agenda status: approved

Agenda:

1. Approval of the Agenda
2. Approval of January 24, 2008 minutes 
3. Comments from the Chairperson
4. Comments from the Associate Provost
5. Finalization of Wording of ULA Draft Policy
   R. Sekhar Chivukula, UCAP Chairperson
6. Sustainability Specialization Proposal Attachments .....(Attachment 1, Attachment 2, Attachment 3)
   Laurie Thorp, Coordinator, Rise Program
   Geoffrey Habron, Assistant Professor, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
7. Request to Establish a Minor in Music with an Audition Requirement for Admission
   Curtis Olson, Associate Dean, College of Music.....(Attachment)
8. Request to Change the Admission Requirements for the Specialization in Public Relations
   Janet Lillie, Associate Dean, College of Communication Arts and Sciences .....(Attachment)
   Ann Hoffman, Director of Undergraduate Student Affairs, College of Communication Arts and Sciences
9. Request to Require a Grade-Point of 2.0 in Selected Courses within the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Work
   Rena Harold, Director, School of Social Work .....(Attachment)
   Joan Ilardo, Academic Specialist, College of Social Work
10. Request to change the admission as a Junior Requirements for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Athletic Training
    Deborah Feltz, Chairperson, Department of Kinesiology
    John Powell, Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology...........(Attachment)
11. Roundtable
    
    

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.

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minutes status: approved

approved at meeting of 02/14/2008

UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 02/07/2008

Attendees: R. Sekhar Chivukula, Peter Cobbett, Doug Estry, Ruba Farah, Richard Hallgren, Caroline Hartig, Linda Jackson, Carolyn Loeb, Helen Mayer, Jerry Punch, Michael Schechter, Michael Shields, Jim Smith, Thomas Volkening

Absent: Dennis Banks, Marty Crimp, Brad McDonald, Ralph Putnam, Chris Wenstrom

The Agenda was approved.

Minutes from the 1/24/08 meeting were approved.

Comments from the Chairperson
Chairperson Chivukula reported that

ECAC has set up a task force to work with the General Council to create a policy on the use of third party copyright material in classrooms, online courses, and campus networks. Current policy does not discuss the parameters of “fair use” by MSU employees. Professor Chivukula will be on the taskforce.

Taskforce 1 has scheduled a teach-in next Wednesday (February 13) from 3:30 to 5:00 PM., Taskforce 1 members will give a presentation moderated by John Beck.

The ECAC subcommittee to review COIA provided an interim report to the members. They stated that MSU policy exceeds recommendations in most cases. In a few instances, due to NCAA rules or impracticality, MSU cannot. The subcommittee’s final report will be submitted in April and may call for increased involvement by UCAP to strengthen the link between UCAP and Athletic Council.

The Healthcare Options subcommittee report will be on the Academic Council and Faculty Council agendas for their next meetings.

Comments from the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education
No comments from the Associate Provost

Finalization of the Wording of the ULA Draft Policy
Chairperson R. Sekhar Chivukula

The addition of a definition of Undergraduate Learning Assistant to the ULA draft document, approved at the UCAP meeting on January 24, 2008 was discussed and approved by committee consensus.

The draft proposal will be forwarded to the Provost as a recommendation from UCAP in its role as adviser on academic policy to the Provost. In addition, the draft will be reported to ECAC as an action by UCAP.

The ULA draft document should not be distributed until it becomes a public document by its inclusion in an ECAC agenda. Chairperson Chivukula will notify UCAP members when the ULA document should be considered public.

Professor Chivukula thanked the ULA subcommittee, Rick Hallgren, Amanda Venettis, and Jim Smith for their excellent work in creating this important policy proposal.

Sustainability Specialization Proposal
Laurie Thorp, Coordinator, Rise Program
Terry Link, Director, Office of Campus Sustainability

The committee unanimously granted voice to Drs. Thorp and Link.

Associate Provost Estry introduced the agenda item, describing the beginnings of the proposal and the reason for including it in the UCAP agenda. Created by a group of faculty, staff, and students, the proposal responds to a need identified by students, faculty, alumni, and other MSU stakeholders for an interdisciplinary academic specialization to address a topic of international, national, and local importance. The proposed specialization is structured around a clearly delineated set of competencies that recognize the importance of curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular learning experiences. The flexible framework of the proposal, tailored to the needs of a diverse body of students, is transcollegiate and unique. The Sustainability Proposal was brought to UCAP because it does not lie in a particular college and therefore does not have the typical departmental and college-level curriculum development process. In addition, the proposal suggests that the specialization reside in the Office of the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education.

