MINUTES                                           Academic Affairs Committee                               1 November 2000

 

The Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) was called to order by Chair Wherland at 3:25 p.m., Wednesday, 1 November, in Lighty 405.

 

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

MEMBERS ABSENT: Craft, Folwell, and Vreeland.

VISITORS:  Becky Bitter, Registrar’s Office, Christopher Brown, Student Advising and Learning Center Academic Advisor, Terry Buckles, Information Technology, Lisa Devine, DARS Coordinator, Ken Harris, Budget Office Associate Director, Nancy Miller, Information Technology, Linda Schoepflin, Summer Session Director, and Jane Sherman, Provost’s Office.

 

The minutes of the 25 October 2000 meeting were approved.

 

Committee Reports

Steering:  Wherland reported that the Faculty Senate agreed to return discussion of the Tier III courses to AAC for its recommendation before senate deliberation.  A motion was made that General Education be asked to give a brief written response to each of the recommendations in the General Education Review Report for AAC consideration.  For items 18a and 18b, AAC would ask General Education to provide a substantial descriptive and evaluative response.  The response should review the current situation and describe the problems/challenges with Tier III courses from their perspective.  In addition, it should address concerns about class availability, class size, number of students who need the course compared to course offerings, etc.  Members suggested that General Education may want to provide information about how many students have had to appeal the requirement in order to graduate.  Members stressed that General Education was not limited to the recommendations described in 18a or 18b, but could suggest a third alternative. 

Admissions Subcommittee:   It was noted that Fowler will act as the liaison member to the Admissions Subcommittee until January, and that Warner would sit on the committee for the remainder of the academic year.

Academic Program Review:  Struckmeyer reported that the APR committee has drafted instructions and questions which will be asked in the review, as well as the rules by which review will be conducted.  AAC members agreed that they would be interested in reviewing these and providing the APR committee with any appropriate feedback.  Struckmeyer noted that the APR committee is going to work closely with two or three departments this spring to test the review process.

 

Undergraduate Certificates

Members continued their discussion about undergraduate certificates.  Ken Harris from the Budget Office reported that state funding for students seeking an undergraduate certificate will be the same as the funding for degree-seeking students, provided that the courses which they are taking for the certificate have gone through the normal review process.  Dave Guzman from the Registrar’s Office discussed the costs involved with tracking requirements and producing certificates.  An estimation of costs included monitoring, posting to the transcript, producing and mailing certificates, etc.  Guzman estimated that the Registrar’s Office would need to charge $50 per certificate to cover costs, and said that depending on demand, that work related to certificates could represent ½ a full time employee.  Should the Registrar’s Office monitor progress toward meeting certificate requirements in DARS, then work related to keeping

 

 

AAC Minutes

1 November 2000

 page 2

certificate requirements current would represent another cost.  IT would also need to be involved to establish ways of identifying undergraduate certificates on the mainframe. 

A member noted that perhaps the cost could be reduced if certificates were not printed.  Members also discussed whether requiring 15 credits as a minimum was too much.  Also identified was a need for a preamble describing the purpose   Members suggested that this proposal might be discussed at the Deans Council.  Member Couture will bring a draft of a preamble and also suggest a revised title. 

            Members agreed to discuss this further at a future meeting.

 

Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 3

Members approved Undergraduate and Professional Major Change Bulletin No. 3.

 

Proposal for Department Name Change, Agricultural Economics

After reviewing the recommendation from Catalog Subcommittee regarding the proposed name change for Agricultural Economics, members voted to send the proposal back to the department with the suggestion that they reconsider the name change.  Responses received from Catalog Subcommittee had pointed out potential confusion with the proposed name.  Many of these responses came from faculty within the College of Agriculture and Home Economics.  AAC members agreed that the college should work to resolve disagreements about the name internally and then resubmit the proposal.

 

 

Meeting adjourned at 4:40 p.m.

 

 

 

Becky Bitter, Secretary Pro Tem

4 October 2000