Academic Council Minutes
Page 1
11/19/03
Final - January 20, 2004
College of Arts and Sciences
Academic Council
Minutes
DATE:
PLACE:
TIME:
November 19, 2003
Ball Room, Lewis Towers, WTC
6:00 PM
Members Present: M. Balasis, D. Birge, L. Bityou, M. Boyd, P. Corrado, I. Crawford, G.
Dobrov, C. Frommelt, C. Gilbert, T. Gross-Diaz (Chair), M. Hermansen, J. Kerkering, E.
Lozano, M. Maher, C. Peterson, T. Petzel, B. Pickett, R. Sedam, L. Stalans, S. Talarovich, M.
Udo, A. Vander Nat, and J.A. Williams.
Guest: K. Price
The meeting was called to order at 6:15 pm.
Approval of the Agenda –Vote: 21-0-0. Motion carried.
Approval of the Minutes – Motion: To approve the Minutes of the 10/15/03 Meeting with
corrections. Vote: 21-0-0. Motion carried.
2514 Committees Reports
I. Bylaws Committee – No report at this time.
II. Core Curriculum Committee – No report at this time.
III. Curriculum Committee – Dr. Vander Nat
1. Classical Studies – Change to the Major and the Minor – This item was reviewed at the
10/15 meeting and brought up again at the 11/19 meeting to clarify the approval. The
change to the Major was to give student majoring in Classical Civilization the option to
take up to 4 courses (12 hrs.) in ancient Greek or Latin as counting towards the required
30 hrs. The minor in Classical Civilizations would similarly give the option of taking
up to 3 such courses (9 hrs.) as counting towards the required 18 hrs. (No vote is
necessary on this item.)
2. BIOL 398 – Internship – Course Change– The Biology Department has requested
approval to change BIOL 398 1) Credit Hours - From 4 credits to variable 1-4 credits
with a maximum of 4 credits, and 2) Change in prerequisites, from, “21 hours in
biology; all ancillary requirements; letter(s) of recommendation from participating offcampus professionals; permission of chairperson”, to read “The 200-level core/cognate
courses relevant to the internship topic must be completed, letter(s) of recommendation
from participating off-campus professionals; permission of chairperson.”
Rationale for these changes were that not all internship experiences are equivalent to 4
credit hours and the relaxed prerequisite to also allow Sophomores to have internship
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experience. Dr. Pickett noted that lab experiences vary in intensity and the number of
credit hours for a given experience is at the chair’s discretion.
2515
Motion: To approve the changes to variable credits and the prerequisites for BIOL 398
– Internship. Vote: 20-0-0. Motion carried.
3. Cross-Listing – NEUR 300/BIOL 301 – Neuroscience Seminar – Some concern
was expressed by the Curriculum Committee regarding different prerequisites
(NEUR – None, and BIOL – 251). After some discussion, it was agreed to accept
the recommendation of Biology to have BIOL 251 as a prerequisite for BIOL 301.
2516
Motion: To approve the permanent cross-listing of NEUR 300 with BIOL 301
(prerequisite of BIOL 251) – Neuroscience Seminar. Vote: 14-5-1. Motion carried.
4.
Cross-Listing – STAT 336/BIOL 336 – Advanced Biostatistics – This cross-listing will
create this course on the Biology side. The course is a required course for the new
Biostatistics Minor. Prerequisites are STAT 203 or 335. Vote: 20-0-0. Motion
carried.
2517
Motion: To approve the permanent cross-listing of STAT 336 with BIOL 336 –
Advanced Biostatistics. Vote: 20-0-0. Motion carried.
IV. Elections Committee– No report at this time.
V. Writing Intensive (WI) Committee – Dr. Birge
Dr. Birge briefly summarized the draft of the Writing Intensive Committee’s report, noting
that there are no across-the-board rules or practices in place for this College requirement.
Kelci Price and Nate Krumdick, graduate assistants, studied websites and writing intensive
program materials of other colleges and universities. In addition, a sampling of syllabi
from CAS writing intensives courses was analyzed. Charts showing the comparison
between WI courses with non-WI was distributed and discussed by Ms. Price.
Dr. Birge also distributed a chart from the University of Toledo used to evaluate whether a
course meets the criteria for WI. She noted that 21 departments participated over 6
semesters with 15-18 WI courses offered per semester. Most of these courses are offered
in the Humanities or Social Sciences. After a lengthy discussion, all agreed that there is a
need for guidelines for upgrading a course to WI.
