agenda status: approved Agenda: MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
University Committee on Academic Policy
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:
Request to require a grade-point requirement in the Bachelor of Science Degree in Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources Request to change the admission as a Junior requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Interior Design Request for clarification of the relationship between the specialization and the major Draft catalog entries for selecting a minor and selecting a specialization Request to change the minimum number of credits in an academic minor minutes status: approved approved at meeting of 11/08/2007 UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 10/25/2007 MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
University Committee on Academic Policy Attendees: Rania Badin, Dennis Banks, Matthew Caramagno, R. Sekhar Chivukula, Peter Cobbett, Marty Crimp, Doug Estry, Richard Hallgren, Caroline Hartig, Linda Jackson, Carolyn Loeb, Helen Mayer, Matthew McKeon, Jerry Punch, Ralph Putnam, Michael Schechter, Michael Shields, Jim Smith, Amanda Venettis, Thomas Volkening, Chris Wenstrom Agenda was approved as revised, showing deletion of Item 11, Religious Observance Policy Discussion. Minutes of the 10/11/07 meeting were approved. Comments from the Chairperson Comments from the Associate Vice Provost Increased Requirements to Enter a Major or for Progression: Discussion
In summarizing some of the requests for changes that had come to the committee, Chivukula remarked that academic policy should be determined by academic needs and not enrollment pressures. These pressures should not be dealt with by changing academic standards but by other, more appropriate means. Chairperson Chivukula noted there is often a change put forward that is an incremental change to existing policy. The documentation provided in the summary indicates that past committees seemed to focus on the incremental change. He recommended that the committee first seek to understand how the pieces of policy work together, and then determine whether the incremental change will accomplish the intended outcome, especially for programs that admit as a junior. How does the proposed change affect advising? How is it communicated? Are there on-ramps and off-ramps for students in the program? Does the proposed change necessitate a prolonged program at MSU or backtracking in courses for some students? Professor Chivukula recommended that the data provided by Associate Provost Estry’s office be kept up-to-date so it can inform committee deliberations.
Request to Require a Grade-Point Requirement in the Bachelor of Science Degree in Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources The committee unanimously granted voice to Associate Dean Eunice Foster and Associate Professor Richard Paulsen. Associate Professor Paulsen provided the rationale for the departments’ request to require a 2.0 grade-point average in all ACR and PRR courses as a demonstration of competence in meeting minimum requirements for a degree in the major. Paulsen pointed out this was not part of a large reorganization of the major, but is in line with University’s overall requirements for graduation and an indication of quality control to the accreditation program with which the MSU program is associated. The committee’s discussion centered on the ambiguity of the language in the proposed catalogue copy. It was unclear whether this request would represent a requirement for progression or a graduation requirement. Motion by Michael Shields passed unanimously: have a minimum grade-point average of 2.0 Since the agenda items were attended to in less time than indicated, the representatives from Interior Design had not arrived. Chairperson Chivukula asked the committee to allow Dennis Banks to provide his report at this time. Athletic Commission Meeting and COIA Report At the September 11, 2007 meeting of the Athletic Council, Dennis Banks was asked to attend the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics the October 15, Faculty Summit in Washington, D.C. as the representative from Michigan State University. The summit included a presentation of findings from the Faculty
Perceptions of Intercollegiate Athletic s Survey. The survey findings
indicate that a large number of faculty members feel disenfranchised
from intercollegiate athletics and a divide among faculty about the
integrity of their athletic programs. The executive summary of the
survey can be found at: Last year Michigan State University joined the Coalition on Intercollegiate Athletics (COIA), an alliance of 56 Division 1A faculty senates whose aim is promote comprehensive reform of intercollegiate sports. COIA has generated a report listing a number of proposals that has been reviewed by MSU leadership and responded to by President Simon. Following is the URL for the COIA policy paper, Framing the Future: Reforming Intercollegiate Athletics (2007). Chairperson Chivukula noted that the topic of intercollegiate athletics is appearing on the national radar screen as indicated by recent articles in The Wall street Journal and The Chronicle of Higher Education. At MSU, academic governance has pondered whether there is sufficient faculty interaction and academic oversight in the intercollegiate athletic program. Ralph Putnam noted that the MSU Athletic Council is a committee established by the Board of Trustees reporting directly to the Provost, and was not a Faculty Governance Standing Committee. As such, Dennis Banks (as UCAP representative to Athletic Council) was the only academic governance representative on the Council. Regarding the COIA policy paper, Professor Chivukula noted that at MSU there is a parallel process going on to review COIA recommendations. ECAC has a group reviewing them and that it is possible that UCAP could be involved in this process or may be asked if we feel sufficiently informed as a committee. He asked the committee to keep in mind how they might be proactive in terms of being aware of athletic program issues that could come forward to academic governance.
