Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee Meeting
May 1, 2009
Present: Jim Thompson-Chair (Vet Med), Stuart Birrell (Eng), Carol Faulhaber (Student Rep), Char Hulsebus (Registrar’s Office), Locke Karriker (Vet Med), Carolyn Payne (Grad. College), Pam Iasevoli (Design), Roger Smith (Human Sci.), Roy Tirthankar (Business),
Review of minutes:
Minutes from the meeting of April 17, 2009 were reviewed and a motion to accept the minutes with corrections indicated was passed (Motion: Smith, seconded, Birrell). Approved unanimously.
Old Business
- The proposed revisions (provided by e-mail attachment and briefly discussed at the April 17 meeting) to: U.S. Diversity/International Perspectives Guidelines and Procedures were passed by email vote. (8-0-0). Hulsebus indicated the web site has been updated.
- Discussion on Chem 163 single section proposal was reopened. Consensus of the committee was that the reduction would have a negative impact on students. Among the issues:
- practical impact: moving so many students to a large enough venue away from campus; this will also require students to block out a large amount of time before their class as well as after to allow for travel. Birrell commented that the effective result could be as much as a day and a half of lost time for the student.
- Scheduling conflicts: the proposal was made after registration began so this impacts sophomores who have already registered. They will need to contact their adviser in the summer to shuffle other classes to fit their schedule. Add to the mix incoming freshman who will be registering for Chem 163. How will this impact class sizes in other classes as students add/drop/change classes?
- Administrative: the change comes late in the academic year without much opportunity to study the impact for students. At this late date, no discussion with chemistry can happen before fall semester.
- Chemistry offerings already have been reduced to essentially two 100-level courses which means fewer options for students. Birrell indicated he created an analysis of how many degree programs needed the 100-level chemistry courses. He will provide the information to the committee. He suggested that a query from the Office of the Registrar might provide data about how many students register for Chem 163 and a projection of how many incoming freshman will register for the course. Hulsebus will contact Diane Rupp, assistant registrar to determine whether the data is available.
General discussion continued about ISU’s responsibility to students regarding class size. If the administration can dictate a minimum number of seats needed to offer a class, perhaps a higher number could be dictated in order to ensure a level of quality instruction. Discussion continued about whether a policy should exist to control last minute changes such as the chemistry proposal.
Thompson commented that he will forward the concerns onto the Academic Affairs Council and also draft a letter of response to the Chemistry Department.
- Other old business? None.
New Business
Proposal for Engineering Sales Minor
Birrell indicated this proposal has not been approved in the college but was provided as a reference. More information will be coming in Fall 2009.
Alternate process for review of interdisciplinary programs
Payne commented that the process for approving interdisciplinary programs should be clarified to include a sequential review. She recommended the process start at the college. Once the program is reviewed and approved at the college level it should be forwarded to the graduate curriculum committee, which include representatives from the colleges.
Consensus from the committee was that this would be a positive change and would facilitate a more efficient approval process.
Thompson commented that the Academic Affairs Council is reviewing and updating policies. He will forward the information to be included in their policy handbook. Once the procedures are defined and finalized, the information can be added to the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee’s web site.
Other New Business:
Birrell moved to have the chair of the FSCC act on behalf of the members during the summer. Second: Karriker. Passed unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned.
April 17, 2009
Present: Jim Thompson-Chair (Vet Med), Stuart Birrell (Engr), Annette O’Conner (Vet Med), Rob Wallace (LAS), Carol Faulhaber (Student Rep), Char Hulsebus ( Registrar’s), Roger Smith (Human Science), Tirthanker Roy (Business), Peter Reilly (Chemical Engr./Library Advisory Board), Barb Blakely ( Director ISU Comm Foundation Courses – Engl 150 / 250), Charlie Kostelnick ( English),
Wade Miller (CALS), Dave Holger (Provost’s office), Carolyn Payne (Graduate College), Pam Iasevoli – Recording secretary (Design)
Meeting called to order at 12:10 by Chair Jim Thompson
Review of Minutes:
Minutes from the previous meeting were reviewed. The following corrections were noted.
- Date in review of minutes should be February 20th not March 24th.
- Under old business change “Graduate Faculty Committee” to Graduate College Curriculum Committee
Char Hulsebus provided clarification to the Diversity/IP course form approval. The Registrar does not want to keep supporting information, syllabus, etc. for these. Experimental courses with a Diversity/IP check still need to be approved by the college and submitted.
With corrections as indicated the minutes were approved.
Presentation Library 160:
Olivia Madison, Dean of the Library offered a power point presentation along with a handout concerning the Library 160 offering. The course has a 120 year history at ISU with the current course dating back to the change from quarters to semesters. The course can be taken at an accelerated pace, 2-3 weeks but is traditionally taken for ½ semester. The failure rate is ~5% with another 5% failing because they have done nothing. The course is intended to start the student on the research process – Information Literacy. A full explanation of the course and its current outcomes was presented. One hope is to help students identify “trustworthy” verses “ untrustworthy” information on the web.
