MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY University Committee on Undergraduate Education AGENDA Thursday, October 6, 2016 10:15 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. Board Room, 4th Floor Administration Building
Kelly Millenbah, Associate Dean, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Kelly Millenbah, Associate Dean, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science Gary Schnakenberg, College of Social Science
Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science
Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science
Tom Wolff, Associate Professor Emeritus, College of Engineering
Robin Silbergleid, Associate Professor, College of Arts and Letters
Status of 10/6/16 UCUE Minutes: Approved
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
University Committee on Undergraduate Education
MINUTES
Thursday, October 6, 2016
10:15 A.M. to 12:00 P.M.
Board Room, 4th Floor Administration Building
Attending: Eva Almenar, Rich Bellon, Giles Brereton, Sekhar Chivukula, Andrew Corner, Jan Eberle, Patrick Crane, Sheng-Mei Ma, Richard Miksicek, Helene Pazak, Matt Pontifex, Steve Rohs, Fred Rodammer, Jessica Sender, Cassandra Shavrnoch, Jacob Snyder, Jordan Stomps, Emily Tabuteau
Absent: Marcos Caballero, Nicole Geske, Laura Nelson, Mary Kay Smith
The agenda was approved. The minutes were approved from September 22, 2016.
Comments from the Chairperson
Chairperson Miksicek stated that faculty senate recently circulated a survey to identify pressing issues and begin to determine which committees within academic governance will work on the issues. Chairperson Miksicek stated he is reviewing survey results and will identify which concerns will be appropriate for UCUE to address at a future meeting.
Comments from the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education
Associate Provost Chivukula had no comments.
Request to Phase Out and Discontinue the Minor in Nutritional Sciences (Action Item)
Kelly Millenbah, Associate Dean, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
The committee granted voice to Associate Dean Millenbah.
Associate Dean Millenbah stated this Minor, which is house in the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, is currently in moratorium. Last year, the Department underwent significant curricular revisions and put in place a new Nutritional Sciences major which includes three concentrations. The concentrations are Biomedical Molecular Nutrition, Global Nutrition and Health, and Public Health and Nutrition. The Department felt these concentrations are more reflective of the overall direction that their program is moving and due to the changes in the courses, felt it would be best to discontinue the minor.
Voice was removed from Associate Dean Millenbah.
The following motion passed unanimously.
The University Committee on Undergraduate Education duly considered and endorsed the request to phase out and discontinue the Minor in Nutritional Sciences.
Request to Change the Admission as a Junior Requirement and Implement a Grade Requirement in the Bachelor of Science Degree in Construction Management (Action Item)
Kelly Millenbah, Associate Dean, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
Matt Syal, Professor, School of Planning, Design and Construction
The committee granted voice to Associate Dean Millenbah and Professor Syal.
Professor Syal stated that the growing industry of Construction Management is heavily accredited and is overseen by demanding accreditation standards. Due to the program’s success, there is high demand for the degree. The most recent accreditation review confirmed that, although there is great interest from national companies in MSU graduates some concern was expressed about the quality of some of the program’s students. He explained that MSU is on a limited list of prominent schools where national companies seek graduates to hire. However, in order to ensure competitiveness of its graduates, an agreement was reached to allow only 60 people in the program and to modify the GPA admission and completion requirements.
Professor Syal stated that the department is requesting that students have a 2.0 in each pre-foundation and each foundation course, rather than a 2.0 overall grade average, as is currently stated. Pre-foundation courses include Calculus, Physics, Statistics, and Economics.
Professor Syal stated that this degree program works with transfer students from Civil Engineering and history has shown that if students do well in the foundation courses, there is high probability they will do well in the program. Professor Syal further indicated that courses within the major are always at capacity. In the event that enrollment drops, they have a recruitment course in place if needed.
Discussion followed regarding comparable majors in the event students did not succeed in gaining admission into Construction Management. Professor Syal indicated admission is not on a rolling basis but is based on an application deadline and overall gpa of 3.0. Discussion followed regarding a statement about other factors that could be considered for admission to include work and personal experience. Concern was expressed that if otherwise qualified student were falling slightly short of the admission criteria they would not apply to the program. Professor Syal ensured UCUE that students get careful advising from faculty to ensure a holistic review.
It was noted in item 1.b.(1) that the word ‘average” should be removed and the statement should reflect a grade of 2.0 in each class.
Voice was removed from Associate Dean Millenbah and Professor Syal.
The following motion passed unanimously.
The University Committee on Undergraduate Education duly considered and endorsed the request to change the admission as a junior requirement and approves the implementation of a grade requirement in the Bachelor of Science Degree in Construction Management with a recommendation to delete the word “average” in Section 1.b.(1), item 3a under the heading “Requirements for the Bachelor of Science Degree in Construction Management.”
Request to Phase Out and Discontinue the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees in Geography (Action Item)
Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science
Gary Schnakenberg, Advisor, Department of Geography
The committee granted voice to Associate Dean Kautz and Gary Schnakenberg.
