MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

University Committee on Undergraduate Education

 MINUTES

Thursday, September 22, 2016

10:15 A.M. to 12:00 P.M.

Board Room, 4^th Floor Administration Building

Attending:  Eva Almenar, Rich Bellon, Andrew Corner, Jan Eberle, Kathy Forrest, John Gaboury, Nicole Geske, Sheng-Mei Ma, Richard Miksicek, Laura Nelson, Steve Rohs, Fred Rodammer, Lorenzo Santavicca, Jessica Sender, Cassandra Shavrnoch, Mary Kay Smith, Jacob Snyder, Jordan Stomps, Emily Tabuteau, Janette Vani

Absent:  Giles Brereton, Marcos Caballero, Haylee Luedtke, Matt Pontifex

The agenda was approved as amended to reflect that Item #7 will be tabled until a future meeting.

The minutes were approved as amended to show that Laura Nelson was in attendance at the 9/8/16 meeting.

Comments from the Chairperson

Chairperson Miksicek had no comments.

Comments from the Associate Provost for Academic Services & Enrollment Management

Associate Provost Gaboury welcomed UCUE members to a new academic year and thanked them for serving on the committee.

Request for a New Minor in the City:  Environment, Design, and Society (Action Item)

Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science

Michael Connelly, Director of Student Affairs, College of Social Science

Walter Hawthorne, Chair, Department of History

The committee granted voice to Associate Dean Kautz, Michael Connelly, and Chairperson Hawthorne.

Associate Dean Kautz provided background and introductory comments for the five related Requests that are all from the College of Social Science and described the underlying reform of undergraduate education in the College of Social Science and how the minors are related to that underlying reform. 

Associate Dean Kautz indicated that twenty five percent of a student’s undergraduate program is consumed by college requirements, and that unlike University requirements, they happened without much guidance for individual students and without much effort to assess programmatic outcomes or value added to students’ curricula.  It seemed odd that the college requirements were outliers with no reflection on learning outcomes or assessment.  These proposals seek to abolish the 30 credit requirement and replace with the following:

• 15 credits inter disciplinary minor;

• 3 credits experiential learning;

• a breadth (or distribution) requirement that often would be fulfilled through the minors themselves but if not fulfilled through the minors, they would have to be fulfilled otherwise -  6 credits in the arts and humanities for a BS students and 6 credits in STEM courses for BA students.

   

  The proposed minors would fulfill the first of these requirements.  It was noted that in addition to the five minors being proposed today, other departments have requested to be included.  Should these minors be approved, and others in the que, there would be about 15 minors associated with the new curriculum. 

   

  Associate Dean Kautz provided additional background on the minors:

   

1. These minors have intellectual coherence and integrity and have been developed by faculty.

2. The minors are unique because they would provide students with a transcriptable credential.

3. The new curriculum will enhance faculty engagement and the package of minors will adjust over time.

4. Learning outcomes and assessments have been established for the five proposed minors.

5. The proposed minors will enhance student flexibility and decrease time to graduation.

    

   It was noted that the five proposed minors all have the same structure of at least 15 credits – including an entry and a capstone course, a menu of other College of Social Science (CSS) courses of which students must select one and a menu of courses outside of the CSS that students must select two.  The minors will be an administratively shared responsibility.  If approved, at first the proposed minors will only be open to CSS students and the hope is that over time, all minors will be open to all students throughout the University.

    

   Chairperson Miksicek gave a general announcement to remind UCUE members to respect UCUE’s role in the governance process and limit comments to what UCUE has purview over such as admissions policy, grading policy, and timely completion of the program.  He also noted that final notations and corrections related to course requirements would be taken care of by UCC with assistance from the Registrar’s office.

    

   Associate Dean Kautz stated the minor will be administered by the Department of History.  The School of Planning, Design, and Construction, which houses the Urban and Regional Planning major, is a partner unit. The purpose of the minor is to assist students in understanding the social and environmental context of cities in the modern world.

