UCUE Minutes for meeting held on  3/27/2014

University Committee on Undergraduate Education
Minutes
Thursday, March 27, 2014
10:15 A.M. to 12:00 P.M.
Board Room, 4th Floor Administration Building

Attendees:       Henry Beckmeyer, Chris Baldwin, Jan Brady, Doug Estry, Mitchell Goheen, Bradley Hammond, Amanda Holmstrom, Rob LaDuca, Chris Melde, Richard Miksicek, Debra Nails, Coretta Patterson, Matt Pontifex, Jason Porter, Lynmarie Posey, Fred Rodammer, Evan Schrage, David Schweikhardt, Cynthia Taggart, Veronica Thronson

 Absent:            Laura Dillon, Rita Kiki Edozie, Renata Opoczynski, Anita Skeen, Abraham Wheeler.

The agenda was approved as amended as follows: agenda item 7, the request to phase out and discontinue the Bachelor of Arts degree in Classical Studies, was withdrawn at the request of the College, and agenda Item 5 was changed to match the revised program name “Environmental Science, Resource Management, and Practice.”

 The minutes from March 13, 2014 were approved as amended by removing a repeated word in the Chairperson’s Comments and, in the Roundtable section, replacing ‘reported’ with ‘suggested’.  

 Comments from the Chairperson
Chairperson Taggart asked current members to think about the upcoming election of UCUE officers for 2014-15. She requested that incumbents let her know whether they want to continue to serve in their current offices and other members to let her know if they have a desire to serve as an officer next year.

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

 Request for New Minor in Environmental Science, Resource Management, and Practice
Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science
Alan Arbogast, Chairperson, Department of Geography

 The committee unanimously granted voice to Associate Dean Kautz and Chairperson Arbogast.

 Associate Dean Kautz pointed out the supplementary document provided by UCC included the revisions requested by the UCUE at its last meeting. He added that the College of Social Science and Lyman Briggs College had signed off on the proposed minor. The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources and the Science and Technology, Environment and Public Policy Specialization have agreed to sign off as well. He noted that other programs with interest in this proposed minor had been or soon would be contacted for their approval.

 Chairperson Taggart explained that sign-offs on program requests were monitored by UCC and that no action would be taken on any requested program change until all appropriate approvals had been received.

 Voice was withdrawn from Associate Dean Kautz and Chairperson Arbogast.

 Motion by Debra Nails was unanimously approved.
            The University Committee on Undergraduate Education approves the request for a new minor in Environmental Science, Resource Management and Practice.

 Request to Phase Out and Discontinue the Specialization in Canadian Studies
Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science
Christina DeJong, Director, Center for Integrative Studies in Social Science

 The committee unanimously granted voice to Associate Dean Kautz and Director DeJong.

 Associate Dean Kautz explained that the Canadian Studies Specialization had been in moratorium for the past three years and that the Canadian Studies Center was in the process of developing a new Canadian Studies minor. He stated that the development of the minor was not far enough along to propose to the UCC at this time.  Therefore, the decision was made to request to phase out and discontinue the specialization.

 Dr. DeJong added that it was expected that the new minor would be ready to present to the College’s Curriculum Committee later this spring or first thing in fall.

 Voice was withdrawn from Associate Dean Kautz and Director DeJong.

 Motion by Debra Nails was unanimously approved.
            The University Committee on Undergraduate Education endorses the request to phase out and discontinue the Specialization in Canadian Studies.

Request to Change the Course Listing which requires a Grade of 2.0 in Each Course in the Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Theatre
Gary Hoppenstand, Associate Dean, College of Arts and Letters
Kirk Domer, Chairperson, Department of Theatre

 Chairperson Taggart explained to the UCUE members that the request was on the agenda due to the proposed 2.0 Grade requirement in each course, which is a matter of policy and the purview of the committee. The committee would not be discussing the changes in the course structure.

 The committee unanimously granted voice to Associate Dean Hoppenstand and Chairperson Domer.

 Chairperson Domer pointed out that the 2.0 grade requirement in each course of the courses in the major had been approved years earlier and that the department’s reorganization of the core studies portion of the major required review of the 2.0 grade requirement in each course. He asked the committee to renew its approval of the current practice of requiring a 2.0 grade requirement in the core courses in the Theatre major.

 Voice was withdrawn from Associate Dean Hoppenstand and Chairperson Domer.

 Motion by Debra Nails was unanimously approved.
            The University Committee on Undergraduate Education considered and approved the request to change the course listing which requires a grade of 2.0 in each course in the Bachelor of                     Fine Arts Degree in Theatre.

Request for a Name Change, Department of Zoology
Thomas Getty, Chairperson, Department of Zoology

Chairperson Taggart explained to the committee that its task was to provide feedback to Provost Youatt on the proposed name change in the Department of Zoology.

The committee unanimously granted voice to Chairperson Getty.

Chairperson Getty explained that undergraduate students mistakenly perceive Zoology as related only to animal biology. He stated the proposed name change would help undergraduate students understand that Zoology is an important part of their curriculum and, for those students interested in health professions, might be a good home as a major. Chairperson Getty added that the department planned to continue to offer the Bachelor of Science in Zoology.

 Following is the composite discussion and feedback from the committee.

•  Integrative has different meanings. Other biology departments also consider themselves integrative.  This is a potential source of confusion for the students.
• Concern was expressed that this is a potential step in being able to consolidate the multiple biology groups to have a more general name and structure. Chairperson Getty was clear that this was not the case.
•  Is this name consistent with other CIC institutions? Chairperson Getty stressed that there were very few zoology departments left in the country.
• Committee members questioned whether it would be better to construct a more descriptive department name that includes the word Zoology in it. Chairperson Getty stated that this was his preference too, but that this was tried and rejected by the University in the recent past.
• Concern was expressed that this name change may negatively affect student recruitment at the undergraduate level because of the lack of specificity of the name.
• Chairperson Getty stated that the name change probably will be followed by a subsequent change in the undergraduate degree programs offered. Some committee members expressed that it might be better to change the name of the department and the program at the same time although others thought that a slow transition was best in order to help students understand that integrative biology did include zoo animals and other animals.

 Proposed Changes to the Academic Freedom Report

 Chairperson Taggart recommended that, after discussing the executive summary, the committee would proceed through the suggested changes in the Academic Freedom Report (AFR) article by article.

 Professor Nails provided an overview and brief history of the AFR. She distributed a summary of the changes to the members that contained a motion recommended by the AFR subcommittee.

After proceeding through each of the articles to discuss the subcommittee’s recommended changes, the committee unanimously approved the following motion.
            The UCUE has duly considered and supports the proposed amendments to the Academic Freedom Report, renamed Michigan State University Student Rights and Responsibilities with a                    concern that Owen Graduate Association and the University Apartments Council of Residents should have representatives on RHA and the suggestion that the University Academic Hearing             Board have its name changed to University Academic Grievance Hearing Board.