ASCRC Minutes 4/1/08

Members Present: J. Blunt, I. Crummy, J. Graham, S. Lodmell, J. Luckowski, P. Muench, M. Nielsen, L. Tangedahl, H. Thompson, G. Weix

Members Absent/Excused: R. Bangadi, E. Henderson, M. Hoell, K. Nalty, P. Silverman S. Smillie, A. Walker-Andrews

Ex-Officio Present: D. Micus

Chair Thompson called the meeting to order at 2:10 p.m.

The minutes from 3/11/08 were amended and approved.

Communications:

· Chair-Elect Weix will present ASCRC items at next week’s Faculty Senate meeting. Chair Thompson will be at a conference.

· Modern and Classical Languages and Literature will discuss the placement exam proposal within the department and consult Registrar Micus. It will come back to ASCRC with a better thought out plan.

· Follow-up is still pending on a few service learning courses

Business Items:

Curriculum Follow-up

· The issue regarding ENLT/ENFM 320 has been resolved. Therefore it will be on the consent agenda next week’s Faculty Senate meeting.

Chair Thompson is working through the paperwork to correct the errors on the Central and Southwest Asian Studies proposals. The corrected forms should be approved next week so that the corrections can be put on the consent agenda.

Review of General Education Criteria and Outcomes

· ASCRC discussed the drafts submitted by the General Education Committee and suggested several minor revisions (See draft below). It was recommended that the main secular traditions in the Ethics requirement be defined. The committee agreed that some of the language flushed out by the subcommittee should be added to the criteria (in italics in the draft). The draft was sent electronically for the committee to consider. The drafts were approved to be sent to ECOS and the Faculty Senate.

It was recommended that there be an open faculty forum to discuss the criteria and learning outcomes prior to the vote at the Faculty Senate meeting in May.

Good and Welfare

None

The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

Group III
Students are encouraged to complete their modern and classical language or symbolic systems courses
early, so that they can apply those skills to upper division coursework.

Group III Modern and Classical Languages Courses must encompass the comprehensive study of a natural language other than written or spoken contemporary English.
Criteria: Courses must encompass the comprehensive study of a natural language, excluding written, spoken contemporary English, with the aim of achieving at least a basic functional competency in that language. The course should follow a rigorous and pedagogically sound methodology and practice. Language courses proposed outside of current MCLL offerings must be approved by the MCLL Department. American Sign Language qualifies.	Learning Goals: Upon completion of the Modern and Classical Languages sequence the student will have a basic functional knowledge of a second natural language sufficient to: 1. read and write if the language is classical, such as Latin; 2. speak and aurally comprehend, if the language does not have a written tradition, such as Salish; 3. perform all four skills (speaking, aural comprehension, reading, and writing) if the language is modern and has a written tradition, such as Japanese or French.
Group III Symbolic Systems These courses present the foundations of a symbolic system, defined as a relationship that maps real-world objects, principles and doctrines with abstractions of the real-world. These systems facilitate communication in specialized ways but do not comprise a spoken or written language by which members of a culture typically communicate with each other.
Criteria Courses: 1. rigorously present a mapping between a real-world system and a human abstraction of the system. 2. applies analysis, reasoning and creative thinking in the understanding and manipulation of symbolic codes. 3. utilizes alternative methods of communication, perception, and expression in order to encourage rigorous thinking.	Learning Goals Upon completion of this group, students will be able to: 1. demonstrate an understanding of the symbols and the transformations of the system 2. relay and interpret information in terms of the given symbolic system. 3. apply creative thinking using the symbolic system in order to solve problems and communicate ideas;

