ASCRC Minutes 3/7/06

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: Vicki Watson, Garon Smith, Kate Shanley

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

The minutes from 2/28/06 were amended and approved.

Unfinished Business:

Follow-up Natural Science General Education review

· Professor Roscoe spoke to the pending items from last week. Biology agreed that BIO 312 and 313 do not meet General Education criteria and asked to remove the courses from the list. Sufficient materials were received for the online version of BIO 100. The course includes virtual labs and the committee agreed it meets the criteria for perspective 6. Review forms have not been received for FOR 241, GEOG 102, GEOG 322, or GEOG 446. It was discussed whether the committee should try to determine whether they meet perspective 6 criteria in the absence of the review forms expected for all courses. The committee agreed that in fairness to the process, these courses will be removed from the Natural Science course list. They may be considered in the future if documentation is received.

Professor Roscoe then presented his subcommittee’s comments on the review of EVST 101. His subcommittee was in agreement that it appears to be primarily a policy course and does not meet the perspective 6 criteria. One member looked at the time spent on science compared to policy in course lectures.

Professor Watson explained that the subcommittee misinterpreted the titles of the lectures. The policies are used as a motivational aid to understand the science. She explained the various scientific principles that students need and which she teaches in the course in order to understand various applications and policies. Likewise the guest lectures introduce students to the practical use of science in their specialties. Following these explanations, the committee agreed that the course met the perspective 6 criteria. It was pointed out that a review form had not been received for the online version of EVST 101. After Professor Watson said that she had designed this course to follow her face-to-face course, the committee approved it, too.
The remaining courses presented for perspective 6 credit were approved.

Follow-up Ethics review

· The Ethics Subcommittee Chair Derry received adequate clarification for MSL 402E. An explanation was also received for Environmental Ethics 327 & 427. Credit is not allowed for both courses. Students in 327 typically do not have any background in ethics and the first part of the course is spent developing this knowledge. PHIL/EVST 427 explores issues more in depth and has another Philosophy course as a prerequisite.

The final review summary presented to the Faculty Senate is as follows:

Perspective 5 Ethical and Human Values Courses:

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
Military Science Leadership 402E
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 by departmental request:

Curriculum and Instruction 452E

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

Perspective 6 Natural Sciences:

Courses which include laboratory experience:

Astronomy 134N, 135N
Biology 100N, 107N, 109N, 110N, 120N
Chemistry 101N, 154N, 161N, 162N
Forestry 210N, 241N
Geology 101N, 106N
Microbiology 107N
Physics 121N, 122N, 221N, 222N
Science 201 & 202
Science 225N, 226N

Courses which do not include laboratory experience:

Anthropology 210N, 211N, 286N, 310N
Astronomy 131N, 132N
Biology 106N, 108N, 121N, 201N,
Chemistry 151N, 152N
Environmental Studies 101N
Forestry 170N, 271N
Geology 100N, 103N, 105N, 320N
Health and Human Performance 236N
Pharmacy 110N
Physics 141N
Psychology 270N
Science 115N, 150N
Wildlife Biology 105N

Courses deleted from the Natural Science Perspective by departmental request:

Anthropology 201N
Biology 312N, 313N
Biology 265N
Geography 112N, 426N
Geology 102N, 109N
SCN 119N

Courses removed from the Natural Science Perspective by ASCRC:

Forestry 240N (form not received)
Geography 102N, 322N, 446N (forms not received)

Communications:

· Professor Watson provided comments regarding the proposed policy limiting the number of X98 internship credits that count toward graduation. EVST would like to have the flexibility to encourage students to spend an entire semester off campus and take two or more internships for a new globalization/ international focus. Essentially the internships offer clinical experiences for their students that are difficult to design because of the interdisciplinary and diverse nature of their program. She brought handouts that demonstrate the level of mentorship provided to their students taking internships. If ASCRC’s concern is grade inflation, then limit the number of graded internships but not those taken for credit/ no credit. Many of their students wait to take a senior capstone internship, which is often when they have a reduced credit load under the tuition flat spot.

Chair Luckowski recommended that the program utilize the X90 internships and noted that the proposal is now before Faculty Senate.

· Associate Registrar Carlyon requested that ASCRC advise on a request from Military Science and History to add HIST 355 The Age of the Civil War to the list of electives for the Military Science minor. Both departments say the course was inadvertently left off the original list. The committee agreed that this is an editorial change and the course will be added to the minor.

· Professor Micheletto requested that a prerequisite of “basic computer experience” be added to her course, CRT 108 Wordprocessing. The committee agreed that this is an editorial change and the prerequisite will be added to the course.

Unfinished Business continued

· The committee has now had an opportunity to review the information pertaining to “preceptorship” courses. It is clear that programs have standards in place and there is adequate oversight. Chair Luckowski suggests that the committee report to ECOS that there does not appear to be an academic problem with such courses. She will communicate with Geography, Anthropology, and Sociology about perhaps changing the title of their courses. The term preceptor is used by other programs and departments to refer to teachers or licensed pharmacists. It may be misleading when used to describe peer leaders and aides to faculty.

· Professor Smith introduced the materials presented by the General Education Committee. The packet contains the charge to the General Education Committee, Preamble, flow chart that describes the overreaching themes of the program, model comparison, and details of the proposed models. In general all the new models reduce the number of credits required of the general education program and leave other requirements to be specified by departments. Each model addresses an area perceived to be missing from the current program. Members of the General Education Committee will be happy to join ASCRC to address questions after it has had an opportunity to consider the material.

· Professor McCormick led discussion regarding the proposed Irish Studies Minor. It seems that the administration is committed to supporting the program. In comparison to other Irish Studies minors across the country, it is unique in that it includes Irish language courses. One item that is yet to be resolved is the continued offering of HIST 249. Although Dean Fetz indicated that the Cork University exchange program may provide faculty, there is no formal agreement that these faculty will be in specific disciplines. Next year’s visiting faculty is in Geology. There is concern about the cost of a new minor; if this minor moves to a budget priority, those programs with current needs on the list will have to move down a notch. There is concern also about the large number of experimental courses listed. Will they become permanent courses and how often will they be offered? If these courses are offered regularly what does this do to faculty member’s current course offerings? Is there a reasonable expectation that 10 students (the new Regents’ requirement for a minor) will go through the minor each year? There is a concern about the number of adjunct faculty involved in the program. It was recommended that the subcommittee draft a list of questions and bring them to the next meeting. The committee can then plan a discussion with the requestors of the minor.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 PM.