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agenda status: approved

Agenda:

1. Approval of the Agenda
   
   
2. Approval of the Minutes of the August 28, 2008 meeting
   
   
3. Comments from the Chair
   
   
4. Comments from the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education
   
   
5. University Undergraduate Learning Assistants (ULA)
   
   
6. UCC Comprehensive Proposals..... (Attachment)
   Linda Good, Chairperson, University Committee on Curriculum
   Doug McKenna, Associate Registrar
   
   
7. Request to Add a Grade-Point Average Requirement in the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics
   Request to Add a Grade-Point Average Requirement in the Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics.......... (Attachment)
   Carl Davidson, Chair, Department of Economics, College of Social Science
   Lawrence Martin, Professor, Department of Economics, College of Social Science
   
   
8. Request to Add a Grade-Point Average Requirement in the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism.......... (Attachment)
   Jane Briggs-Bunting, Director, School of Journalism, College of Communication Arts & Sciences
   
   
9. 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: not approved

UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 09/18/2008

Attendees: Mary Jo Arndt, Dennis Banks, R. Sekhar Chivukula, Peter Cobbett, Marty Crimp, Doug Estry, Mandalyn Griffin, Richard Hallgren, Caroline Hartig, Linda Jackson, Michael Lawrence, Chris Kline, Carolyn Loeb, Brad McDonald, Matthew McKeon, Jerry Punch, Michael Schechter, Sharif Shakrani, Michael Shields, Jim Smith, Tom Volkening

Absent: A. Mahdi Saeed, Parita Shah

The Agenda was approved with the following amendments: Item 5, the word “University” should be replaced with “Undergraduate”; Item 8 was deleted.

The Minutes were approved with the following amendments:

• April 24, 2008 should be August 28, 2008.
• Add Rick Hallgren to the list of attendees.
• In the section titled “Freshman Welcome and Academic Year Start Date”, the last sentence of the paragraph beginning “Professor Chivukula further reported”, the second reference to “academic governance” should be changed to “ECAC”.

Comments from Chair
Chairperson Chivukula reported on two motions passed at the September 12, 2008 meeting of the Faculty Council. 1) endorsement of a shortened fall welcome (without reference to implementation) and, 2) a request that University administration reconsider prohibiting living-learning programs an earlier move-in date than the rest of the incoming students.

Dr. Chivukula noted that shortening fall semester might bring requests to shorten spring semester. He asked UCAP members to consider providing leadership in framing a campus discussion that the spring academic calendar be shortened and yet benefiting students and the University academically.

Members inquired about further academic governance consideration of fall break, a proposal forwarded by the committee to Academic Council in March 2007. Dr. Chivukula stated the topic was not among the discussion points at Faculty Council.

Professor Chivukula reminded members that UCAP would meet on September 25, and that the agenda would include proposed revisions to the University’s anti-discrimination policy. The proponents of the revision seek to clarify the interaction between that policy and free speech issues on campus.

Comments from the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education
There were no comments from Associate Provost Estry.

Undergraduate Learning Assistant (ULA)
Discussion of a draft policy document concluded with the decision to make a minor language adjustment to clarify the Selection Process portion of the document.

Motion by Michael Schechter passed unanimously.

The committee endorses the draft Undergraduate Learning Assistant (ULA) policy with the incorporation of wording to clarify the Selection Process portion of the document. The committee authorizes the Chairperson to incorporate the change recommended by the committee into the draft and to forward the final document to the Provost without further committee review.

UCC Comprehensive Proposals 1, 4, 5, and 6
Linda Good, Chairperson, University Committee on Curriculum
Doug McKenna, Associate Registrar

The committee unanimously granted voice to Dr. Good and Associate Registrar McKenna who then provided background on the Proposals and answered questions posed by committee members.

The committee deferred consideration of UCC Proposal 1 pending clarification from UCC as to the distinction between minors and specializations.

Motion by Richard Hallgren passed unanimously.

The University Committee on Academic Policy approves UCC Proposal 4 that recommends that at least 12 credits counted toward the requirements for a student’s minor must not be used to fulfill the requirements for that student’s major.

Motion by Jim Smith passed unanimously.

The University Committee on Academic Policy approves UCC Proposal 5 that establishes that a student cannot pursue a minor when completing a major of the same name within a field-of-study.

The consensus of the committee was that it will not act upon UCC Proposal 6, a request that UCAP approve the UCC’s recommendation to allow a maximum of 9 approved credits from the Undergraduate Level to be applied to a Linked Bachelor’s – Master’s degree program. The committee determined that this proposal does not affect the academic standards of MSU undergraduate programs. Instead, the committee recommends that, if the proposal is to be adopted, the University Graduate Committee specify the criterion by which “linked Master’s” programs will be distinguished from ordinary Master’s programs. In particular, under what circumstances would it be appropriate to count 9 credits previously used in an undergraduate degree program and (in effect) reduce the number of credits required for a Master's degree to 21?

Request to Add a Grade-Point Average Requirement in the Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics
Request to Add a Grade-Point Average Requirement in the Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics
Carl Davidson, Chair, Department of Economics, College of Social Science
Lawrence Martin, Professor, Department of Economics, College of Social Science

The committee unanimously granted voice to Drs. Davidson and Martin.

Chairperson Davidson and Professor Martin provided the background leading to the Department’s request for approval to require students to have a grade-point average of 2.0 in all courses in order to enroll in the EC 499 Economics capstone course. The primary purpose of the change is to insure students have mastered the skills for satisfactory completion of EC 499. Departmental research finds a correlation between achieving a 2.0 or higher in Economics courses and success in the capstone course. In addition, requiring a minimum 2.0 or higher in Economics courses prior to taking the capstone course increases the probability that majors will have the 2.0 grade point average in the major required for graduation from the College of Social Science.

Motion by Mary Jo Arndt passed unanimously.

The University Committee on Academic Policy approves the requests from the Department of Economics to add grade-point average requirements in the Bachelor of Science and the Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Economics, noting modifications (1) adding the word “minimum” before grade-point average of 2.0 and (2) eliminating “all attempted” from the catalogue language.

Round table
Brad McDonald distributed copies of ASMSU joint resolution 45-17-05 regarding the academic calendar, fall welcome, and a shortened fall exam period.

Meeting adjourned at 12:00 pm.

Respectfully submitted by
Sandra Walther