Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee Minutes from 2/22/06

Faculty Senate Curriculum Meeting

Minutes from the February 22, 2006 Meeting

Present: David Hess Dave Spooner

Amir Hirsa, chair Mark Steiner

Sharon Kunkel John Schroeder

Julie Leusner Sam Wait

Lee Odell Ken Warriner

Wally Morris Mike Wozny

Chris McDermott

1)  The minutes from the meeting on February 8, 2006 were approved unanimously with the following amendments: pg 1 #4 a.-should read “Material Science”; pg 2 #5 c “1000 level courses shouldn’t be required in the upper level semesters”; pg 2 #8 add “The mechanism for assessment will be determined by the faculty.” Pg 1, # 4 b “whether this template” and BIOL 1010 (previously approved by the FSCC); pg 1 item a “a new biotechnology lab” and the minutes should reflect the names of all of the individual H&SS templates approved.

2)  The Committee appears to be on target for reviewing the catalog-related information in order to meet the catalog deadlines.

3)  Mid-term assessment- A. Hirsa indicated that there is some pressure from the Faculty Senate to wrap up the work on this issue in order to get this item on a ballot for a faculty vote this term. It is an important issue that still needs further discussion. The FSCC is not ready to endorse it without further deliberation.

4)  School of Humanities and Social Science- Lee Odell gave an overview of 2 new minors to be offered by the Cognitive Science department: 1) Cognition and 2) Sports Psychology. The Cognitive Science department currently offers about 6 minors. After a brief discussion, the FSCC approved unanimously with 1 abstention both minors. The department has also proposed deleting an existing minor, Perception and Action. The Committee unanimously approved deleting the minor with the stipulation that if any students are enrolled, they will be allowed to complete it. L. Odell indicated that student demand is the impetus behind the development of these new minors.

·  L. Odell provided the Committee with information in response to the questions asked at the 1/25/06 meeting about the proposed new course ARTS 2XXX Fundamentals of Animation:

  1. The department has a faculty member to teach this course.
  2. The course is needed because students are not prepared for Animation I.
  3. The school or the department will purchase the software required for the course. The students will not have to purchase it.

·  The new course, ARTS 2060 Fundamentals of Animation, was approved unanimously.

·  ARTS 6210 –Media Watch-The department has withdrawn this course.

·  ARTS 6XXX- Strategic Manifesto- The FSCC recommended deleting the section on gender neutral language from the Academic Integrity (AI) statement. It just doesn’t fit in AI statement. The course has been taught before. It fits into the new PhD program in Electronic Arts. C. McDermott asked if the course should include additional feedback to the students. The syllabus indicates that 70% of the grade is based on the project presentation. This is a graduate level course and the FSCC generally agreed that the policy on attendance and feedback should be left to the discretion of the instructor. The motion to approve the course was unanimously approved.

·  PHIL/PSYC 2100- Methods of Reasoning- The course is cross-listed in order to satisfy the minimum credits for a Philosophy major. The reference to bringing a laptop in class in the AI statement should be revised. The course was approved with one abstention.

·  PHIL 2120 /COGS 2120- Intro to Cognitive Science was approved unanimously.

·  PHIL 4140 Intermediate Logic- The Committee suggested two changes 1) the description should indicate if the course will be offered in odd or even numbered years and 2) Only the course number of the pre-requisite should be noted in the description. The title of the course is not needed. The course was approved unanimously subject to changes noted.

·  ECON 6XXX- Advanced Quantitative Analysis-The Committee suggested a rewrite of the AI to delete the instructor’s editorial comment. The Committee asked for clarification on the math background needed for the course. No action was taken.

·  STSS/IHSS 4XXX- The Phelan Seminar on Technology and Society- The Committee suggested revising the description to say “or permission of the instructor”. L. Odell will clarify the department’s intent. The course was approved unanimously subject to this clarification.

Course changes presented for information:

·  ARTS 2500 World Music- term

·  ARTS 4020 Advanced Digital 3D Projects- description

·  ARTS 4060 Animation I- description

·  ARTS 4070 Animation II- description

·  PSYC 4320 Psychobiology- title and description

·  PSYC 6200 Cognition- description and prefix

·  ECON 4120 Quantitative Analysis- description

·  ECON 6570 Econometrics- title and description

The following courses will be deleted and were presented to the FSCC for information:

·  ARTS 6010 Computer Music Studio

·  ARTS 6020 Video Art Studio

·  ARTS 6030 Digital Imaging Studio

·  PSYC 2210 Intro to HCI

·  PSYC 4180 Selected Topics in Engineering Psychology

·  PSYC 4190 Program Evaluation

·  PSYC 4280 HCI

·  PSYC 4420 Perception in Action

·  PSYC 4430 Foundations of Instruction and Learning

·  PSYC 4630 AIDS: Paradise Lost

·  PSYC 6320 Seminar in Psychopharmacology

·  COMM 2460 Media and Popular Culture

·  COMM 2880 Interpersonal Communication

·  COMM 4340 Communication in Cyberspace

·  COMM 4600 Rhetoric of Nature and Environment

·  COMM 4640 Language and Power

·  COMM 4720 Web Design for Community Networking

·  COMM 6310 Seminar in Interpersonal Communication

·  COMM 6360 Rhetorical Invention

·  COMM 6520 Seminar In Communication Theory

·  COMM 6680 Rhetoric of Nature and Theory

·  COMM 6720 Web Design

·  WRIT 2360 Communication and Design

·  WRIT 2500 Writing for the World of Work

5)  School of Science- Sam Wait presented the following deletions for the information:

·  BCBP 4860 Protein and Nucleic Acid Structure

·  BCBP 6860 Protein and Nucleic Acid Structure

·  CHEM 1300 Chemical Principles for Engineering

·  CHEM 4910 Laboratory Glassblowing

The following course changes were also presented:

·  BCBP 4870-Protein Structure Determination- title description and term

·  BCBP 4990 –Senior Research Thesis-credit hours

·  BCBP 6870 –Protein Structure Determination-title description and term

·  CHEM 1100- Chemistry I-Description, prerequisite

·  CHEM 4520- Chemical Information-description, term

·  CHEM 4950- Senior Research- title

·  MATH 4030 –Computability and Logic-cross listing with PHIL 4420

·  PHYS 4810 –Computational Physics-Title

6)  Mid-term assessment update- Julie Leusner provided an update on the progress of the discussion. The Provost’s memo which is sent at the start of the term will include information about providing mid-term assessment or feedback to the students. The assessment will be mandatory but it will be up to the discretion of the individual faculty member to determine how it will be done. In general, most faculty support assessment but there are still many caveats. M. Wozny is concerned that there are still issues that need to be resolved to avoid unforeseen consequences. He asked whether the subcommittee should go beyond supporting the idea and recommend implementation strategies as well. The faculty will have the discretion to determine how mid-term assessment is implemented. It will be different depending on the instructor and the class. The Committee suggested a more qualitative assessment would also work i.e. Am I meeting the requirements of the course?

The students believe this approach should work because most faculty are already providing feedback. The students want regular feedback but not necessarily a grade. They want to know where they stand. The challenge will be enforcing it. The subcommittee discussed adding a survey similar to the Idea survey to determine if students are receiving feedback.

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