11-27-2012 Administrative Boards Minutes
Minutes of the Administrative Boards
of the General College and the College of Arts and Sciences
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m. and chaired by Senior Associate Dean Bobbi Owen.
Members in attendance: Yaakov Ariel, Jaye Cable, Marcie Cohen Ferris, Deborah Jones, Li-Ling Hsiao, Erika Lindemann, Anne MacNeil, Lee May, Louise McReynolds, Bobbi Owen, Krista Perreira, Gary Pielak, Steve Reznick, Margaret Scarry, Daniel Sherman, Nick Siedentop, Keith Sockman, Mike Waltman, Barbara Wildemuth
Absent: Tyler Curtain, Chris Derickson, Karen Gil, Christopher Putney, Dulcie Straughan, Jane Thrailkill
Guests: Brooks de Wetter-Smith, Melinda Manning
Staff: Ben Haven
1. Welcome by Senior Associate Dean Bobbi Owen
2. Proposal to a) revise unit name for the Curriculum in Applied Sciences and Engineering and b) make the Department of Biomedical Engineering a joint department between the School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Sciences
The Boards approved revising the name of the unit from the Curriculum in Applied Sciences and Engineering to the Department of Applied Physical Sciences. The Boards also approved the proposal to make the Department of Biomedical Engineering a joint department between the School of Medicine and the College of Arts and Sciences. Both changes will be effective July 1, 2013.
3. Proposal to change the home unit of the major in applied science
The Boards approved the proposal to house the major in applied science in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, effective fall 2013.
Three study abroad proposals were presented to the Boards:
• UNC-Chapel Hill Spanish for the Professions Minor, San Pedro, Costa Rica (effective summer 2013)
• Exchange Program at the University of Grenoble, France (effective fall 2013)
• Summer Session Study in Accra, Ghana (effective summer 2013)
Brooks de Wetter-Smith, Chair of the Study Abroad Advisory Board, responded to questions and recommendations from the Boards about minimum GPA requirements, the stability of the program at Science Po in Grenoble, general education requirements in some of the courses, and confirmed that there will be a UNC-Chapel Hill instructor of record for AAAD 412 (AFRI 522 in summer 2013). The Boards approved all three programs.
5. Graduate Certificate in Participatory Research
The Boards approved the certificate in participatory research. Several members indicated that their graduate students would be interested in a graduate certificate in participatory research and thought it offered opportunities for faculty members engaged in newer forms of research. The Boards also discussed IRB requirements and whether students will receive human subjects training, where the core course will be housed, and how the seminar series workshop course would be configured. The Odum Institute might be added to the list of centers providing informal workshops. Associate Dean Lindemann agreed to convey members’ comments and suggestions to Stephanie Schmitt in The Graduate School.
6. New Concentration in the BA Major in Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures
The Boards approved the proposal to establish a Central European Studies concentration in the BA major in Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures, effective fall 2013. Associate Dean Lindemann announced that the Office of Undergraduate Curricula would request the establishment of the new subject code GSLL.
7. New Concentration in the BA Major in American Studies
The Boards approved the proposal to establish a concentration in Folklore in the BA major in American Studies, effective fall 2013.
8. Curriculum Committee Report and SPAN 292
The Boards approved the Curriculum Committee report. In discussing SPAN 292, which the Curriculum Committee had declined to approve, the Boards expressed concerns about undergraduate students grading other undergraduates and whether there was sufficient educational content for students enrolled in the course. Members agreed that Associate Dean Lindemann should follow up with the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, with the intention of revising the course for future consideration by the Curriculum Committee.
9. Miscellaneous Curriculum Changes. Curriculum Director Nick Siedentop
The Boards approved the miscellaneous curriculum changes as amended, with the addition of SPAN 682 to the Hispanic literatures and cultures concentration within the BA major in Romance languages and literatures.
10. Merits of the XF Grade
Assistant Dean of Students, Melinda Manning, gave context for discussions concerning the establishment of an XF grade and answered questions from the Boards. Universities currently using this grade award it to students found guilty of cheating. These students are also placed on probation for a semester, during which time they are not allowed to represent their universities. Currently, the normative sanction for UNC-Chapel Hill students who are found guilty of cheating is suspension for one semester. The XF grade would require students to take a for-credit ethics seminar; upon completion of the course, the XF grade would be replaced with an F. The Boards had questions about how students with a history of cheating could be tracked, how the XF grade would show up on student’s record, where the ethics course would be housed and who would teach it, how students feel about this process, and whether or not a pass/fail option for the ethics seminar should be considered. Overall, the Boards expressed support in principle for the XF grade.
11. New Business
Associate Dean Lindemann distributed a revised “Statement on the Contents of a Course Syllabus” that would be sent, together with a memorandum from Senior Associate Dean Owen, to chairs and directors of undergraduate studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.