agenda status: approved Agenda: AGENDA Approved as Revised University Committee on Academic Policy Meeting of Thursday, February 22, 2007 10:15 a.m., Hannah Administration Bldg. Board Room
Phone or e-mail Sandra Walther (353-5380; swalther@msu.edu) if you cannot be present. Please remember that you are asked to send a substitute from your college. Attachments: February 8, 2007 Minutes (Draft) Religious Observance Revision 2/19/07 Graduation Honors minutes status: approved approved at meeting of 03/15/2007 UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 02/22/2007 Members Present: Dennis Banks, Renée Canady, Sekhar Chivukula, Peter Cobbett, Doug Estry, Richard Hallgren, Yen-Hwei Lin, Helen Mayer, Philip Moon, Antonio Nunez, Edmund Outslay, Ralph Putnam, Brandon Sethi, Colleen Tremonte, Bruce Vanden Bergh, Amanda Venettis, Alex von Eye, Connie Zheng Members Absent: Lauren Doherty, Daniel Roth, Jon Sticklen Guests: Doug McKenna, Associate Registrar The Agenda was revised to add Fall Break Discussion and approved. The Minutes for February 8, 2007 were corrected and approved. No Comments from the Chairperson or the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education. Procedural Matters:
In response to a question by the committee as to whether member substitutes may vote, the Chair reported that according to the Secretary for Academic Governance, a committee member’s substitute has voice but no vote on committee matters, and does not count for a quorum. We could consider allowing electronic votes for issues that come up between meetings. Special Rules In following up on an impromptu committee discussion during the meeting of February 8, 2007, regarding the committee’s practice of asking guests to leave during committee discussion of a proposal, the Chair reported that according to the Secretary of Academic Governance, the committee should not continue this practice or should enact a special committee rule to do so. After discussion there was no support for making a special rule. Minutes
Motion by Amanda Vennetis passed unanimously:
After further discussion the committee reached consensus that minutes should record not only actions taken in the committee meeting but also key issues raised in discussion. At its January 11, 2007 meeting the committee recommended revisions to the University Religious Observance Policy. It was subsequently discovered that the proposed revisions were not based on the most recently adopted existing policy. The committee thus considered revisions to their recommended policy. Motion by Philip Moon passed unanimously:
Proposed Policy on Religious Observance It is the policy of the University to permit students and instructors to observe those holidays set aside by their chosen religious faith. Instructors must be sensitive to those who absent themselves from class in order to observe religious holidays. It is the responsibility of students who wish to be absent to make arrangements in advance with their instructors. It is also the responsibility of those instructors who wish to be absent to make arrangements in advance with their chairpersons, who shall assume the responsibility for covering their classes. In the absence of a simple and dignified way to determine the validity of individual claims, instructors generally should accept claims of religious conflict at face value. Instructors may expect a reasonable limit to the number of absences by any one student. If it is the practice of an instructor to cover reasons for student absences from required academic events such as quizzes or exams with a blanket practice, e.g., allowing the student to drop one grade or two quizzes without penalty, this practice does not apply to the university policy on religious observance. If instructors require make-up exams, they retain the right to determine content and conditions of administration, giving due consideration to equitable treatment. Hearing procedures for violations of the religious observance policy are those in place for the Code of Teaching Responsibility. CLEP Test Issues In a memo dated 8/24/06, the Manager of Testing Services asked the Committee to review the current policy with respect to accepting CLEP exams to replace taking a course. Current MSU policy allows students applying to MSU, upon admission, to be given course credit for having successfully taken these exams. There are some restrictions to courses to which this policy applies. Current policy prohibits students to take advantage of CLEP option after their first enrollment at MSU. The subcommittee polled various campus offices and peer institutions to compare policies finding that at peer institutions, policies range from no CLEP test acceptance to others that allow CLEP test credit at any time. MSU policy places us in the mid-range of our peers on acceptance of CLEP tests for course credit. Motion by Tony Nunez passed unanimously:
Graduation with Honors Guest: Doug McKenna, Associate Registrar Prof. Putnam opened this discussion by stating that the original graduation with honors proposal considered at the UCAP meeting of February 8 calls for clarification of practice, not a change in policy. Professor Estry stated that concerns from the committee regarding possible grade inflation resulting from following the current graduation with honors policy appear to be unfounded after reviewing the data provided by the registrar. Motion by Renée Canady passed unanimously:
Academic Integrity: Prof. Putnam led committee discussion about possible revisions to University policies regarding academic integrity and dishonesty. The committee reviewed the current policy on academic integrity and discussed points raised in the Academic Integrity Subcommittee’s previous reports. General consensus was reached on the following points:
It is important to emphasize education as well as sanction There should be a more visible and consistent way to track multiple violations Grade marker on student’s transcript is too harsh and not recommended It remains the responsibility of instructors who become aware of instances of academic dishonesty to take appropriate action Any instance of academic dishonesty for which an instructor assigns a penalty grade (for course or for assignment) should be reported to the student’s dean. Some additional sanction or action should be required after multiple violations Fall Break The committee continued discussion of the Fall Break draft proposal originally submitted at the meeting of February 8, 2007. Associate Provost Estry reported that he had requested input from various offices on campus regarding fall break and distributed the responses to the subcommittee. Prof. Putnam reminded the committee that after UCAP’s decision, the Fall Break proposal will be submitted to other university groups for further feedback. He suggested the subcommittee provide a revised proposal to be considered at the next committee meeting. Roundtable Prof. Banks reported that at the last meeting of Athletic Council the following topics were covered:
Meeting adjourned 11:57 A.M. Respectfully submitted by Sandra Walther |
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