ASCRC Minutes 2/28/06

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

Members Absent/Excused: none

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

Guest: Dean Fetz

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

The minutes from 2/21/06 were amended and approved.

Communications:

· Dean Fetz will be joining the meeting at 3:00 to address questions related to the Irish Studies minor proposal.

Scheduled Business- General Education Review

· The Ethics Subcommittee Chair Derry noted how difficult it was to get response from the subcommittee members. Regarding the review of Perspective 5 courses: He thinks it would be helpful to have examples of the student learning outcomes included on the ASCRC review forms. The committee requested more information concerning several courses: MCLL 365, Phil 200 & 300, and MSL402. The committee was satisfied with the explanations from modern/classical languages and philosophy; they are still waiting for a response from military science.

Chair Luckowski asked if the members of the subcommittee might provide suggestions for revising the criteria. Committee members raised the distinction between core and specialized courses. Does the distinction mean anything in the current general education program?

The committee voted to put the following courses on the next Faculty Senate agenda:

Ethics courses approved:
Core:

Forestry 489E
History 335E
Liberal Studies 325E
Modern and Classical Literatures 365E
Philosophy 200E, 201E, 300E
Political Science 150E, 350E

Specialized:

Anthropology 403E
Communications 210E
Computer Science 415E
Computer Technology 122E
Curriculum and Instruction 407E
Environmental Studies 327E, 427E
Health and Physical Education 475E
History 226E, 334E, 460E

Pharmacy 514E
Philosophy 223E, 325E, 327E, 421E, 422E, 427E, 429E, 441E, 443E
Political Science 130E, 353E,
Social Work 410E

Specialized Non Western:

Native American Studies 301E, 303E
Religious Studies 301E

Courses deleted from the Ethics Perspective 5 by departmental request:
Curriculum and Instruction 452E

African-American Studies 368E
Health Science 440E
Liberal Studies 350E
Political Science 433E
Surgical Technology 204E

Course pending adequate justification:

Military Science Leadership 402E

· The Science Subcommittee Chair Roscoe said it was sometimes difficult to discern whether a course met the criteria from the responses on the ASCRC review form. Often a syllabus was submitted for the lab but not the lecture or vice versa. He agreed that examples of the student learning outcomes would be helpful and that the criteria are in need of revision. The subcommittee had questions about several courses, listed below. The review was interrupted to allow for discussion on the Irish Studies Minor.

BIOL 100 (online)	A form and syllabus was not received.	hold
BIOL 107	Course description requires editorial correction: department is not enforcing pre/co-requisite.	approve
BIOL 312 & 313	Too many prerequisites. Check with instructor.	delete
CHEM 101	Syllabus needed for lecture, doesn’t appear to meet the criteria.	hold
ANTH 286	Doesn’t appear to meet criteria. Focus too narrow.	hold
EVST 101	Doesn’t appear to meet criteria. Mainly a survey/policy/methods course.	hold

Natural Science Courses approved:

Courses with a laboratory experience:

Astronomy 134N, 135N
Biology 100N, 107N, 109N, 110N, 120N, 312N, 313N
Chemistry 154N, 161N, 162N
Forestry 210N
Geology 101N, 106N
Microbiology 107N
Physics 121N, 122N, 221N, 222N
Science 201 & 202
Science 225N, 226N

Courses without a laboratory experience:

Anthropology 210N, 211N, 286N, 310N
Astronomy 131N, 132N
Biology 106N, 108N, 121N, 201N,
Chemistry 151N, 152N

Courses deleted from the Natural Science Perspective by departmental request:
Anthropology 201N
Biology 265N
Geography 112N
Geology 102N, 109N
Forestry 240N

Courses pending follow-up:
BIOL 100 –online
BIOL 312 & 313
CHEM 101
EVST 101

Courses not yet considered:
Forestry 170N, 241N 271N
Geography 102N, 322N, 446N
Geology 100N, 103N, 105N, 320N
Health and Human Performance 236N
Pharmacy 110N
Physics 141N
Psychology 270N
Science 115N, 150N
Wildlife Biology 105N

Unfinished Business

· The Humanities and Cultural Studies Subcommittee Chair McCormick reported that the subcommittee has had one face-to-face meeting. He reported having met with Katie Kane, Erik Reimer and Terry Ó Ríordáin this morning; they told him that the interest in Irish studies has come from faculty and the community and has been talked about for several years. The subcommittee has questions about the inclusion of core courses that are experimental and taught by adjunct or retired faculty. They are concerned about the impact of such a minor on the affected departments and the number of credit hours (3) for the Irish language courses. Existing introductory language courses are 5 credits; the 3 credit courses would not satisfy the foreign language competency requirement.

Dean Fetz explained that the reason the proposal is being presented now is the expected visit to Missoula in May by the president of Ireland and the president of University College Cork. He believes that this is an opportunity to develop a relationship with Ireland and eventually bring significant financial resources to UM. He believes it would be to the University’s advantage to have an Irish Studies minor approved, or close to approval, by May 2006.

He noted that most of the courses listed for the minor appear as X95 experimental courses. The faculty involved in the proposal hope to build interest in the program. The expectation is that tenure-track positions will be forthcoming. David Emmons, a retired history professor, has agreed to teach HIST 249 The Irish and Irish Americans on a regular basis, for several years. Dean Fetz believes that University College Cork faculty are interested in coming to teach as well. When asked about who would serve as a leader in developing the minor, he said that he expects Professor Katie Kane would do so. When asked which department would host the minor, he said the English Department would. When asked about the source of funds for the minor, especially tenure-track faculty, he said that vacancy savings would likely be available. When asked where the proposed “endowment” would come from he said that he believes there is interest in Montana of providing such funds and a proposal to fund the program has been given to the Irish Government.

Dean Fetz compared the beginning of a new language option such as this to what is happening with Italian and Arabic; he compared the proposed minor to Central and Southwest Asian Studies. He noted the provost’s great interest in this minor and expects it to receive priority status in the budgeting process. The establishment of permanent courses will go through the regular review process.

Subcommittee chair McCormick asked for clarification of how his subcommittee should proceed. Chair Luckowski said that even though the proposal may be taken to the Board of Regents or their subcommittees at their March meetings, ASCRC’s normal processes would be followed. We will wait for his subcommittee to review the proposal.

Good and Welfare - Communication

· Professor Potts reported that some members of ECOS have been contacted by EVST faculty with concerns regarding the proposed internship policy. Several members of ECOS asked whether ASCRC would consider a friendly amendment to the motion to allow 6 credits of graded X98 internships and an additional 3 credits for CR/NCR, or to change the limit to 9 credits. The committee did not find adequate justification to change the proposed policy.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:10 PM.