2009 Minutes
September 10, 2009
PRESENT (voting): Charles Bray (ENGR), Jasbir Dhaliwar (MIS), Linda Finch (NURS), Melinda Jones (Honors), Jim Lukawitz (ACCT), Broderick Nichols (UNIV), Ed Perry, (Faculty Senate), Susan Popham (ENGL), Laurie Snyder (CCFA), Barbara Taller (BIOL), Joe Ventimiglia (SOCI), Paul Wright (HSS).
PRESENT (ex officio): Shannon Blanton (VPUP, Chair), Carl Chando (AAC), Cathy Serex (Curr), Dan Poje (VPAA), Donna Van Canneyt (Registrar),Kay Cunningham (LIBR), Tom Nenon (VP, AIRR), Barbara Kyker (Recorder).
ABSENT: Sutton Flynt (EDUC), Jeffrey Marchetta, (ENGR), Walt Kirkpatrick (COMM), Will Thompson (CAS).
GUESTS: Janann Sherman (HIST)
The meeting was called to order by Shannon Blanton, Chair at 1:05 p.m. when a quorum was achieved.
Beginning a new year with new members, Dr. Blanton asked everyone to introduce themselves. The April 2009 minutes were presented and Paul Wright made the motion to approve, and Laurie Snyder seconded the motion.
Dr. Blanton introduced Dr. Janann Sherman, Chair of the History Department, who had been invited to discuss the Tennessee Legislature's ruling on the American History requirement.
Dr. Sherman said that rather than explain the new legislation, she would like to "plead the case" for the History department. She is concerned about the implications of this ruling and the effect it will have on enrollment in the department and particularly on employment opportunities for their graduate assistants. Susan Popham asked for clarification as to what exactly is currently required of Tennessee high school students – one year of American History. Dr. Tom Nenon brought up the fact that it was, in fact, a faculty member from the History Department who was instrumental in getting the American History requirement approved in 1974, and the UT system immediately waived that. Dr. Sherman was excused from the meeting and the discussion continued.
Dr. Blanton said that she and Dr. Serex had met with Dr. Will Thompson. While there are concerns about this issue, he agreed that much of the issue was really not up for debate as the Legislature has already passed the law, effective July 1, 2009. It will be up to this group, however, to make some decisions as to how this will be implemented. Dr. Blanton read the actual piece of legislation to the Committee, then referred to the memo from Dr. Paula Short, Tennessee Board of Regents. Dr. Short clarified in her memo how this will affect transfer students, and she also said that universities may request to move World Civilization from the Humanities category in Gen Ed to the History category.
Dr. Blanton presented three issues for approval.
Change the General Education category from "American History" to "History." There was discussion about the University of Tennessee's category of "Cultural and Civilization", and Dr. Charles Bray expressed some concern that this might mean that Engineering students' graduation requirements would go from the current 128 hours to 134 hours. Dr. Blanton and Dr. Nenon both expressed that they did not believe this would happen, unless the college chose this.
A motion for approval was made by Dr. Linda Finch, and Dr. Dhaliwal seconded.
Change the General Education requirement from 3 hours of American History and 3 hours of another American History category course, to any six hours from the History category. Dr. Dhaliwal suggested that this might encourage high ability students to enroll in more upper level courses.
A motion for approval was made by Dr. Linda Finch, and Dr. Dhaliwal seconded.
Move World Civilization courses 1110 and 1120 from the Humanities category to the History category . Dr. Blanton noted that if this is not done, evaluating transfer work and TN eCampus (formerly RODP) courses could be problematic for students and for the university. Laurie Snyder and Dr. Bray raised the issue of whether the World Civilization courses could be either/or and satisfy whichever category the student selected, and it was noted that this could be solved by the student's choosing an older catalog or updating their catalog. There was also discussion as to how this would affect specific colleges' requirements, especially Engineering, University College and Education. Dr. Blanton recommended that those colleges meet independently to discuss how they will address this, and then report back to the Council.
A motion for approval was made by Dr. Ed Perry, and Dr. Jim Lukawitz seconded.
