Florida Institute of Technology
Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Minutes
Friday, January 25, 2013
The meeting began at 8:00 am.
Dr. Mark Harvey, School of Psychology and Dr. Monica Baloga, Institutional Compliance were guests.
Meeting minutes from November meeting were passed with the typo corrections that Dr. Turner submitted.
The following items were passed on the consent agenda:
Item 1. College of Engineering
(1)b. CRC-ECE 4112
(1)d. CRC-ECE 4561
Item 2. College of Psychology and Liberal Arts
(2)a. ANC--BEH 3465
(2)b. ANC- BEH 3466
(2)c. ANC- BEH 3550
(2)e. ANC- BEH 4025
(2)f. ANC - BEH 4550
Item 3. College of Science
(3)b. CRC - CHM 3012
(3)c. CGR - Chemistry (7031)
(3)d. CGR - Research Chemistry (7034)
The following items were removed from the consent agenda:
Item 1. College of Engineering
(1)a. & (1) c. - CRC-ECE 2111 & ECE 4332 - Rep. Rosiene brought forth the issue of co-requisites now
may be “seen” and accepted as pre-requisites by Banner. Registrar Young shared that Banner can
now be programmed to accept course co-requisites as well as pre-requisites with the most recent
software update. After discussion it was determined that it would be more appropriate and efficient
for each department to contact the Catalog Director, Liz Fox and Registrar Young to have those
adjustments made for existing courses. New courses can now be specified as co-requisite, prerequisite, or either at the time of review or change.
At the conclusion of the discussion the items were withdrawn with no opposition because of the process
allowing the department to simply contact the Registrar’s office mentioned above.
Item 2. College of Psychology and Liberal Arts
(2)d. ANC-BEH 4560-Representative Rosiene questioned the prerequisite BEH 3460. Dr. Mark Harvey
explained that it was a type on the form and the correct prerequisites should be BEH 3465, not BEH
3460. Item was passed and approved without objection.
(2)g. CRC-PSY 4511-Rep. Archambault had a question as the changes brought forth appeared to be
identical to the catalog. After clarification, Rep. Edkins also identified a prerequisite number issue and
recommended adding PSY 4515 as an “OR” to the string as it has replaced PSY 3513. Item was passed
and approved with the revisions without objection.
(2)h. CRC-PSY 4242-Rep. Rosiene questioned what PSY 3542 was as it was not listed in the catalog. After
explanation that PSY 3542 has been replaced by PSY 3543 and the amendment was necessary to include
students who took the previous course and have yet to graduate. Item was passed and approved
without objection.
(2)i. & (2)j. - CGR-AA Applied Psychology (3147) & CGR-BA Applied Psychology (7147)-Rep. Turner
suggested that the wording of the request-to include PSY 1xxx and PSY 2xxx was the same as PSY n1000
or 2000 level. Associate Registrar, Karin Almasi, explained that CAPP doesn’t automatically include
courses with those numbers as they are not a named course in the catalog and some departments don’t
want to allow those courses to count in the degree program. Chairman Jones explained that the
department is completing a high volume of course substitutions and this is the only way to amend CAPP
to include the courses that come is as a PSY 1xxx/2xxx elective. There was additional discussion on
changing the Psychology foundation elective area from two 3-credit courses to 6 credits in the program
plan in the catalog.
Rep. Baum had concerns about the timing of the forms and the impact to Banner and catalog changes.
The form requests the change for 13/14 however; the catalog for 13/14 has already been submitted for
printing. There was additional discussion on the timing of the changes and should changes in CAPP be
held until they can be printed in the catalog. Dr. Baloga asked the committee to remember that the
university practice is to allow students to graduate under the program plan in existence when they begin
unless there is an unusual situation associated with “constant improvement” issues at the core of our
assessment initiatives. Registrar Young mentioned that adding a new course or changing the restrictions
in a course were different from adding a new program or making revisions to a program. She also made
a point that something that “softens” restrictions and makes it easier for the students is not an issue as
opposed to substantial changes that add new or additional courses and make it more stringent than the
previous plan where students and academic advisors can then struggle.
Additional questions were brought forth about the necessity for the UGCC to review changes such as
this and if it should be handled much as we do with transfer credit evaluations and direct
communication with the Registrar’s office. The general consensus was that it could be handled in that
manner but this particular issue requires a catalog language change and thus discussion.
Chairman Jones proposed changing the form to reflect catalog 14/15 and ask Karin Almasi if the changes
can be updated in CAPP for the fall 2013 term. Motion was passed and approved without objection.
Item 3. College of Science
(3)a. CGR-Athletics Coaching Minor (6125)-Rep. Rosiene brought up that the minor program has a
hidden prerequisite with PSY 2446 or EDS 2050 which both require PSY 1411 which is not listed in the
requirements. He wanted to point that out as it was a recent issue UGCC has been reviewing. Rep.
Rosiene did not believe the issue warranted holding the requested change. Motion was passed and
approved without objection.
Other:
1) Credit Hours Discussion
Dr. Baloga presented UGCC with three draft definitions toward the goal of defining our institutional “credit
hour” which was discussed in November.
Dr. Baloga presented the “traditional lecture” as:
“A traditional one lecture credit hour is defined as a 50-minute in-class period for 15 sessions over an
academic semester, or 750 minutes, and a 100-minute combined out-of-class assignment/preparation period
per session, or 1500 minutes, for a total of 2250 minutes of engaged learning time.”
The definition was generally accepted with discussion about the “out-of-class” requirements and if they
would be assessed or held as caps. Dr. Baloga indicated that they would not be assessed but it is necessary
to have outside reading or other assignments requiring time. A suggestion was made to include “a minimum
of” to the out-of-class expected time as not to create a false expectation from students who may have
courses that require more and account to the individual differences among students and the time it takes
for them to achieve the out-of-class objectives.
Dr. Baloga then offered the proposed laboratory as:
“A traditional one laboratory credit hour is defined as a 100- to 150-minute in-lab period for at least 12
sessions over an academic semester, or 1200 to 1500 minutes.”
There was substantial discussion over the long standing, yet resolved, issue that each college operationalizes
a “lab” differently. There was additional discussion on the various forms that this currently takes or could
take in the future. Dr. Baloga offered to gather the various types of labs and compile a list for further
discussion. Several members invited emails and expressed a willingness to contribute.
A third description was discussed dealing with distance learning.
“Credit hours associated with this organizational type of a course should be equivalent to credit hours when
a course is delivered in another format on campus.”
Discussion included questions about “H” (hybrid) courses and who is the group that ensures “equivalent”
nature of programs. Dr. Baloga indicated it was the responsibility for colleges to insure equivalency.
Meeting adjourned 9:04 am.
Next meeting: Friday, February 22, 2013 @ 8:00 am in F.W. Olin Physical Sciences 2nd floor conference room. Agenda
items are due by Friday, February 15, 2013.