Group IV Expressive Arts Expressive Arts courses are activity-based and emphasize the value of learning by doing in an artistic context.
Criteria Courses guide students, whether in individual or group settings, to acquire foundational skills to engage in the creative process and/or in interpretive performance. Through direct experience (for example, attendance and involvement with live performance, exhibitions, workshops, and readings), they will engage in critical assessment of their own work and the work of others.	Learning Goals Upon completion of this perspective students will be able to: 1. express themselves in the making of an original work or creative performance; 2. understand the genres and/or forms that have shaped the medium; and 3. critique the quality of their own work and that of others.
Group V Literary and Artistic Studies In these courses, students develop familiarity with significant works of artistic representation, including literature, music, visual art, and/or performing arts. Through this experience, students enhance their analytical skills and explore the historical, aesthetic, philosophical, and cultural features of these works.
Criteria Courses cover a number of works in one or more of the various forms of artistic representation; they also establish a framework and context for analysis of the structure and significance of these works. In addition, these courses provide mechanisms for students 1) to receive instruction on the methods of analysis and criticism, 2) to develop arguments about the works from differing critical perspectives.	Learning goals Upon completion of this perspective, students will be able to: 1. analyze works of art with respect to structure and significance within literary and artistic traditions, including emergent movements and forms; and 2. develop coherent arguments that critique these works from a variety of approaches, such as historical, aesthetic, cultural, psychological, political, and philosophical.

Group VI: Historical and Cultural Studies These courses present the historical or cultural contexts of ideas and institutions, and examine cultural development or differentiation in the human past. They are foundational in that they are wide-ranging in chronological, geographical, or topical focus, or in that they introduce students to methods of inquiry specific to a particular discipline.
Criteria Courses teach students how to: present ideas and information with a view to understanding the causes, development, and consequences of historical events;  evaluate  texts or artifacts within their historical and/or cultural contexts; and analyze human behavior, ideas, and institutions within their respective historical and/or cultural contexts. The course justification should explain the approach and focus with respect to its chronological, geographical, and/or topical content. A methodological component (e.g. historiography or ethnography) must be apparent.		Learning Goals Upon completion of this perspective, a student will be able to: 1. synthesize ideas and information with a view to understanding the causes and consequences of historical developments and events; 2. evaluate  texts or artifacts within their historical and/or cultural contexts; 3. analyze human behavior, ideas, and institutions within their respective historical and/or cultural contexts.
Group VII Social Science Social science courses describe and analyze human social organization and interaction, employing social data at a broad scale with statistical relevance, experimental data on individuals or groups, or qualitative data based on observation and discourse.
Criteria Courses: 1. systematically study individuals, groups, or social institutions; 2. analyze individuals, groups, or social problems and structures; and/or 3. give considerable attention to ways in which conclusions and generalizations are developed and justified as well as the methods of data collection and analysis.	1. Learning Goals Students taking courses in the Social Sciences Perspective will be able to:  Describe the nature, structure, and historical development of human behavior, organizations, social phenomena, and/or relationships; 2. use theory in explaining these individual, group, or social phenomena; and/or 3. understand, assess, and evaluate how conclusions and generalizations are justified based on data

Group VIII Ethics and Human Values Ethics and Human Values courses provide a critical understanding of the norms shared by citizens in modern, secular, democratic societies.  Such a critical understanding of these norms makes possible the ideal of self-government, especially in the presence of deep differences among citizens about the ultimate meanings and purposes of human existence such as may be found in different religious or cultural traditions or other fundamental outlooks on life.  Gaining a critical understanding of these norms will also help to enrich the individual lives of citizens on a personal or professional level.
Criteria Ethics courses must be both introductory and foundational. Each course must therefore: 1. Devote at least 40% of class time to the basic concepts, and forms of reasoning of the three main secular ethical traditions: (a) General Welfare, (b) Individual Rights and Liberties, and (c) Moral Excellence. While focus on historical origins of these traditions is preferable, contemporary or comparative versions of these traditions can be used. (a) General welfare theories (sometime called “utilitarian” theories) define and analyze such concepts as “the public good,” “the general will,” “maximized utility,” and “economic efficiency.” (b) Individual rights theories define and analyze such concepts as “fundamental rights,” “justice,” and “liberty.” (c) Often called “virtue ethics,” ethical theories of personal excellence focus on the formation of moral character, understood as the development of settled dispositions in persons which lead to ethical action. These theories define and analyze such ethical concepts as “honesty,” “tolerance,” “courage,” and “decency,” and discuss the social practices and the moral communities necessary for the development of this type of moral character. 2. Courses will apply these theories to the kinds of ethical problems students might face in their personal, public, political, or professional lives or which might arise in culturally diverse contexts. * Proposals for ethics courses that do not meet the criteria should include justifications for these deviations that address how learning outcomes will still be achieved.	Learning goals Upon completion of a course that satisfies the Ethics Perspective requirement students should: 1. understand the three main secular ethical traditions as demonstrated by their ability to use correctly the basic concepts and forms of reasoning from these traditions in the treatment of pertinent ethical issues; 2. understand the contextual, and conceptual limits of each of these concepts and forms of reasoning, as well as the compatibility and incompatibility of the values both within and between these traditions of ethical inquiry; 3. and be able to identify, articulate, and defend their own ethical positions in the terms employed by these three traditions.
Group IX: American and European Perspectives These courses present a critical introduction to the antecedents, principles, institutions, and cultures of the American and European traditions and legacies.
Criteria Courses focus on either area and can be comparative in content or approach. The courses are broad in theme, geography, or chronology. They are foundational and prepare students for further study by raising core questions of an academic discipline.	Learning Goals Upon completion of this perspective, students will be able to: 1. Demonstrate informed and reasoned understanding of American and/or European historical and contemporary behavior, ideas, institutions, and culture; and 2. Analyze and evaluate what is distinctive and significant about the American and/or European experience and legacy.

