Wanted Tooffer This As Feedback
AcademicPolicyCurriculumCommittee March8,2017,GWP320, 12:30-2:00pm Minutes
Present:RobinEvans-Agnew,Jeff Cohen,LaurenMontgomery,MenakaAbraham, EvelynShankus, JaneCompson, Jill Purdy, JustinWadland, JohnnyChen, EricBugyis,JarekSierschynski,PatrickPow, Andrea Coker-Anderson, Lorraine Dinnel.Excused: AnthonyFalit-Baiamonte
I.ConsentAgenda
The2/8/17 meetingminuteswereapproved.
II.NewProgramProposals
Discussion: APCCwascurious if itwouldmakesensefor theTEDUC 301andTEDUC492courses tobesequenced within theminor, i.e.woulditmakesenseto make301aprerequisitefor492?APCCwas notmakingthis adirective,but
wanted tooffer this as feedback.
VOTE: Thefollowing newprogramproposalwasapproved thismonth byAPCC: RobinEvans-Agnew moved,Jane
Compsonseconded:8yes,0no,0abstain,1absent(9eligible tovote).
SIAS/SOE -Minor inEducationandCommunityEngagement(Catalyst)
III.ProgramChangeProposals –N/A IV.NewCourseProposals
Discussion:Inreviewingtheproposed GIScourses(460;470),whichwereapproved bytheAPCConMarch 8th, membersofthecommitteenoticed thatintheweeklyschedulethelearningistied to "goals."Theyappreciatedthe explicitlinkbetweencontentandgoals,butwondered if the faculty membermeanttotiethelearningto the "objectives"insteadof "goals."They knowitispurelysemantic,butitmightcatchsomeone'seyeupin Seattleand wanted togive the proposingfacultyalla heads upincasethereistimetochangeit prior tosubmissiontoSeattlein orderto avoidadditionaldelays.
VOTE: Thefollowingnewcourseproposals wereapproved thismonth byAPCC:Eric Bugyismoved,RobinEvans-Agnew seconded: 8yes,0no,0abstain, 1absent(9eligible tovote).
TEDUC301:CommunityEducation:LearningBeyondthe Classroom(Kuali)
TEDUC492:AppliedUrbanEducation(Kuali)
TGIS 470:GIS ScriptingandAutomation(Kuali)
TGIS 460:CartographyandDataVisualization(Kuali)
V.Course ChangeProposal
Discussion:APCCdiscussedthejustificationfortheTRELIG467coursechange:therearea limited numberof philosophy classes,butmanystudentswhowant totakethem.This changeisto makeanothercourseavailableforstudentswho wantmorephilosophyclasses. APCC asked ifthereisa way to transcriptthechangesinacoursesothatpeople cansee the difference.If it’s aspecialtopics course,studentsare allowedto repeatit,and transcriptsindicate that.
VOTE: Thefollowingcoursechangeproposals wereapprovedthismonth byAPCC:RobinEvans-Agnew moved,Menaka
Abrahamseconded:8 yes,0no,0abstain,1absent(9eligible tovote).
T PHIL453:Political Theoryof HumanRights–PrefixChange(Kuali) TRELIG 467:PhilosophyofReligion(Kuali)
VI.GraduationPetition–N/A
VII.PolicyIssuesOtherBusiness
a.SIAS – Major inEconomicsandPolicyAnalysis–Shortened ReviewPeriod
APCCdiscussed therequestfora"latesubmission"ofthe newprogramproposalfor EconomicsandPolicy
Analysis. Thecommittee agreed that8-dayswouldbesufficient toconductthereview.
APCCalsodiscussed thatit has becomeincreasinglydifficultforthemtofullyreviewand, ifwarranted, advocate for theapprovalof anewprogramwithoutinformationprovidedbytheDeans andDirectorsandrelevantbudget committees.APCCrecommends,therefore,thatsubmissionof the EconomicsandPolicyAnalysisfull proposal is delayeduntilaftertheDeans andDirectors andrelevantbudgetaryentitiesare able toprovide their feedback. This feedbackwould then beincluded as partofthefull proposalso that APCCcanmakeamoreinformed decision.
