UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
Minutes
February
9, 2009
1. The minutes of the December 8 meeting were accepted,
with one amendment (Item 4 should cite ECON 203, not 201).
2. Professor Greg Faller, chair of UCC, summed
up the changes that had been submitted to the Catalog following the December
2008 meeting.
1) Prelaw Advising Program (Political Science) – Jack
Fruchtman
Passed
at 12/8/08 meeting
Sent
to Catalog 12/9/08
2) Law and American Civilization Program (Political
Science) – Jack Fruchtman
Passed
at 12/8/08 meeting
Sent
to Catalog 12/16/08
3) Psychology Major – Craig Johnson
Passed
at 12/8/08 meeting
Sent
to Catalog 12/9/08
4) Honors Psychology Program and Clinical Psychology
Specialization– Craig Johnson
Passed
at 12/8/08 meeting
Sent
to Catalog 2/5/09
5) Combined Major in e-Business & CIS – Sharma
Pillutla
Passed
at 12/8/08 meeting
Sent
to Catalog 12/9/08
6) Combined Major in e-Business & BUAD (Marketing
Con) – Sharma Pillutla
Passed
at 12/8/08 meeting
Sent
to Catalog 12/9/08
7) Accounting Major – Barry Buchoff
Passed
at 12/8/08 meeting
Sent
to Catalog 12/9/08
8) Political Science Major – Jim Roberts
Combined majors with Economics, Geography &
Environmental Planning, & MCCS
Passed
at 12/8/08 meeting
Sent to Catalog 2/3/09
Professor
Faller would like to include a regular “Catalog update” within the minutes.
3. Professor Norah Sturges presented a
proposal to modify the names of the Art major and minor. Due to a departmental
name change to reflect the increasing importance of Design as an independent
discipline, these will now be known as the major and minor in Art+Design.
Professor Gail Gasparich moved and
Professor Leneida Crawford seconded the motion to accept the proposed changes.
The motion carried, with 8
votes in favor.
4. Professor Sturges also presented
proposed changes for the major’s Foundation classes. This includes the addition
of new courses ART 101 (Digital Tools and Concepts) and ART 212 (Visual
Concepts), which will enable majors to connect art history to their own
practice, taking a conceptual rather than formal approach. The new courses have
been approved by the Course Approval Reporting Committee.
Erratum:
The designations “proposed” and “new title” should be removed for the catalog copy.
Professor Margaret Faulkner moved and
Professor Elin Lobel seconded the motion to accept the proposed changes. The
motion carried, with 8 votes
in favor.
5.
Professor Jonathan Lazar presented proposed changes to the Computer
Information Systems 2+2 program, major, minor, combined major with Business
Administration, and combined major with e-Business, and the major in
Information Technology. An upcoming Program Review and the work towards a new
IT major is inspiring some examination. As Computer Science evolves,
Information Systems is differentiating its offerings. In regard to the 2+2,
major, minor, and combined majors mentioned, they would like to substitute the
new CIS 350 (Telecommunications), which focuses on Policy and process issues,
for COSC 350 (Data Communications and Networking). CIS 350 has been approved by
the Course Approval Reporting Committee. (COSC 350 will still be offered.)
Mr. Bill Logan moved and Professor Lobel
seconded the motion to accept the proposed changes as a groupThe
motion carried, with 8votes
in favor.
6. Professor Susan Haigler-Robles
presented proposed changes to the Dance Performance major.
A new sequence of composition should
enrich the students’ ability to choreograph. Accreditation has influenced the
establishment of five levels of dance composition; the capstone will now
require students to perform and choreograph across various media. The credit
units for the composition sequence will remain at 12. Also, the department will
now allow students to choose either Ballet or Modern Dance at Level three; it
has been difficult for students to excel in both at the highest level.
Erratum:
Dance 436 should be listed with 2 credits.
Professor Crawford moved and Professor
Lobel seconded the motion to accept the proposed changes. The motion carried,
with 8votes in favor.
7. Professor Jay Herzog presented a proposed change to the Acting Track. This
track is now screened during the first year. To encourage consistency, a B
grade in the track will now be required. (Committee members suggested the
policy about repeating failed classes a second time be worked out in
advance.) They would also like to
establish a streamlined program of rolling electives, to deepen students’
experience. Note that the establishment
of a B threshold does not require approval by Academic Standards. Any student
attempting to repeat a class for the second time would go to Academic
Standards, however. If the class is a major requirement, then the ability to
repeat for a third time is at the discretion of the relevant Department Chair.
Errata: It was noted that the performance
electives should not be described as upper-level since there are 200-level classes
included. Also, some classes are listed out of numerical order. THEA 310 and
317 are missing credit units.
Professor Crawford moved and Professor Faller
seconded the motion to accept the proposed changes. The motion carried,
with 8 votes in favor.