Barb Blakely presented a handout relative to various LAS faculty comments concerning LIB 160. This generated a lengthy discussion of the LIB 160 offering and its effectiveness in preparing students to effectively use information resources.
At 12:45 the chair closed discussion at the meeting but encouraged continued discussion in the colleges and for the college representatives to bring the results of these discussions back to the FSCC next fall.
Madison indicated that many curriculum committees may be unaware of what the Library is doing these days. Wallace suggested securing exit data from graduating seniors concerning Library 160. Madison indicated she would bring feedback from these efforts to a Fall semester FSCC meeting.
Old Business:
US Diversity and International Perspectives:
Changes in the US Diversity and International Perspectives forms were presented. Committee members had received a copy with the agenda. The Chair indicated he would send out a ballot for an e-mail vote on the changes.
Prerequisites:
No Updates
Non-major Graduate Credit:
No Updates
New Business:
Chem. 163 single section:
Chemistry will be offering a single section of 163 next term. With recent actions by Chemistry relative to courses required in a number of programs, discussion will need to follow at future meetings.
Iowa Lakeside Laboratory:
The following were approved:
New Courses:
- IA LL 510. Global Climate Change: Causes, Connections and Cures, 2 cr.
(2) IA LL 440. \Water Policy and Politics, 1 cr.
(3) IA LL 440 Water Policy and Politics, 1 cr.
(4) IA LL 510 Global Climate Change: Causes, Connections and Cures,
2 cr.
Change to an Existing Course:
IA LL 493. Natural History Workshop from an upper-level undergraduate course to a lower-level undergraduate course. All other characteristics—credit hours, course description, topics—will remain as they are. We are requesting ISU course number IA LL 293.
IALL 425I. Aquatic Toxicology and Wetland Dynamics in Freshwater Systems from 4 credits only to 2, 3, or 4 credits, and add the prerequisites one year of biology and one year of chemistry.
World Languages and Cultures:
Proposal for Discontinuation of the BA in French, BA in German BA in Russian Studies and BA in Spanish was approved.
Next meeting scheduled for May 1 at 12:10.
Send agenda items to Jim Thompson – Chair.
Meeting Adjourned at 1:07.
Friday March 27, 2009
Present: Jim Thompson-Chair (Vet Med), Stuart Birrell (Eng), Jared Danielson (Vet Med), Carol Faulhaber (Student Rep), Char Hulsebus (Registrar’s Office), Locke Karriker (Vet Med), Carolyn Payne (Grad. College), Annette O’Connor (Vet Med), Kate Schwennsen (Design), Roger Smith (Human Sci.), Roy Tirthankar (Business), Rob Wallace (LAS), Michael Bugeja (Greenlee School), Lulu Rodriguez (Greenlee School), Suman Lee (Greenlee School)
Review of minutes:
Minutes from the meeting of Feb 20, 2009 were reviewed and a motion to accept the minutes with corrections indicated was passed (Motion: Rob Wallace, seconded, Locke Karriker)
Business and Announcements
Announcements
- No update on Pre-req policy and implementation, and this was tabled
- 2009-2001 Catalog has been printed and spiral copies are available from Registrars office
Old Business
Non-major graduate credit courses. Discussions occurred on potential changes to the course forms to clarify requirements for acceptance for Non-Major Graduate Credit. Carolyn Payne stated that the Graduate Faculty Curriculum Committee will draft a statement outlining the requirements and provide this to FSCC and registrar’s office. Rob Wallace also suggested a set of guidelines be placed on the web to clarify the requirements for acceptance of courses for NMGC. One major requirement is that the course is taught by graduate faculty. However, even with these guidelines, it still will be the responsibility of POS committee to accept or reject these courses in a student’s POS.
New Business
Science, Technology and Risk Communication Ph. D.
Michael Bugeja, Lulu Rodriguez, and Suman Lee provided an overview of the rational and details of the proposed new Ph. D. program. The resources for the program are due to consolidation of the existing program that has resulted in increased rigor of the undergraduate program and increased retention of students due to increased quality of students admitted into the School. In addition, 12 new faculty have been hired. The program is primarily a research focused program and not a writing program. The program is closely related to work in Social Science and Rural Sociology, and will complement these programs. The program will attract candidates from multiple backgrounds. A motion to approve the new Ph. D. program was passed. (Motion: Stuart Birrell, seconded, Annette O’Connor).
Removal of Library 160 as a University requirement
It has been proposed by LAS, that Lib 160 be removed from the University requirements. Carol Faulhaber stated that in general students would like 160 to be eliminated, but still need to be made aware of library resources available to them. At the suggestion of Rob Wallace it was agreed that College Chairs survey departments on the removal of Lib 160 as a University requirement and report this on April 17.
