UCAP Meeting of 04/26/2001 2000-2001 agenda status: approved Agenda: APPROVED
with amendment
Meeting of Thursday, April 26, 2001 10:15 a.m., Board Room, Administration Building 1. Approval of Agenda 2. Approval of Minutes of the April 12, 2001 Meeting Attachment 3. Comments from the Chairperson 4. Comments from the Assistant Provost 5. Election of Officers for 2001-2002 6. Request for Moratorium: Special Education - Visually Impaired (Attachment) 7. Application for Admission: Criminal Records Question(s) - Discussion 8. Reorganization of Materials Science and Mechanics Department Attachment 9. Teaching Evaluation: Report to Provost Attachments: -- April 12, 2001 Draft Minutes -- Materials on Request for Moratorium on Admission to VI Programs -- Additional Materials on MSM Reorganization (different from last Meeting) Bring materials from April 12 meeting as well Please phone or E-Mail Robin Pline (353-5380; pline@msu.edu) if you cannot be present. It is very important for us to have quorum at the last meeting of the year to conclude the remaining agenda. NOTE: This meeting may run over to conclude all agenda items for the year. minutes status: approved approved at meeting of UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 04/26/2001 Members Present: Jeanne Wald (Chair), Jon Sticklen (Vice Chair), Henry Beckmeyer, J. Roy Black, Howard Bossen, Joe Chartkoff, James Gallagher, David Imig, Fred Jacobs, Rod Phillips, Winston Wilkinson Others Present: Barbara Steidle (Assistant Provost), Martin Crimp (Department of Materials Science and Mechanics) 1. Approval of Agenda: The agenda was modified to postpone election of officers and to add a request from the Music Department for a change in credits for the music education program. The agenda was approved with these changes. 2. Minutes of the April 12, 2001 meeting were approved with minor changes. 3. Comments from the Chairperson: Jeanne Wald, Chair, noted that congratulations are in order to Howard Bossen for his recognition as a Distinguished Visiting Faculty at Carnegie-Mellon University for Spring Semester, 2002. 4. Comments from the Assistant Provost: Assistant Provost Steidle noted that MSU Wired: A Guide to MSU’s On-line Resources is being prepared for students and faculty. Wald asked what members preferences might be and outlined three options: (1) a booklet prepared specifically for faculty, (2) giving faculty the same booklet as students receive, and (3) providing faculty with the student booklet plus some supplemental pages to guide them in their work with students regarding on-line resources. UCAP favored the third option. Steidle also clarified concerns about the cost of LTC courses for faculty and staff. Faculty receive an automatic waiver of fees for these courses, and staff are covered under professional development provisions. UCAP expressed the hope that this cold be made clearer in the publications to avoid what is apparently a common misconception.
6. A request was received from Music Education to reconfigure its program by combining three programs into one, and adding 1 or 2 credits to the major. The changes still allowed for the same options and it provided for more marketable graduates. The changes had received approval of administrators, faculty, and students. Following discussion, the request was approved. 7. Applications for Admission: Criminal Records Questions. Barbara Steidle raised the following question for discussion by UCAP: If questions on applicants’ prior criminal records were to be included on the MSU admissions application form, what might those questions be and how broadly or narrowly should they be framed? Options discussed included no questions; asking if the applicant had ever been convicted of a felony; if ever indicted; if currently under indictment; if charged; or if arrested? After heated discussion it was agreed to recommend that questions about conviction for felony and being under indictment might be asked. There was mixed support for questioning about serious misdemeanors. Members favored, at most, narrow framing of questions related mainly to serious levels of offenses. One member noted as a caution the recent Supreme Court decision holding that arrests for minor violations were not precluded under the 4th Amendment. Another raised a question as to how such additions might be perceived in light of the current controversy over surveillance of student organizations. 8. Discussion of the reorganization of the MSM department in the College of Engineering, begun on April 12, continued. Professor Crimp from the MSM Department was permitted to speak and answer questions. Questions were raised to determine if the practical disassembly of the department began prior to faculty consultation. Closing of the Biomechanics Laboratory was cited as an example of this process. Crimp also expressed a concern about the failure to schedule a course in biomechanics that could have some impact on students. After lengthy discussion regarding adequacy of consultation and the effect on students of closing the MSM department and reallocating faculty and functions to two other departments, the following recommendation was made: The Provost shall be informed that it is the sense of UCAP that consultation did occur, but was problematic in its implementation. If the Provost determines that reorganization shall occur, UCAP believes that it is incumbent on the college to assure that current students are not adversely affected in the completion of their degree programs.
Respectfully submitted: J. Gallagher |
Agenda/Minutes > 2000-2001 >