Dr. Gross-Diaz asked Council members to take the draft report back to colleagues and get
informal feedback for the WI Committee. A revised report could then be posted for
University Community responses. The first round of comments should be submitted to Dr.
Birge by 1/10/04. The revised report will be on the AC agenda for the February 04
meeting and then posted on the web for general comment. The Council members thanked
the WI Committee members and graduate students for their hard work on this project.
VI. Ad Hoc CAS Dean’s Search Committee – No report at this time.
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VI. USG – Student Government – Sabrina Talorovich - Sabrina reported that there has been a
debate over the past 3 weeks regarding the USG Constitution. Details to follow at a later
date.
2518 Dean’s Report – Dr. Crawford
1. Conversations in the College – Dr. Crawford noted that Drs. Vince Mahler and Jay
Williams would host the next Conversations in the College on Iraq
2. Teaching Fellows for 2004-05 – The call for applications will be announced soon for
the competition and awarding of teaching fellowships for the next academic year.
3. Enrollments - With the higher enrollments this Fall, creative steps are being taken to
help with expenses related to these larger courses in Core areas. Dr. Crawford
distributed a handout, a chart showing a comparison between the number of Core
sections with enrollment of <20, and 20-40 students in Fall 02 and Fall 03.
4. Academic Dishonesty – There was a recent article in the Phoenix in which a student
claimed to have plagiarized a paper. He claimed it was a joke, however the matter has
been taken very seriously by the College and has turned it over to Student Affairs. A
response from CAS to the original article was published. Dr. Lozano noted that
plagiarism is a personal integrity tragedy, and that we need to remind everyone of the
procedure and range of sanctions for such offenses. Students must understand that they
must site the source when using someone else’s work.
5.
6.
7.
8.
During discussion, it was noted that the College policy was covered at length in English
Composition and there is a long section in the Undergraduate Catalog. However,
transfer students might not get this review. It was also noted that every syllabi includes
a statement about academic dishonesty and that it is reviewed at the beginning of each
semester. Dr. Stalans stated that she has a 2-page document on this issue that she will
to share with Council members by sending to Pam to post our website.
New Program Proposals - Within the next two weeks, at least 4 new program proposals
will be submitted for consideration by the Curriculum Committee. We should
anticipate a busy next few months.
Dean’s Alumni Advisory Committee – Dr. Crawford stated that he recently met with
the Dean’s Alumni Advisory Committee has been reestablished. He asked Council
members to think about how the Alumni group might be able to contribute to the
College.
Equity Study on Faculty Salaries – Academic Affairs is looking at conducting an equity
study for full-time-tenure-track faculty and the structure of pay for part-time faculty.
Dr. Slavsky will chair the Subcommittee for CAS with several CAS chairs as members.
Their report will outline recommendations to be in effect for the 04-05 academic year.
Faculty Searches in CAS – There will be 16 searches for new faculty in CAS effective
Fall 04. This includes 11 tenure-track and 5 non-tenure-track positions.
2519 Chair’s Report – Dr. Gross-Diaz
1. Library – Dewey De-accession – Great progress has been made on the library situation.
Upper administration has indicated that there is a need for a new library. None of the
Dewey volumes will be sent away from storage or permanently released. All will be
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retained, with some in inaccessible temporary storage until permanent storage can be
arranged.
2. Tracks/Focuses/Concentrations – Dr. Gross-Diaz reminded AC members that per the
10/19/03 minutes, this issue should be brought to their departments for comments.
Some of the issues include discussion on using similar terminology, defining what is a
“track”, and whether or not it is to be indicated on the student’s transcript. Department
responses should be forwarded to Dr. Birge and will be addressed at the 12/10/03
meeting. Dr. Birge noted that this debate needs to be resolved for the next catalog
before January 04.
3. Core Revision - This process is going forward. A meeting is scheduled for Friday to
finalize many issues so that it can be presented to the Board at the December meeting.
2520 New Business
1. +/- Grades – Dr. Gross-Diaz noted that the +/- Grades issue has been approved by the
UPC and is now being reviewed by Upper Administration. As written, a “C-“ will not
be considered passing in the Core, although currently a “D” grade is sufficient to pass.
2. May Semester – Dr. Udo inquired if the courses proposed to be taught in the 4-week
May Semester need to come before AC for approval. Dr. Birge indicated that these
courses would be similar to Special Topics, which can be taught 3 times without being
brought to AC for approval.
3. December Meeting – Dr. Gross-Diaz reminded AC members that the December 10th
meeting is earlier than our usual 3rd Wednesday of the month meeting. We are
anticipating a large agenda.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:05 pm.