Received by the Graduate Council—November 6, 2006
GRADUATE COUNCIL CURRICULUM COMMITTEE (GCCC)
First Meeting/2006-07 Academic Year
October 9, 2006
Approved
p. i of v
PRESENT:
B. Bond (Graduate School), D. Changnon (LAS/GEOG), A. Costello (HHS/AHP), B.
Harris (LAS/MATH), A. Odoms Young (HHS/AHP), D. Cesarotti (EET/TECH, for D.
Zinger),
NOT
REPRESENTED: C. Gowen (BUS/MGMT)
CONSULTANTS: F. Pugh (Graduate School/NIUConnect), D. Smith (Catalog Editor/Curriculum
Coordinator), S. Warber (Registration & Records)
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
ANNOUNCEMENTS
1. Minutes from the April 10, 2006, meeting approved and sent electronically.
2. GCCC members are reminded that if they are unable to attend a GCCC meeting, they can
name a substitute to represent their constituency. If they know who that person will be prior to
the mailing of the agenda packets, they should inform Donna Smith (753-0126) so the packet
can be sent directly to the substitute; otherwise, they should give their packet to the substitute.
New GCCC members should note that the consent agenda is used to expedite the
consideration of some college curriculum committee minutes and other straightforward and/or
noncontroversial curricular items. If a GCCC member has a question/concern about or wants
to discuss any item on the consent agenda, she or he should ask to have that item removed
from the consent agenda and added to the items for discussion prior to the approval of the
consent agenda.
The last Friday in February is the deadline for receipt in Donna Smith’s office of college
curriculum committee minutes with proposed revisions for the next Graduate Catalog.
CONSENT AGENDA
Changnon made a motion, seconded by Cesarotti, TO APPROVE THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM
COMMITTEE MINUTES WITH NO GRADUATE-LEVEL ATTACHMENTS. Motion passed
unanimously. The following minutes were so received.
College of Business #12 (AY 05-06)
College of Business #13 (AY 05-06)
Received by the Graduate Council—November 6, 2006
GRADUATE COUNCIL CURRICULUM COMMITTEE (GCCC)
First Meeting/2006-07 Academic Year
October 9, 2006
Approved
p. ii of v
College of Business #14 (AY 05-06)
College of Education #9 (AY 05-06)
College of Education #1 (AY 05-06)
College of Engineering & Engineering Technology, #1
College of Health & Human Sciences #14 (AY 05-06)
College of Health & Human Sciences #1
College of Health & Human Sciences #2
College of Visual & Performing Arts #7 (AY 05-06)
College of Visual & Performing Arts #8 (AY 05-06)
Changnon made a motion, seconded by Cesarotti, TO APPROVE THE COLLEGE CURRICULUM
COMMITTEE MINUTES WITH GRADUATE-LEVEL ATTACHMENTS. A brief discussion followed
to clarify the language in College of Education #11 minutes, page 1. Sentences in the other catalog
changes to the M.S.Ed. in Education Psychology begin with lower case letters because they are part of a
bulleted list. Motion passed unanimously. The following minutes were so received.
College of Education #11 (AY 05-06), pages 1-2
College of Education #13 (AY 05-06), page 1
COLLEGE MINUTES FOR DISCUSSION
College of Education, #10
These minutes were off of the consent agenda because of the proposal for a new Certificate of Graduate
Study in Children’s and Young Adult Literature/Media. Changnon noted that it appears to be designed for
library specialists. Cesarotti made a motion, seconded by Odoms Young to APPROVE THE GRADUATE
LEVEL CURRICULAR ITEMS IN COLLEGE OF EDUCATION #10 (3/21/06). Motion passed
unanimously.
College of Education, #12
The main reason this set of minutes was off of the consent agenda was for the comprehensive exam
language on pages 2-3. It was clarified that most departments have a comprehensive exam component to
their programs. Changnon pointed out that on page 11, a course number is incomplete and assumed it
should be TLEE 586. Smith will confirm this with the college. Changnon made a motion, seconded by
Cesarotti, to APPROVE THE GRADUATE LEVEL CURRICULAR ITEMS IN COLLEGE OF
EDUCATION #12 (4/18/06). Motion passed unanimously.
College of Health and Human Sciences, #3
These minutes were off of the consent agenda because of revisions to several *400 courses. The
committee felt comfortable in approving those revisions at this time. Cesarotti made a motion, seconded
by Odoms Young, to APPROVE THE GRADUATE LEVEL CURRICULAR ITEMS IN COLLEGE OF
HEALTH & HUMAN SCIENCES #3 (9/22/06). Motion passed unanimously.
Received by the Graduate Council—November 6, 2006
GRADUATE COUNCIL CURRICULUM COMMITTEE (GCCC)
First Meeting/2006-07 Academic Year
October 9, 2006
Approved
p. iii of v
OLD BUSINESS
College of Engineering & Engineering Technology #7
The graduate-level curriculum items in these minutes not dealing with the Integrated BS/MS sequence still
need approval. These items appear on pages 2-5 of these minutes. Changnon made a motion, seconded by
Cesarotti, to APPROVE THE GRADUATE LEVEL CURRICULAR ITEMS IN COLLEGE OF
ENGINEERING & ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY #7 (2/15/06) THAT ARE NOT INVOLVED IN
THE BS/MS INTEGRATED PROGRAM. Motion passed unanimously.