Ms. Donna Van Canneyt asked the Council to consider two questions which need to be addressed due to the introduction of Tiger Eat$, a $300 credit applied to each Freshman and Sophomore's account to be used for purchasing food items on campus. In the past, a student's category was determined by total number of credit hours, which included Developmental Studies courses. Our previous student records system could not differentiate the two types of hours earned. The Banner system can now make the distinction, and Donna said that it would be a pretty simple "fix" to adjust the hours. However, students who have been in the Senior category may now drop to Junior, Junior to Sophomore, etc. Donna said that her office would need to notify those students affected by this by either emails, postcards, or perhaps an ad in the Helmsman . She asked the Council to approve this change to the system, and to approve November 1 as the implementation date.
A motion for approval was made by Dr. Linda Finch, and Dr. Jim Lukawitz seconded.
Dr. Cathy Serex presented section and enrollment numbers for the Fall 2009 Fresh Connections communities. She said that enrollment in Fresh Connections has more than doubled over Fall, 2008 and the number of sections has grown from 10 to 20. Eighteen of those 20 sections are at or above capacity this semester, and a total of 478 students are enrolled.
Dr. Serex also announced a new program "Continuing Connections" in the Spring 2010 semester. She asked for suggestions and recommendations as to what would make a good community – not necessarily for freshmen students, but perhaps for Sophomores or Juniors. Dr. Finch requested more information, so Dr. Serex said that she would send out a blurb to the entire Council
The meeting was adjourned at 2:05 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Kyker
October 9, 2009
PRESENT (voting): Charles Bray (ENGR), Linda Finch (NURS), Sutton Flynt (EDUC), Walt Kirkpatrick (COMM), Jim Lukawitz (ACCT), Jeffrey Marchetta, (ENGR), Broderick Nichols (UNIV), Wade Jackson, (Faculty Senate), Susan Popham (ENGL), Laurie Snyder (CCFA), Barbara Taller (BIOL), Joe Ventimiglia (SOCI), Paul Wright (HSS).
PRESENT (ex officio): Shannon Blanton (VPUP, Chair), Carl Chando (AAC), Cathy Serex (Curr), Dan Poje (VPAA), Donna Van Canneyt (Registrar),Kay Cunningham (LIBR), Tom Nenon (VP, AIRR), Barbara Kyker (Recorder).
ABSENT: Jasbir Dhaliwal (MIS), Melinda Jones (Honors), Will Thompson (CAS), Paul Wright (HSS).
GUESTS: Linda Sherrell
The meeting was called to order by Shannon Blanton, Chair at 1:05 p.m. when a quorum was achieved.
September minutes were approved by Jim Lukawitz and seconded by Joe Ventimiglia.
Fogelman College of Business and Economics
Linda Sherrell, Computer Science professor, explained that the department of Computer Science had applied for and received a grant to re-design COMP 2150. Currently this course is a three hour course, but with the re-design, the college feels that it should be changed to a four credit hour course, much like COMP 1900, with the three hour lecture and a three hour lab being corequisites. Charlie Bray questioned whether or not this had been discussed with David Russomanno in Computer Engineering, and Linda said that she has not yet done so because she has been unable to reach him. Charlie was concerned that this additional hour would be a burden to the engineering students who are already required to take 128 hours, but Linda responded that due to the course re-design, it would be very difficult to cover all the material without the lab. Tom Nenon noted that a very strong argument would need to be presented to TBR in order for them to approve this additional hour requirement for Computer Engineering.
Linda requested that this additional lab hour for COMP 2150 become effective Spring 2010 as a pilot.
Dr. Blanton asked whether this had been approved by the college committee, and Linda replied that it had not. Tom stated that this request would need their approval. He also suggested that they could make the lab "optional" realizing that the better students could succeed in the class without the lab, but the weaker students probably would not.
Following, there was some discussion as to whether the committee should vote to approve a pilot for the Spring 2010 semester, but Jim Lukawitz and Tom felt that more information was needed, so the decision was made to "table" the issue. Joseph Ventimiglia approved that motion, and Laurie Snyder seconded the motion.
College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Blanton referred next to the General Education/ History requirement. She said that UNIV and ENGR would submit a curriculum revision to ask for an exemption from History, not just American History.