As background, Associate Dean Kautz stated that the Department of Geography underwent a name change and is currently called the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences. He stated that over the last couple of years, the Department has restructured its undergraduate majors and currently has majors in Human Geography, Environmental Geography, a continued major in Geographic Information Systems, and a new major in Economic Geography. As these changes were happening, the BA and BS in Geography were put in moratorium in 2013-14. Associate Dean Kautz reported that one student is currently in the BS degree and is on track to complete the degree prior to the effective date of the discontinuation. If the student does not complete the degree, arrangements have been made to move the student into an existing major.
Voice was removed from Associate Dean Kautz and Gary Schnakenberg.
The following motion passed unanimously.
The University Committee on Undergraduate Education duly considered and endorsed the request to phase out and discontinue the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science Degrees in Geography.
Request to Phase Out and Discontinue the Undergraduate Specialization in African American History and Culture (Action Item)
Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science
The committee granted voice to Associate Dean Kautz.
Associate Dean Kautz stated that at the time of conversion from specializations to minors, the Department requested that the specialization be put in moratorium. Last spring, the Department asked for an extension of the moratorium to facilitate discussion between the College, the Department of History, and African American and African Studies (AAAS). They agreed this specialization would overlap too much with the minor in AAAS and therefore agreed the specialization should be discontinued.
Voice was removed from Associate Dean Kautz.
The following motion passed unanimously.
The University Committee on Undergraduate Education duly considered and endorsed the request to phase out and discontinue the Undergraduate Specialization in African American History and Culture.
Request to Phase Out and Discontinue the Undergraduate Specialization in Gender and Global Change (Action Item)
Steve Kautz, Associate Dean, College of Social Science
The committee granted voice to Associate Dean Kautz
Associate Dean Kautz indicated that this specialization has been in moratorium and due to restructuring of curricular options, the department is requesting its discontinuance. There is a Gender and Global change concentration in the Global International Studies major as well as other majors/minors that are available as alternative options for students.
Voice was removed from Associate Dean Kautz.
The following motion passed unanimously.
The University Committee on Undergraduate Education duly considered and endorsed the request to phase out and discontinue the undergraduate Specialization in Gender and Global Change.
Request to Phase Out and Discontinue the Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering (Action Item)
Tom Wolff, Associate Professor, College of Engineering
The committee granted voice to Associate Professor Wolff.
A Computer Engineering Program was opened in 2008 in Dubai which was parallel to a program at MSU and therefore treated the same for accreditation. A separate major was created called Electrical and Computer Engineering and was only offered in Dubai. In July 2010, the Provost suspended the Dubai Program, however this program was never removed from the course offerings. A moratorium was approved a year ago and today’s request is to discontinue this offering.
Voice was removed from Associate Professor Wolff.
The following motion passed unanimously.
The University Committee on Undergraduate Education duly considered and endorsed the request to phase out and discontinue the Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Request for a New Minor in Creative Writing (Action Item)
Robin Silbergleid, Associate Professor, College of Arts and Letters
The committee granted voice to Professor Silbergleid.
Robin stated that this request came about due to increased student interest in creative writing from non-English students. The new minor uses some of the same introductory courses as the creative writing concentration such as the History of Creative Writing and Creative Writing Community. Assessments and outcomes were included.
A recommendation was made to check the credits in the section, “Requirements for the Minor in Creative Writing” in Section 1.b.1.
Voice was removed from Professor Silbergleid .
The following motion passed unanimously.
The University Committee on Undergraduate Education duly considered and endorsed the request for a new Minor in Creative Writing with the following recommendations in the section titled, “Requirements for the Minor in Creative Writing:” Section 1.b.1., remove “20” and replace with “18,” and Section 1.b.2., remove “12” and replace with “10.”
Roundtable
Associate Provost Chivukula asked UCUE for input regarding constructing a unified framework for freshman seminars. Currently, a variety of courses are taught by colleges and departments and there is no uniform framework for determining if a course should be offered as a one or a three credit course. Freshman Seminars serve as a general introduction into college or into a particular area of study and can be a study abroad experience. Associate Provost Chivukula indicated that if a seminar’s primary purpose is college readiness, it should be one credit. If a course involves academic content, it should probably be offered for more than one credit. Discussion took place on how other colleges determine credits for seminars. It was noted that an inventory of freshmen seminars should be done first in order to determine next steps.
Associate Provost Chivukula reported that there are two commercialization issues of concern currently happening on campus and asked for UCUE’S input on how to handle these issues as a University without over reacting. The first one is the commercialization of academic materials and services. Students take notes in classes and then sell their notes online. This is addressed in the Code of Teaching Responsibility, however many students are probably not aware of it. This could be considered academic dishonesty which could then involve disciplinary hearings for the student.
The second item is that firms are offering private advising, for a fee, in areas of how to get into a specific College. These firms are mostly aimed at international students. We need to ask if MSU is providing the right advising and encourage students to use MSU advising.
A discussion took place regarding commercialization issues with the following points brought up:
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