Diversity/IP course form approval
Char Hulsebus enquired if the registrar’s office needed to require/retain supporting documentation for experimental courses proposed with Diversity/IP credit, or whether if the box is checked supporting documentation could be assumed. When, an experimental course form is forwarded to the registrar’s office, the completed IP/Diversity Forms must be submitted to the registrar’s office with the experimental course. Without submission of completed IP/Diversity Forms, the course will not be accepted for listing as an IP/Diversity. However, the course syllabus and other supporting documentation will be reviewed at the College level and do not need to be included. Therefore, for an IP/Diversity course, faculty should submit the experimental course form, completed IP/Diversity Forms, Syllabus and supporting documentation to the College Committee. If approved by the College, the experimental course form and completed IP/Diversity Forms should be forwarded to the Registrar.
Announcements/comments:
Next meeting: April 17, 2009 at 12:10pm in Room 107.
The meeting was adjourned.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Minutes
Present: Jim Thompson – Chair, Stuart Birrell (ENGR), W. Wade Miller (AGLS), Pam Iasevoli (Design), Rob Wallace (LAS), Jared Danielson (VETMD), Roger Smith (CHS – recorder), Lee VanBrocklin (Business), Carol Faulhaber (GSB), Carolyn Payne (Graduate College), Dave Holger (Provost’s Office), Char Hulsebus (Registrar’s Office), Laura Doering (Registrar’s Office), Diane Rupp (Registrar’s Office)
Call to order: 12:10 pm in 107 Lab of Mechanics
Minutes – February 6, 2009: Miller moved approval of the minutes as recorded, Faulhaber seconded, the minutes were approved.
Old Business:
Non-major graduate credit courses
Payne reported that the NMGC issue was discussed at the Graduate Council and she shared that they discussed the meaning of the description, Rob Wallace’s paper on the topic and Dave Holger’s comments. They suggested that maybe adding a check-box to the experimental course form may be a way to handle this issue. Holger mentioned that 27% of the 300 level courses and 43% of the 400 level courses were listed as NMGC. He suggested that we would not want to add additional review of forms from additional committees unless value was added from that review. Payne said that the Graduate Council would again discuss this issue at their Mach 26th meeting.
Update on new PhD. program name
Payne reported that the name issue for a PhD. from the Greenlee School was discussed at Graduate Council on Feb. 19 and they rescinded their motion to change the name but wanted the proposed new program to go forward. At the present time the original name is retained and the PhD. program is called “Science, Technology, and Risk Communication.”
New Business:
Course prerequisites
Thompson introduced the topic indicating that the Academic Affairs Council is asking the question, “Should course prerequisites be required to be met before a student may enroll in a course—can or should this be automatically a part of the course registration process?” Holger and Doering commented that this is a complex issue and involves both philosophic and technological components. Some of the issues mentioned include: holding seats for students who eventually do not enroll, loosing tuition from seats not filled, academic and course problems for students not having prerequisites met, faculty not being available to sign prerequisite waivers especially during the winter break and other holidays, and inconsistency on the part of the faculty in following the current policies. Doering mentioned that the math department does a prerequisite check already and removes students who have not met the prerequisites. VanBrocklin said that the College of Business also does a prerequisite check and then lowers the class limits so students have to physically see an advisor to be reenrolled in the class. If they don’t drop the course the students receive a failing grade. Holger stated that in the past students had to attend at least one of the first two class sessions or they were dropped by the instructor. This led to the question, should drops be initiated by someone other than the student? Holger and Doering stated that a prerequisite check was technically possible, but would require much time and computer programming, and would be expensive. Doering stated that this issue has been a topic of discussion continually since 1995. Birrell stated that he wants to see any enforcement of prerequisites done during the registration process. Wallace indicated that he thought the current drop period was too long and thought that this is a big problem in LAS. Miller sees no drop problems in AGLS. Ideas discussed included publishing course syllabi on line ahead of time for courses, shortening the drop period to less than five days, having a “flag” show up on class enrollment sheets for those students who have not met the prerequisites, establishing a three level system of requirements, having a note come up on the student’s registration form indicating that “prerequisites are strictly enforced,” and having instructors exactly state the course requirements the first week of the class. Doering ultimately warned that we must be aware of unintended consequences if changes in policy are considered.
Thompson summarized the issues as follows: We should explore -- 1) how the prerequisite issue is impacting students, 2) the financial impact as a result of having open seats due to drops, 3) success of students who didn’t meet the prerequisites for a course, 4) the costs and savings of having an automatic computerized check of prerequisites at the time of registration, 5) the issue of what are “true prerequisites” and what is “gate keeping,” and 6) the issue of having concurrent enrollment meet prerequisite requirements.
No actions were taken but each member was encouraged to seek out how much of a problem this was in their individual colleges. Rupp will communicate with the math department and Doering will talk with the business college about the processes they use related to prerequisites. Doering will also review work she did with LAS about 1998 related to this issue. This topic will be discussed further at the next meeting.
