on the Irish Studies minor review. There are a number of dignitaries from Ireland expected to visit campus in May and those responsible for the idea of an Irish Studies minor are eager to be able to show progress toward its approval. She pointed out that Level II proposals (such as this one) are only reviewed by the Regents a few times a year. The proposals first go to the Chief Academic Officers and then to the Regents. Occasionally a proposal will go to the Chief Academic Officers prior to approval by faculty governance, but can still be pulled from the Regents agenda.

Professor Kane explained that the minor has been discussed for years. There have been numerous meetings with Dean Fetz, the Director of International Programs and the Provost. She said that faculty from different departments have been involved. Professor Eglin was surprised he hadn’t heard of the proposal before today.

The subcommittee received the proposal February 17 and will pursue the normal review process. The proposal will be sent to the entire committee for consideration.

· The Director of the Writing Center, Nancy Mattina, provided the committee with an overview of the Writing Center activities. She briefly explained the data tables included in the report. Some of her observations include: the new location receives a lot of walk-in traffic not included in the tutoring figures; the use of writing assistants in writing courses helps satisfy the revising requirement; students would benefit from expansion of the writing assistant program; the Center offers two sections of UNC 270 Critical Writing each semester (capped at 22 students); she would like to expand the pilot mentoring program beyond EOP students to those having difficulty passing the WPA.

Administration and results of the UDWPA were a focus of discussion. The overview document contains student performance data by semester from Autumn 2002 through Autumn 2005. There was more detailed data on student attributes for the September and October 2005 exam. Of concern is the significant number of students who register for the exam but do not take it. This is a waste of resources. Director Mattina has started to send communications with mild threats that mention implementing a fee. Only 15% of the students taking the exams had between 45-70 credits. This is a low compliance rate with the policy. The majority have over 90 credits. Approximately 40% of students taking the exam have not taken an ENEX course. This alleviates some of the blame placed on the composition program for students’ poor writing. The data does not show how many of these students have taken the exam more than once.

The Writing Centers programs and services demonstrate what is being done about the perceived crisis in writing. There are more lower-division writing courses with sufficient content to make a difference in students’ writing. It is important that students who need more instruction are directed to these courses. As well, Director Mattina says she hopes the Center can do more in faculty development.

New Business:

· Chairs of the Social Science and Forestry/Biomedical subcommittees reviewed the proposal for a GIS Sciences and Technologies Undergraduate Certificate Program in Geography and Forest Management. Students would not get the certificate without the completion of an undergraduate degree. They recommended a minor editing change for clarity but otherwise support the proposal. There are two courses with experimental numbers that will need to be changed to permanent numbers. The committee unanimously approved the proposal.

Old Business

· Information has been collected concerning “preceptorship” courses from chemistry, psychology, and sociology. Chair Luckowski suggested it appears that departments have procedures in place to supervise students; the use of the term “preceptor” may be the major issue? It was asked whether grading is part of the responsibilities in the various programs. Camie will gather comments from anthropology and geography and forward all information to the committee members for consideration next week.

· The Chair of EVST, Len Broberg, left information for the committee concerning the number of EVST students taking over 6 credits of X98 internship credits: from FY 2003 to 2005, 26 EVST students took two or more X98 internships totaling 7-8 credits. None were for a letter grade. According to the Internship Services report for that period, a total of 327 EVST students enrolled in X98 internships. In light of this the committee did not see the proposed 6 credit maximum as a significant problem for EVST students or faculty.

· The Biomedical Science Subcommittee Chair Johnston reported that apparently the funding has been found for the 1 credit lab needed for the nursing program. However, the chair of Chemistry does not have adequate documentation from the administration that this is the case and has not signed off on the proposal. The other details have been worked through.

Good and Welfare

· Chair Luckowski asked whether anyone was aware of the General Education Assessment initiative detailed in the Academic Bulletin. Associate Provost Walker-Andrews chairs the General Education Assessment Committee that was created in response to the Northwest’s Accreditation report that recommended “general education be assessed as an integrated whole in relationship to the goals of the general education program. It is important for those involved with the general education review to devise a way for the overall goals of general education be assessed as a whole”.-Provost Muir 4/14/05 Faculty Senate Meeting

· Chair Luckowski inquired how the committee envisions the General Education Committee’s work going to the Senate and distributed across campus for consideration. It was suggested that the information go to the Senate and department chairs at the same time. One of the General Education Workgroups is proposing a general education structure similar to a program or a department because for continuity.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 PM.