APCCisfinewith theshortened reviewperiod,buttheyarenotconvinced that afull andpositivereviewcan occurwithoutfeedbackfrom theDeans andDirectorsandrelevantbudgetary entities.
b.Languagerestrictions for courses – “Calling BS on…”
Thelanguageof coursetitlesis currentlyunderdiscussionwithinUWCC duetoarecentcoursewith theterm,
“BS” (full words). Asthediscussiondevelops, APCCwillremaininformed.
c.DLprocesses– GuestDarcyJanzen
DarcyinformedAPCCofthecurrentDLprocessandhowitdoesn’teasilyfitintothe newkuali system.Darcy shared somepotentialsolutions thatthey’reworkingonwiththeUW CurriculumOfficeandwill keepAPCCupdated.
d.W-CoursePolicyDiscussionandVote:RevisedW-CoursePolicy
APCCdiscussedtheproposed W-Course Policydeveloped bytheWritingAdvisoryCommittee(WAC). Members of theAPCC wereveryimpressedwith andencouragedbythehard workoftheWAC andtheirdedicationto improvingwritingacross thecurriculumatUWTacoma. That said,therewereanumberof concernsraised byAPCC membersandbyfacultyinacademicunits as communicated toandbyAPCCmembers.These concerns are both specifictoitemswithintheproposed policyandmoregeneral interms ofprocessandcurricular authority. Onesuch setof concernswasraisedbyfacultyin NursingandHealthcareLeadership(Appendix A). Theirconcernsmirrormany of the concerns raised by other unitsoncampus.
Intermsof themoregeneral concerns relatedtoprocess,severalAPCCmembersandother facultyhadconcerns regardingtherelativelackof representationontheWAC across academicunits. Itwasnotedthatthis isnota reflectionof WAC’sattemptstobeinclusiveofall academicunits, but morea reflectionofindividuals withinthose units notagreeingtoparticipate. However,giventhatanycurricular changes areunderthe purviewofthe facultyand that theproposedW-Coursepolicywouldapplyacrosscampus,theAPCC recommendsthat a morefullyrepresented WACbeconstituted sothatcurricularcontrol remainappropriatelyplacedwithinthehandsof faculty.
Basedontheseconcerns,theAPCCrecommendedtothe ExecutiveCouncil (EC) thata re-constitutedWAC beformed as an ad-hoccommitteeofthe APCC.There-constituted WACwouldberequiredtohaverepresentationfromevery academicunit in asimilar proportionasiscurrentlypracticedwithintheAPCC (onerepresentativefromeach academicunitotherthanSIAS andthreefromSIAS). TheWACwould alsoincludeAsaoInoue,UniversityWriting ProgramDirector,asanex-officiomember. Onceconstituted,theWAC wouldelecta Chair,whomustbea voting memberofthe facultyatlarge.
APCChopesthat there-constitutedWAC willbuildontheproposalthatthey havealreadycreatedwiththe added benefitsof institutional authorityandlegitimacy.
e.SubcommitteeUpdates
The Diversity Designation Reviewsubcommitteehasscheduled their1stmeetingwhichwill bein-person. Itwill betodecideprocess.Thesecondmeetingtheywillbeabletoconductelectronicallyaftertheydo theirreview.
The PNOI Templatesubcommitteehadtheir firstmeetingandareworkingona draft template. Also, theyused a mind-mappingsoftwarecalled “coggle”toshowall ofUW Tacoma’smajorsand enrollment (AppendixB.)
f.UWCC Update
MenakaAbrahamattendtheFebruaryUWCCmeetingonbehalfof APCC. Shenotedthat UWCC isveryattentive to the detailsof courseproposals.
VIII.Adjourn
Appendix A
Date:3-7-2017
To:APCC
From: NursingandHealthcareLeadership
Re:ConcernswiththeProposed UWT“W”CoursePolicy
Theoverwhelmingmajority ofourmajorsaretransferstudents.Thesestudentswillneverbeabletoentertheirmajors with theproposed requirementsalreadymet.That said, weshareadditional questions andconcerns below:
• It isnotclear whatproblemor dilemma thisproposal is addressing. Is thereevidencethatthecurrentstandards, inexcessof whatis requiredatUWSeattle,arenoteffective?Whyarenewstandards necessary?Facultyinour program havebenefitted fromthewritinginstructionprovidedtothem throughfellows programsandsummercourseofferings.
