Undergraduate Academic Council Minutes
Meeting: Wednesday, October 2nd, 2013 from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm
Room LC 3c
Present: Jeanette Altarriba, Dave Casey, Tony DeBlasi, Rick Fogarty, Mike Ford, Sue Freed, Anne
Hildreth, Janell Hobson, Trudi Jacobson, Linda Krzykowski, JoAnne Malatesta, Jim Pasquill, Caro-Beth
Stewart, Kathie Winchester, Jim Zetka
Chair’s Report:
The General Education Advisory Board is not a body of governance. UAC approved the initial
membership last year. It has lost two of its four undergraduate representatives. Michael Torres (Bio) and
Derek Ellis (Crj) remain. Patrick Cronin (Public Policy) has been put forth as one replacement. No one at
today’s meeting has objections to this appointment.
Old Business:
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9/4/2013 Minutes approved by unanimous vote.
9/11/2013 Minutes approved by unanimous vote.
International Perspectives General Education Learning Objectives were revised in accordance
with the discussions from the last UAC meeting. The revisions in particular removed
redundancies and simplified wording. A final version was approved by unanimous vote.
Committee Reports:
UAC committee rosters have been finalized. Christy Smith has replaced Bruce Miroff as Chair of CAS.
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The Academic Standing Committee has met twice so far this semester. The committee is now
adding additional text to students’ denial letters to give them a better understanding of why
their particular petitions were denied.
The General Education Committee is reviewing proposed courses, primarily for the Challenges of
the 21st Century category.
The Interdisciplinary Studies Committee has had inquiries about Major/Minor proposals though
none are currently pending.
The Curriculum & Honors Committee has several new program proposals in the works as well as
some old business from the end of the last academic year. One is the proposed new major in
Digital Forensics. Another is a proposal to restructure the Faculty-Initiated Major in Information
Science and take the steps to get it registered with SUNY and State Education. A third proposal
involves changes to the Faculty-Initiated Interdisciplinary Major in Financial Market Regulation.
These proposals will each ultimately come to the UAC as a whole for a vote, and if approved,
then through to the Senate in the form of bills.
New Business
Discussion resumed on the language within the Declaration of Major section on page 43 of the
Undergraduate Bulletin. The statement “By the time they have accumulated 42 graduation credits,
students must have officially declared a major or have applied for admission to a restricted major” is not
enforced and no one seems to know the logic behind the 42-credit figure. The council agreed that the
number of credits should be changed from 42 to 56 and that students should instead be strongly
encouraged to commit to a major within a time frame, promoting their ability to graduate in a timely
manner as well as to meet relevant NCAA or financial aid requirements. A final revision will be is to be
voted on during the next UAC meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 3:30 pm.