2016-11-01 Minutes | The Administrative Boards

MINUTES
MEETING OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARDS
of the General College and the College of Arts and Sciences
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
3:30–4:48 PM, 3020 Steele Building

Members in attendance: Rita Balaban, Rob Bruce, Claude Clegg, Amy Herring, Richard Langston, Cary Levine, Doug MacLean, Lee May, David Mora-Marin, Ted Mouw, Abigail Panter, Vladas Pipiras, Valérie Pruvost, Nick Siedentop, Keith Sockman, James Thompson, Louise Toppin, Charlie Tuggle, Jonathan Weiler

Absent: Chris Derickson, Kelly Giovanello, Kevin Guskiewicz, Christian Lundberg, Fabian Monrose

1. Welcome by Abigail Panter, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
Dean Panter welcomed the Boards and started the meeting with a few announcements. Student learning outcome assessments were collected and made available for review by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) in early September. Departments were reminded to look at these as an indication of how well they are teaching discipline-specific competencies. Dean Panter would like for departments to look at this process holistically, through one combined department effort as opposed to a collection of degree program documents.

The Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP), called “Creating Scientists: Enhancing Learning in the Sciences” is underway. This is a multi-million dollar five-year commitment, with a budget recently approved by Provost. The QEP has several aims, including 1) emphasizing the integration of sciences and social sciences with the arts and humanities, 2) Classroom Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE), a course-based undergraduate research experience that elevates the classroom experience and asks undergraduate students to determine the questions and methods, collect and analyze the data, and generate products and publications, 3) integrating the Maker Space into the classroom, 4) enhancing the Office of Undergraduate Research and forms of undergraduate scholarly work, and 5) increasing highly structured learning practices (including AAU projects).

2. New African History Field in the History PhD Program
Considerable demand exists for the training of specialists in African history. According to data from the American Historical Association, African history is one of the few fields in which academic job openings exceed the number of new history PhDs. The structure of this new field is intended to provide broad training in African history (premodern and modern), while enabling specialization by geographic area and theme. Requirements will match other graduate program degree fields in the Department of History, and UNC-Chapel Hill has enough faculty that specialize in this area inside and outside the Department of History to quickly implement the program and sustain it long term. After careful review, the Boards recommended the proposal to The Graduate School’s Academic Policy Committee for review next week.

3. Rename Undergraduate Programs in Mathematical Decision Sciences to Statistics and Analytics
To keep up with the current nomenclature within the discipline, the Department of Statistics and Operations Research requests a renaming of their Major in Mathematical Decision Sciences and Minor in Mathematical Decision Sciences to the Major in Statistics and Analytics and Minor in Statistics and Analytics respectively. The department would also like to replace the current codes for the Mathematical Decision Sciences major with BSSA and BCHSA for the Statistics and Analytics B.S. major (first major), SA2ND for the Statistics and Analytics B.S. major (second major), and MINSAUG for the Statistics and Analytics minor. The Boards approved the name changes and the code updates.

5. Discontinue the Exercise and Sport Science Athletic Training Concentration
The Undergraduate Athletic Training Program will be discontinued due to changes that are occurring with the accrediting organization, the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE). The CAATE has decided that to become certified as an athletic trainer, students can no longer earn a bachelor’s degree and must earn a master’s degree. The department will phase out the major with the entering fall 2016 first-year class. These students will be the last class that can apply to the program, and will be eligible to do so during their sophomore year. The last application class will be fall 2017, with an expected graduation of spring 2020. The Boards approved this proposal.

6. Discontinue the Recreation Administration Minor
The Department of Exercise and Sports Science will be deactivating the minor due to lack of faculty with that particular expertise, as a faculty member in this field has retired. The department intends to discontinue this program, effective fall 2017. In spring 2016, the department surveyed declared minors and is offering additional courses during the current academic year to enable current minors to complete before fall 2017. The Boards approved this proposal with the recommendation that the department get in touch with students to let them know this is occurring.

7. Undergraduate Program (Majors and Minors) Changes, Curriculum Director Nick Siedentop

The Boards had questions for the Department of Religious Studies regarding the request to increase the number of required courses for the Minor in Religious Studies. Several Boards members expressed concern about the rationale and the number of hours that contribute to the minor; it’s possible that this will drop overall enrollment in the minor. The Boards also had concerns about whether or not this will have the effect of increasing the number of majors in Religious Studies, and if this is a desirable outcome. The Boards recommended that the Department of Religious Studies provide some additional rationale for this proposal. The Boards approved the rest of the proposed curriculum changes effective with the fall 2017 term.

7. Curriculum Committee Report, Associate Dean James Thompson
The Boards approved the Curriculum Committee Report as distributed.

The meeting adjourned at 4:48 PM.