MINUTES                                            Academic Affairs Committee                                18 October 2000

 

The Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) was called to order by Chair Wherland at 3:20 p.m., Wednesday, 18 October, in Lighty 405.

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:  Baker (for Hopkins), Bitter (for Guzman), Craft, Folwell, Fowler, Jamison, Kilgore (for Law), Reed, Struckmeyer, Warner, and Wherland.

MEMBERS ABSENT: Couture and Vreeland.

VISITORS:  Richard Backes, Registrar’s Office Associate Registrar, Christopher Brown, Student Advising and Learning Center Academic Advisor, and Linda Schoepflin, Summer Session Director.

 

The minutes of the 4 October 2000 meeting were approved, with the correction that members agreed that certificate programs that are currently being offered would need to be approved individually to gain status as recognized university undergraduate certificates, should the proposal for such formal undergraduate certificates be approved. 

 

Committee Reports

Steering:  Wherland reported that members of the Faculty Senate voted down the Western Governors University proposal.  He also noted that said that senate members wanted further information about the funding sources for the proposed the MIS Microsoft certification courses, which appear on Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 1.

Extended University Affairs:  Craft reported that the committee will be voting on the proposal for the Dr. of Design degree at its next meeting.

Academic Program Review:  Struckmeyer reported that the APR committee has identified a series of departments that are coming up for review this year (e.g., Engineering and Statistics) and have determined that an internal reviewer will accompany any external accreditation team as they review programs.  The committee will work to coordinate institutional data collection so that the programs under review may concentrate on reviewing the quality of their programs.

 

Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 2

Members approved Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 2, with minor corrections.  Members did note, however, that the Math Department should verify that transfer students who have completed the equivalent of Math 101 at a community college would have met the Math 103 course requirement at WSU.

 

Academic Calendar, 2003-2008

Members discussed the proposed Academic Calendar for 2003-2008.  Members agreed that further input from the University of Idaho was needed regarding the affect of having WSU’s calendar beginning earlier that UI’s on students and faculty. 

Members agreed to postpone further discussion until Doug Baker would be able to bring forward any concerns from the University of Idaho.

 

Undergraduate Certificates and Co-Curricular Transcripts

Members continued their discussion of the proposal for offer formal undergraduate certificates, noting that branch campuses sometime offer certificates that are essentially concentration areas.  This allows students to receive a document, apart from a degree or transcript, which notes the curricular emphasis that they completed.  For instance, students having and major and degree in General Humanities might receive a certificate in communications. 

Members reviewed a draft of the proposed undergraduate certificate guidelines, noting the following: 

·        A more distinctive name than “undergraduate certificate” would help to distinguish these formally approved certificates from those that are offered informally.  Members suggested that “academic” or “scholastic” might be added to the official title of the certificates. 

 

AAC Minutes

18 October 2000

 page 2

·        Members also noted that there would be a need to clearly distinguish minors from certificates on the transcript to avoid confusion.  Members also discussed how those outside WSU would interpret what the certificates meant on the transcript or how they would know the difference between informal and formal certificates.  It was suggested that departments offering informal certificates be prohibited from using the WSU seal.

·        Members agreed that the admissions standards that apply for undergraduates or non-degree seeking students should apply to those seeking a certificate.

·        Members discussed the minimum number of credit hours required for the certificate, concluding that 12 semester credit hours, with no more than 3 semester credits earned by pass, fail grading, would be the minimum required.  No maximum number of credit hours should be given.

·        Members agreed that all courses in these certificate programs should be graded A through F.  Courses offered by departments under S/F grading would not apply.

·        Members agreed that the transcript should show the number of credit hours taken to fulfill the certificate—i.e., “Undergraduate Certificate in Professional Writing (12 hours)”.

·        Members noted that proposals for these certificates should describe any relationships, should they exist, between professional certification and the proposed undergraduate certificate.

·        Members agreed that departments currently offering informal certificates should be strongly encouraged to have these approved as formal certificates. 

During the discussion, a question was raised about who would track student progress toward the requirements for undergraduate certificates and what costs might be associated with implementation.  Members asked Richard Backes to present the committee with a budget for the Registrar’s Office estimated costs of producing undergraduate certificates.

Members agreed to postpone their discussion until a later date. 

 

Recommendations from the General Education Review Committee

Richard Law, General Education Director, spoke with AAC members about the progress that has been made by General Education and others toward meeting recommendations from the General Education Review Committee.  He noted that many of the committee’s recommendations have been acted upon, and said that he sees the transfer recommendations as being particularly important.  He reported that the Office of Admissions is now awarding transfer credit more liberally—for instance, if a Sociology course is given general education credit at a transfer institution, it is now automatically assigned general education credit here.  The Transfer Center is also negotiating agreements with particular institution in order to assure a smoother transfer articulation for some students.  Law also noted that the General Education committee is discussing the recommendation to have a 300-level course as available as a substitute for GenED 110/111 for transfer students.

            Law said that General Education has worked proactively to pursue the recommendations of the General Education Review committee.

 

Meeting adjourned at 5:15 p.m.

 

 

 

Becky Bitter, Secretary Pro Tem

18 October 2000