UCAP Meeting of 02/06/2003 2002-2003 agenda status: not approved Agenda: minutes status: not approved UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 02/06/2003 University Committee on Academic Policy Minutes February 6, 2003 Members Present: Bridget Behe (Chair), Michelle Beaujean, Henry Beckmeyer, Colleen Card, Betty Cheng, George Cornell, Folu Ogundimu, Rodney Phillips, Sharon Senk, Gary Stollak, Winston Wilkinson, Maija Zile Others Present: June Youatt (Assistant Provost), Tom Wolff (Associate Dean, College of Engineering) The meeting was called to order at 10:20 a.m. by chairperson Bridget Behe. 1. Agenda was approved with item #7 being struck (subcommittee report on grade inflation). 2. Minutes of the January 9, 2003 meeting were approved. 3. Comments from the Chair: Bridget Behe welcomed the new student representatives to UCAP. The Chair also mentioned that the Executive Committee of Academic Council (ECAC) has referred to UCAP the consideration of a change in the starting date for the Spring Semester in the University calendar. Additionally, the Chair commented that ECAC would not be referring implications of the reorganization of the Urban Affairs Program to UCAP because there were no undergraduate programs to be affected. 4. Comments from the Assistant Provost: June Youatt requested that item 6 (Moratorium on B.S. Degree in Engineering Mechanics) be moved up to item 5 since Tom Wolff was present to address the issue. The items were simply reversed on the agenda. 5. Tom Wolff from the College of Engineering made the presentation requesting the moratorium on admission to the B.S. Degree Program in Engineering Mechanics. There are currently 20 students in the program, half of which are seniors. Juniors and seniors enrolled in the program will be allowed to complete the program as it exists, but freshmen and sophomores will be required to change to another major within the College. Henry Beckmeyer moved and Betty Cheng supported to approve the request for the moratorium on admissions to the Engineering Mechanics Program. Discussion on the motion focused on providing feedback to the College of Engineering on allowing students in the college the 6 credit research option that was a part of the Engineering Mechanics program. This was perceived to be a viable option for students who wanted to pursue serious research topics as a part of their undergraduate education. The motion was approved by unanimous vote. 6. UCAP revisited the B.S. Degree Program in Veterinary Technology admissions requirement. UCAP recently voted to approve the requested change in the admissions policy (1/9/03) that would allow students to be accepted into the program after completing 28 credits, a reduction from 56 credits. UCAP revisited this issue since the change in admission policy may have implications for admission policies to other programs in the University. Discussion focused on the number of credits required for admission to the program and the question: will these minimums (28 credits and 2.5 GPA) provide sufficient undergraduate access to the program? Did the reduction in admission credits (from 56 to 28) overly restrict admissions in a detrimental way? Will the program have flexibility to accommodate students identifying this major after completing >28 credits? The Veterinary Technology program has a certificate component and about half of the current students finish the B.S. Degree while half receive a certificate of completion. The projected growth for the Vet Tech program is expected to increase from 40 majors to 60 majors over the next 5 years. This issue will be reconsidered at the next UCAP meeting with additional information to be provided to UCAP. 7. Bridget Behe addressed the issue of academic integrity for the sub-committee chair, Patricia Mullan. The Provost has requested an interim report from UCAP on this issue. Discussion of the most recent sub-committee report followed and it was decided that UCAP will consider the Interim Report at the next meeting and consider forwarding this as our interim report. 8. Roundtable: a) announcement of the President’s Forum on Iraq (Union Ballroom – February 13, 7:00 pm) attendance encouraged if schedules permit; b) UCAP notified that a set of guidelines on celebratory events related to graduation will be forthcoming; c) grade inflation subcommittee will be reconstituted by UCAP in the near future. 9. Meeting was adjourned at 11:35 a.m. Respectfully submitted, George L. Cornell 2.6.03UCAPMINUTES.doc |
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