Catalog printing
Holger expressed concern over the cost of printing of the catalog and wishes not to print as many paper copies in the future. This year the catalog cost about $30,000. He asked, “who gets the revenue from sold copies?” and the answer was not definitively known. A brief discussion followed including suggestions of continuously updating the catalog rather than print it every two years, having fewer committees review the catalog during its preparation period, use departmental “booklets” indicating requirements rather than a university catalog, and printing a smaller policy manual (called something like “Student Life”) which could be used for orientation classes rather than using the entire catalog for this purpose. No action was taken.
Meeting was adjorned at 1:09pm.
Friday Feb 6, 2009
Present: Jim Thompson-Chair (Vet Med), Laura Doering (Registrar’s Office), Carol Faulhaber (Student Rep), Char Hulsebus (Registrar’s Office), Wade Miller (Agric.), Carolyn Payne (Grad. College), Roger Smith (Human Sci.), Roy Tirthankar (Business), Rob Wallace (LAS), Anne Sobiech-Munson (Design), Annette O’Connor (GECC), Jared Danielson (Vet Med)
Review of minutes:
Minutes from the meeting of January 23, 2009 were reviewed and a motion to accept the minutes was passed unanimously (Motion: Wade Miller, seconded Roy Tirthankar).
Old Business
Char Hulsebus reported that the 2009-2011 Catalog is complete and has been sent to the printer. (25,000 copies will be printed, approximately 500 spiral. The catalog contains 448 pages ....up from 416 in the last catalog.)
Non-major graduate credit courses
The committee discussed a concern raised by Rob Wallace regarding non-major graduate credit (NMGC) courses. The committee also discussed associated communications sent by Rob Wallace and David Holger. A brief history of the issue was presented by Rob Wallace: Currently, there are no clearly articulated criteria to be used by college curriculum committees in determining whether or not a course should qualify for non-major graduate credit (NMGC). At present, it appears that departments may be using the NMGC designation as a recruiting mechanism, without taking care to determine whether or not the course truly meets the standard of rigor associated with graduate work. For example, there is no requirement that the instructor hold a terminal degree in the discipline, be a member of the graduate faculty, etc., nor is there a requirement that students taking the course for NMGC do any extra work when compared with undergraduate students. The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences would appreciate some guidance and standardization regarding what should be required for courses to qualify for NMGC.
There was considerable discussion of the issue, including some discussion of what constitutes graduate “rigor,” the relative merits of NMGC vs. dual listing, current courses that use the NMGC designation (e.g. Statistics 401), the difficulty of communicating the NMGC concept to other universities, etc.
The committee did not vote, but consensus was that the following actions should be taken:
1. This issue should be considered by the graduate council (this will be initiated by Annette O’Connor).
2. A list NMGC courses will be downloaded and forwarded to the committee.
3. The FSCC should continue to discuss this issue with the end in mind of recommending a policy. Options include:
- Eliminating the NMGC course designation and simply cross-listing. (This would be a hardship for departments with some “graduate level” courses, but no graduate program.)
- No change
- Applying some standard to NMGC courses, such as having them taught by a member of the graduate faculty, having a special requirement for graduate students, etc.)
- Other
4. Jim Thomson will mention the issue to the Academic Affairs Council
New Business
There was some discussion of the proposed name for a new PhD program in “Science Technology and Risk Communication” or “Communicating Science Technology and Risk.” No action was taken.
Announcements/comments:
Future Meetings:
These are all Fridays at 12:10 in 107 LOM
February 20
March 27
April 3
April 17
The meeting was adjourned.
Friday January 23, 2009
Present: Jim Thompson-Chair (Vet Med), Stuart Birrell (Eng), Laura Doering (Registrar’s Office), Carol Faulhaber (Student Rep), Char Hulsebus (Registrar’s Office), Wade Miller (Agric.), Carolyn Payne (Grad. College), Diane Rupp (Registrar’s Office), Roger Smith (Human Sci.), Roy Tirthankar (Business), Rob Wallace (LAS),
Review of minutes:
Minutes from the meeting of December 4, 2008 were reviewed and a motion to accept the minutes was passed unanimously (Motion: Roger Smith, seconded Rob Wallace)
Business and Announcements
Announcements
- Char Hulsebus reported that the 2009-2011 Catalog was complete although some course changes are still arriving. The web version of the catalog is almost complete and should be ready in early February. The catalog size increased 30 pages to 448 pages.
- Rob Wallace reported that Faculty Senate has approved the College Catalog information for all colleges at the last Faculty Senate Meeting.
Old Business
Restrictions of Pairing of Major and Minor Degrees. The discussion on restrictions prohibiting a student “pairing” a minor with a related major or minor continued, and Jim Thompson reported that e-mails responses from vice Provost Holger and past FSCC chair Ken Kruempel have been received. Jared Danielson (via e-mail response) felt that it is the responsibility of the University to ensure that programs are not closely related and that students should be given maximum choice. At present, ownership of the exemptions reside with the departments offering both the Major and Minor program under question. The committee discussed how to deal with consistency within the catalog and that exclusions should be listed. Suggestions included a review all program with exclusions and placing a list on the Faculty Senate website for the short term, and the possibility of identifying all exclusions in the College Mastheads in the next Catalog cycle.
