ASCRC Minutes 9/5/06

Members Present: I. Crummy, J. Eglin, V. Hedquist, C. Henderson J. Luckowski, A. Szalda-Petree, H. Thompson

Members Absent/Excused: B. Bach, S. Derry, M. Roscoe, P. Silverman

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

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

The minutes from 5/2/06 were approved.

Communication

· Members introduced themselves. Ione Crummy, MCLL and Registrar David Micus were welcomed to the committee.

· Projects for the committee this year include continuing efforts on general education, on-line course review and grade inflation. The first priority is agreeing on a general education model or models to send forward to ECOS and departments to initiate campus-wide discussions.

Unfinished Business (postponed for new business)

New Business:

o Possible subcommittee chairs were identified and asked if they were willing to serve. The chairs of Business & Journalism, Social Science, and Ethics have not been confirmed because the nominees were not in attendance.

Education & Fine Arts	Jean Luckowski
Humanities & Cultural Studies	John Eglin
Business & Journalism	Betsy Bach
Forestry, Pharmacy & Health Sci	Colin Henderson
Science & Math	Holly Thompson
Social & Behavioral Science	Paul Silverman
Ethics	Sebastian Derry

· The committee nominated Valerie Hedquist and Sebastian Derry to serve on Academic Court.

· Nominations for chair-elect were postponed.

· Chair Szalda-Petree received a letter from Associate Dean Jon Tomkins regarding the interpretation of ASCRC’s one-time-only general education designation policy. An experimental courses that received the writing designation one year, was offered a second year, but the instructor was not aware that he had to reapply for general education status and the students were expecting the course to meet the writing designation due to word-of-mouth communication. The policy potentially creates difficulties for advising.

After discussion ASCRC decided that the one-time-only Gen Ed policy for X95 courses should remain in current form and be reviewed again after the general education program is reconfigured. The committee considered disallowing Gen Ed designation for X95 courses and allowing Gen Ed designation to follow an X95 course with a change in the rubric.

Language will be added to the general education form to clarify the policy. A draft will be available for the committee to review next week. The instructor should make clear to the students in the class that the Gen Ed designation is for that specific offering only.

Unfinished Business

· Chair Szalda-Petree asked members to review the general education model(s) in hopes of making a decision next week.

There was concern raised about the American Indian Education issue. The legislature is focusing on K-12 and there is much misinformation spreading about the laws requirement. The issue has political, funding, image, and recruitment implications and should be taken seriously.

Communication continued:

· Associate Provost Walker-Andrews provided the committee with an on-line course update. Next semester on-line courses will move to traditional funding. Last year the University had to return money to the state because it did not make its FTE projections -- students were taking fewer credits. However, it was discovered that students are taking online courses in addition to traditional courses so it is reasonable to include online courses as part of the regular curriculum.

The review of online courses will be difficult because there are only a few faculty who would be able to effectively evaluate the quality of the courses. ASCRC will have to set up a separate subcommittee with individuals with expertise in online teaching methods.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:36 p.m.