ASCRC Minutes 3/14/06

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

Members Absent/Excused: C. Johnston

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

Guest: Karen Adams, Assessment Advisory Committee

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

The minutes from 3/7/06 were approved.

Communication:

· Chair Luckowski provided an update from the March 9 Faculty Senate meeting.

RTV 489 Preparing for an Internship and both policy changes were approved following debate.

· Associate Provost Walker-Andrews and Professor Adams introduced a project of the Assessment Advisory Committee. They described a process by which they hope to bring faculty together to discuss objectives and assessment of General Education. They hope to begin with discussion of Perspective 2, Literary and Artistic Studies courses, in anticipation of ASCRC’s review of Perspective 2 next year.

They believe that faculty are sometimes unclear how to justify how a course is meeting specific general education outcomes. Over time, they hope to develop exemplary syllabi and models of effective assessment tools for general education.

This will provide assistance to new faculty who inherit general education courses plus fulfill the need to show how the university is assessing its general education goals. The 2005 Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities recommended that improve its assessment of general education. The Assessment Advisory Committee hopes their process will engage faculty and build in assessment that is faculty generated and can be piloted while the general education program is being reviewed.

It was suggested that the proposal also go to the General Education Committee. There were questions regarding how the data would be collected and reported. It is presumed that an additional section could be added to the general education review form. Another workgroup from the Assessment Advisory Committee is working on a pedagogy survey.

Unfinished Business:

· The Irish Studies Minor was discussed. Professor McCormick provided additional information (see his memo to ASCRC, March 12, 2006). He further reported that Professor Emmons is willing to teach HIST 249, a core course in the proposed minor, in 2006, 2008, and 2010. There does not appear to be faculty ready to teach the proposed courses in Drama/ Dance and the Fine Arts dean has indicated the courses could not be offered without additional resources. The resource issue would also be true for the proposed Music course, although a current faculty member is interested.

Resources to provide the minor remain a concern. In 4-5 years, without new resources, the program could create a mandate on current faculty and programs that is worrisome. Additional concerns voiced: many courses do not yet exist or are undefined courses (e.g., ENLT 321 Studies in a Major Author) that may or may not focus on Irish Studies in a given semester; two of the core courses (Irish Language Studies I and II) are taught by an adjunct faculty member; and one of the core courses is taught by a retired faculty member. The potential loss of an academic opportunity contrasts with questions of academic oversight and potential reallocation of resources in already-starved programs.

Chair Luckowski asked if the Committee would prefer to make a statement of support of the concept of the Irish Studies minor to assist those who will meet with potential funding sources this May. The Committee did not choose to do this; they agreed that we should proceed with a standard review of the proposal. Professor McCormick will meet with the authors of the proposal and suggest revisions to address concerns listed above.

New Business:

· The two proposals in Forestry were not discussed because Professor Johnston, the Forestry and Biomedical Science Subcommittee chair was absent.

· The proposed BA in Communicate Studies has been disseminated to the Education and Fine Arts Subcommittee, but it has not yet been discussed.

Committee Reports:

· Professor Hedquist reported on the Writing Committee’s activities. PSC 300, a one credit course designed to be taken by students in conjunction with another PSC course, was not approved as a Writing course. It was inadvertently left out of the fall review. The Director of Composition Kate Ryan provided the committee with an introduction to a new writing collective that includes herself, Mark Medvets, Cathy Corr, and Heather Bruce. The committee will continue discussing ways to improve writing and work on better criteria for writing courses.

Chair Luckowski asked the committee to review the general education models. She suggested that ASCRC decide on one model or a combination of the models to disseminate to departments for discussion, and then to the Faculty Senate.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 PM.