Undergraduate Academic Council Minutes
Meeting: Wednesday, September 12, 2012 from 2:30 pm to 4:00 pm
Room: LC 31 J.
Present: Nathaniel Cady, Sue Faerman, Rick Fogarty (Chair), Sue Freed, Karen Chico
Hurst, Trudi Jacobson, Terence Johnson, Linda Krzykowski, JoAnne Malatesta, CaroBeth Stewart, Sandra Vergari, Kathie Winchester, James Zetka.
Guest: Kathy Gersowitz
Review of the minutes: April 16 minutes approved with change.
Chair’s Report:
Thank you to JoAnne Malatesta for the past two years of excellent service as Chair of
UAC.
New General Education Requirements effective Fall 2012 are now up and running. In
Fall 2013, the Challenges for the 21st Century category will be implemented, and
effective Fall 2014 four academic competencies (critical thinking, advanced writing,
oral communication, information literacy) will be incorporated within majors.
The chair described some of the matters that will be coming before the council in
coming months:
University Writing Program:
A proposal to revise the lower level General Education Writing Requirement will be the
first proposal UAC will work on this semester. According to Vice Provost Faerman, part
of the strategic plan is to improve undergraduate writing. As a result, the Strategic
Plan Working Group on Undergraduate Education spent a good part of last spring and
summer refining a proposal for a writing program that has been under consideration
for a number of years. A final proposal was not part of the recent General Education
legislation.
The proposed first-year college writing course will be about writing and inquiry, not
only about the mechanics of writing. The writing program should help first-year
students think differently about what college-level writing should be. The basis of the
proposal is a required first-year seminar, Writing and Critical Inquiry.
A proposal that contains the specifics of the program and its implementation will soon
be forwarded to the UAC members. It has already been forwarded to the Senate
Executive Committee for distribution to relevant Senate subcommittees. UAC will plan
on having the proposal ready for review by the full Senate within the next couple of
meetings. Provost Phillips has already set aside resources for the implementation of
the program. The program will include a director and 16 teaching faculty. It is hoped
that the writing program will be implemented, at least in part, effective for incoming
freshmen 2013.
Academic Integrity Policy:
There is a need to get a more clearly articulated Academic Integrity Policy in place on
campus in the near future. There are inconsistencies in the way current policy is
implemented and the way penalties for infractions are imposed, as well as divergent
understandings of university policy itself. Members of the Senate, UAC, GAC and
Conflict Resolution have been developing a proposal.
Restricted Majors:
Restricted majors will be reviewed to determine if restrictions are still needed. This is
part of a regular review cycle to determine if prevailing circumstances still exist.
Legislative Processes:
UAC will articulate a set of principles to determine the course of action and processes
governing the discussion and approval of proposals. The result of such principles will
help UAC be more efficient.
Committee Reports: The following committees have been chaired. They now need
volunteers to sign up and prepare for upcoming meetings.
Committee on Curriculum and Honors: Sue Freed (Chair)
Committee on General Education: JoAnne Malatesta (Chair)
Committee on Interdisciplinary Studies: Nathaniel Cady (Chair)
Committee on Academic Standing: Bruce Miroff (Chair)
Meeting adjourned at 3:11pm