    

   Discussion included concern that by only allowing CSS students to enroll in the minors could have a siloing effect.  UCUE members stated that it is a “best practice” to allow and encourage students from other colleges to enroll in the minors, considering their interdisciplinary nature and the implicit goal of adding breadth to a student’s undergraduate major.  One UCUE member questioned if this practice had been done before at MSU or other Universities.

    

   Associate Dean Kautz explained that these minors are being limited initially to CSS students only because they need to monitor enrollment and determine the full capacity of the minors and the associated courses.  The intent, over time, is to change the curriculum as needed and open up the minors to all students.   He also noted that six of the fifteen credits will come from outside the College.  He stated that faculty discussion had determined that they wanted something transcriptable and that is why they moved from specializations to minors.  Discussion took place regarding assessment for the minors.

    

   Individual UCUE members voiced the following concerns:

• The minors seem to have an overlapping nature and are not clearly defined;

• The word “environment” is in four of the six titles;

• Category three seems limiting with limited course choices

   

  Associate Dean Kautz stated that although there are content overlaps the goal is for few or no courses to appear as selectives in more than one minor.  He again stated that they expect that the curriculum for the minors will change and evolve over time and other colleges will become involved.

   

  The challenge of self-advising was discussed as well as the semester that courses will be offered.  It was noted that entry and capstone courses will be offered every semester with sections added as needed, and that an advising structure is being developed to help students navigate their degrees.

   

  Associate Dean Kautz provided a general overview of issues in common with all minors however it was noted that each minor would be approved separately.

   

  Voice was removed from Associate Dean Kautz, Michael Connelly, and Chairperson Hawthorne.

   

  The following motion passed unanimously.

   

  The University Committee on Undergraduate Education duly considered and endorsed the request for a New Minor in the City:  Environment, Design, and Society.

   

   

  Request for a New Minor in Youth and Society (Action Item)

  Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science

  Michael Connelly, Director of Student Affairs, College of Social Science

  Amy Bonomi, Chair, Dept. of Human Development & Family Studies

   

  The committee granted voice to Associate Dean Kautz, Michael Connelly, and Chairperson Bonomi.

   

  Associate Dean Kautz stated that this Minor would be managed entirely by the Department of Human Development and Family Studies.  The Department has the entry and capstone course and expect this to be a relatively large minor.  It was noted that courses administered by the Department draw students from majors all over campus such as Kinesiology, Psychology, and Natural Science.

   

  Discussion took place regarding enrollment limits and adding additional sections as needed.

   

  A UCUE member reiterated that although category three is meant to be more flexible, it seems limiting and he urged CSS to be more proactive in adding classes from other colleges to the minors.  Associate Dean Kautz reassured UCUE that meetings will be held with colleges to pursue adding other classes to the minors.  It is the expectation that the classes in category three will grow.

   

  A motion was made to consider and endorse the request for a New Minor in Youth and Society.

   

  An amendment was made that the College of Social Science consider increasing the number of course offerings in category 3.  After further discussion, the amendment was withdrawn.   It was decided that the Request would be endorsed separately and a general advisory motion would be added after all Requests were discussed regarding the recommendation that the College of Social Science seek to increase the number of course offerings in category 3. 

   

  Voice was removed from Associate Dean Kautz, Michael Connelly, and Chairperson Bonomi.

   

  The following motion passed unanimously.

   

  The University Committee on Undergraduate Education duly considered and endorsed the request for a New Minor in Youth and Society.

   

   

  Request for a New Minor in Environment and Health (Action Item)

  Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science

  Michael Connelly, Director of Student Affairs, College of Social Science

  Gary Schnakenberg, Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences

  Due to a scheduling conflict, this Request was moved up on the agenda to be the third action item with consent of the committee.

   

  The committee granted voice to Associate Dean Kautz, Michael Connelly, and Gary Schnakenberg.

