Political Science Department Meeting Minutes
Friday, February 15, 2013
Meeting begins 1:00 pm. Chaired by Johnson, Dept. Chair.
Present: Adogamhe, Chapp, Emrey, Gimbel, Gottlick, Hamilton, Heatwole, Johnson,
Lollar, Wagner
Absent: Anderson (excused), Ghavamshahidi (excused)
1. Approval of Minutes of Friday, November 16, 2012 meeting: Gottlick motion,
Lollar second; approved without amendments, 1:02pm.
2. Announcements
Johnson announces upcoming renovation of Hyer class rooms due to the technical
difficulties experienced by faculty; Johnson announces upcoming Political Science
Advisory Board Meeting, March 18, 6:30pm, biographies of Advisory Board
Members will be put on Department website; Johnson announces/reminds faculty
members of the Department’s awards for students and deadline of March 1, Linda
Long will continue to support the Department’s writing award of $250
Emrey reports on outreach by Law Schools to UWW and specifically to the
Department: law school applications are down; Madison was already on campus;
Indiana Tech is building a new law school and was on campus, opportunities for
business law, intellectual property law, etc. Johnson adds that legal studies
emphasis has been approved
Gimbel announces that he has taken over the Pi Sigma Alpha National Political
Science Honors Society faculty advisor position from Anderson; reminds faculty of
the society and eligibility criteria for students to join;
short exchange and discussion of potential ways to restructure dues collection for
society
3. Old Business
A. Kyle Lecture
Johnson proposes Charles Franklin and gives a short introduction for faculty
members unfamiliar with him (Marquette Poll, etc.).
A lively discussion ensues
Consensus is reached that Johnson together with Hamilton should contact Franklin
and propose this year’s Kyle Lecture to him
Department Meeting Minutes, Feb. 15, 2013 2
B. Report of Department’s Writing Guidelines ad hoc sub-committee
Gottlick distributes draft of writing matrix to faculty members; Gimbel adds the
division of the levels of writing in the respective cells: 1, 2, 3
Gottlick reports on ad hoc sub-committee work (members of ad hoc sub-committee:
Chapp, Gimbel, Gottlick, Hamilton, Lollar, Wagner, but open to other interested
faculty members): beginning of conversation
A lively discussion ensues about writing standards, the sequence of courses, the
issue of failing students (on writing and meaning thereof for a course and student
success in general)
Adogamhe notes that there is no hard rule about course sequencing
Emrey notes that “assessment” is not going to go away
Hamilton notes that student learning is not linear
Gimbel suggests that faculty sees writing standards as an agreement among
themselves with no guarantee of individual (student) outcome
Johnson and Hamilton note the difficulty of putting numbers into rubrics
As consensus decision faculty applauds the work of the ad hoc sub-committee and
asks committee to reconvene to continue the work and to report at next meeting
4. New Business
A. Curricular Items
1. Discussion of POLISCI 101 prerequisite
Johnson reports on present situation without prerequisite, her noted conclusion:
needs prerequisite
Discussion ensues, which quickly signals a consensus
Faculty consensus on prerequisite for course: Political Science major or minor; in
addition, a student may also sign up for course by consent/recommendation of
individual instructor/s
2. New Course Proposal: Religion and American Politics (Chapp)
Chapp introduces course proposal
Emrey notes that specific LOs are needed in syllabus
Adogamhe raises issue of course level, 300 or 400 level
A lively discussion ensues
Department Meeting Minutes, Feb. 15, 2013 3
Johnson concludes discussion by noting that several larger issues are indeed in need
of being discussed and resolved – advising assessment, prerequisites, 300/400-level
distinction – all of which would best be left to separate occasions/meetings
Chapp volunteers to spearhead discussion of advising assessment
Hamilton, Gimbel, and Lollar volunteer to spearhead discussion of prerequisites
Wagner and Emrey volunteer to spearhead discussion of distinction between
300/400 level courses, with Gottlick as potential contributor to deepen discussion:
100/200 level
B. Program Array Review (item from Academic Affairs strategic plan)
Johnson hands out sheet with information and idea sheet for new programs;
Johnson explains new program ideas
Johnson informs that Department is asked to do a self-assessment according to AA
strategic plan, notes that this also includes what Department would like to see
Heatwole notes that this is a great opportunity to make the case for why the
Department is important
Johnson suggests that further discussion and suggestions will be reserved for next
meeting
5. Adjournment
Johnson notes that there are no additional matters to discuss; no additional
issues/questions raised;
Adogamhe moves to adjourn, Heatwole seconds motion;
Meeting adjourns: 2:48pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Peter Wagner
(Substituting for Anderson)