Residency Requirements
The Office of Undergraduate Programs has received some questions about the residency requirements:
• 25% of a student's hours must be earned at UM
• Thirty of the last 60 hours earned must be earned at UM
• 60 hours of the total must be earned at a four year institution
Some of the questions involved Credit by Exam, CLEP, departmental exams and experiential learning. The basic question to be answered is what is defined as "coursework" and what is not. Tom Nenon suggested that perhaps these questions should be answered on a case-by-case basis, and that maybe no change is needed.
Office of the Registrar
Donna Van Canneyt said that her office realized recently that the policy and procedure concerning late adds was somehow not included in recent catalogs. This is a problem, she said, because staff across campus are directing students for late add requests, but it is now not clear to what office or person they should be directed. In previous catalogs, the policy instructed students to get the approval of the instructor and the college dean or designee of the college in which the student is registered. Discussion followed about the possibility of requesting the department chair, rather than the dean. Joseph Ventimiglia felt the approval of the department chair should be included since the chair is the person "in the trenches." However, Jim Lukawitz pointed out that quite often the dean's designees are college chairs. Tom Nenon said that we should not require three levels of approval, and since the student has to request a permit from the office of the department chair, they are in effect being made aware of the late add. Cathy Serex read the statement that she would immediately put into the catalog:
"A course may be added late only upon permission of the dean or designee in the college of the student's major, or the Academic Advising Center for undeclared students. The student must also have the written permission of the course instructor. "
Walter Kirkpatrick made the motion to approve and Jim Lukawitz seconded.
Tiger Eat$
At the last UUC meeting, Donna had said that she would go ahead and "flip a flag" on November 1so that a student's classification for Tiger Eat$ purposes is based on the number of college level courses only, excluding Developmental Studies courses. However, since that time, she said she has learned that this may affect financial aid, so she will wait until after Spring 2010 to make the change. An email will be sent to all students on or about May 10.
College of Communication and Fine Arts
Laurie Snyder asked the committee to consider whether Art History 2101 and 2102 could be considered as meeting the General Education requirement for Humanities. She noted that twelve other TBR schools do use this course for Humanities, and her dean is in favor of it. Tom Nenon reminded her that creating courses in General Education may cause headaches later on, when stimulus funds are no longer available. It could mean, he said, that the college might be put in the position of taking a position from another department or increasing the faculty load. Carl Chando questioned whether CCFA intends to add sections of Art History, and whether or not non-art majors will be permitted to take that course. Laurie Snyder said that she could not say, but that "art history truly is a gen ed course." It was recommended that the change be submitted to TBR this fall when the UofM submits revisions and additions to the General Education program. Walter Kirkpatrick made the motion to approve and Jim Lukawitz seconded.
Fresh Connections
Cathy Serex announced that in the Spring 2010 semester there will be five Continuing Connections communities which will be open to anyone, and two upper division Continuing Communities. Because so many high school students are now completing part or all of their college level English requirements in high school, and also because the University no longer offers DSPW 0700 and DSPW 0800, a report will be requested which will tell us who is now taking those courses. Dan Poje suggested that perhaps a focus group interview would be helpful.
Other Items
Sutton Flynt asked whether we have received any information on the success rate of the CHEM 1110 with the required section of Chemistry Recitation . Tom said that the recitation was not successful; one extra hour of lecture time does not help, even with smaller groups.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Kyker
December 11, 2009
PRESENT (voting): Charles Bray (ENGR), Jasbir Dhaliwal (MIS), Linda Finch (NURS), Sutton Flynt (EDUC), Walt Kirkpatrick (COMM), Jeffrey Marchetta, (ENGR), Broderick Nichols (UNIV), Wade Jackson, (Faculty Senate), Laurie Snyder (CCFA), Barbara Taller (BIOL), Will Thompson (CAS), Joe Ventimiglia (SOCI), Paul Wright (HSS).
PRESENT (ex officio): Shannon Blanton (VPUP, Chair), Carl Chando (AAC), Melinda Jones (Honors), Cathy Serex (Curr), Dan Poje (VPAA), Kay Cunningham (LIBR), Tom Nenon (VP, AIRR), Barbara Kyker (Recorder).
