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agenda status: approved

Agenda:

1. Approval of Agenda

2. Approval of Minutes of the November 11, 2004 meeting..........(Attachment)

3. Comments from the Chairperson

4. Comments from the Assistant Provost

5. Engineering Admit When Ready Proposal....................(Attachment)
Also bring materials distributed for the November 11 meeting....(Attachment)

6. Proposed amendment to the bylaws on Academic Governance..........(Attachments)

7. Code of Teaching Responsibility (Information Item)

8. Osteopathic Medicine Class Size Proposal..........(New Attachments)
also bring materials distributed for 9/16 meeting

9. Round Table discussion



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: Minutes of November 11, 2004
Engineering Admit When Ready Proposal
E-mail from Ann Larabee RE: Academic Governance Bylaws Amendment
Proposed Amendments to the Bylaws for Academic Governance
New Materials for COM Class Size Proposal



12.2.04UCAPAgenda.doc

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minutes status: approved

approved at meeting of

UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 12/02/2004
Approved as Amended 1/13/05

Members Present: Lauren Beach, Henry Beckmeyer, Renée Canady, K. Ramesh (for Steve Dilley), Rebecca Henry, Jeremy Hernandez, Jennifer Hodges, Helen Mayer, Folu Ogundimu, Sharon Pocock, Ralph Putnam, Kurt Stirewalt, Cynthia Taggart, Peter Tomchuck, Alex von Eye, June Youatt, Maija Zile

Others Present: Associate Dean Tom Wolff, College of Engineering; Associate Dean Gail Riegle, College of Osteopathic Medicine

Members Absent: Kurt Dewhurst, Yadav Gopalan, Rodney Phillips, Karthik Prasad, Sharon Senk,

1. The meeting was called to order at 10:15 a.m. The agenda was approved.

2. Minutes of the November 11, 2004 meeting were approved.

3. Comments from the Chairperson

Chairperson Ogundimu reported on the Special meeting of Academic Council held December 7 about the new Residential College. Responses of governance committees were provided to Council. The UCAP recommendation was endorsed by the other governance committees. A final resolution was tabled pending more robust discussion.

Chairperson Ogundimu also commented on the Faculty Voices Meeting held Monday November 29 with Chair of the Board of Trustees. Faculty in attendance expressed great concern that the administration is not listening to the faculty and that governance committees are not representing the opinions of faculty effectively. Recommendations to increase faculty input on the numerous organizational and structural issues facing the University were made. Given the heated tone of the meeting, Chairperson Ogundimu urged thoughtful scrutiny of items brought before all governance committees, including UCAP.


4. Comments from the Assistant Provost – no comments at this time.

5. Engineering Admit When Ready Proposal – The UCAP Subcommittee responding to this issue reported on their meeting with the College of Engineering. Primary issues addressed included: Advantages of the proposal – students can be admitted to the major earlier and less likely to take courses unrelated to their major; the new procedure would provide regular feedback from advisors to students in a more timely manner; new process will decrease the number of “temporary majors” chosen; proposal is based in an empirical review of trends and student performance in the College; reaction of other colleges anticipated to be positive and may serve as a model (including considerations of issues related to UUD). Disadvantages of the proposal there will be a temporary “bubble” of students caused by the transition (this may be offset by a current decline in enrollment); administration constraints within the College exist but are perceived as manageable. The UCAP Subcommittee supports the proposal.

Dean Wolff responded to committee questions and reiterated comments of the subcommittee by providing several documents. The Engineering Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and the Engineering Student Council have been closely involved in the development of the proposal. This proposal if approved would be applied in the management of current as well as future students.

UCAP Subcommittee moved endorsement of the proposal. MOTION APPROVED.

