UCAP Meeting of 04/12/2012 2011-2012 agenda status: approved Agenda: MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY University Committee on Undergraduate Studies DRAFT AGENDA Thursday, April 12, 2012 10:15 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Board Room, 4th Floor, Administration Building
1. Approval of the Agenda (Action Item) 2. Approval of the March 29, 2012 UCUS Minutes (Action
Item) 3. Comments from the Chairperson 4. Comments from the Associate Provost for Undergraduate
Education 5. Proposed Revisions to the Drop and Withdrawal Policies
at MSU, Change of Enrollment Policy and Withdrawal from the University Policy (Action
Item) Dean of Undergraduate Studies 6. SIRS e-forms (Information Item) 7. ASMSU Proposal Regarding Grief Related Absences Update
(Information Item) 8. ASMSU Proposal Regarding Internship Credit Assessment
(Discussion Item) 9. Roundtable minutes status: approved at the 4/26/12 meeting UCAP Minutes for meeting held on 04/12/2012 University Committee on Undergraduate Studies Minutes Thursday, April 12, 2012 10:15 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Board Room, 4th Floor, Administration Building
Attending: Zarena Aslami, Mark Axelrod, Emily Bank, Henry Beckmeyer, Jan Brady, Crystal Branta, Laura Dillon, Doug Estry, Fred Fico, Kathleen Hoag, Dan Keathley, Seung Hyun Kim, Chris McClain, Nicole McCleese, Mary Noel, John Reifenberg, Patricia Rogers, Michael Scott, Ryan Sweeder, Zachary Taylor
Absent: Milan Griffes, Evan Martinak, Tom Morse, Justin O’Dell, Ron Perry, Abraham Wheeler
The Agenda was approved.
The minutes of the March 29, 2012 meeting were approved.
Comments from the Chairperson Chairperson Dillon reminded the group that one UCUS meeting remained for the 2011-12 academic year. At the last meeting, April 26, the new members for 2012-13 would be invited too attend to participate in the elections for the 2012-13 committee officers. Continuing committee members were asked to contact Dr. Dillon if they were interested in being nominated for a position.
Dr. Dillon reported that, at the most recent Steering Committee meeting, the Provost indicated that work on eliminating curricular barriers to time to degree would continue through 2012-13. At that meeting, Steering Committee Chairperson Powell thanked the committees for the high quality work accomplished this year.
Comments from the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Associate Provost Estry encouraged committee members to attend the University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF) on April 13. He also noted that the Provost has asked deans, chairs, and directors to give serious consideration to sophomore admission to the major that, if implemented, could start as soon as fall 2013.
Proposed Revisions to the Drop and Withdrawal Policies at MSU, Change of Enrollment Policy and Withdrawal from the University Policy Doug Estry, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education
Associate Provost Estry stated the policy deadlines for dropping courses and withdrawing voluntarily from the University had been a source of confusion. Currently the date to drop courses occurs in the middle of a semester while the date to withdraw voluntarily from the university occurs 6/7 of the way through a semester. The proposed revisions to the policies would have the date for either action occur mid-semester on the same date. He noted that policies regarding dropping or withdrawing after the stated date would remain the same, i.e., if the student was passing the course the notation “W” would be made on the student’s transcript or, if the student was failing, a “0” would be shown. He added that exceptions could be made in extenuating circumstances. An example would be significant medical problems that made a late drop or withdrawal necessary. Dr. Estry clarified that withdrawal for medical reasons was not a separate category of late drops or withdrawal. He described the process by which a committee that includes the university physician and, in some cases, the director of the Counseling Center reviews the requests to drop or withdraw for medical reasons. This committee considers medical reason, academic progress, and impact on financial aid in making a decision to approve or deny a student’s request.
The committee members from the professional colleges inquired whether the professional schools would follow the date for drops and withdrawals, noting that semester start and end dates for those programs are different than those for other university programs.
It was also noted that the proposed policy referenced the “MSU web enrollment system”. As recent communications from the Office of the Registrar instructed units to remove that terminology from written materials and replace it with “Schedule of Courses”, the correct terms should be reflected in the proposed policy. It was also suggested that the change in registration website needed to be announced publically--especially to students.
Motion by Chris McClain passed unanimously. The University Committee on Undergraduate Studies, in its consultative role to the Provost, has no concerns with the proposed revisions to the Drop and Withdrawal Policies at MSU, Change of Enrollment Policy and Withdrawal from the University Policy.
SIRS E-forms Chairperson Dillon stated that a request for clarification on particular aspects of SIRS Online had been made through the Secretary of Academic Governance. A draft response was presented to the committee and, after review, the committee made no changes to the proposed response.
ASMSU Proposal Regarding Grief Related Absences Update Zachary Taylor, Provost, ASMSU
ASMSU Provost Taylor stated that the subcommittee on this topic would meet the next week. Chairperson Dillon stated that Kathleen Hoag, who had volunteered to serve on this subcommittee, would not be returning in 2012-13 and had asked that she be replaced by a committee member who would be continuing service through the next year. There were no volunteers. Dr. Dillon stated that she would attend the next subcommittee meeting and would look for someone to serve on the subcommittee at the next UCUS meeting.
ASMSU Proposal Regarding Internship Credit
Assessment
ASMSU Provost Taylor stated that ASMSU had become concerned about the differing number of credits being assessed for internship experiences across the University and whether the tuition costs of the varying programs were commensurate with the amount of experience that a student gained while in the internship. He explained that the credits assigned to various internship experiences seemed to have no consistency across the University. It seemed to ASMSU representatives that the financial burden for internships assigned six or more credits seemed excessive, especially in light of the lower costs incurred by the University during the time a student was away. ASMSU asked that internship credits be billed at the actual cost to the University, assuming that those costs would be lower than the regular tuition rate that is currently assessed. Taylor noted that ASMSU solicited explanations from faculty and staff from various units across campus about the appropriateness of the current methods of internship credit assignment and tuition rate charges but ASMSU representatives did not find that any of them explained or justified current practices.
Associate Provost Estry pointed out that there is not a direct relationship between enrollment credits and University funding of programs. Others added that assignment of credits for internships and faculty involvement with them varied across disciplines and even within them, based on the nature of the internship. Dr. Estry also noted that, although students pay the same tuition no matter the delivery or type of course, some units, such as Engineering, charge students additional fees because of higher costs of delivering particular classes.
Committee members commented that reducing the number of credits assigned to an internship could have negative effects on time-to-degree. In addition, reducing credits for internships could cause students to have to pay for additional credits in order to reach the120 (or more) credits required to graduate. Conversely, it was noted, that although ASMSU seemed to contend that internships required less faculty involvement, the opposite was most likely true if involvement is calculated on a per-student basis.
After further discussion, it was determined that ASMSU representatives would use the summer to reevaluate and refine the proposal and present it again in the fall.
Roundtable
Members asked for more information regarding the controversy about student health insurance. Specifically, does the University have good information about how many students are impacted by not having insurance in the past and to what extent these students would not have been as negatively impacted if they had insurance, since it has been mentioned that only 61 students withdrew for medical reasons in the past year. Associate Provost Estry agreed to check with the University Physician to see if this information was available.
Fred Fico stated that President Simon had rejected the recommendations made by the Anti-Discrimination Policy Working Group for the second time and that he would be appealing the decision to the Board of Trustees.
Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted by Sandra Walther |
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