ASCRC Minutes 4/8/08

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

Members Absent/Excused: R. Bangadi, K. Nalty, P. Silverman

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

Guest: Jean Carter, Chair, Writing Committee

Chair Thompson called the meeting to order at 2:15 p.m.

The minutes from 4/1/08 were amended and approved.

Communications:

· April 16 was decided on for the general education open forum date. It will be from 3:10-5 PM in GBB 123. Members from the subcommittees should attend to answer questions. The criteria/outcomes document will be sent to all faculty with an invitation to attend the open forum

· ECOS revised the description of Group IX to the following:
These courses present a critical introduction to the antecedents, principles, institutions, cultures, traditions and legacies of the United States and Europe.

Business Items:

Ethics and Human Values Criteria (Group VIII)

· The following revision to the first criterion was approved.

1. Rigorously present the basic concepts and forms of reasoning of the three main secular ethical traditions:

(a) General Welfare (exemplified by utilitarian ethical theory and by the ethical theories of capitalism and democratic policymaking; basic concepts include "the public good," "maximized utility," and "economic efficiency");

(b) Individual Rights and Liberties (exemplified by Kantian ethical theory, or the ethical theories behind the Bill of Rights of the United States and the United Nations Charter on Human Rights; basic concepts include "fundamental rights," "justice," and "liberty");

(c) Moral Excellence (exemplified by Aristotelian ethical theory and by the theories of the ethical virtues that professionals such as lawyers, doctors, teachers, pharmacists, and business and political leaders are expected to exhibit; basic concepts include "courage," "wisdom," "honesty," and "tolerance").

While focus on the historical origins of these three traditions is preferable, contemporary or comparative versions of these traditions may also be used.

Writing Course Guidelines discussion

· ASCRC made several recommendations to Writing Committee Chair Carter. The committee should consider changing the requirement to a C- to be consistent with the mathematics requirement. A few of the bulleted statements were identified for revision. A criterion for the upper-division writing experience should be to teach students to edit and revise.

The current catalog lists all approved writing courses and includes upper-division writing courses required by the major. These courses should not be included in this list. However, upper-division courses open to all majors should be listed separately because some majors’ upper-division writing requirement specifies taking an upper-division course in another major. This list should be prefaced with a statement that requires students to reference their majors’ requirement.

ASCRC suggested that catalog language, writing course guidelines, and the FAQ document go to the Faculty Senate early in the fall so that courses may be reviewed next spring. The catalog language should be parallel to the writing course guidelines. There needs to be better coordination with ASCRC. This year’s liaison had difficulty making the meetings. The committee hopes to schedule a set meeting time.

Curriculum Follow-up

· HHP 466 was approved as a service learning course. The review committee received adequate follow-up information.

The Central and Southwest Asian Studies corrections will be on the Faculty Senate consent agenda. Chair Thompson revised the forms and circulated them for approval signatures.

Upper-division issue

· Chair Thompson would like the committee to complete a report on this issue prior to the end of the semester. The President and ECOS requested the review, so the committee needs to inform them of its work and make a recommendation.

Good and Welfare

None

The meeting was adjourned at 3:50 p.m.