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2016-12-06 Minutes

MINUTES
MEETING OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARDS
of the General College and the College of Arts and Sciences
Tuesday, December 6, 2016
3:30–4:55 PM, 3020 Steele Building

Members in attendance: Rita Balaban, Rob Bruce, Claude Clegg, Kelly Giovanello, Richard Langston, Cary Levine, David Mora-Marin, Ted Mouw, Abigail Panter, Vladas Pipiras, Valérie Pruvost, Nick Siedentop, Keith Sockman, James Thompson, Louise Toppin, Charlie Tuggle

Absent: Chris Derickson, Kevin Guskiewicz, Amy Herring, Christian Lundberg, Doug MacLean, Lee May, Fabian Monrose, Jonathan Weiler

Guest: Jessica Brinker

Staff: Ben Haven

1. Welcome and updates by Abigail Panter, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
Senior Associate Dean Panter welcomed the Boards to the final meeting of the fall term and began the meeting with a few announcements.

  • The General Education curriculum planning process is underway. The Planning Committee, chaired by Andy Perrin in the Department of Sociology, has one semester to plan and get input from stakeholders across the campus. Very soon there will be another stage, which will be broader to include more people in 2017. The new committee may call upon the Administrative Boards for input and advice.
  • The Quality Enhancement Plan is fully funded and encourages faculty to think about integrated, interdisciplinary seminars; elevating the undergraduate research component in classes; integrating MakerSpaces into the class experience; and providing more opportunities for undergraduate students to engage in undergraduate research.
  • To ensure student success, the Provost, along with the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, has implemented the Blue Sky Initiative to look at improving the advising model and how we support students
  • Dean Guskiewicz will hold the first all College faculty meeting in the Genome Sciences building on Thursday, 12/8/2016.
  • Rob Bruce introduced the Boards to Jessica Brinker, the new Director of Credit Programs in the Friday Center.

2. Biomedical Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) Graduate Certificate Proposal, Michael Kosorok, Professor, Department of Biostatistics
Michael Kosorok presented a proposal to create a graduate certificate in biomedical big data. This program will fund six students per year to pursue a degree focused on four areas: biomedical research, biostatistics/statistics, computer science/informatics, and mathematical modeling. Incoming students must have quantitative skills in manipulating, modifying, and navigating data to work on biomedical problems. However, the program has expanded to allow anyone – including those not in the biomedical research area – to pursue the certificate, though no funding is available for students outside of biomedical research areas. The Graduate School’s Advisory Policy Committee has already reviewed and approved this certificate program, and the Boards support this decision.

3. Dual Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree Program in Environmental Studies or Environmental Science and Public Administration, Jaye Cable, Chair, Department of Environment and Ecology
Jaye Cable presented a proposal to create a dual degree BA or BS – MPA between the Curriculum for the Environment and Ecology and the School of Government (SOG). The proposed dual degree would facilitate the progression of Environment and Ecology BA or BS students in the environmental program into a Master’s in Public Administration (MPA). Two other dual degree programs are already in place within The Curriculum for Environment and Ecology, showing students a pathway to a professional career or job opportunity. Many students have expressed interest in the SOG, especially the environmental finance center. Upon approval, students would be admitted along same the timeline as others pursuing graduate school. The Graduate School has already reviewed and approved this dual degree program. The Boards also approved the program proposal with recommendations that Environment and Ecology bolster their student advising model to accommodate this new path, and assess the program after a certain amount of time to evaluate how students are doing post-MPA graduation.

4. Study Abroad Advisory Board Report and Proposals
Robert Miles, Associate Dean for Study Abroad and International Exchanges
Gina Difino, Director, Honors Study Abroad and Burch Programs

Two Burch Field Research Seminars were presented to the Boards by Gina Difino. One program, operating out of the Netherlands, will offer students courses on renewable energy and smart cities. The second program helps students to do archival research in the United Kingdom.

Three study abroad proposals were presented to the Boards by Associate Dean Robert Miles. The exchange program with the University of Costa Rica offers a deep immersion experience; students will directly enroll in another university. The Study Abroad Program expects to have an exchange imbalance with more students coming from than going to Costa Rica. The second program in Costa Rica is modeled on similar programs that give science students the opportunity to study abroad. This program, however, is the first to provide math majors with this opportunity. The Summer Science Program in Nicosia, Cyprus is a third-party provider pre-med program that provides a great opportunity for students to study the health care system of another country.

The Boards wanted to know how exchange agreements establish credit hour parity between institutions. According to the Study Abroad Program, UNC Chapel Hill students go by the credit hour policy of the institution that they are visiting. The Study Abroad Program does, however, try to work with other institutions to ensure that the number of credit hours is equivalent to a similar experience at UNC Chapel Hill. The Boards also had concerns about the student exchange balance with the University of Costa Rica and the expense of using third-party providers. With concerns noted, the Boards approved the Burch Research Field Seminars and the Study Abroad Programs.

5. Undergraduate Program (Majors and Minors) Changes, Nick Siedentop, Curriculum Director, Office of Undergraduate Curricula

6. Revise Course Codes

The Department of Women’s Studies officially changed its name to the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies in 2012. To avoid student confusion, the department is requesting that the subject code and department code change to WGST, effective fall 2017.

The Department of German and Slavic Languages and Literatures is requesting a change in the course subject code from “Serbian and Croatian (SECR)” to “Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian (BCS)” to include the Bosnian designation. This subject code reflects current nomenclature and puts UNC-Chapel Hill in line with peer institutions.

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

8. Miscellaneous Updates
Rita Balaban, chair of the Learning Assistants Committee, updated the Boards on the committee’s work. The committee is planning to build a survey to obtain data on which departments currently have learning assistants and whether or not learning assistants are paid.

Nick Siedentop updated the Boards on Undergraduate Catalog access, training, and deadlines. Trainings will be held on February 7, 8, and 9 for two hours to learn the tool and make edits for the next edition of the Undergraduate Catalog. Workshops will also be scheduled after the trainings. Undergraduate Curricula and the Office of the Registrar will be in touch with the departments soon

The meeting adjourned at 4:55 PM.

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The Administrative Boards of the General College and the College of Arts and Sciences are responsible for advising the Dean of the College about the undergraduate curriculum, including changes in that curriculum, approving individual courses offered in Departments and Curricula of the College, and making decisions when requested on specifications for degrees.