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agenda status: approved

Agenda:

1. Approval of Agenda

2. Approval of Minutes of the January 27, 2005 meeting..........(Attachment)

3. Comments from the Chairperson

4. Comments from the Assistant Provost

5. Request for Commentary on Undergraduate Task Force Reports

6. Add Admission as a Junior Requirements for the B.S.
in Kinesiology (bring materials from the January 27 meeting)

7. Code of Teaching Responsibility Subcommittee Update..........Sharon Pocock
(bring materials from the January 27 meeting)

8. Olin Class Excuse Policy...............Renée Canady

9. Report on Academic Minors...............Cynthia Taggart

10. 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 January 27, 2005

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minutes status: approved

approved at meeting of

UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 02/10/2005
Approved as Amended 2/24/05

Members Present: Bridget Behe, Renée Canady, C. Kurt Dewhurst, Steve Dilley, Jeremy Hernandez, Helen Mayer, Kyle Martin, Folu Ogundimu (Chair), Sharon Pocock, Karthik Prasad, Ralph Putnam, Sharon Senk, Kurt Stirewalt, Cynthia Taggart, Peter Tomchuck, Alen von Eye, Maija Zile

Members Absent: Henry Beckmeyer, Rebecca Henry, Jennifer Hodges, Sulema Medrano, Rodney Phillips

Others Present: June Pierce Youatt (Assistant Provost and Dean), Deb Feltz (Kinesiology Department)

1) The meeting was called to order at 10:18 AM and the agenda was approved.

2) The minutes from the January 27, 2005 meeting were approved with the addition of Ralph Putman's name in the "Member's Present" section and Maija Zile’s name in the "Member's Absent" section of the document.

3) Comments from the Chairperson: Folu Ogundimu informed UCAP that the Executive Committee of Academic Council (ECAC) wanted input on each of the three Undergraduate Realizing the Vision task force reports that were recently submitted. Eventually this input will be shared with the University Graduate Council (UGC), but the Provost’s office has not formally requested this yet. There are forthcoming plans to establishing a “super ad hoc” committee with members from both UCAP and UGC and other appointed members to facilitate this analysis.

4) Comments from the Assistant Provost: June Youatt added that the super ad hoc committee membership would be made up of both UCAP and UGC members. There may also be some at-large members on the super ad hoc committee but that has not been determined yet. The super ad hoc committee would have two main charges: (1) to coordinate what each of the three Realizing the Vision reports mean collectively and (2) comment on each of the reports separately. Youatt alerted UCAP that she did not believe that this assignment could be completed by the end of this semester and asked UCAP members to consider their summer schedules before volunteering.

5) Add Admission as a Junior Requirements for the B.S. in Kinesiology: UCAP considered a proposal to add a minimum 2.0 GPA requirement in five specific courses (CEM 141, PSL 250, KIN 216, PHY 231, & MTH 103) to advance in the Kinesiology program. In response to UCAP’s previous request for more information on this proposal, Chairperson Deb Feltz of the Department of Kinesiology said that the minimum GPA requirement in the specified classes was needed because Kinesiology believes students in the major need this minimum course GPA to ensure their mastery of required content and to maximize their chances of success in the degree


program. UCAP asked for quantitative evidence illustrating how a 2.0 in each individual class is more of an indicator of student success than an overall average GPA of 2.0 in all of the classes collectively. UCAP tabled the matter until these data are provided.

6) Code of Teaching Responsibility Subcommittee Update: Sharon Pocock reported that the subcommittee first met in December with the Ombudsman where he provided a draft of a possible code. The subcommittee then edited the draft and received input from other interested parties. Concern by students over a testing policy was addressed by the subcommittee. The concern relates to the problem of some students having an unfair advantage over other students as a result of access to old (previous) tests. The subcommittee had not reached a resolution on this problem. It also was examining the meaning of the phrase “integrity of exams” if included as language pertaining to a testing policy. The subcommittee inquired about the possibility of UCAP setting up another subcommittee to look at this matter in-depth.

Some UCAP members expressed concerns about the “Course Syllabi” and “Office Hours” sections of the report as they relate to options for meeting with students, including the promptness and availability of instructors to students by email and other technology. UCAP also debated the requirement regarding revisions of syllabi. A new draft of the CTR will be presented to UCAP for consideration at a future meeting.

7) Olin Class Excuse Policy: Renée Canady reported that the Ombudsman felt that the current Olin excuse policy was adequate to meet the concerns of the health center, but that these policies are not widely known to instructors. UCAP unanimously passed a motion to endorse the following statement, “UCAP acknowledges the change in the Olin Health Center excuse policy and encourages the distribution of said policy in the best possible manner to maximize faculty awareness of the issue.” June Youatt agreed to contact Dr. Moorer (of Olin) in relation to transmitting the UCAP position affirming the Olin policy for wider dissemination to the University community.

8) Subcommittee to consider creating minors: Cynthia Taggart gave UCAP an update of the subcommittee’s progress thus far. They reported that specializations currently appear to be a mix of what look like minors in some cases and areas of concentration in others. Although members felt there were advantages with the option of having a minor, especially from the student perspective, there were major concerns about the logistics of establishing such a credential (e.g. seat designations, number of credits needed in each department). Some UCAP members expressed concerns that minors may strain the departmental resources in areas that were popular with students. Members also pointed out that many other universities offer minors and employers seem to understand what minors are more than specializations. Taggart also asked for any input other members may have for consideration be e-mailed to her.

9) Round table discussion: no comments made

10) The meeting was adjourned at 11:58 AM.

Respectfully submitted,
Jeremy Hernandez

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