UCAP Meeting of 02/10/2011 2010-2011 agenda status: approved Agenda: University Committee on Academic Policy AGENDA Thursday, February 10, 2011 10:15 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Board Room, 4th Floor, Administration Building
minutes status: approved approved at meeting of 02/24/2011 UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 02/10/2011 UNIVERSITY COMMITTEE ON ACADEMIC POLICY Minutes Thursday, February 10, 2011 10:15 to 12:00 PM Board Room, Administration Building Attending: Paul Abramson, Gillian Bice, Crystal Branta, Constance Hunt (for Lisa Cook), Laura Dillon, Doug Estry, Anita Ezzo, Fred Fico, Kathleen Hoag, Evan Martinak, Matthew McKeon, Michael Nelson, Mary Noel, Justin O’Dell, Helene Pazak, Ron Perry, John Reifenberg, Christopher Scales, Mike Shields, Mary Kay Smith Not Attending: Miles Armaly, Justin Epstein, Tom Morse, Mitchell Treadwell, Chenguang Wang
The Agenda was approved. The Minutes of January 27, 2011 were approved with minor editorial corrections. Comments from the Chairperson Comments from the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Request for a New Bachelor of Arts Degree in World Politics The committee unanimously granted voice to Drs. Summerhill, Kautz and Hula. On behalf of his college, Dr. Summerhill expressed appreciation to UCAP for delaying its consideration of the request to allow colleagues in James Madison College (JMC) the opportunity to fully review the request. His colleagues are pleased with the memo Dean Garnett provided as it reflects a willingness to collaborate moving forward. Chairperson Bice stated that the Committee had received an email update on Dean Garnett’s memo and that the issues mentioned in item #2 were largely resolved. Dr. Hula stated the rationale for the new degree is to enhance the experience of undergraduate majors. He emphasized: (1) The significance of international issues in political science. (2) Modernization of curriculum. (3) Having the capacity in place to do this – no additional resources are needed; it is simply repackaging of what is already done in the department. Political Science and James Madison are complementary, not competitive. Dean Garnett’s issues are administrative in nature. Committee discussion focused on the following:
The committee withdrew voice from Drs. Summerhill, Kautz and Hula. Motion by Kathleen Hoag passed with one abstention.
and Request to Change the Requirements for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Kinesiology which Requires a Minimum Grade-Point Average of 2.00 in Selected Courses in the Degree Dr. Deborah Feltz, Chairperson, Department of Kinesiology Dr. Dianne Ulibarri, Associate Professor, Department of Kinesiology The committee unanimously granted voice to Drs. Feltz and Ulibarri. It was explained to the committee that both the Athletic Training and Kinesiology degrees share the same set of core requirements. The reason for the requested changes center on the fact that peer institutions require a lower number of credits in their core requirements than does MSU, which is at the high end (data were provided in a separate handout distributed at the meeting). Peer institutions all require a biomechanics course and an exercise physiology course. The department’s goal was to pare down the number of core requirements at MSU to allow more flexibility for students to take electives not only in the department, but also across the University. They also increased the number of available writing courses that could be used to fulfill the writing requirement from 1 to 2. Chairperson Bice reminded the committee that the minimum GPA requirement of 2.0 did not represent a change, and that historically UCAP has not taken issue with such requirements as they are consistent with the course repeat policy. There were no questions from the committee, and voice was withdrawn from Drs. Feltz and Ulibarri. Motion passed unanimously.
Chairperson Bice stated that this has been referred from ECAC (initiated by Associate Provost Linda Stanford and Provost Kim Wilcox) and the committee has been asked to provide commentary and feedback by ECAC’s March 1 meeting. She recommended formation of a subcommittee to review the proposal and report back to the full committee with its recommendations by February 24. Associate Provost Estry stated he would wait to comment until hearing back from the full committee. Following the committee’s discussion of issues and concerns, Chairperson Bice stated that the committee has raised a number of important and substantive issues. She suggested that she and Dr. Estry assemble a list of concerns on which to elaborate and report back to full committee as a way forward. After committee review and endorsement, Chair would then provide in a report to ECAC. Motion by Evan Martinak to form a subcommittee was supported. Following a brief discussion, Evan Martinak, Crystal Branta, and Laura Dillon volunteered to serve on the subcommittee. The subcommittee was charged with compiling and organizing the committee’s comments into a report to be reviewed by the full committee at its regular February 24 meeting. Mr. Martinak requested that committee comments be emailed to him and he would coordinate with the other subcommittee members. Motion to send to committee passed unanimously. Update to Integrity of Scholarship and Grades per Changes in the AFR – Information item Associate Provost Estry explained that this item concerns changes in the language of the approved new version of the AFR. The change in the Integrity of Scholarship and Grades Policy is necessary for it to be consistent with the updated AFR. General Counsel possesses the authority to make these changes without further approval of governance; therefore, this is brought before UCAP as an information item. Roundtable Mr. Martinak reported to the committee that ASMSU recently ratified a bill to change from a bicameral to a unicameral system. A vote to change the constitution will take place later in the month and ASMSU will conduct a joint meeting on March 16. There was no further discussion and the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, |
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