Restriction of Standalone credits for Minors (9 credits) and Certificates (12 credits).
Laura Doering asked that the FSCC discuss the need for standalone credits for both minor degrees and graduate certificates, and the rationale for maintaining these restrictions. Many institutions do not have restrictions and Univ. of Iowa automatically gives a minor to students if the requirements are met, without a student even applying for a minor. The discussion centered on the philosophical goal of minors and the importance of formal minors/certificates listed on transcripts to employers. If the student can exhibit a concentration of expertise in the minor, then the expected outcomes of the minor would be satisfied whether courses are utilized to meet one or more programs. Opposite concerns included the dilution of minors’ effectiveness, and the need for clarity between different programs. It was suggested that a draft set of questions be developed and sent to FSCC members for discussion within the College Committees on whether the restrictions should be maintained.
New Business
Standardized procedure for Non-major graduate credit courses
Rob Wallace stated that LAS would prefer standardized procedures for acceptance of non-major graduate credit courses. At present no reviews of these courses occur when proposed, whereas dual-listed course require Graduate College approval, resulting in a double standard. Rob Wallace will provide further information for discussion at a future meeting.
Procedure when significant changes occur during the approval process
Carolyn Payne asked that the approval process be clarified when significant changes to proposals are made as they move through the process. In one case, a program was approved at the Graduate Council, under a name significantly different from that approved at the College level. Should this require re-approval at the previous levels before moving forward?
Announcements/comments:
Next meeting: February 6, 2009 at 12:10pm in Room 107.
The meeting was adjourned.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Present: Jim Thompson – Chair, Carol Faulhaber (GSB), Roger Smith (CHS), Stuart Birrell (ENGR), Wade Miller (CALS), Char Hulsebus (Registrar’s Office), Diane Rupp (Registrar’s Office), Pam Iasevoli (Design), Rob Wallace (LAS), Laura Doering (Registrar’s Office), Jared Danielson (V PTH), Tirthankar Roy (Business – taking minutes).
Call to order: At 8 a.m. in 104 Lab of Mechanics.
Minutes – November 20, 2008: Birrell moved approval as corrected for minor typographic errors, Miller seconded, the minutes were approved.
Old Business:
1. Updates from members on their college catalog reports:
Birrell reported that CHS faculty will vote on it today at 1 p.m. The Vet. Med. voting process is expected to be completed before the Academic Affairs Council of the Faculty Senate meeting scheduled for Monday, December 8, 2008. Wallace reported that LAS faculty will be voting on minor changes soon. Hulsebus will e-mail members when proofs are ready for College Reports.
2. Restrictions prohibiting a student from “pairing” a major with a related major or minor. Who approves restrictions? Can all restrictions be included in the new catalog being finalized? Discussion continued from last meeting:
Doering suggested that if such restrictions are stated in multiple locations in the catalog, they should be consistent.
Hulsebus stated that all new policies will be in one location in the catalog.
Doering suggested that there should be a simple process for review of messages and where they are located in the catalog to identify major/minor combinations that cannot be used together.
Danielson observed that either of the major and minor departments can make the decision of what combinations are allowed.
Birrell suggested that any restrictions that apply should be a section in the form itself.
Miller gave the example of the combination of a major in Biology with a minor in Genetics is not allowed and questioned what stops departments from making up new rules.
After discussion, Birrell, Danielson and Wallace observed that for all such exclusions as well as for conferring degrees justification is needed.
Doering suggested that all discrepancies regarding exclusions should be found and brought to this committee. Hulsebus (with help from Nancy) will get this done starting with a scan of the catalog.
Doering questioned whether there is a history at ISU of not allowing two minors that are very close in curriculum.
Thompson will ask the Academic Affairs Council if they know of any history of policy regarding exclusions or even of previous discussions on this issue.
3. Credit requirements for Undergraduate Certificates (Continuation of discussion from last meeting and recorded in minutes as 6a & 6b on page 2) as stated on page 37 of existing catalog and at http://www.academicprograms.iastate.edu/policy/undergrad-certificates.html as “New Program Approval Procedures for an Undergraduate Certificate”.
Doering pointed out that the language used to communicate requirements is not clear and needs to be changed. The current statement can be interpreted to mean that to get such a certificate, students must have a minimum of 20 credits of which 12 at least have been taken at ISU and at least 9 out of the 12 have not been used to meet any other requirements. Thus, it may be reasonably and prudently inferred that double dipping is permitted for 3 credits (12 – 9).
After considerable discussion, Doering suggested three courses of action: (1) Obtain clarification of precisely what policy was approved previously by FSCC and Faculty Senate; (2) After the words “…with at least 12 credits taken at ISU” insert the words “applicable towards certificate requirements” as change in language for clarification only not change in policy per se; (3) Hulsebus will draft such proposed language change and Doering will contact Holger for clarification.