   

  Associate Dean Kautz explained that this minor, sponsored by the department of Geography, is designed for students who want to go into environmental and health studies.  A feature of the new curriculum structure is that colleges with relatively few majors are more active in the construction and design of the minors.  Gary Schnakenberg commented that interest in the minor has increased due to recent stories in the new about the Flint water crisis, Ebola, and the zika virus.

   

  UCUE members questioned why this minor would be limited to only students in the CSS.  It was noted that students in the health professions would be interested.  Associate Dean Kautz agreed to review the minor in order to consider removing the restriction that only CSS students can enroll in it.  He cautioned that managing the enrollment is very important.

   

  Voice was removed from Associate Dean Kautz, Michael Connelly, and Gary Schnakenberg.

   

  Discussion took place on whether or not to open this minor to the university and whether or not to table the motion.  A Motion was made to table the Request until a later date in order to give the CSS time to consider opening up the minor to students outside of the CSS.

   

  The following motion passed by a hand vote of 10 approved and 5 opposed.

   

  The University Committee on Undergraduate Education agreed to table the Request for a new Minor in Environment and Health, with a recommendation for CSS to explore the option of opening this minor to students outside of the college.

   

   

  Request for a New Minor in Race and Ethnicity in the United States (Action Item)

  Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science

  Michael Connelly, Director of Student Affairs, College of Social Science

   

  It was noted that this Request is being held due to the fact that there is new leadership in the Associate Dean’s Office of the College of Arts and Letters and time is needed to review the Request.

   

  Request for a New Minor in Law, Justice and Public Policy (Action Item)

  Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science

  Michael Connelly, Director of Student Affairs, College of Social Science

  Mary Finn, Director, School of Criminal Justice

   

  The committee granted voice to Associate Dean Kautz, Michael Connelly and Mary Finn.

   

  Mary Finn commented that this minor is joint with Criminal Justice and Political Science and they share responsibility for the entry and capstone courses.  It is a public policy oriented minor with a focus on criminal justice and political science. 

   

  Voice was removed from Associate Dean Kautz, Michael Connelly, and Mary Finn.

   

  The following motion passed unanimously.

   

  The University Committee on Undergraduate Education duly considered and endorsed the request for a New Minor in Law, Justice and public Policy.

   

   

  Request for a New Minor in Human Behavior and Social Science (Action Item)

  Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science

  Michael Connelly, Director of Student Affairs, College of Social Science

   

  The committee granted voice to Associate Dean Kautz and Michael Connelly.

   

  Associate Dean Kautz stated that a representative from the sponsoring unit of Social Work was unable to attend today’s meeting so he would speak on their behalf.  This minor is designed for students interested in the field of social work.  The entry and capstone courses are social work classes.

   

  Voice was removed from Associate Dean Kautz and Michael Connelly.

   

  The following motion passed unanimously.

   

  The University Committee on Undergraduate Education duly considered and endorsed the request for a New Minor in Human Behavior and Social Science, with a recommendation that the minor be renamed or the title be narrowed to more accurately reflect coursework that the minor will entail.

   

   

  As a general recommendation for all five motions, UCUE approved the recommendation that the College of Social Science expand “Category 3” (i.e., Item 1.b.3 of the Academic Program Catalog Text for each of the new interdisciplinary CSS minors) encompassing six credit hours of selective course work from colleges other than CSS, with the goal of making these lists more inclusive but not exhaustive, subject to revision on a case by case basis.  The committee recognizes the various challenges associated with this goal including the large numbers of CSS students that will be enrolling in these minors, limitations in the enrollment capacities of the associated courses, and the fact that these courses are administered by units outside of CSS.  Working towards this goal and improving the richness of the non-CSS course options within “Category 3”, consistent with the interdisciplinary focus of each minor, will therefore require an open dialogue between CSS and the offering departments and programs.

   

   

  Roundtable

   

  Fred Rodammer reported that the Athletic Council had met that morning.  Safety was discussed and the use of helmets for mopeds and using student athletes as a role model on campus.

   

  Meeting adjourned at 11:55 am.

   

  Respectfully submitted by Lynne Frechen.