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agenda status: approved

Agenda:

AGENDA

University Committee on Academic Policy

Meeting of Thursday, September 11, 2003
10:15 a.m., Board Room, Administration Building


1. Approval of Agenda (10:15)

2. Approval of Minutes of the August 28, 2003 meeting (10:20)..........(Attachment)

3. Comments from the Chairperson (10:25)

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

5. College of Education request to change minimum grade point for........(To be distributed)
Admission to the Teacher Preparation Program from 2.5 to 2.75 (10:40)

6. Request for UCAP member to serve as a non-voting member
of Athletic Council (11:00)

7. Update from Learning Importance Sub-Committee (11:10)........Jim Gallagher
8. Update from Grade Inflation Sub-Committee (11:25)...............Bridget Behe

9. Update from Academic Integrity Sub-Committee (11:40)..........Patricia Mullan

10. Adjourn (12:00 noon)


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: August 28, 2003 Draft Minutes

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minutes status: approved

approved at meeting of 09/25/2003

UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 09/11/2003

Members Present: Henry Beckmeyer, Bridget Behe (Chair), Jan Bokemeier, Steve Dilley, James Gallagher, Jeremy Hernandez, Jennifer Hodges, Tim Howes, Tom Morse, Patricia Mullan, Georgia Padonu, Helene Pazak, Rod Phillips, Jordan Robinson, Cynthia Taggart, Alexander von Eye, Maija Zile,

Others Present: Assistant Provost June Pierce Youatt; Associate Dean Cass Book, College of Education

Members Absent: (All with notice) Betty Cheng, Folu Ogundimu, Sharon Senk

1. The Agenda was approved as presented.

2. Minutes of the August 28, 2003 UCAP Meeting were approved as written.

3. Comments from the Chairperson:

Bridget Behe introduced Jennifer Hodges as a new representative from COGS. Tim Howes, Tom Morse, and Jordan Robinson were introduced as the new representatives from ASMSU.

4. Comments from the Assistant Provost:

No comments were presented.

5. College of Education Request to Change Minimum Grade Point Average from 2.5 to 2.75 for Admission to Teacher Preparation Program:

Associate Dean Cass Book presented the College of Education request to change the GPA required to apply to the teacher education programs from 2.5 to 2.75. Dr. Book explained that in practice, no students with a GPA of 2.5 had been admitted in some time; the admission cut-off tends to be well above 2.75. The 2.5 level has resulted in misunderstanding on the part of students because they believe the 2.5 GPA makes them competitive within the pool of applicants when in fact the minimum GPA for admission to the program has continued to rise annually, now above 2.75. It was moved, seconded that we accept the proposal to increase GPA for eligibility to apply for admission to teacher preparation programs to 2.75 and to remove the health clearance sign-off as a requirement for application to the program. The motion passed with no descent.

6. Request for UCAP Member to Serve as Non-voting Member of Athletic Council. Interim President Simon has requested that UCAP be represented on University Athletic Council with a non-voting member. Henry Beckmeyer, UCAP’s College of Osteopathic Medicine representative, is currently a voting member of the University Athletic Council in a different capacity. It was moved and seconded that Steve Dilley be our non-voting representative. The motion passed.

7. James Gallagher reported on the Sub-Committee on Importance of Learning. The committee is exploring issues related to requiring a syllabus as part of the code of teaching responsibility. Assignments have been given to sub-committee members for a meeting on September 18. We should have an interim report at the September 24 meeting.

8. Bridget Behe reported on grade inflation as stepwise with increases each Fall semester and leveling off in Spring semester. Other issues are being studied and a report will be forthcoming.

9. Patricia Mullan reported activities of the Academic Integrity Sub-Committee. She briefly discussed existing polices and the flaws in the system especially relating to discriminating among the levels of seriousness of infractions and appropriate actions on the part of the University. A question was raised about a two-year temporary “FX grade” as one form of response. Jeremy Hernandez suggested that graduate students should be involved in discussions about these issues relating to cheating since they often are on the front line in discovering infractions. June Youatt indicated that there is increased concern about the effectiveness of our policies (related to long-term consequences) when students fail a course because of academic dishonesty. Some faculty perceive that being able to retake the course and have only the re-take grade figured into the GPA lessens the consequences of failing due to cheating.

10. Roundtable: The following issues were raised:

a. A concern was raised about the University policy on retaking courses to raise grades.
b. It was pointed out that the new grade does not always “replace” the old grade on retaking courses. Some colleges have internal policies about calculating the GPA when courses are retaken. For example, the College of Business averages the two grades when determining GPA for purposes of admission to their programs. Other colleges can replace the lower grade with the higher one (for internal decision making purposes). On the official transcript, the lower grade always remains on the transcript even though the course was retaken and the second grade is used to calculate the cumulative GPA. Retaking courses to raise gpa can stretch University resources, reducing the number of seats available for other students. Repeat cap is currently 21 credits. This issue should be added to the grade inflation sub-committee agenda.
c. It was pointed out that students who change programs may sometimes carry their own file which could allow removal of some information.

Meeting adjourned at 11:14 am.

Respectfully submitted,
James Gallagher

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