ABSENT: Susan Popham (ENGL), Donna Van Canneyt (Registrar), Jim Lukawitz (ACCT),
GUESTS: Lloyd Brooks (MIS), Brian Janz (MIS), Robert Koch (NURS), Bill Zachry (PSYC)
The meeting was called to order by Shannon Blanton, Chair at 1:05 p.m. when a quorum was achieved.
One correction to the October minutes was noted by Barbara Taller. Laurie Snyder made the motion to approve and Wade Jackson seconded.
Dr. Shannon Blanton announced that several departments had raised issues related to Admissions requirements. She said that the Provost will put together a task force to develop guidelines for departments. Since Admission requirements are an institutional matter, and with the exception of Nursing, all other Admission issues will be tabled at this time.
At today's meeting, UUC members will present new courses and course revisions for discussion and approval. After each is discussed, they will be either presented for approval or sent back to the department for more information.
College of Arts and Sciences
Dr. Will Thompson first noted that the request for prerequisites for SPAN 3301 and 3303 has been withdrawn. He then reviewed changes which include:
1. African and African American Studies proposes including a supervised internship, working with public and private institutions.
2. Biology department name change to "Biological Sciences".
3. CJUS 4018/6018, Capital Punishment in America, to be added as permanent course.
4. A new undergraduate major in "Public Service Administration", an online program geared toward city and local government employees.
The Psychology Department requested that all students wishing to take PSYC 3300 or higher be required to have completed PSYC 3010 and 3020 with a grade of "C" or higher. Several UUC members, particularly Broderick Nichols, UNIV, and Sutton Flynt, EDCU, had concerns as to how this would affect students in those areas. Barbara Taller also expressed concerns for Biology students who take Psychology courses. Bill Zachry said that as a part of the review process, the department was encouraged to make the upper division Psychology courses more rigorous to better prepare students for graduate school. After discussion, Will suggested that he should go back and "crunch the numbers" and see what can be done to avoid the necessity of issuing permits, but to ensure that the courses are available to all without compromising academic rigor.
The motion to table the Psychology proposal was made by Walt Kirkpatrick, and Laurie Snyder seconded.
Sutton Flynt moved to approve the other revisions, and Jasbir Dhaliwal seconded.
Fogelman College of Business and Economics
Jasbir Dhaliwal had several requests for revisions
1. The number of credit hours required for students to take upper division business courses be lowered from 60 to 45.
2. The creation of a new online course, FIR 1510, Basics of Personal Finance.
3. Changes to requirements in the department of Hospitality and Resort Management to "align the curriculum with the strategic plan and overall ambition of the school."
Lloyd Brooks and Brian Janz addressed the need for changes, mostly course numbers and course descriptions, in the MIS department.
Broderick Nichols moved to approve the proposals, and Will Thompson seconded.
College of Communication and Fine Arts
Laurie Synder said that music students on scholarship are required to participate in two ensembles per semester – 16 total, so CCFA is requesting that students have the option to enroll in these ensembles for zero credit hours, with a grade of A – F attached.
Scholarship students are required to participate in ensembles because:
Performances provide a service to the university and to the community.
The practice improves students' abilities and
Their participation enhances the quality of the ensemble.
Dan Poje asked whether these zero credit hours would be included in the faculty teaching load. The impact would depend on how often students would enroll in zero credit hour ensembles.
Tom Nenon suggested that this issue perhaps could be resolved by adjusting the amount of the scholarship to cover any additional costs incurred.
Although this argument was made with scholarship students' requirements in mind, zero credit ensembles would be open to all students.
Shannon Blanton expressed concern that the approval of zero credit hour ensembles would open the door for other departments/schools to request zero credit hour courses.
Because this question has financial as well as academic implications, it was decided that the question should go to the Executive Council.
Loewenberg School of Nursing
Linda Finch explained that originally the TEAS test was able to exclude the English scores. It was discovered that the all four areas, Math, Science, Reading and English, would need to be used. After review of data generated in pilot testing of the TEAS test with LSON Basic students, the LSON dean and associate deans have determined that a TEAS composite score of 72 with no less than 60 in any one of the four components of TEAS test become the LSON admission test requirement. Using the ATI standard testing procedures and all four areas of Math, Science, Reading and English, the recommended TEAS admission scores would be compatible with the current TEAS requirement. The LSON requested that the change to the TEAS test admission requirement be approved for the 2010-11 Undergraduate Catalog. The spring 2011 class would be the first class affected due to the February 2010 deadline for fall 2010 applicants.
