ASCRC Minutes 3/21/06

Members Present: J. Campana, S. Derry, J. Eglin, V. Hedquist, J. Luckowski,

D. McCormick, D. Potts, M. Roscoe, A. Szalda-Petree, H. Thompson, J. Prongua (new student member)

Members Absent/Excused: C. Henderson, C. Johnston

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

Guest: Dean Shirley Howell, Katie Kane, Eric Reimer, and Traolach Ó Ríordáin

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

The minutes from 3/7/06 were approved.

Communication:

· Graduate Council approved the GIS certificate; it will be on the consent agenda for the next Faculty Senate meeting.

· The Council suggests a joint meeting with ASCRC regarding the proposed degrees in Communicative Studies (Disorders) and Speech Language Pathology. Each committee should develop questions to be addressed to the author of the proposal, Dean Paul Rowland, at this joint meeting; date, time, and place to be determined.

Unfinished Business:

Irish Studies: Dean Howell requested that this be postponed to await the arrival of Associate Provost Walker-Andrews.

New Business:

· Discussion of the two proposals in Forestry was postponed because Professor Johnston, the Forestry and Biomedical Science Subcommittee chair, was absent.

· The Education and Fine Arts Subcommittee is waiting to hear back from all its members regarding the proposed BA in Communicate Studies. The concerns are mainly about cost. The University had a similar program that was cut in 1986 during retrenchment. It has been suggested that the demand for the degree(s) may not be as great as described in the proposal.

· Members expressed support for efforts by the provost’s Assessment Advisory Committee to assess General Education. Their proposed meeting of faculty who teach General Education courses, beginning with the Perspective 2 Literary and Artistic Studies this spring, could help limit confusion about what is expected of General Education courses and establish a system by which to assess General Education.

Unfinished Business:

· Chair Luckowski provided a summary of ASCRC’s consideration of the Irish Studies Minor proposal to date:

2/17/06	Proposal received in Senate Office.
2/21/06	Brief discussion at ASCRC; subcommittee received proposal
2/28/06	Dean Fetz spoke to ASCRC on behalf of the proposal
3/7/06	First subcommittee report: identification of concerns
3/14/06	Second report by the subcommittee: ASCRC asked authors of proposal to respond to concerns

Professor McCormick began discussion of the 3/19/06 addendum by the authors of the proposal (see 3/19/06 addendum). He did not request a rewrite of the proposal now before the MUS chief academic officers and the Board of Regents because he was concerned that two documents on the same topic might be confusing.

Dean Howell spoke about the proposed courses in the School of Fine Arts. She said that faculty in the School of Fine Arts are in favor of the proposal. The only courses for which there is no current staffing are the Irish dance courses. She said adjunct faculty could teach such courses. She wanted to assure ASCRC that SFA is committed to the minor and 100% in favor of the program.

Professor Kane responded to the letter from Professor Gillison, MCLL Chair (see 3/19/06 letter to ASCRC). The need for the minor is evident in the list of courses that have been taught and have had high enrollment. The HIST 249 course has had approximately 80 students each time it has been taught. She reminded the committee that the impetus for the program came from the Missoula and Butte communities. She apologized for not communicating to the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literature sooner. $37,000 is already committed to Terry Ó Ríordáin’s language courses and there is a great depth in the English Department to amply cover Irish literature. She disagrees that a reallocation of resources would be necessary, particularly in the English Department. As regards the history content, she reports that Professor Emmons has indicated the content could be integrated by the English faculty; she said that she could also teach the history content. Dean Howell thought that Professor Ó Ríordáin would be able to teach the history course as well.

Professor Ó Ríordáin explained that the President of Ireland asked whether she could inaugurate the program; this is what moved the proposal along more quickly than usual. Her visit to Missoula will undoubtedly be publicized and generate support for the program. Although Gaelic is not recognized as an international language, it is an important language to Butte, whose residents contributed to the Irish revival and the battle for an independent Irish republic. The language is important to Montana regionally. These individuals would potentially be interested in donations.

It was noted that Dean Fetz is willing to address the concern about oversight of language instruction by having a specialist come from another university, e.g., Notre Dame, to assess the courses. This is the same process that currently takes place for Persian and Arabic language instruction.

The general education considerations could be addressed by implementing a three semester, 9-credit sequence for Gaelic as a language option for general education. It was noted that students would be unlikely to choose a 3-semester alternative over a 2-semester language requirement.

Professor Reimer distributed a list of English courses that featured Irish Literature offered over the past ten years. The English Faculty are free to choose what they want to teach provided it is approved by the chair. Associate Registrar Carlyon noted how difficult it is to determine how often ENLT 321 and 322 would apply to the minor because the topics can change. This makes it impossible for the automated degree audit to be effective. It was recommended that a specific course number related to the Irish Studies Minor be implemented.

The authors of the proposal argued that there is enough cooperation among faculty and funding in place now to begin the program. There has always been a recognition that external funding would be required to grow. There are grant opportunities that are pending and potential for private gifts. The program would reinforce the connection between Montana and Ireland and give something back to the Irish-American community.

ASCRC reached consensus on the positive value of an Irish Studies minor but that the proposal as it stands is not acceptable. The committee understands the reason for the fast track and is willing to help, but the Regents should not have a proposal that has not been voted on by the faculty and there are a number of academic and resource concerns that need to be addressed.

The authors of the proposal agreed to revise the formal proposal and give it to ASCRC prior to its April 4^th meeting. Professor Thompson agreed to review the draft. The Committee hopes to be able to forward the proposal to ECOS for its April 6 meeting in anticipation of presenting it to the Faculty Senate at the April 13 meeting. It was noted that if approved, it would go to the Senate as a seconded motion. Areas that need to be addressed or strengthened are:

• Assurance from the History Department that HIST 249 or its equivalent will be taught.
• Explanation of how oversight for the language courses will be accomplished; evidence of collaboration with MCLL faculty; plan for meeting general education language requirement, or not.
• Importance of the Gaelic language, historically and today, in the U.S. and the European Union.
• Plan how the X95 courses will be made permanent and offered often enough to meet the needs of the minor; how ENLT 321 and 322 will be dependable sources of Irish literature topics.
• Syllabi for the core courses, especially, included in the minor.
• Information regarding potential funding sources.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:55.