UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

Minutes

February 13, 2006

Professor Toni Marzotto called the meeting of the University Curriculum Committee to order at 3:35 p.m. in the Towson Room (Cook 507) of Cook Library. The minutes of the December 12, 2005 UCC meeting were accepted as written.

Professor Sharon Glennen, chair of the Audiology, Speech-Language Pathology and Deaf Studies Department, presented a proposal for lower division course changes in the Deaf Studies major. Professor Nechie King moved and Professor Leneida Crawford seconded a motion to approve the changes. The motion carried unanimously.

Professor Barry Moore, chair of the Electronic Media and Film Department, presented the proposal for course changes in the Film and Media Studies track of EMF. Professor Jay Zimmerman moved and Professor Reza Sarhangi seconded a motion to approve the change. The motion carried unanimously.

Professor Toni Marzotto and Mr. Robert Giordani led the discussion on the number of credit hours required for Tracks. Mr. Giordani explained that Tracks are similar to Concentrations in that both are listed on the diploma along with the Major, but Tracks do not require MHEC approval. Since MHEC currently requires 24 hours as the minimum credit requirement for a Concentration, the Track credit requirement should also be 24 to make it equivalent. UCC must decide what to do with the 25 Tracks in the catalog that require only 12 to 21 credit hours.

The committee discussed whether to grandfather in the Tracks already listed in the catalog with a credit hour requirement less than 24 hours and/or to encourage the departments to raise Track credit requirements to a 24 hours credit minimum. Those Tracks with less than 24 credit hours could be converted to Areas of Focus, but a concern was raised that an Area of Focus is not listed on diplomas or on transcripts. Committee recommendations on Tracks will be postponed until Professor Toni Marzotto and Mr. Robert Giordani report back on the following:

the number of credit hours required on the MHEC application form for Majors and Concentrations
the definition of core requirements

The definitions of Tracks, Concentrations, Areas of Focus and Majors approved by the Senate in 2002 can be found on the UCC webpage at http://wwwnew.towson.edu/curriculum/ under Forms and General Information Undergraduate Curriculum Process at TU—Appendix D Faculty Handbook (PDF format)

UCC members recommended that bylaws be written

to change the Course Approval Sub-Committee and the General Education Sub-Committee status from subcommittees to full committees that would report to the University Curriculum Committee;
to appoint committee membership in same manner as UCC membership is appointed;
to rotate committee membership so that members serve 3 year terms but leave the committee at different times; and
to designate the elected chairs of the reporting committees as voting members of the UCC.

Professor Toni Marzotto and Ms. Yvonne Lev will put together a proposal to cover these points for UCC to consider at the March meeting.

Professor Toni Marzotto expressed concern that the UCC webpage is lost on the new Towson University web site and can only be found through the Search function. Ms. Yvonne Lev will report via the Website Feedback that the UCC committee membership under University Senate Committees is out of date. Mr. Robert Giordani will link from the Registrar’s page to the UCC page.

The UCC meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Yvonne T. Lev