ASCRC Minutes 9/12/06

Members Present: B. Bach, I. Crummy, S. Derry, D. Duncan, J. Eglin, V. Hedquist, C. Henderson J. Luckowski, P. Silverman A. Szalda-Petree, A. Tabibnejad, H. Thompson

Members Absent/Excused: R. Nalty, M. Roscoe

Ex-Officio Present: M. Hoell, D. Micus, A. Walker-Andrews

Guest: Jon Tompkins, Associate Dean College of Arts and Sciences

Chair Szalda-Petree called the meeting to order at 2:14 p.m.

The minutes from 9/12/06 were amended and approved.

Communication

· Members introduced themselves. Betsy Bach, Derek Duncan, Paul Silverman, and Ali Tabibnejad were welcomed to the committee.

· Matt Roscoe has resigned from the committee and the department of Mathematics is looking for a replacement. English is also working to find a replacement for Deirdre McNamer.

· Betsy Bach may need to resign from the committee pending the outcome of the National Association of Communication’s chair election.

Unfinished Business

· Subcommittee chairs were confirmed.

· Election of chair-elect was postponed.

· Sebastian Derry declined to serve on the Academic Court. Betsy Bach agreed to serve as an alternate.

· The language added to the general education form (below) addressed the one-time-only general education policy concerns of Associate Dean Tompkins.

One-time-only general education designation may be requested for experimental courses (X95), granted only for the semester taught. A NEW request must be submitted for the course to receive subsequent general education status.

· There was considerable discussion on the general education models. Professor Eglin explained that the General Education committee formulated its models on the assumption that gen-ed courses should be foundational.

One strategy would be to closely follow the MUS core, which would effectively eliminate the ethics perspective and foreign language competency. There were comments that transfer issues should not drive the Missoula program. Flexibility should be built into the program to accommodate transfers, but the institution should retain its liberal arts foundation and ethics is legitimately included in the mission statement.

The section on department specified requirements is confusing. It was questioned whether the intent was that departments have the option not to require any foreign language. Technology and upper-division writing are required but the 10 credits of foreign language would be optional. This is unfortunate considering the increasingly global focus. Math is another area where the US is falling behind, but these arguments need to be taken to the legislature and the board of regents.

The program should be simple and transparent for students. The current approach is somewhat misleading in terms of credit requirements. The committee suggested the elimination of the requirements within the perspectives.

The student members cautioned not to narrow the course choices too much because students don’t know what they want to major in and need to be able to sample courses from different disciplines.

Another concern will be departments’ investment in restructuring general education courses. If course size significantly increases faculty may drop offerings.

Students will not become fluent in any of the general education fields; the goal is to become acquainted.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:45 p.m.