MINUTES
ACADEMIC STANDARDS COMMITTEE
September 10, 2004
Present: Ross Singleton, Betsy Kirkpatrick, Houston Dougharty, Martin Jackson, Kate Sojda,
Andreas Madlung, Martins Linauts, Brad Tomhave, Bob Matthews, Mirelle Cohen, John Finney,
David Moore, Jo Crane, Bill Kupinse, Ken Clark, Fred Hamel, Geoffrey Block, Jack Roundy
1. Elect Chair and Secretary: Finney requested nominations for full committee chair, and
Hamel was nominated by Linauts, seconded by Kirkpatrick. No other nominations were made,
and Hamel was approved unanimously. Roundy was the only nominee for secretary, and was
also approved unanimously.
2. Approve Minutes: Finney noted that the April 9 minutes had yet to be approved, and
Hamel requested committee action. The minutes were approved as written. Jackson asked
whether ASC minutes were posted before being approved, and if so, what was their standing as
to actions taken. Finney replied that they were posted as soon as written, the value of timely
posting outweighing the possibility that amendment might be needed. It was noted that the
Curriculum Committee likewise posts minutes before being reviewed, while Faculty Senate does
not post until approval. General sentiment was expressed to continue the practice of posting
minutes as soon as they are written, noting amendments in the subsequent set of minutes.
3. Set Permanent Meeting Time for Full Committee: After considerable discussion,
consensus was reached that the permanent meeting time of the full committee would be Friday at
4 pm. Given uncertainty about the number of charges the committee would take up, we deferred
a decision about whether to meet bi-weekly or tri-weekly. The next meeting date and time was
set for October 1 at 4 pm.
4. Select Petitions Committee and Set Permanent PC Meeting Time: After reaffirming the
practice of having half the faculty on the full committee serve on the PC each term, the Fall PC
was named: Madlung, Matthews, Crane, Kirkpatrick, Clark, Cohen, and Wilson, together
with staff and student year-long members Finney, Dougharty, Tomhave, Sojda and Hatch.
Weekly hour-long meetings of the PC will be held on Monday at 1 pm.
5. Petitions Committee Actions: Tomhave reported on actions taken in 11 meetings since the
last report to the full committee (4/13, 4/27, 5/4, 6/2 [probation/dismissal], 6/10, 6/21, 7/1, 8/3,
8/12, 8/25, 9/3). Of 88 petitions reviewed, 64 were approved (3 by the Registrar, 11 by the
Petitions Preview Team, 50 by the PC) and 24 denied (by the PC). At the Probation/Dismissal
meeting of June 2, 88 sanctions were imposed: 22 Warnings, 4 Suspensions, 1
Suspension/Probation, 20 Probations, 15 Continued Probations, 14 one-term Dismissals, and 6
two-term Dismissals. Three additional sanctions were deferred on June 2 and were subsequently
imposed: 2 Continued Probations, 1 Suspension.
Tomhave then moved reauthorization of the Registrar’s Office to approve independent study,
late add, and time conflict petitions (see attached terms of authorization). He reminded the
committee that the Registrar’s authority was constrained to a particular set of actions, and that
authorization was for approvals only, with clear guidelines for those approvals. Reauthorization
then passed unanimously.
Tomhave then moved reauthorization of the Petition Preview Team (Finney, Roundy, and
Tomhave), which previews all petitions submitted to ASC and approves those it is certain the
PC would approve, leaving only more complex or marginal petitions to the PC. Dougharty
spoke in favor of reauthorization, noting that the petitions that come through the Preview Team
to the PC are now ones due close scrutiny, and time saved from more routine approvals can be
given to that scrutiny. Block also confirmed that the Petition Preview Team must be unanimous
in an approval, or the petition is forwarded to the PC. Reauthorization then passed unanimously.
6. Committee Charges for Academic Year 2004-05: Finney reported that two items of
business have been proposed pending the arrival of charges from the Faculty Senate:
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One item of business arises out the work of the Advising Review Group chaired by Terry
Cooney in 2002-03, recommendations from which were submitted to the faculty in 200304. A decision is needed on whether to implement the requirement that all students have
an advisor in the major. The ASC approved this requirement in 2001-02 (Logger, p. 10),
but suspended implementation pending the ARG’s deliberations. Dean Cooney
recommended that this decision be returned to the ASC for a decision.
Jannie Meisberger requests that the ASC consider whether students studying abroad may
exercise the P/F option. The request arises from a policy determination made by IES to
which Puget Sound must respond. Meisberger recommends that the P/F option NOT be
extended to study abroad coursework.
With these items of business placed on the agenda, a motion to adjourn was made, seconded, and
approved at 4:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted by the ASC amanuensis,
Jack Roundy