6. Proposed Amendment to the By-laws on Academic Governance (this action referred to ECAC and forwarded to UCAP by Dean Klomparens)

Chaiperson Ogundimu opened the discussion by requesting input from the professional programs in attendance. The current by-laws structure predates the existence of most professional programs at MSU and has never been assessed in terms of the existing governance committee structure. A primary question raised is whether professional colleges would still have representatives on UCAP –
UGC holds same responsibilities as UCAP (with the exception of a greater curriculum focus at the graduate level). College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) representative to UCAP stated that few of the items addressed by UCAP, while important and interesting, are relevant to the grad programs. College of Human Medicine (CHM) representative to UCAP concurred with this assessment. The College of Law UCAP representative suggested that acceptance of by-laws revision would preclude the need for professional college representatives on UCAP. The committee considered the need for broader faculty input in this request before final action. Based upon prior conversations with colleagues, all Professional school representatives felt confident that faculty in their units would support this separation. College of Veterinary Medicine & College of Nursing, while professional programs, are the exception to this revision since they have undergraduate programs and will continue to have representatives on UCAP.

UCAP will request that UGC seek their consultation in cases affecting professional colleges as appropriate. Ogundimu will include this point in his advisor memo.

Motion to support the By-laws revision as submitted. MOTION APPROVED.

7. Code of Teaching Responsibility – UCAP Subcommittee has not yet met. Subcommittee chair Sharon Pocock requested copies of prior background information. Youatt suggested including Ombudsman Stan Soffin in their meeting. Integrity of tests has been an especially contentious issue in terms of student response to this issue. Ogundimu reiterated the importance of student input and recommended talking to all UCAP student representatives on in addition to the student members on subcommittee.

8. Round table

Renee Canady reported on the status of the Olin Policy Subcommittee. Sufficient input from all parties, including the University Ombudsman Stan Soffin has now been received. A response will be drafted for UCAP consideration.

Youatt reported on the status of the XF Grade. Progress on this issue appears to have stalled. In order to initiate further action, Youatt will ask Robin Pline to identify current policies which will be affected by and require modification by the XF grade policy and to search past UCAP recommendations as well. Youatt also shared that UCAP member Sharon Senk has been hospitalized again.

9. Osteopathic Medicine Class Size Proposal – Remarks from Gail Riegle: College of Osteopathic Medicine expansion is an initial program response to the predictions of decreasing numbers of physicians. The statewide campus system has been a successful model, facilitating the education of Michigan residents who remain in-state to practice. Increased enrollment has been discussed in the College for some time. Conversations with representatives from the basic science departments is underway.

Question raised regarding the quality of the class and whether the increase compromises the quality of students admitted. Currently there are a greater number of qualified students in that applicant pool than can be admitted. Riegle clarified that standards will not be lowered with the increase in admission, this based upon the qualification of the 90 students who are typically placed on the alternate list.

Concerns about faculty input in this decision were raised. While there is not a climate of competition between CHM and COM, there is a concern that greater opportunity for faculty inclusion in the decision making process. CHM Representative reiterated this point, as this proposal has implications for CHM accreditation. Inquiry as to whether Assoc Dean Rappley of CHM should be invited to UCAP. Chairperson Ogundimu will extend the invitation.

Dr. Riegle noted that the accreditation process for COM and CHM are separate. There are 10 jointly administered courses that would be affected by this decision. Youatt stated that this proposal remains relevant UCAP (even as professional college issues transfer to UGC) because there is a proportion of undergraduate tuition & fees which goes toward funding the medical schools.

Chairperson Ogundimu clarified the role of UCAP in this decision. Following consideration of all relevant information, UCAP will make a recommendation in support of or against the proposal. As the final step in the deliberation, UCAP will proceed with inviting the CHM Associate Dean to address the committee. UCAP will then provide recommendation to ECAC with the reiteration that ECAC communicate with the affected colleges about subsequent steps in the process.

Further UCAP discussion addressed the relevance of this proposal for undergraduate education. Considerations affecting undergraduate education include, the possible impact on basic science courses and revenue growth. UCAP deliberations should focus on the impact of this proposal on undergraduate education, as opposed to an evaluative decision on the qualitative merits of the proposal.


10. Meeting Adjourned 12:05 p.m.

12.2.04UCAP Minutes.doc

Submitted by Renée Canady (canady@msu.edu)

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