Sutton Flynt moved to approve and Paul Wright seconded.
With time running short, the decision was made the review of the College of Engineering, University College and Education would be done at the next UUC meeting on February 12.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 pm
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Kyker
February 12, 2010
PRESENT (voting): Charles Bray (ENGR), Jasbir Dhaliwal (MIS), Linda Finch (NURS), Sutton Flynt (EDUC), Jim Lukawitz (ACCT), Jeffrey Marchetta, (ENGR), Broderick Nichols (UNIV), Wade Jackson, (Faculty Senate), Laurie Snyder (CCFA), Barbara Taller (BIOL), Will Thompson (CAS), Joe Ventimiglia (SOCI),
PRESENT (ex officio): Shannon Blanton (VPUP, Chair), Carl Chando (AAC), Cathy Serex (Curr), Dan Poje (AA), Barbara Kyker (Recorder).
ABSENT: Melinda Jones (Honors), Susan Popham (ENGL), Donna Van Canneyt (Registrar), Walt Kirkpatrick (COMM), Tom Nenon (VP, AIRR), Paul Wright (HSS).
The meeting was called to order by Shannon Blanton, Chair at 1:05 p.m. when a quorum was achieved.
At today's meeting, UUC members continued discussions of new courses and course and program revisions for approval. After each was discussed, they were either presented for approval or sent back to the department for more information.
College of Education, Health and Human Sciences
Sutton Flynt presented the curriculum proposals. In addition to those from Nutrition, all PHED activity courses will not have this statement added to the course description, "May be repeated once for credit." The curriculum revisions were approved.
Herff College of Engineering
Charles Bray reviewed several curriculum changes; among which is the removal of some of the prerequisite courses. In Electrical Engineering, one course has been discontinued and two new courses are to replace it. A new course, "Embedded Systems" has been introduced for Computer Engineering students, and several changes were made in Engineering Technology to comply with ABET.
Another new course, "Science, Technology, and Society" is similar in title to a PHIL course, and Dr. Bray said that he would be open to discussing that title.
Jim Lukawitz questioned whether, with the elimination of the Probabilities course, students were getting that subject elsewhere. Dr. Bray said that two other courses in Engineering contain probability components.
Barbara Taller noted a typographical error – BIOM was incorrectly listed as BIOL
Curriculum changes were approved.
University College
Broderick Nichols presented four changes for discussion and approval. Among those were the addition of a disclaimer concerning American History exemption, CSED 4106 requirement of junior standing.
Curriculum changes were approved.
Nursing
Dr. Linda Finch discussed the move of BSN to RN program that is totally online. Also, three Nursing courses are no longer just for Tennessee licensure. Several new courses have been added, one for the BSN to RN program, and another for RN students online. Carl Chando questioned whether the required GPA listed in the catalog is correct, and Dr. Finch said that she would check that and report back.
Curriculum changes were approved.
International Baccalaureate
Dr. Blanton discussed the International Baccalaureate requirements. Will Thompson, Carl Chando, Laurie Snyder and Gloria Moore are looking into this and will be responding soon. The question arises occasionally, "What sort of credit will I get for IB credit?" so Enrollment Services is eager to receive the committee's recommendation.
Credit Based on ACT Subscores
Dr. Blanton also reported that at the last Enrollment Management Council meeting there was discussion of giving students credit for ENGL 1010 and 1020 based on their ACT subscores of 28 and 32 respectively. (Some TBR schools do award English credit based on ACT subscores, but the University of Tennessee does not.) An incentive to use ACT subscores for English placement is that it would remove that barrier for high ability students considering the University of Memphis. The down side is that studies have not been completed which would indicate whether those students would be successful in ENGL 2010. Dr. Tom Nenon will be looking at students who have CLEPed out of ENGL 1010 and 1020 in order to measure their success in the subsequent English course. This information will be valuable in making the decision as to whether or not UM will award credit based on the ACT English subscore.