•Theinformation under“allW-coursesatUWTwill”(pg3of theproposal) lists7elements;noneof these mentions“pedagogical statements(pg.5).Page5listselementsthat areacombinationof resources(facultywhomight teachin thefuture?),enrollmentcap,when feedbackis provided.Sothis istobeinthesyllabus?Oursyllabiare reviewedfor professional accreditation. Requiringsomeoftheseelementsandnotdesignatinga courseasWin atimely mannermakecreatesanunnecessarilycomplexprocessandplaces us atrisk.
•Having 50%of a coursegradebasedon “writing”isimpossible, giventhe constraintsimposed byandmaterial
thatmustbecovered tosatisfynational accreditationandstatelawrequirements.
•Wedonotcurrentlyhave thenumberof facultyrequired tocomply with recommendations in theproposal.We are veryunlikely tobeabletofund, eitherwithintheprogramorat thecampus level,theadditional facultyrequired, giventhecurrentproposedcuts/reallocations andthe bestestimatesofstatefundingin the near future.
• Wehaveconcerns abouttheneedtocertify,andrecertify, toteachaWcourse. Fromwhatsourcewillfunding comeforthis training?Oneshouldnotassumeitwillcomefromprograms/schools. Thecapacityoffacultytocarryout their rolesresponsiblyshouldbethe domainofeachschool/program,given therange of disciplinarydifferences.
•Further, thereis alackofclaritybetweenhowmuchof this policyistargetedatfacultycertificationvscourse
certification.
•What becomesofthematerial submitted?Fromaprogramperspective,wewantall material returned andnot used forresearchor scholarly inquiry thatwouldbepublishedonthedigital commonsorpeerreviewed journal, for example,or sharedata conferencewithoutexplicit permission.
•Thestated proposalto“Certify” acourse2weeksafter thequarterstartsisnot effective. Studentmayselecta coursebasedonitsWdesignation. Nothavingthatbeforethe coursestartsdisadvantagesthestudent. Inour program the facultyteachingacoursedesigned as aWritingcoursehavethesyllabus finalized beforethe coursestarts,notlater; the W-designationappearsin our registrationguideandcatalog,whichareavailable months beforethequarter starts. WeunderstandthatthismightnotbecommonpracticeforUWTcoursestaughtinotherSchoolsPrograms.
Insummary:
Ourstudentsmustbeableto meetthewritingrequirementwithinour current curriculum with noadditionalcredit burden.
Wedonothaveenoughfacultytocomplywiththe requirementsaswegrow.Thesepoliciesappear tobeexcessively onerous.
Wecannotcommitto “atleast50%of totalcoursework isdisciplinespecificwriting”, given therequiredcontentwe
mustaddressand evaluate(As perour National andStateAccreditationbodies).
wouldbehugebudgetandworkloadimplications fromthis policyaswritten. Certification/recertificationisnotnecessaryandasproposed, is noteffective.
This proposal isover-reaching, andweareuncertainas towhat“problem”itisaddressing.
Wedonotseea needfor this policy
Recommendation:
A program/schoolmayadoptthesestandardsORmayopttocontinuetousethecurrent W-coursestandards. We believewehavetheacademic freedomtodothis asempowered byArticleXIIofour bylaws:
“XII:ThefacultyofUniversityof WashingtonTacomadelegates to thefacultiesofits severalacademic units*the
followingpowersandduties (23-43.C): A.with respecttoacademic matters,
1. Todetermineitsrequirementsforadmissionandgraduation;
2Todetermineits curriculumandacademicprograms;
3. Todeterminethescholasticstandardsrequiredof itsstudents;
4. Torecommendtothe Boardof Regentsthoseof itsstudentswhoqualifyfortheUniversity degrees;
5. Toexercisetheadditional powersnecessarytoprovideadequateinstruction andsupervisionof itsstudents.”
Appendix B
UW_Tacoma_Under graduate_Majors_27