New Business: Birrell raised the question – if a college wishes to impose a special minimum GPA requirement does it need to be approved by the Academic Standards Committee? Doering clarified that such approval is indeed required and then should be placed in the catalog. Limits on transfer credits are also explained on page 36 (columns 1 and 2) of the current catalog.
Adjournment: Meeting was adjourned at 9.05 a.m.
Future Meetings: 12.10 to 1 p.m. in 107 Lab of Mechanics on January 23, February 6, February 20, March 27, April 3, and April 27, 2009.
November 20, 2008
Present: J. Thompson (Chair). C. Hulsebus , P. Iasevoli, W. Miller, S. Birrell, C. Payne, J. Danielson, L. Doering, C. Faulhaber, L. Van Brocklin, R. Wallace (taking minutes).
Chairman Thomas called the meeting to order at 8:30 am.
Minutes from the FSCC meeting of 6 November 2008 were reviewed. Minor corrections were noted. Motion to approve by Wallace. Second by Iaselvoli; approved unanimously.
Announcements:
I. Old Buisness
A. None
II. New Business
A. College of Engineering
- One new Major, 2 new minors (incl. Biorevewables)
- General discussion of new degress programs as outlined in report
- Net gain of courses; many justified as requirements in new degree programs.
- Reorganiziation of courses in Civil Engineering
- Motion to approve Engineering College report by Miller, second by Danielson. Motion approvied unanimously and report accepted.
B. LAS College Report
- One new Major (Bioinformatics and Computational Biology), and several new minors.
- Two new certificate programs in Latin American Studies, and Community Leadership and Public Service.
- Noted that MA Specializations in English (Spanish and TESL) have no been approved by Graduate College Curriculum Committee. Will be removed from the report.
- It was decided to remove Chem 164 listing from the catalog and remove the "I" from General Chemistry title of Chem 163. (motion by Birrell, second by Miller; mition approved)
- Wallace noted that the LAS representative Assembly would be voting on this report at its next meeting on 3 December. Birrell similarly noted that the Engineering College would be voting on its report on December 4th.
- Motion to approve LAS College report with amendments by Miller, second by Birrell. Motion was approved unanimously; report approved.
C. Control of Major/Minor exclusions
- Laura Doering brought the issue to the FSCC to determine who was approval in determining if certain major-minor combinations are permitted or not.
- Noted that there must be 9 unique credits for a minor, or 12 for a Certificate.
- Discussion continued about the hostory of these unique credits.
- Is the sitiation that the department offering the minor should be able to dictate which majors have too much overlap?
- Similarly, departments offering a major should be able to dectate which minors are to be excluded - is this the situation?
- Regarding Undergraduate certificates: Need 9 stand alone credits.
- 12 stand-alone credits for those students who are concurrently earing a bachelors degree or had a degree from ISU.
- Stand-alone credits would not apply if bringing in a degree from another institution.
7. Further discussion on this issue is needed at the next meeting.
III. Announced that next meeting on December 4th, 8 am, LOM 104.
IV. Meeting adjourned approxmiately 8:57 am.
Recorded by R. Wallace
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Present: Jim Thompson – Chair, Pam Iasevoli (Design), Rob Wallace (LAS), Wade Miller (Ag & LS), Tirthanker Roy (Business), Carolyn Payne (Graduate College), Roger Smith (Human Sciences), Diane Rupp (Registrar), and Char Hulsebus (Registrar)
The meeting was called to order at 8:00am in 107 Lab of Mechanics by Jim Thompson. The minutes from the October 23 meeting were reviewed and approved. Char announced that minutes from this semester are posted on the FSCC website.
Old Business:
There was no old business.
New Business:
The Business College Catalog Report was reviewed. Discussion centered around the 699 courses being called Dissertation instead of Research. The report has been approved at the College level according to College Governance Documents. Last approval was by the College Curriculum Committee on November 5, 2008. Wade Miller moved to approve the report and Rob Wallace seconded the motion. The report was approved by a 6-0 vote.
The Interdisciplinary Report was reviewed and after typographical corrections Rob Wallace moved to approve the report. Tirthanker Roy seconded the motion. The report was approved by vote of 6-0. The report was approved by the Graduate Council on October 16, 2008.
The Ag & Life Science College Report was reviewed. The College faculty voted to approve the report on October 31, 2008. Wade Miller moved to approve and Rob Wallace seconded the motion. The report was approved by a vote of 6-0.
The Human Sciences College catalog report was reviewed. There was discussion concerning the course title of Capstone and what it means. Rob Wallace moved to approve the report and Pam Iasevoli seconded the motion. The report was approved by a vote of 6-0. The college faculty vote on the report will end on November 10, 2008. (The vote has subsequently been reported as approved 32-0 with 1 abstention.)
The four college reports (Business, Interdisciplinary, Ag & Life Sciences, and Human Sciences) will be forwarded to the Academic Affairs Council.
