Members Present: H. Bruce J. Carter, J. Edwards, N.
Hinman K. Kuipers, M. Medvetz, R. Wanderscheid
Members Excused/Absent: D.
Micus, P. Silverman, A. Walker-Andrews,
Ex-Officio Present: G. McCaffrey, K. Ryan
Chair Carter called
the meeting to order at 1:15 p.m.
Communications:
Chair Carter received a request from Professor Sillars, Communication Studies to consider a course for one-time-only writing designation. The course has significant writing component when he teaches it. He plans to offer the course in the spring. However the paperwork has not yet been received. The committee would be willing to communicate via email regarding the course when it is submitted.
Business Items:
Professor Ryan updated the committee on the status of ENEX
200 as a placement option. The Board of
Regents approved a placement exam policy which gives ENEX 200 as an
option. Currently UM is the only campus
with this option. There is a CAS Taskforce
working on the implementation. Professor
Medvetz is on the taskforce and will keep the committee updated.
ENEX 200 will no longer have sections for science, social science and business. The course will be modeled after the Art of the Essay version. One issue that has not been decided is whether or not ENEX will remain a writing course. The Writing Course Guidelines document will need to be revised to be consistent with the implementation.
The committee discussed the comments received. The definition of information literacy needs to be added back into the writing course guidelines document. There was confusion about whether the percentage applied to the assignment or assessment. Some departments preferred the percentage of formal writing to be clear, rather than include informal writing in the total percentage. There were other concerns regarding class size, resources, and the upper-division writing expectation. It was suggested that the committee draft a frequently asked questions in order to diffuse some of the concerns and confusion. The intent of the document is to allow departments some flexibility. It should be clear that departments can ask for variances for special circumstances. This should be documented in the FAQ document. In the spring the document will be sent to all faculty with the FAQ’s to get more feedback.
A communication will be sent to committee members early in the spring to determine the best meeting day/time.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 pm.