Request to Require an Admission Requirement for Interior Design The committee unanimously granted voice to Associate Dean Eunice Foster, Interior Design Program Director Roberta Kilty, and Jean Boynton, Academic Advisor in the Interior Design Program. Program Director Kilty provided the rationale for the Interior Design Programs’ request to change the current weighting of the admission to the major requirements to one in which admission to the major is decided based on 70% weighting of portfolio review scores and 30% weighting of the Interior Design major grade-point average (GPA). The new criteria are based on evidence that up to 25% of students admitted to the major perform at a GPA lower than their entry GPA, and as many as 15% do not meet department standards after admission, due to poor performance in studio courses where creativity is an emphasis. The new weighting would reflect admission criteria more inline with the focus of upper division courses resulting in a higher success rate in students admitted to the major. Dr. Kilty remarked that the Interior Design Program provides academic preparation design to enable graduates to enter the profession of interior design. It is a limited enrollment program, admitting approximately 40 students per year. The program is nationally accredited, receiving reaccredited in 2004. After discussion, the committee delayed a decision pending the Program’s response to the following questions:
Is there a correlation between performance in IDES 142 and IDES 252 and success in upper division design courses? Is the continuing requirement of a 3.0 grade-point average necessary given that, in the proposed scheme, a numerical score is already tied to grade-point average? Does the new primary emphasis on portfolio review for admission to upper division suggest that alternative instructional strategies be used in lower division classes? Upon receipt of the responses to the above questions, the request will be scheduled for review at the next UCAP committee meeting.
Request for Clarification of the Relationship between the Specialization and the Major The committee unanimously granted voice to UCC Chairperson, Gillian Bice, and Associate Registrar, Doug McKenna. Dr. Bice explained that although minors were approved, the original write-up of requirements (guidelines) for creating minors for academic units resulted in unanticipated questions about implementation. In some cases college level requirements are embedded in major requirements and there was confusion about the credit count that should be used for determining upper and lower limits for credits in the minor. In addition, there are issues of double counting credits for a minor that are required for other parts of the degree. When originally created, minors were considered completely separate from student’s major, overlooking that there might be a significant relationship between major and minor. In addressing the issues, the questions of allowing double counting of courses and the amount of additional work required for a student to earn additional credentialing on their transcript were considered. It was determined that 12 credits be unique to the minor. In the case of specializations, the UCC determined that 6 credits
be unique to the specialization within a range of 12-18 credits total.
It was noted that a number of specializations currently exist requiring
between 20 and 24 credits.
Roundtable Jim Smith reported that the Undergraduate Assistant subcommittee would present proposed policy language at the next UCAP meeting. Dennis Banks provided the following report from the Athletic Council meeting of October 4, 2007 to the committee. The MSU Athletic Council (AC) met October 4, 2007 at the Henry Center. Sam Puryear, Men’s Golf Coach, was the guest coach. Associate AD/Director of Student-Athlete Support Services, Jim Pignataro submitted the annual report of majors to AC. This included breakdown of majors for MSU Athletes and GPA by year, team, and term. Additionally, graduation rate summaries as required by the Big10 and NCAA were presented and discussed. Peggy Brown, Associate AD, presented the 2007-08 budget to the council. A UCAP report was given by D. Banks and an AD report by R. Mason. Committee members that constituted the four sub-Committees of AC were finalized and the charge was given to the committees.
Meeting Adjourned. Respectfully submitted by |
Agenda/Minutes > 2007-2008 >