Char announced that new program procedures are now included on the FSCC web page.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:50.
October 23, 2008
Present: Jim Thompson – Chair, Rob Wallace (LAS), Carol Faulhaber (GSB), Stuart Birrell (ENGR), Larry Dau (Registrar’s office), Sree Nilakanta (Business), Carolyn Payne (Graduate College), Locke Karriker (Vet Med), W. Wade Miller (CALS), Roger Smith (CHS), Pam Iasevoli (Design) – secretary
Call to order:
Introduce new member – Carol Faulhaber representing GSB. Carol is a junior in Ag & Bio Systems Engr
Larry Dau substituting for Char Hulsebus (Registrar’s office)
Sree Nilakanta substituting for Roy Tirtankar (Business)
Minutes – October 9, 2008: Miller moved approval, Karriker seconded, the minutes were approved.
Old Business:
Revised Business Minor –Faculty vote on October 21 – approved. Academic Standards has approved. Change from 36 credits to 15 credits to make more consistent with typical University minor requirements. C average required in courses used to satisfy the minor. Requires Acct 284 and choice of one from Acct 215, Acct 285, or Business 250.
Miller moved approval, Birrell seconded, the motion was approved 9 – 0.
Forward to Academic Affairs Council of the Faculty Senate.
New Business:
-College of Design Catalog report presented by Iasevoli. Summary table of justifications not available at this time. Design faculty has approved catalog changes.
Discussion - Questioned the addition of 19 new courses with only 4 dropped.
Of the 19 new courses 10 provide opportunities for engaged learning, from leadership to internships to field studies to research.
Need to change II. Curricula, Majors, Minors added or dropped. Two new areas of specialization added to the MA in Art and Design not two new majors.
If was recommended to omit “Enrollment management was added…” from this section. Is in the Significant Trends segment.
VI. Courses added for nonmajor graduate credit – remove ART H 584. Course is being dropped.
Miller moved approval with changes noted above, Karriker seconded. Motion approved 10 – 0.
Submit with changes for forward by the FSCC to Academic Affairs Council of the Faculty Senate.
-College of Veterinary Medicine catalog report presented by Karriker. Vote on catalog changes is pending. Changes reflect an increase in VDPAM – Food Supply Medicine with 15 new faculty over the last year. Will be dropping VDPAM Masters Degree but that has not been voted on yet so not reflected in this document.
Discussed change of VCS 312 to VDPAM 312. Is this a change of title or a drop/add? Since the course content will remain the same, the consensus was to remove from the new course / dropped course categories and place under VIII in the table to reflect title change.
Wallace moved approval with change noted above and Miller seconded. Motion approved 10 – 0.
Submit with changes for forward by the FSCC to Academic Affairs Council of the Faculty Senate.
Future Meetings: Catalog Review
November 6 - Business, Interdisciplinary, Ag and Life Sciences, Human Sciences.
November 20 – Engineering and LAS
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 AM.
October 9, 2008
Present: Jim Thompson – Chair, Wade Miller (CALS), David Holger (Assoc. Provost), Stuart Birrell (Engr.), Carolyn Payne (Grad. College), Diane Rupp (Registrar’s Office), Char Hulsebus (Registrar’s Office), Pam Iasevoli (Design), Roy Tirthankar (Business)
Review of Minutes: The meeting was called to order at 8:05 AM by Jim Thompson. Minutes from September 11 and September 25 were reviewed and approved (Birrell moved, Iasevoli seconded).
Old Business:
1. The committee discussed practices related to special topics course listings in the catalog. See handout included with October 10 agenda. Some departments have submitted topics for courses so that each topic has a different description and often with different prerequisites and credits. Examples in the present catalog include T C 380 and An S 115. This may cause confusion and lead to misinterpretation by readers of the catalog. Special topics courses should contain one description, have the same prerequisite, and be the same in numbers of credits. The difference should be one word or a few words to go with each “letter” (a, b, c, d, etc.). Separate courses should be created if there are substantial differences in descriptions, or different prerequisites, and/or different numbers of credits. Special topic designations should not be used to get around low enrollment issues.
2. Chemistry 163/164 will be offered in the new catalog as before. Any changes will need to go through the normal catalog cycle to allow departments and colleges to respond and adapt in a timely manner.
3. Proposals for any new grade or grade point requirements as prerequisites for courses must be taken to the appropriate College Academic Standards Committee and the University Academic Standards Committee before they can be included in the catalog.
New Business:
1. College curriculum reports must be scheduled for meetings of the FSCC this fall. College votes on their sections of the catalog must take place before the reports are presented at the FSCC.
2. Tentative college curriculum report schedule: October 23 – Design; November 6 – Interdisciplinary, Agriculture and Life Sciences, Business; November 20 – Engineering; December 4 – Liberal Arts and Sciences
Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 8:40 AM.