Discussion followed as to why students could not simply CLEP out of the courses as they have in the past. Dr. Blanton responded that by using subscores, students will know up front what their English requirements are, there will be no other test or charges. Both Barbara Taller and Laurie Snyder reminded the committee that students are not able to CLEP out of ENGL 1020. Bob Marchetta questioned whether this might remove the incentive for high school students to take AP English and Carl Chando asked about the impact to the Dual Enrollment Program for high school students.
Other Business
Cathy Serex asked committee members to remind departments that course titles are limited to only 30 characters. When she receives titles longer than this, it is necessary that she abbreviate; however, she is not sure that the title is being accurately condensed. The field for course descriptions is much longer, so more detail can be given there.
Dr. Serex also announced that the go-live date for Banner is March 22, but there are still some "show-stoppers" – faculty cannot enter grades in SSB and admission applications cannot be processed through SSB, among others. If that deadline is not met, the next go-live date is October.
The next University Undergraduate Council meeting will be March 19.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Kyker
March 19, 2010
PRESENT (voting): Charles Bray (ENGR), Jasbir Dhaliwal (MIS), Robert Koch for Linda Finch (NURS), Larry Weiss for Sutton Flynt (EDUC), Jim Lukawitz (ACCT), Jeffrey Marchetta, (ENGR), Wade Jackson, (Faculty Senate), Laurie Snyder (CCFA), Barbara Taller (BIOL), Will Thompson (CAS), Joe Ventimiglia (SOCI),
PRESENT (ex officio): Shannon Blanton (VPUP, Chair), Carl Chando (AAC), Cathy Serex (Curr), Dan Poje (AA), Tom Nenon (AIRR), Melinda Jones (Honors), Donna Van Canneyt (Registrar), Barbara Kyker (Recorder).
ABSENT: Susan Popham (ENGL), Walt Kirkpatrick (COMM), Paul Wright (HSS), Broderick Nichols (UNIV).
The meeting was called to order by Shannon Blanton, Chair at 1:07 p.m. when a quorum was achieved.
The next University Undergraduate Council meeting will be April 9.
Minutes:There were a few corrections to the February 2010 minutes. It was asked why the ENGL CLEP test offers 6 hours of credit. If the student is successful on the test, only ENGL 1010, not ENGL 1020, credit is awarded. Although the version of this test will no longer be offered beginning July, the question was why are students getting partial credit.
The minutes were approved as amended (Will Thompson/Laurie Snyder).
International Baccalaureate: Shannon Blanton said that this initiative is very important in view of the first IB class at Germantown High School is graduating this spring. Will Thompson explained peer institutions were reviewed to see what courses were part of their IB program where he found great variety in course content. A list of UofM courses was identified to be a part of the IB program. The list was sent to the departments for their review to determine the appropriateness of the courses, and the decision regarding the scores that should be awarded. The motion to accept the list of courses as part of the UofM International Baccalaureate program was approved (Jasbir Dhaliwal/Jim Lukawitz).
Senate Bill #7006: Shannon Blanton explained that the "Complete College Tennessee Act of 2010" has several components:
1. A 2-step baccalaureate path, from a community college then to a four-year institution where the community college coursework is accepted by the four-year institution.
2. Community colleges are to review courses in order to determine if they match TBR and UT courses
3. Community colleges are encouraged to have different areas of emphasis: 41 hours of general education courses, and 19 hours in the area of emphasis. We have articulation agreements with nearby community colleges that will facilitate ease of transfer. An issue is that there are quite a few community college courses at the 1000-2000 level for which the closest UofM equivalent is offered at the upper division level, and this can introduce confusion for the student when they receive lower-division credit for their transferred course. Community colleges and four-year institutions may need to review course content in order to determine true course level.
4. Community colleges will submit a plan to Dr. Paula Short by March 25, 2010, which will be distributed to universities. Dr. Short said that this was preferable to starting with a blank page.
5. Legislators may want institutions to identify competencies within each course. This would require unanimous consent from among all institutions.