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences #5
These minutes were tabled on 3/22/06 pending further consideration by CITC. CITC did not approve until
after the 4/10/06 GCCC meeting (approved by CITC-CC on 4/1/06 and CITC on 4/14/06). Cesarotti made
a motion, seconded by Changnon, to APPROVE THE GRADUATE LEVEL CURRICULAR ITEMS IN
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS & SCIENCES #5 (1/18/06). Motion passed unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
New Student Information System Update/Discussion of PRQs and *400 courses
Bond introduced Pugh who is the representative from the graduate school at NIUConnect. Committee
members were reminded that with the new student information system the *400 courses need to be
renumbered to delineate between undergraduate and graduate courses. Bond noted that there are 996 *400
courses evenly distributed across departments. He asked for the GCCC to provide direction on changing
the course numbers in the simplest way possible. One solution is to create 500-level companion courses to
the 400-level courses. Changnon asked for how many courses is the companion 500 number already being
used and Pugh responded that it is about half. Pugh worked with a sample of the *400 courses and was
able to convert them to 500 numbers fairly quickly. Harris noted that for some departments, simply
converting the course numbers from a 400 to 500 number is not a solution; there is a big jump in difficulty
from the *400 courses to the 500-level courses. He also expressed concern over 400- and 500-level classes
taking place in the same room at the same time with the same instructor. Harris asked if the 700 numbers
were available. Bond stated that he had considered that possibility, despite the fact that the 700 numbers
are currently used exclusively by the College of Law. Bond, Pugh, and Warber will look into the
feasibility of using 700 numbers for the other colleges. Odoms Young brought up the issue of courses
being linked to teacher certification requirements by the course number and how would renumbering
courses affect this. Harris added that many courses are also identified with state and federal agencies as
fulfilling requirements under a variety of state and national standards. Bond responded that paperwork
would need to be filed with those agencies to reflect the revised course numbers. The affect new course
numbers have on a student’s transcript was explained. Pugh noted that any student who is admitted under
the 2006-07 catalog for example, can still follow that catalog until they graduate. He also noted that they
have a chart to keep track of course number changes. Harris pointed out that course renumbering will also
affect other catalog language, for example when a department states that a student needs to take so many
Received by the Graduate Council—November 6, 2006
GRADUATE COUNCIL CURRICULUM COMMITTEE (GCCC)
First Meeting/2006-07 Academic Year
October 9, 2006
Approved
p. iv of v
hours in courses numbered 400-499. He asked if the GCCC would need to see those changes. Committee
members agreed that they should see those changes. Harris introduced another solution for renumbering
the *400 courses; to change all the *400 to 500 numbers, 500 numbers go to 600, and 600 could go to 700,
or 800 if it is determined that the 700 numbers are unavailable.
Pugh summarized the options: 1) change the 400s to 500s, 500s to 600s, and 600s to 700s, 2) integrate
*400 into the 500s, or 3) line all the courses up from 400 to 699 and renumber them all. Bond noted that
the renumbering issue goes beyond courses and, as mentioned earlier, affects other catalog language.
There are two separate but related issues: 1) renumbering *400 courses and 2) the consequences of those
changes. The committee should consider which option for renumbering courses makes it easier to remedy
the consequences. The committee came to the consensus that the best way to deal with the *400 courses
would be to change the 400s to 500s, 500s to 600s, and 600s to 700s, with the last two digits that signify
similar courses across departments, e.g., seminars, internships, and dissertation hours, be retained. Bond
also asked that in the conversion from *400 to 500, the last two digits remain the same for all courses. It
was also decided that course revisions to accommodate the *400 courses would be accepted through
conversion charts. This option would also make it easier to change other catalog language and PRQs.
Changes to catalog language would need to go through the regular curricular process. Changes to the
numbers of PRQs for all courses would be made by the catalog editor.
The committee next discussed the timeline for getting these changes through the system. Pugh reported
that the changes need to be received by the Graduate Council by November, 2007, so changes can be made
in time for the new student information system to be activated in time for the fall 2008 admissions. It was
discussed that it takes several months for a curricular item to go through the process from the department
to the college to the GCCC to the Graduate Council, and the Graduate Council won’t be considering the
proposal for making course revisions until November 6, 2006. Therefore, the end of the fall 2006 term
would be too soon. Bond noted that it is important to get the new course numbers through as soon as
possible so departments can move towards making the other catalog changes as a result of course
renumbering. Ideally all of the curriculum changes made necessary by the new student information system
should be through the Graduate Council by their May 2007 meeting. Smith noted that the first GCCC
meeting in 2007 is in February and could colleges get course changes to her by the end of January, 2007.
Committee members agreed to a January 31, 2007, deadline for colleges to turn in course conversion charts
to Smith.
The issue of enforcing PRQs was next discussed. Pugh noted that under the new system, either the PRQs
are enforced for all courses university wide, or none of them are enforced. After some discussion, the
committee decided to recommend to the Graduate Council to turn on PRQs and if a department does not
want to enforce their PRQs, they should delete them from course descriptions via the regular curriculum
process.
Received by the Graduate Council—November 6, 2006
GRADUATE COUNCIL CURRICULUM COMMITTEE (GCCC)
First Meeting/2006-07 Academic Year
October 9, 2006
Approved
p. v of v
Need for additional information on new programs.
Smith noted that the issue of requesting more information on new program proposals came up last year
when the GCCC was presented with catalog language for a new Ph.D. in Art Education. At that time,
several committee members wondered why they were not seeing the new program request. Harris noted
that the School of Art made a convincing presentation to the GCCC and the new Ph.D. was approved.
Smith asked if it would also be helpful to have more information on new program proposals and the
committee agreed.
The meeting adjourned at 11:45.
The next meeting of the Graduate Council Curriculum Committee is November 13, 2006, 10:00, Fireside
Room, Adams Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Donna M. Smith