ASCRC Minutes 3/4/14
Poetry Corner, Mansfield Library, 2:10 p.m.
Members Present: J. Deboer, L. Eagleheart, K. Easwaramurthi, C. Henderson, L. Gillison, S. Samson, T.
Thibeau, E. Uchimoto, N. Vonessen, G. Weix
Members Absent/ Excused: J. Hickman, T. Manuel, M. Triana
Ex-Officio Present: N. Hinman, B. Holzworth, B. Howard, J. Laine
The minutes from 2/25/14 were amended and approved. The meeting began with the UM
Minute. Last fall the University awarded a record number of degrees-836. The performance of
Book of Days opens tonight.
Communication Items:

ASCRC discussed the invitation to visit the Defense Critical Language Program. Some
members are unclear why the committee should visit the facility when the courses have
already been approved. The program is hoping to expand, so would like to get feedback
from ASCRC before completing additional forms. The visit will be planned for March
18th. Camie will request an agenda for the visit and schedule the arrival for 2:30.
Members should meet at the parking structure at 2:10p.m. to carpool to the facility on
Palmer Ave.

Professor Thibeau hopes to have a draft of the English language proficiency policy for
international-student admission to discuss next week,taking precedence over the field trip
to the Defense Critical Language Program. Jed Liston from Enrollment Services has
been added to the Subcommittee. He will be invited to next week’s meeting. Beth
Howard is now the Interim Director of the Office of Student Success and reports to
Sharon O’Hare as does Jed Liston. Interim Registrar Hickman indicated he will be able
to attend the meeting. The Subcommittee intends for a revised policy to be placed in next
fall’s catalog for implementation as soon as possible.
Professor Thibeau inquired whether there should be an additional category for
international-student admission. Students are currently granted full admission with a
TOEFL score of 500 and were required by a former policy that was inadvertently deleted
to take academic-support courses at intermediate and/or advanced levels of proficiency.
Students with TOEFL scores below 500 are given conditional admission. A possibility
would be to grant international students with TOEFL scores above 585 full admission
and those under 585 full admissions with academic-support requirment and/or restriction.
The Subcommittee will make a recommendation for a coherent structure.
Business Items

ASCRC discussed the draft form to review symbolic systems exceptions to the language
requirement. Professor DeBoer filled out the form using his program as an example. It is
helpful to have the courses satisfying general education requirements identified and then
crossed out. The form was revised and approved (appended below). It will be sent to the
General Education Committee as a recommendation. Once endorsed it should be
presented to the Faculty Senate as information. When the completed forms are
submitted, the General Education Committee will have to determine whether programs’
counting of prerequisites is reasonable. The Deadline Memo for the review should be
concise with regard to who fills out the form to recertify the symbolic systems sequence
as opposed to the symbolic systems exemption. ASCRC would like to review the Memo
before it is sent.

Prerequisites will be enforced fall 2014. There are currently 240 that required
prerequisite clarification. The Registrar’s Office is working with departments to clarify
enforceable prerequisites.

The Crosslisting Workgroup may have a draft policy available for review by ECOS and
then ASCRC before spring break. There are approximately 70 courses with crosslistings
that will need to be reviewed. The workgroup has not yet decided whether to review
justifications to retain crosslisting status at one time or incrementally, nor has it decided
on a mechanism to function for said review but proposes an ASCRC subcommittee.
Students graduating in the spring will not have the crosslisted rubric show on their
transcripts. The fix to list the crosslisted rubric in parenthesis will not work with
electronic transcripts which are scheduled for implementation next fall. The value of
crosslisting extends to areas other than transcripts. Therefore the Workgroup is working
on guidelines to maintain some crosslistings.

The Registrar’s Office still needs to do some testing to see whether the Long Title Field
in Banner will function appropriately.

The draft prerequisite procedure will be sent to Interim Registrar Hickman for review and
comment and then to the full committee for consideration.
The meeting adjourned at 3:35 PM
I. ASCRC Symbolic Systems Request (3/3/14)
Use to request the general Group III Exception: Symbolic Systems for degree programs or options.
Please complete a separate form for each degree requesting the exception.
Degree or Degree Option*
*For options include all degree requirements followed by the
option requirements.
Dept/Program
Approved Symbolic System(s)
II. Endorsement/Approvals
Complete the form and obtain signatures before submitting to Faculty Senate Office
Please type / print name Signature
Date
Requestor
Phone / Email
Program Chair
Dean
III: Justification Please explain why the program of study requires over 48 credits for a first
baccalaureate degree:
IV. Degree Requirements: (1) List all courses required for the major and the credits
earned. Courses that apply toward the 48-credit threshold include all requirements for the
primary major and designated pre-requisite courses (2) Subtract general education credits
fulfilled by these requirements. Example: If a major requires PHSX 205N-208N (totaling 10
credits), only 4 credits apply towards the 48 credit threshold since 6 credits are needed to fulfill
general education group XI (Natural Sciences).
Total Credits (Excluding General Education Credits):
V. Option Requirements:
Total Credits (Excluding General Education Credits):
Please note: Programs granted a symbolic-systems exception to the general education modern
and classical languages requirement will have to reapply every four years to keep the exception.
The application will require an up-to-date accounting showing that the 48-credit threshold is
exceeded.