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agenda status: approved

Agenda:

AGENDA

University Committee on Academic Policy

Meeting of Thursday, April 24, 2003
10:15 a.m., Board Room, Administration Building


1. Approval of Agenda (10:15)

2. Approval of Minutes of the April 10, 2003 meeting (10:20)........................(Attachment)

3. Comments from the Chairperson (10:25)

4. Comments from the Assistant Provost (10:30)

5. Elections for 2003-04 (10:40)
1) Chairperson; 2) Vice Chair; 3) 2nd Rep to Academic Council;

4) Rep. to Military Education Advisory Committee

6. ATL Mission and Departmental Name Change (10:50)
(bring materials from previous meeting)

7. Admission Moratorium Requests for 1) Ancient Studies; 2) Art & Art History;
            3) Women’s Studies; 4) Latin; 5) Religious Studies (11:10).................................(Attachments)

8. Proposal to Establish the School of Construction Management (11:30)
and Built Environment (bring materials from previous meeting - hard copy only -- not on web)

9. Academic Integrity (11:50)


Please phone or E-Mail Robin Pline (353-5380; pline@msu.edu) if you cannot be present and send a substitute in your place.


Attachment: April 10, 2003 Draft Minutes
Moratorium materials from College of Arts and Letters

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minutes status: not approved

UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 04/24/2003

Members Present: Michelle Beaujean, Henry Beckmeyer, Bridget Behe, Colleen Card, Betty Cheng, George Cornell, Steve Dilley, James Gallagher, Folu Ogundimu, Georgia Padonu, Rodney Phillips, Sharon Senk, Maija Zile

Others Present: Assistant Provost June Youatt, Dean Wendy Wilkins of the College of Arts and Letters, Drs. Jeffrey Grabill, Douglas Noverr, James Porter from the Department of American Thought and Language, Associate Dean Thomas Coon and Specialist Paul Streng of Agriculture & Natural Resources

1. A motion to approve the agenda was made by Georgia Padonu, seconded by Colleen Card, and approved unanimously.

2. A motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting was made by George Cornell, seconded by Georgia Padonu, and approved unanimously.

3. Comments from the Chairperson: Bridget Behe acknowledged the UCAP members who were leaving the committee at the end of the spring 2003 semester, including George Cornell, Rodney Phillips, Gary Stollak and Winston Wilkinson, and thanked them for their service.

4. Comments from the Assistant Provost: None.

5. Nominations were made and votes were taken for UCAP officers for 2003-2004, with the following results.

Chair Bridget Behe
Co Vice Chairs Betty Cheng & Patricia Mullan
2nd Rep. to Academic Council Steve Dilley
Rep. to Military Education Advisory Committee Georgia Padonu

6. ATL Mission and Departmental Name Change: Dean Wendy Wilkins of the College of Arts and Letters and Drs. Jeffrey Grabill, James Porter, and Douglas Noverr from the Department of American Thought and Language joined UCAP members to discuss a proposed name and mission change for the ATL Department. Questions were raised and discussion ensued about the following topics:

Rationale for taking on a new mission;
Meaning of the word rhetoric in the proposed title;

Ways in which the department prepared for its mission change;
The department’s ability to meet the demands of a new major and Tier I writing courses;
Faculty members’ opinions of the proposed changes;
How the Department chair evaluates teaching of faculty;
Resources needed to carry out the new mission;
Impact on the number of undergraduate majors and graduate students.

When there were no more questions about the proposed name and mission change of the ATL Department, Drs. Grabill, Porter, and Noverr left.

7. Dean Wilkins stayed for a discussion of another issue that has arisen in the College of Arts and Letters. Due to the current budget crisis she is proposing moratoria on admitting undergraduates to majors in 5 departments in the college. Questions were raised and discussion ensued about the following topics:

How she made the decision on which majors to propose for moratoria;
Why other departments with equally small enrollments in majors were not effected;
Effects of the moratoria on graduate programs;
How faculty were consulted;
Effects of the moratoria on faculty;
Whether other public universities in Michigan offer majors in the effected fields.

When there were no more questions about the proposed changes to academic programs in the Colleges of Arts and Letters, Dean Wilkins left.

8. Representatives of the Construction Management program were invited to speak with the committee.

At its last meeting members of UCAP had asked for more information about proposals related to the Construction Management program. Associate Dean Thomas Coon and Specialist Paul Streng of Agriculture & Natural Resources clarified that at this point they were asking only for a change in administrative structure, specifically, to move from being part of the of Department of Agricultural Engineering to becoming a virtual School of Construction Management. They talked with the UCAP members about the following topics:

The meaning of the term virtual school;
Rationale for change from its present administrative structure;

Rationale for request of School rather than Department of Construction Management;
Evidence of consultation with students and faculty;
Anticipate growth in number of students and faculty;
Potential effects on the Department of Agricultural Engineering.

After Drs. Coon and Streng left, UCAP members discussed the proposals before them.

A motion to approve the Department of American Thought and Language name change to “Writing, Rhetoric and American Cultures” and approve the proposal that the mission of the Department be modified was made by George Cornell, seconded by Steve Dilley, and approved unanimously.

A motion to approve moratoria on accepting new majors into undergraduate programs in Ancient Studies, Latin, and Women’s Studies was made by George Cornell, seconded by Steve Dilley, and approved unanimously.

However, concerns were raised about placing moratoria on majors in Art History and Religious Studies. By this point several members of UCAP had left and we no longer had a quorum, so we could not take action on either the remaining requests for moratoria or on the proposal about the Construction Management proposal. Several committee members expressed concerns that we had not gotten any information from faculty about either the Arts & Letters moratoria or the changes to the Construction Management program. Bridget Behe indicated that we needed to make decisions about these issues, and asked about the possibility of either voting on them via email or meeting face-to-face again in May. She promised to email all UCAP members to find out which option they preferred.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:20.

Minutes submitted by Sharon Senk

4.24.03UCAPMINUTES.doc

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