September 25, 2008
Attendance: Pam Iasevoli, Locke Karriker, Roy Tirthankar, Carolyn Payne, Roger Smith, Diane Rupp, Char Hulsebus, Rob Wallace, Jared Danielson, David Holger, Kay Palen (Guest)
New Business
Kay Palen from Business met with the committee to describe the motivations for the revisions to the business minor. The proposed changes are expected to make the minor more accessible to students. Specifically, the minor will reduce the number of credits required and eliminate the requirement that students be admitted to the Business College. Faculty votes are pending on the changes and the appropriate format for a new minor needs to be submitted to the committee. There was consensus support for the changes described.
Old Business
Dr. Thompson informed the Chemistry Department that it was too late in the catalog cycle to retract offering Chem 164. Committee concerns include the impact on prerequisite requirements and the availability of the proposed alternative courses. The consensus of the committee was that inadequate consultation on the potential impact occurred. There is no further activity expected on this issue from the committee at this time.
The list of courses not taught has been circulated and courses for which no updated activity was reported will be dropped.
Char Hulsebus oriented the committee on the FSCC website and the annual reporting expectations. All college reports must approved by the FSCC by December 1, 2008.
Schedule for classes will finalized October 3rd, 2008. New experimental course proposals need to be in by that time.
October 9, 2008 is next meeting date.
September 11, 2008
Present: Jim Thompson-Chair (Vet Med), Wade Miller (Agric.), David Holger (Assoc. Provost), Pam Iasevoli (Design), Stuart Birrell (Eng), Carolyn Payne (Grad. College), Rob Wallace (LAS), Jared Danielson (Vet Med), Char Hulsebus (Registrar’s Office), Diane Rupp (Registrar’s Office), Locke Karriker (Guest, Vet Med)
Review of minutes:
Minutes from the meeting of April 10, 2008 were reviewed and a motion to accept the minutes was passed unanimously (Motion: Wade Miller, seconded Pam Iasevoli)
Business and Announcements
Announcements
· Certificate in Community Leadership and Public Service has been approved by the University Senate
· Minor in Nuclear Engineering has been approved by the University Senate
· The status of the Biotechnology major is uncertain and no further information has been provided by the proposers
Discontinuation of Chemistry 164 and changes in Chem 163. The chemistry department has requested that Chem 164 be discontinued for the 2009-2011 catalog, and major changes in Chem 163 would also occur to broaden the scope of Chem 163. Chemistry suggested that student needing two semesters of chemistry be directed to CHEM 177/178. During discussion members of FSCC noted that 1) no prior notification to affected departments was given, and these courses are required in a number of degree programs, 2) no consideration or planning for the effect of the changes on new admits and increased demand on CHEM 177/178, 3) This would significantly alter the variation in students ability in other affected courses; for instance CHEM courses developed for Engineering majors may now include students requiring entry level chemistry, 4) The proposed changes were submitted after the catalog deadline, and without consultation. A reject the proposed dropping of Chem 164 and associated changes in Chem 163 for the 2009-2001 catalog was passed. (Motion: Stuart Birrell, seconded Rob Wallace) The committee suggested that a wider audience be made aware of these changes and that a message be sent to department heads notifying them of the proposed changes.
Revision of 4th Year of Veterinary Medicine Curriculum. Vet Med proposes an increase from 38 to 48 credits in the four year, the drooping of two required courses to electives and the addition of 4 more required courses. There was a discussion with respect to dropping of Clinical microbiology as a required course, and it was noted that this material will be covered in other courses and was a major part of the discussion within Vet Med when these changes were considered. A motion to approve the Revision of 4th Year of Veterinary Medicine Curriculum minor was passed unanimously (Motion: Pam Iasevoli, seconded Rob Wallace)
Proposed Business College Catalog Changes
The Business College has proposed adding a new required course, requiring two existing courses and changing the business minor from 21 to 15 credits, and asked for feedback on whether this could be achieved. Dave Holger noted that these changes are indirectly related to a differential tuition proposal for Business majors and to make a Business Minor more accessible. It was suggested that an Executive Summary, Rational and suggested catalog changes be provided by the Business College and this be provided for FSCC feedback prior to the FSCC College Reports.
Catalog Editing Progress, Process Report
Char Hulsebus reported that the Registrar’s Office is only accepting changes from College co-coordinators and not directly from Departments, and that College reports of credit changes, dual listing and changes will be available by the end of September. The FSCC College reports to FSCC need to be scheduled. Dave Holger reported that some Departments are concerned different curriculum dropping required courses and some feel that this may be motivated by the new Budget models. Rob Wallace mentioned that these changes could also be due to changes in the mix of required Chemistry and Biology required courses. There also has been a greater number of courses with Grade Point restrictions (normally not shown in catalog), which should have Academic Affairs Council approval. Some members of FSCC feel that students need to know this information.
Announcements/comments:
Next meeting: September 25, 2008 at 8:00am in Room 107. Biweekly schedule with possible changes as needed.
The meeting was adjourned.
