Curriculum Committee
October 21, 2011
BH 140, 1 p.m.
MINUTES
Members Present: Janice Alexander, Rick Halverson, Brenda Hanson, Don Hickethier, Kristen Jones, Sue Justis, Phil MacGregor, Brenda Rudolph, Pete Wade
Others Present: Brian Bechtold, Carole Bergin, Hilary Ginepra, Jessica Hopkins, Emily Jense, Cindy Kiefer, Dawn Rauscher, George Shryock, Jim Soular, Marlene Stoltz, Laura VanDeKopp, Dan Voermans
· Approval of September 23, 2011 minutes, – APPROVED
Pete Wade moved to approve the minutes; Rick Halverson seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved. Kristen Jones informed the committee that minutes will be sent out shortly after each meeting from now on.
Action Items
· NURS 101 Nurse’s Aide Training (revision)
This item was pulled from the agenda.
· BFIN 205 Personal Finance (revision) - TABLED
Brenda Rudolph explained that the business department would like to open this existing course to all students. There is no business section in the general education course requirements, so the class fits best as a general education course under Social Sciences. Rick Halverson mentioned that on a national level the social work field has started emphasizing the need for more education on personal finance. Brenda Rudolph explained that employers commonly utilize credit checks when hiring and many FVCC students have bad credit. Janice Alexander wondered how the course meets the social science criteria. Brenda Rudolph will pass on the committee’s feedback regarding adherence to the social science criteria to Ronnie Laudati who will bring the proposal back at a later date.
· CULA 220 Purchasing and Cost Control (revision) – APPROVED
Hillary Ginepra explained that the current Culinary Arts program math requirement doesn’t work well for culinary students. She is proposing to take M108 out of the program curriculum and replace it with M090 as a prerequisite. Brenda Rudolph mentioned that culinary students are not well-served by M108. Discussion followed about whether CULA 220 should be two or three credits. Kristen Jones called for a motion on the item. Phil MacGregor made a motion to approve; Brenda Rudolph seconded the motion. Phil MacGregor amended his motion to make CULA 220 a 3 credit class. Discussion followed about M065 being a prerequisite or an admission requirement. Phil MacGregor amended his motion to approve M065 or an appropriate Compass test score as a prerequisite to the Culinary Arts program, eliminate M108 from the program, and add CULA 220 as a Quantitative Literacy Outcome course and increase the credits from two to three. Brenda Hanson seconded the motion, which was unanimously approved.
· ELEC 252: Fundamentals of Grid Tied Photovoltaic Systems (new) – APPROVED
Pete Wade explained that two instructors have been trained on the subject and solar materials are available, so it won’t cost the college very much. They won’t need much in terms of equipment, but will need some lab supplies. The course has not been flocc’d and will be an elective course. Discussion followed about how it fits into programs at other colleges. Janice Alexander made a motion to table the course and get more information. Janice Alexander withdrew her motion. Pete Wade explained that the course materials are provided by a grant and the information given fits a 5 credit course. Sue Justis moved to accept the course; Rick Halverson seconded the motion, which was unanimously approved.
· Plumbing Technology (program deletion) – APPROVED
Pete Wade explained that there has been no student or local inquiry about the program in at least five months. The program has been in moratorium for two years. Discussion followed about the history of the program and whether it would be better to place it in moratorium again or delete it. Rick Halverson moved to delete the program; Pete Wade seconded the motion, which was unanimously approved.
· Math/Science Division: Undergraduate Research Courses (new): BIOB 290, BIOE 290, BIOH 290, BIOM 290, BIOO 290, CHMY 290, CSCI 290, ENSC 290, M 290, PHSX 290 - APPROVED
Janice Alexander explained the need for these courses, as they had already existed but got placed in ENSC during flocc’ing. All the proposals are basically the same since all are the same class with a different designator. Discussion followed about learning outcomes. Rick Halverson moved to accept the proposals; Pete Wade seconded the motion, which was unanimously approved.
· Gen Ed: Common Learning Outcomes
Jessica Hopkins presented a proposal on behalf of the General Education Team, which oversees Gen Ed assessment. The proposal had four parts: 1) use the common learning outcomes for each Gen Ed category as the basis for Gen Ed and Degree level assessment for the AA / AS degrees, integrating the college-wide abilities into the Gen Ed curriculum; 2) remove the Technology Skills category from the AA / AS Gen Ed curriculum; 3) remove the Technology category from the AAS Related instruction curriculum; and 4) remove the Critical Thinking category from the AAS Related Instruction curriculum. Courses and programs will remain the same despite the change, as course and program level outcomes contain technology and critical thinking skills specific to those courses / programs. Discussion about potential effects of the proposal followed. Faculty Senate has already approved the proposal. Janice Alexander made a motion to accept the entire proposal, Pete Wade seconded. The vote was split: 3 yes, 3 no, and 2 abstain. Discussion about removing the technology category followed. As no consensus was reached, Kristen Jones suggested that the committee vote on individual sections of the proposal separately.
1. Assess for common learning outcomes by Gen Ed category: 7 yes, 1 abstain.
2. Remove Technology Skills category from AA / AS Gen Ed curriculum: 4 yes, 4 no. Did not pass.
3. Remove Technology category from AAS Related Instruction curriculum: 4 yes, 4 no. Did not pass.
4. Remove Critical Thinking category from AAS Related Instruction curriculum: 6 yes, 1 no, 1 abstain.
The committee would like more information on how other schools handle technology skills in the General Education curricula. The Gen Ed team will research this and bring their findings to the Nov 11th curriculum committee.
Discussion
· WRIT 101 Challenge Proposal – Jim Soular explained that the proposal suggests using the Compass test as a starting point. Students would register for WRIT101 and do the work while completing the challenge process, which can be completed in less than three weeks. If they pass the challenge, the instructor would give them an A. Rick Halverson moved to accept the proposal; Pete Wade seconded. Discussion followed about how to handle the challenge in terms of financial aid students. The committee unanimously voted to accept the proposal.
· Kristen Jones informed the committee that she would like lab fee revisions on course profiles to go through Curriculum Committee as discussion items rather than as an FYI’s.
· Lab/Lecture computer classes – Kristen Jones gave background on the issue from the previous meeting regarding what constitutes a “lab” designation. She would like to pursue a discussion with the goal of defining the criteria for what constitutes a lab or clinical as opposed to a lecture. Discussion followed regarding how to best facilitate that discussion. It was agreed that the discussion will take place with Division Chairs.
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