Academic Standard Committee Meeting
Nov 9, 2010
Present: Bill Barry, James Bernhard, Debbie Chee, Duane Hulbert, Betsy Kirkpatrick,
Emily Levandowski, Ben Lewin, Marcus Luther, Gary McCall, Sarah Moore, Amy
Odegard, Jack Roundy, Paula Wilson, Bianca Wolf
Organization. The meeting convened at 8:00 am in the McCormick Room of the library.
The committee chair, Gary McCall, lead the meeting and facilitated the discussion.
Business
10/26/10 Minutes. It was decided the minutes needed to be circulated again before
approval to address corrections. There was a general discussion about how the minutes
and corrections should be handled and it was decided that the final version of the
minutes would be distributed again via email and ASC members would approve the
minutes by replying “yes” or “no” to the email.
Petitions Report. Brad Tomhave was absent, so petitions report will be given at next
ASC meeting.
Informal meeting between ASC and the Senate. McCall summarized an informal
meeting between some members of ASC and the Senate aimed to improve
communication between the two groups when working toward policy changes. At the
meeting, members of ASC expressed feelings of frustration because the committee
spends a considerable amount of time researching, deliberating, and drafting policy
changes that do not move forward once they reach the Senate and/or are met with
limited support by the Senate. It was agreed that both the ASC and the Senate should
work to improve communication in both directions in order to avoid confusion and ensure
both parties are on the same page.
Bill Barry, the Senate liason to the ASC, suggested that the ASC should be more
proactive when considering policy changes to ensure the Senate is on board. Jack
Roundy added that, in the past, the ASC sent a list of proposed policy changes to the
Senate and the Senate would send them back as a charge. Sarah Moore and Bill Barry
agreed that this is still the case; the senate can add a charge at any point.
It was discussed whether the ASC should share the recently drafted policy changes
concerning staff reporting incidents of academic integrity before proceeding further. It
was agreed that we should present the following points and request a charge from the
Senate before moving forward: 1) we feel this is an issue and 2) we’ve already worked on
this and drafted some changes. McCall concluded that the ASC will not work on this
policy change any further until consulting with the Senate.
Charge on feasibility of a common hour. McCall asked ASC to consider the feasibility
of a common hour.
James Bernhard: From the perspective of the math department, a common hour is
“completely unfeasible.” The department is maxed out on computer classroom time and
classes are already scheduled every hour in computer classrooms.
McCall: What would need to be done for a common hour to work for the math
department?
Bernhard: Not sure, perhaps move classes into the evening.
Bernhard agreed to consult with the chair of his department further.
Debbie Chee: Is adding night classes a realistic solution for establishing a common hour?
Gary McCall: What do students think about night classes? Should we let them have the
night for other activities?
Emily Levandowski (ASC student representative): If it’s a class you want to take and that’s
the time it’s offered, you take it – you make it work.
Marcus Luther (ASC student representative): There is a huge distinction between a lab
that meets one night a week versus a class that meets several nights a week. This will
limit what students can do in the evening.
Duane Hulbert: Night classes would prevent students from attending/performing in
evening concerts.
Sarah Moore pointed out that class scheduling is currently not conducive to leaving open
a common hour. Moore asked whether people were open to thinking about different
scheduling guidelines. The current class scheduling was discussed and it was agreed that
there many possible variants. The current scheduling system could be revised, which
would probably be up the Dean, perhaps in collaboration with the Senate. Moore
suggested that we could look at what is being done at common schools to accommodate
a common hour. McCall noted that a student is currently proposing a block system where
students take only one class at a time in three week blocks (similar to Colorado College).
It was agreed that the ASC would identify what needs to be done to make a common hour
happen. If the idea of a common hour does move forward, the ASC would not take sole
responsibility and would work with other groups to develop a common hour. McCall asked
ASC members to consult with their individual departments and find out what would be
required to accommodate a common hour. He asked ASC members to gather information
and the committee compile a report at the next meeting.
Pass-fail policies revisited. An announcement was made that the recent ASC changes
to the pass-fall policies will be revisited at the next faculty meeting, and there will be a
motion coming from the floor to repeal the polices. Members of the committee expressed
concern that this issue will be raised in the faculty meeting and ASC will not have an
advocate.
Paula Wilson moved to adjourn the meeting.
Notes taken by Amy Odegard