Office of Academic Programs • 1000 East Victoria St. • Carson, CA 90747
UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
10:00am-12:00pm – Provost’s Conference Room
Minutes- Revised
Present: C. Jacobs, M. Eyadat, S. Williams, C. Earl, T. Chin, M. Beheshti, B. Zhou (proxy for
G. Sayed), C. Coward, E. Magruder, J. Dote-Kwan, M. Carrier, K. Bragg, L. Stallworth, T.
Haney, T. Richardson
1. Call to Order 10:05 a.m.
2. Approval of Agenda
a. J. Dote-Kwan moved to approve. M. Eyadat seconded. M/S/P
b. Approved
3. Approval of October 22, 2014 Minutes
a. Minutes were not available. They will be emailed to the committee for review
and approved at the next UCC meeting.
New Business- Curriculum Proposals
English: Tim Chin
1. UCC 14-15
019
ENG 342
NC
2. UCC 14-15
016
BA English: English Education Option
MP
3. UCC 14-15
017
BA English: Literature Option
MP
4. UCC 14-15
018
BA English: Subject Matter Preparation
MP
5. UCC 14-15
020
ENG 343
FC
6. UCC 14-15
021
ENG 344
FC
a. The new course proposal combines the existing African American courses. The
department is streamlining the courses due to enrollment. There is no need for
two separate courses so one course per ethnic literature has been developed.
FC = frozen course, MC = modified course, NC = new course, RC = retired course FP=frozen
program, DP=discontinued program, MP = modified program, NP=new program
b. The same change will be made in each English concentration with the program
modifications. ENG 343 and ENG 344 will be removed as elective options and
replaced with proposed new course ENG 342.
c. T. Haney asked when the Africana Studies department is going to put in a
program modification for the BA in Africana Studies. The proposed frozen
courses, ENG 343 and ENG 344 are electives in the Language and Literary
Traditions Concentration. Africana Studies will have to do a course
substitution for these courses until they submit a separate program
modification. Academic Programs will send the Africana Studies department
chair a reminder of what needs to be done with a timeline.
i. The Africana Studies department was notified of the proposal and had
no objections to the changes.
d. C. Coward moved to approve English proposals as a package. J. Dote-Kwan
seconded. M/S/P
i. Approved
Sociology: L. Skiffer
1. UCC 14-15
008
SOC 362- Online
MC
2. UCC 14-15
009
SOC 364- Online
MC
3. UCC 14-15
010
SOC 369-Online
MC
a. L. Skiffer stated the course proposals being reviewed were submitted years ago
and were misappropriated misplaced. The courses have been taught numerous
times online. Sections run parallel, one online section and one on-campus
section. The Sociology department has a policy that online students can come
to campus and sit in on the face-to-face section/class.
b. C. Jacobs asked if the Sociology department has the faculty to teach the
proposed expected enrollment of three sections per semester for the online
criminology course.
c. L. Stallworth noted that the courses are also currently being offered as hybrid
and asked when the department is going to put proposals through to approve
that modality.
FC = frozen course, MC = modified course, NC = new course, RC = retired course FP=frozen
program, DP=discontinued program, MP = modified program, NP=new program
i. L. Skiffer stated the department is going to put the proposal through to
offer the courses as hybrid.
d. S. Williams noted that the Elluminate Live software is no longer available.
This needs to be updated.
i. L. Skiffer stated this has been updated in her current syllabus.
e. C. Jacobs asked how students can be monitored from not using their notes or
books for the exams as stated in the syllabus.
i. L. Skiffer stated it is based on academic integrity, the same as face to
face courses.
f. J. Dote-Kwan expressed concern that weekly Course Schedule states “Lecture
and Discussion” however it is not clear in the syllabus where the discussion is.
The discussion is not defined.
i. L. Skiffer- The discussions are collaboration sessions. There are live
synchronous times but it is not in the syllabus. It is based on the needs
of the class. Students use a blog, email, and teleconferences with a free
telephone number.
g. E. Magruder recommended UCC ask for a standard syllabus for each course.
h. J. Dote-Kwan commented that students are not given any credit for the
PowerPoint presentation in SOC 369. She asked how the students give the
presentation online.
i. L. Skiffer stated that Blackboard Collaborate is capable of live
synchronous sessions for sharing the presentations online. There’s 3
session of presentations, 4.5 hours.
i. J. Dote-Kwan stated she has concerns regarding the student learning outcomes
for each of the courses.
j. M. Carrier suggested creating randomized tests from a broader set of questions
so there are different tests for the students.
UCC Discussion of Sociology
1. SOC 362- M. Carrier commented that there is a low number of pages for the
weekly readings. He noted that Cognella Academic Press used for the University
FC = frozen course, MC = modified course, NC = new course, RC = retired course FP=frozen
program, DP=discontinued program, MP = modified program, NP=new program
Reader is edited by L. Skiffer. He questioned if this may be an ethical issue and if
there is a policy on receiving royalties.
2. SOC 362- Under grading, there is a statement that all grade disputes must be
submitted via a written letter within two weeks of the grade being posted. This is
not a university policy and should be removed.
3. E. Magruder would request Sociology resubmit the proposals and address these
issues. Regarding cheating online. There are tools available and this needs to be a
larger university discussion. No only online cheating but face to face cheating also.
4. J. Dote-Kwan commented that there are 3 other instructors teaching SOC 362;
UCC cannot be sure the same quality will be there across the sections.
5. L. Stallworth stated that most of the sections of these sections in the fall are being
taught online.
6. C. Coward commented on M. Carrier’s point regarding the course reader and the
possibility of ethical issue stating she believes that would be beyond the scope of
the committee.
7. K. Bragg noted that the courses are supposed to be presented as stand-alone, fully
online, however there is the option for students to come to campus and drop-in to
class. This could be a safety issue to the classroom and capacity if this is not
monitored.
8. Recommendations for resubmission of SOC 362, SOC 364 and SOC 369:
a. Submit a general syllabus that is consistent across all sections;
b. Submit current course syllabi for review;
c. Revise the student learning outcomes to be more rigorous and articulate
how they will be met;
d. Increase the weekly reading assignments;
e. Articulate class discussions regarding the weekly course assignments and
how they will be met;
f. Give clarification and description of the course readings.
FC = frozen course, MC = modified course, NC = new course, RC = retired course FP=frozen
program, DP=discontinued program, MP = modified program, NP=new program
i. Include a note in the response to L. Skiffer that the UCC thanks her
for sharing the innovations however the information submitted did
not reflect what was shared with the committee.
g. J. Dote-Kwan moved to return the proposals back to the department with
the recommendations for resubmission. M. Eyadat seconded. M/S/P
i. Returned
9. The department can pilot a course twice in an alternate modality while it is going
through the curriculum process. This fall semester will be the first time and it is
scheduled winter intersession which will be the second time.
Theatre Arts & Dance
1. UCC 14-15
014
Speech Minor
MC
a. T. Haney- The program modification, removal of THE 326, will put the minor
at 11 units. Minors require 12 units minimum.
i. Proposals returned to the department requesting a resubmission of a 12
unit minimum minor proposal.
2. UCC 14-15
015
THE 326
RC
a. Return
Adjourn: 11:58am
FC = frozen course, MC = modified course, NC = new course, RC = retired course FP=frozen
program, DP=discontinued program, MP = modified program, NP=new program