Drs. Thorp and Link made a brief presentation to illuminate points contained in the Sustainability Specialization Proposal distributed in advance of the meeting and asked for committee feedback.

The following points were made by the committee:

1. Curriculum is the purview of the faculty. There is not a precedent at MSU for having a non-academic unit as the lead. Rather than housing the program in a non-academic unit, a consortium of colleges could be responsible for the program.
2. Course development at MSU requires academic scrutiny and follows a prescribed process. These courses, if housed in a non-academic unit, would not.
3. Need for the proposal clearly to reflect the balance between disciplinary direction and competency direction.
4. Need for a clear indication that academic rigor, providing the disciplinary depth and sophistication that represents a college education, is evident in the program.
5. Need for improved explanation of the program’s subjective and objective student requirements.
6. Need for a clear indication of how evaluation of the student outcomes would be made consistent among the colleges adopting the program.
7. Need for inclusion of systems that would provide a safety net for students as they move through the program
8. Explanation of how a student might enter the program beyond the first year or as a transfer student.
   

Chairperson Chivukula thanked Drs. Thorp and Link, stating that there was broad support in UCAP for the idea of a sustainability specialization and that the committee is prepared to work with them to help the proposal move forward.

Request to Establish a Minor in Music with an Audition Requirement for Admission
Curtis Olson, Associate Dean, College of Music

The committee unanimously granted voice to Associate Dean Olson.

Dr. Olson provided background on the request to establish a minor in the College of Music. After discussion, the consensus of the committee was to defer the request pending a response from the College on the following issues:

1. If the minor is to be a limited enrollment program (i.e. if the standards for the level of performance in the audition required for admission will change depending on the space available) the catalog wording should be modified to reflect that fact.
2. If majors are given preference in access to courses, what assurance can be given that admitted students can complete the minor in a timely fashion?

Request to Change the Admission Requirements for the Specialization in Public Relations
Janet Lillie, Associate Dean, College of Communication Arts and Sciences
Ann Hoffman, Director of Undergraduate Student Affairs, College of Communication Arts and Sciences

The committee unanimously granted voice to Associate Dean Lillie and Director of Undergraduate Student Affairs, Ann Hoffman.

Dr. Lillie and Ms. Hoffman provided the background for the change in admission requirements for the specialization in Public Relations. After discussion, the committee requested the following information/modifications in order to proceed:

1. The committee would like to understand the academic rationale for the continued requirement of an overall 3.0 GPA for admission, especially in light of the change to sophomore admission.
2. Correction of the draft catalog copy to reflect the proposed program.

Request to Require a Grade Point of 2.0 in Selected Courses within the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Social Work

Rena Harold, Director, School of Social Work
Joan Ilardo, Academic Specialist, College of Social Work

Chairperson Chivukula reported that Rena Harold, Director, School of Social Work was unable to attend the meeting due to weather conditions.

The committee unanimously granted voice to Academic Specialist Joan Ilardo.

Ms. Ilardo reported that the faculty in the Department of Social Work is concerned that students that receive less than a 2.0 or above in selected courses do not have the theoretical basis for success in subsequent courses. They have found that these students, as seniors, have difficulty in their field placement course.

After discussion, the committee noted that the suggested catalog language did not reflect the intention of using the 2.0 GPA as a progression requirement. The committee deferred action on the request, asking that the following information/modifications be provided in order to proceed:

• Clarify the intention of the request: is the 2.0 in selected courses meant to be a progression requirement (e.g., one needs a 2.0 in BSW 320 to take BSW 420) or, as drafted, is it meant to reflect performance by the time of degree?

Request to change the admission as a Junior Requirements for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Athletic Training
Deborah Feltz, Chairperson, Department of Kinesiology
John Powell, Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology

The committee unanimously granted voice to Drs. Feltz and Powell.

Dr. Powell explained the request would eliminate errors in course catalog language regarding admission as a junior to the Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training program. There was no committee discussion.

Motion by Michael Schechter was unanimously approved.

The committee endorses the request to change the admission as a Junior Requirements for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Athletic Training as submitted in the January 21, 2008 memo to the committee.

Roundtable

Chairperson Chivukula stated that the Religious Observance subcommittee and Academic Dishonesty subcommittee would provide reports to the committee at its February 14, 2008 meeting.

Jerry Punch, UCAP representative to the Academic Council, reported that in its January 29 meeting, the Academic Council passed two proposals previously acted on by UCAP. The proposal to change the minimum number of credits in a minor and the proposal to split the Department of Marketing from Supply Chain Management were approved without discussion.

The meeting was adjourned at noon.

Respectfully submitted by
Sandra Walther

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