6. Will Thompson pointed out that for some majors only 6 hours of lower division transfer credit is accepted.
7. Common course numbering may also be suggested.
THEC Academic Program Review: Shannon Blanton pointed out that this document is for information that can be distributed to the colleges and department.
Next meeting: April 9, 2010
The meeting was adjourned at 1:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Cathy Serex
April 9, 2010
PRESENT (voting): Jasbir Dhaliwal (MIS), Sutton Flynt (EDUC), Jim Lukawitz (ACCT), Marj Luttrell (NURS) proxy for Linda Finch, Jeffrey Marchetta, (ENGR), Broderick Nichols (UNIV), Susan Popham (ENGL), Bill Segui (ENGR) proxy for Charles Bray, Wade Jackson, (Faculty Senate), Laurie Snyder (CCFA), Barbara Taller (BIOL), Will Thompson (CAS), Joe Ventimiglia (SOCI),
PRESENT (ex officio): Shannon Blanton (VPUP, Chair), Melinda Jones (Honors), Cathy Serex (Curr), Dan Poje (AA), Tom Nenon (AIR), Barbara Kyker (Recorder).
ABSENT: Charles Bray (ENGR), Carl Chando (AAC), Linda Finch (NURS), Donna Van Canneyt (Registrar), Walt Kirkpatrick (COMM), Paul Wright (HSS).
The meeting was called to order by Shannon Blanton, Chair at 1:05 p.m. when a quorum was achieved.
March minutes were approved with corrections.
Dr. Blanton began a discussion of two new concentrations for Bachelor of Professional Studies (concentrations offered through the University of Memphis in the TN eCampus (formerly RODP) program) – Health Administration and International Organizational Leadership.
Broderick Nichols said that he found it very "disturbing and embarrassing" that these concentrations have already been approved without the approval of the UUC, so he will begin the process of cleaning up and putting back in order; however, at this time he has very little additional information other than what is on the TN eCampus (formerly RODP) website.
Cathy Serex said that while the courses are in the course inventory in Banner, they are not listed in the Undergraduate Catalog. She noted that 21 hours are required for each concentration, but the Program Structure only provides for 18 – another 3 hours from Written Communication should be added. Other discrepancies include SPAN 355 which should be changed to SPAN 3550, and PSCI 3010 Comparative Politics should instead be PS 3010.
Sutton Flynt asked if these concentrations are currently online and can they be pursued, and Shannon replied that these have been approved by TBR, by THEC, and TN eCampus (formerly RODP), but without the approval of this UUC. This needs to be addressed, as well as what processes need to be reviewed to ensure that this does not repeat.
Marj Luttrell said the Nursing courses listed are bridge courses for RNs (with Associate's Degree or Biology diploma) to go into the Master's Program in Nursing.
Dan Poje asked if the committee has to approve these concentrations because he could see where there might be accreditation issues, and Tom Nenon responded that the committee could do one of two things – either say "no" and see what happens, and politically, this might not be a good move, or approve pending certain recommendations or questions.
Will Thompson asked whether anyone in Health Administration has been asked about this, because we already have that program at the Master's level. He pointed out that this TN eCampus (formerly RODP) concentration has no health administration courses! We also already have an International Studies major but does anyone know what International Organizational Leadership is?
Shannon Blanton returned to the Nursing discussion and asked whether there is anything on TN eCampus (formerly RODP)'s website which says that there is a prerequisite RN requirement, but Broderick said he was not aware of one. Laurie Snyder said she believes that course prerequisites may not be enforced in TN eCampus (formerly RODP). Tom explained that just because the prerequisite may not be enforced by the system, this does not mean that a prerequisite course is not needed.
Marj noted that there may be some nurses out there who are interested in this degree. Tom said that it was obvious that the committee was not comfortable approving these new concentrations, and he recommended that those areas affected should perhaps go back to their departments, have some discussions, and then send their questions and recommendations to Dr. Blanton. Broderick asked whether the committee might be able to read the minutes from the TN eCampus (formerly RODP) Curriculum committee meetings, but Dr. Blanton explained that this was introduced and approved in 2007 and was "put on a shelf at TBR and just recently pulled out." She said that Dr. Faudree felt strongly that this was something that should be brought before the UUC.
