Undergraduate Council
September 3, 2013 3:30-5:00 pm; 387 Ralph Anderson Building
Members Present:
Karen Badger (Acting Chair)
Ruth Beattie
Dennis Bender
Alberto Corso
Hans Gesund
Michael Goodin
Anne Marie Kirk
Gia Mudd
Kevin Real
Randa Remer (Ex-Officio)
Jerzy Rozenberg
Eric Skipworth
Amy Spriggs
David Timoney (Ex-Officio)
Members Absent:
Nancy Johnson
Mark Obryan
Guests Present:
Chris Thuringer
1. Introductions and Welcome
2. New Member Orientation
Orientation materials were distributed to all members, including:
 2013-2014 Undergraduate Council roster
 Undergraduate Council Information Sheet
- Course and program proposals will be assigned to at least two reviewers
- Reviewers can find course proposals in eCATS; program proposals will be attached to email when
assignments are given or can be located on the UGC SharePoint site
- Reviewers can communicate with each other via email regarding the assigned proposals; seek minor
revisions from the proposer prior to presenting the proposals at an Undergraduate Council meeting
for discussion and vote
- If UGC approves, the proposal will be sent forward to the Senate Council office
 Review Criteria of the Undergraduate Council
- UGC is charged with evaluating the academic merit of a proposal vs. administrative feasibility
- Proposals are reviewed for duplication with existing courses, degrees, etc.
 In the case of duplication, contact both involved colleges or departments and seek
collaboration before UGC votes on proposal
- 500-level proposals are reviewed from an undergraduate perspective, although the UGC will also be
looking for the required graduate student components as well
- Distance learning courses are reviewed to ensure students enrolled in those classes receive a
comparable course experience to students enrolled in a face-to-face format of the same course
 University Senate Syllabi Guidelines
- Check syllabi to ensure they include the required components and that these components align with
Senate Rules
 Course/Program Proposal Feedback
- List of the most common errors the UGC sees in proposals
- Members can use this as a guideline when reviewing proposals
- Members can also checkmark/bold/underline errors on the list and send the checklist to the
proposer when seeking revisions
 Distance Education Policy
- Any DL course will have an additional DL form explaining how DL components are fulfilled
- Reviewers should ensure that this same information is included on the course syllabus
- Look for exam information on the syllabus – how will these be administered securely?
3. Proposal Reviews
BCH 400G-new (previously presented in May, not approved) – the College of Medicine recently met with the
Chemistry department to discuss some concerns that they had. Chemistry still has concerns that there will be
possible duplication with their organic chemistry courses (CHE 230 and CHE 232), and that the BCH course
should be divided into two courses for undergraduates. Representatives from both areas will attend the
September 17th UGC meeting for discussion with the council.
*An updated BCH 400G proposal will be distributed to members prior to that meeting, including course
syllabi for CHE 230 and 232.
FSC 304-change (Held 4/30/13) – revisions were received from the proposer, including grading scale corrections,
a more detailed meeting schedule, and information regarding the fieldtrip requirements for the course. After
discussion, concern continued to be expressed regarding the field trips and the ability for them to be completed
in the time allotted during the course. Further information regarding these fieldtrips will be requested: how
transportation will be provided or if there are other options for how fieldtrip requirements could be fulfilled.
The instructor could choose sites that are closer and more easily accessible in the two-hour lab period, or
change field trip dates to Saturdays and include the Saturday requirement in the course description to make
students aware of the requirement. Proposal will be held until these issues/suggestions have been addressed.
4. Meeting adjourned at 4:50 pm.
Prepared by Joanie Ett-Mims on September 4, 2013