Approved CCRC Minutes

Wednesday, November 19, 2003

Members Present: Fr. Laurance, SJ; Ms. Russell; Drs. Snow, Lueger, Courtright, Maranto, Eckman, Laatsch, Deahl, Byleen, Grahn, Ropella, Quade, Vater; Mr. Lowrey.

Members Excused: Drs. Hathaway, Lough, Machan, Ksobiech.

Dr. Snow called the meeting to order at 3:05 PM. Ms. Russell read the opening prayer.

Approval of the Minutes of 10.22.03: After one change suggested by Dr. Deahl, Dr. Lueger moved to approve the minutes as amended. Dr. Deahl seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved.

Approval of the Minutes of 11.4.03: Fr. Laurance moved approval of the minutes; Dr. Lueger seconded. The minutes were approved with one abstention.

Agenda Items:

(A) Discussion of an e-mail from Tony Tortorella regarding the issue of when a course becomes a Core course. Dr. Snow noted that a clarification of the e-mail was obtained from a conversation between Dr. Wenzel and Mr. Tortorella. According to Mr. Tortorella, the Registrar’s Office can keep track of Core courses as they are listed in the Undergraduate Bulletin. Based on this information, Drs. Wenzel and Snow agreed that if students take core courses that are posted on the website but not listed in the Undergraduate Bulletin for their year, they will have to obtain verification from the Core Director that the course was indeed a Core course when they took it. Dr. Maranto pointed out that many students could fall into this category. Following a suggestion made by Fr. Laurance, the CCRC consensus is to “grandfather in” students who took courses before they were qualified for the Core. Dr. Snow mentioned that allowing these students Core credit for these courses makes sense, since the CCRC has not seen courses that were drastically different after being qualified for the Core than before. Dr. Maranto opined that this policy will help students and be appreciated by students and parents alike. Mr. Lowrey pointed out that it will ensure that our own students are treated similarly to transfer students who get Core credit for courses taken elsewhere. Dr. Snow indicated that she and Dr. Wenzel will work with the Registrar’s Office to develop PeopleSoft in ways that will enhance the implementation of the Core. She will communicate the CCRC’s decision on grandfathering to the relevant College advisors.

(B) Suggested changes to Core course proposal template, the Core Fund Announcement, and the Core Fund Application Form. Dr. Snow commented that, though the CCRC’s assumption has been that courses submitted for Core consideration have been approved by all appropriate committees, there have been cases where this has not happened. Dr. Courtright raised a question about the Core Fund Application Form: should there be a place for departments to indicate that funds are being used for faculty buy-outs? Drs. Ropella and Eckman indicated that such information would be included in the budget statement, which is listed on the form. Dr. Snow asked the Committee to consider the template. She suggested language for the template. Several CCRC members opined that only the Dean’s signature would be necessary (in addition to that of the department Chair or Unit Coordinator, which is already required). After some wordsmithing, the Committee decided to include in a line beneath the new line for the Dean’s signature: “These signatures indicate that this course was granted all the necessary approvals by departmental and college committee.” Dr. Snow asked for a motion to include these changes to the template. Dr. Deahl moved; Dr. Courtright seconded.

Discussion of changes to the Core Fund Announcement ensued. Again, some wordsmithing was done, and the following language included in the penultimate paragraph: “New courses must receive necessary approvals from all departmental and College committees, department Chairs, and Deans before submission to the CCRC.” The last bullet pointed item in the Incentive Fund category (“Courses that enhance the offerings in any given knowledge area”) was dropped, and the word “curriculum” was changed to “regular offerings” in the last paragraph. Dr. Snow indicated that the Committee would see the Announcement again, since further changes would have to be made in anticipation of another round of Core course funding that the Provost is likely to make available for Academic Year 2004-05.

(C) Discussion of report from Group III. On behalf of Group III, Dr. Laatsch made a friendly amendment to the motion to defer consideration of ARSC 140, “Perspectives on Women in Society,” and CRLS 198, “Community Corrections: Offender Rehabilitation, Reentry, and Reintegration.” The friendly amendment was to qualify ARSC 140 for the Core and to remand CRLS 198. Earlier in the meeting, Dr. Snow had distributed a written report on the two courses on behalf of Dr. Laatsch. As Dr. Laatsch indicated to the CCRC, the changes in the Undergraduate Bulletin description requested by the CCRC at the meeting of 11.4.03 had been made. Consequently, Group III recommended qualifying ARSC 140. Dr. Snow invited questions. Since there were none, she asked Dr. Laatsch to comment on CRLS 198. Dr. Laatsch explained that it had come to light that CRLS 198 had not been submitted to the CDAC (there was a confusion with another course, “Victim Services and Policies,” which was approved by the CDAC and given the number CRLS 161). The Department of Social and Cultural Sciences does not plan to submit “Community Corrections: Offender Rehabilitation, Reentry, and Reintegration” to the CDAC for a permanent number, but plans to continue teaching it as a special topics course. Dr. Laatsch also indicated that Group III will be making substantive comments on the template; this is an additional reason for remanding it. Dr. Snow invited questions. Dr. Byleen indicated that the template lists several courses in the CRLS major that CRLS 198 is said to build upon, but not all of these courses are listed in the Undergraduate Bulletin. Dr. Laatsch responded that Group III would investigate this matter further, since they will be meeting to draft an Evaluation Tool for the course.

Dr. Snow asked for a vote on the friendly amendment: 14 voted in favor of qualifying ARSC 140 and remanding CRLS 198; one CCRC member who was absent did not submit a proxy.

Dr. Snow indicated that the CCRC has little remaining business for the semester. A vote will need to be taken on the proposed template changes. She asked if this could be conducted by e-mail. The Committee indicated consensus on this point. Dr. Snow cancelled the two remaining meetings for December, on Tuesday, December 2, and Wednesday, December 17.

Dr. Courtright shared information about DVDs by Leonard Bernstein that can be borrowed from the Raynor Library. These are of curricular interest; he recommended them highly. [Reporter’s note: The DVDs are the Norton Lectures, given at Harvard University, and entitled “Six Unanswered Questions.”]

Dr. Snow thanked the Committee for its work this semester.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:20 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Nancy E. Snow, Ph.D.

Director of Core Curriculum

Associate Professor of Philosophy

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