Group X Indigenous and Global Perspectives This perspective instills knowledge of diverse cultures in comparative and thematic frameworks. Students are encouraged to cultivate ways of thinking that foster an understanding of the complexities of indigenous cultures and global issues, past and present. Students will learn how geographically and culturally separate parts of the world are linked by various, multiple interactions. Indigenous studies focus upon “first peoples” and their descendants who derive their cultural communal identities from their long-standing and/or historical habitation of particular places. These courses foster an appreciation for indigenous peoples, their histories and cultures, and their struggles both to maintain their ways of life and gain equal positions in world spheres of power and change. Global studies investigate how societies and nations interact through human endeavor and /or natural processes. These courses encourage students to relate their knowledge of particular parts of the world, with their individual identities, to larger trends and issues that affect multiple societies and environments. These include regional, national, and even transnational cultural flows, as well as a multiplicity of environmental processes and economic relationships.

Criteria Indigenous and/or global courses will familiarize students with the values, histories, and institutions of two or more societies through the uses of comparative approaches. Indigenous perspective courses address the longstanding tenure of a particular people in a particular geographical region, their histories, cultures, and ways of living as well as their interaction with other groups, indigenous and non-indigenous. Global perspective courses adopt a broad focus with respect to time, place, and subject matter and one that is transnational and/or multi-cultural/ethnic in nature. Whether the cultures or societies under study are primarily historical or contemporary, courses investigate significant linkages or interactions that range across time and space.

Learning Goals Upon completion of a course in this perspective, students will: 1. place human behavior and cultural ideas into a wider (global/indigenous) framework, and enhance their understanding of the complex interdependence of nations and societies and their physical environments; 2. demonstrate an awareness of the diverse ways humans structure their social, political, and cultural lives; and 3. analyze and compare the rights and responsibilities of citizenship in the 21^st century including those of their own societies and cultures.

Group XI Natural Science These courses present scientific conclusions about the structure and function of the natural world, demonstrate or exemplify scientific questioning and validation of findings.

Criteria 1. Courses explore a discipline in the natural sciences and demonstrate how the scientific method is used within the discipline to draw scientific conclusions. 2. Courses address the concept of analytic uncertainty and the rigorous process required to take an idea to a hypothesis and then to a validated scientific theory. 3. Lab courses engage students in inquiry-based learning activities where they formulate a hypothesis, design an experiment to test the hypothesis, and collect, interpret, and present the data to support their conclusions.

Learning Goals Upon completion of this perspective, a student will be able to: 1. understand the general principles associated with the discipline(s) studied; 2. understand the methodology and activities scientists use to gather, validate and interpret data related to natural processes; 3. detect patterns, draw conclusions, develop conjectures and hypotheses, and test them by appropriate means and experiments; 4. understand how scientific laws and theories are verified by quantitative measurement, scientific observation, and logical/critical reasoning; and 5. understand the means by which analytic uncertainty is quantified and expressed in the natural sciences.