Susan Popham asked whether other institutions approved these concentrations, and Shannon replied that yes, most of them had.
Shannon reported that ETSU has bowed out of these 2 concentrations because they already have two very similar programs and felt that these would be in direct competition with theirs.
Shannon asked that Marj Luttrell, Broderick Nichols, Laurie Snyder and Will Thompson look at these issues, and report back to her within a week.
The vote was tabled.
Next, Shannon reminded the group that last year the General Education Assessment reviewed Math, Oral Communications and English. The current assessment template has been sent out to the relevant people. Reports will be prepared in August and presented to the UUC in September.
The next agenda item concerned those students who score high on the ACT English subscore and took the CLEP test. The number of students attempting to CLEP out of English 1010 was very low, possibly due to their lack of information, reluctance to spend the $60 for the fee, or perhaps they see that taking English 1010 will give them an easy "A."
Susan Popham said that they are currently re-working the test, because the current essay subjects are "horrifyingly bad"
When reports were distributed showing students completing ENGL 1010 in the fall who scored 27 or higher, the group noted the very small number of "F" grades. Tom explained that when Bonnie Briggs produced the report, she did tell him that all the students that she checked who earned an "F" also made the same grade in all their other classes, indicating that they probably did not fail this course due to not being able to handle the work, but there were probably other factors, such as poor attendance, which affected their grade.
Shannon reviewed other TBR schools and noted that several give students credit for ENGL 1010 if their ACT English subscore is 27 or 28, and some give credit for ENGL 1020 for subscores of 31 or 32. This practice is not as common among peer institutions – particularly giving credit for ENGL 1020 courses. Shannon said that since it appears that this is gaining acceptance, especially at TBR schools, perhaps this is something that should be adopted for UM students as well. Sutton Flynt agreed with the ENGL 1010 credit, but said that since ENGL 1020 deals more with research and writing, we may not want to waive that based on the student's ACT subscore. Tom said that from the instructors' standpoint, it will make it easier to teach ENGL 1010 because you may not have the bored higher ability students in the classroom, and from the department's standpoint, it will eliminate some of the necessity of finding part time instructors. Melinda Jones agreed that when high ability students become bored in the classroom, that is not a positive.
Questions and discussions followed: Will students earn 3 hours credit? Yes – "S" grade will be given. Do they pay for the course? No – it is like AP credit. Will it affect GPA's – No. When will policy go into effect? This would become effective with the Fall 2010 catalog. Students who have not yet taken ENGL 1010 and who have the appropriate ACT English sub-score would have the option of adopting the new catalog and benefiting from this policy. However, if students have already taken ENGL 1010, they would not be able to replace an earned grade in this manner.
Sutton Flynt asked whether something similar could be done in Math. replied that the Math subscore does not as closely map to math courses; however, there are several math initiatives, e.g., ALEKS, currently underway.
Will Thompson asked that before a vote was taken, should there be some discussion with the chair of the English department, and said that he was very uncomfortable voting without consultation from the department. Susan Popham agreed. Shannon asked Susan if she had something specific in mind which she felt might be an issue, and Susan replied that she did not, but would feel more comfortable with the vote not proceeding until the chair was given an opportunity for input. Shannon said that she would be willing to meet with Susan, Will, and Eric Link to hear concerns or answer questions. The committee would then be asked to vote by email.
Melinda Jones was asked about Honors English sections, and she said that students in those sections would most likely be those students with ACT composite scores of 25 are higher, and many would have high English scores. It was suggested that some of those sections could be changed to 1020, keeping perhaps one Honors English section for those students who were better in math than English.
Susan agreed to set up a meeting with Will, Shannon, Eric Link and herself. The vote was tabled.
Sutton Flynt asked about prerequisite checking and why is it turned off in summer school. Cathy replied that because of the different summer terms, Banner cannot handle prereqs, so an ePrint report is produced which lists those students who are enrolled in courses without the prerequisite course.
Shannon closed the meeting by reviewing the accomplishments of the committee for the past year. She also announced the retirement of Charlie Bray and Marj Luttrell. She thanked the committee members for their work during the past year and said that the group would re-convene on the second Friday in September.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Kyker