8. Professor Edwin Duncan and Professor Lana Portolano
presented a proposed “3 + 2” Combined Bachelor’s and Master’s in Professional
Writing. Such a program would facilitate graduates’ career development. Writing
track students could apply to the Director of Professional Writing prior to the
second term of junior year. Requirements would include a 3.3 GPA and an
application packet. Subsequently these students would need to achieve the
Bachelor’s to continue on into the Master’s portion. The time savings come from double-counting
nine 600-level units towards both degrees. Note that a student who withdraws or
becomes ineligible for the 3+2 program may not
double-count courses for the two degrees.
Errata: It
was felt that the word “existing” in the initial paragraph was superfluous. It
was also requested that the explanation under “Degree Requirements” be
clarified as to when and how the 9 double-counted units could or would be
taken; it might be advisable to permit them to start the summer after Junior year. Could it be an option for a student to take
3/3/3, 3/6, 6/3 or other credit permutations within the relevant semesters,
with the Program Director’s blessing? The Committee advised that the department
communicate with Mr. Bob Giordani on how this could be worded.
Professor Crawford moved and Professor Faulkner
seconded the motion to accept the proposed changes, pending the recommended
alterations. The motion carried, with 8 votes in favor.
9. Professor
Gail Gasparich walked the Committee through Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Studies minor proposal in the absence of a representative from
Interdisciplinary Studies. The program would like to substitute LGBT 485 (an Internship)
as a required course, for LGBT 491 (Independent Investigation in LGBT Studies).
Students can still chose to pursue LGBT 491 as an elective. They would also
like to suggest EDUC 203 (Teaching and Learning in a Diverse Society) as an
elective in place of EDUC 201 (The Parenting Process). A letter of support from
Professor Ocie Watson-Thompson, Chair of Early Childhood Education, was
included.
Professor Faulkner moved and Professor Lobel seconded the motion to accept the
proposed changes, pending receipt of a more descriptive justification. The
motion carried, with 8 votes
in favor.
10. Professor Susan Isaacs (Area Coordinator, Art History) and Professor
Professor Siegel will serve as the
Director of the minor (under Interdisciplinary Studies) and will advise
History, Anthropology, and Art History majors pursuing the minor. The minor
consists of two required 300-level courses, Introduction to Museum Studies and
Museum and Community (not yet approved); 12 units of electives (six of which
await approval), with no more than two courses to be taken within a single
discipline; and a capstone internship. The minor has been kept to a small
credit count as they have not sought to eliminate any prerequisites for the
electives. There was some discussion
about how common such minors are (majors are more frequent) and the job
opportunities available. It is still possible to break in to museum work
without a Master’s degree; the minor will also facilitate entrance into
relevant Master’s programs. There was some discussion about the possibility of
minors being able to take all business-oriented electives. Does this serve
expertise in Museums? Advising might prevent this from occurring. Recall that
double dipping in a minor is okay.
Included were letters of support from
Dean Terry Cooney (CLA), Professor Bob Rook (Chair, History), Professor Doug
Pryor (Chair, SOAN/CMJ) and Professor Isaacs. The committee would also like to
see emails from the other affected departments, MCOM, MNGT, WRIT, POSC) as this
is standard practice for UCC proposals.
Ms. Tracy Miller moved and Mr. Bob
Giordani seconded the motion to accept the proposed changes, pending receipt of
support letters from all affected departments and the approval of new courses
in COFAC’s Curriculum Committee and the Course Approval Reporting Committee.
The motion carried, with 8
votes in favor.
11. Professor Karen Eskow presented proposed
changes to Family Studies. For the required core course, the Department would
like to allow students to take either EDUC 201 (Parenting Process) or, FMST 305
(Parent-Child Relationships across the Lifespan), a newly developed course.
They would also like to change the name of the Services to Children track to
Services to Children and Youth, to better reflect the actual age range studied.
The new FMST 415 (Services to Children and Youth) would be added as a core
course.
Erratum:
A revised credit count should be provided for the catalog copy.
Professor Crawford moved and Professor Lobel
seconded the motion to accept the proposed changes. The motion carried,
with 8 votes in favor.
12. Professor Faller updated the
Committee on his communication regarding the proposal for a new IT major, which
had been tabled in the December 2008 meeting. The issues that had concerned the
Committee had included the existence of another program with the identical name
(the B.T.P.S.) and a large number of courses yet to be approved (7 of 10 core
classes and 13 of 21 electives), especially given the anticipated
implementation date of Fall 2009. Professor Scott
Hilberg had suggested an implementation of Fall 2010
to help mitigate these concerns, but had not addressed the B.T.P.S. program,
nor had the Course Approval Reporting Committee received any Form A’s to date.
The Committee would like to reiterate its concerns about the two remaining
issues. (After the meeting Professor Hilberg explained the Department’s plan to
stop admitting B.T.P.S. students once they were admitting students to the new
IT major, while allowing the existing students to finish out the B.T.P.S. The
Department will outline their transition plan for UCC.)
13. The UCC meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Shana M. Gass
Secretary, University Curriculum
Committee