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4-28-2010 Administrative Boards Minutes

MINUTES OF THE
MEETING OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARDS
of the General College and the College of Arts and Sciences
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
3:00–5:00 p.m.
3020 Steele Building

The meeting was called to order at 3:07 p.m. and chaired by Senior Associate Dean Bobbi Owen.

Members in attendance: Allen Anderson, Carolyn Cannon, Karen Gil, Kevin Guskiewicz, Sudhanshu Handa, Li-Ling Hsiao, Kenneth Janken, Erika Lindemann, Rich McLaughlin, Louise McReynolds, Bobbi Owen, Abigail Panter, Patricia Parker, Gary Pielak, Steve Reznick, Monika Truemper-Ritter, Adam Versenyi.

Regrets: Yaakov Ariel, Bruce Fried, Jacqueline Hagan, Roberta Kelly, Dorothy Verkerk, Barbara Wildemuth

Guests: Bob Miles, Barbara Stenross

Staff: Laurie Holst, Nick Siedentop

1.  Remarks from and questions for Dean Karen Gil
Dean Gil updated the group on maintaining credit hours, quality academics, and new faculty hires.  She explained that the College’s projected budget will diminish by five percent next year.

2.  Study Abroad: Mansfield College, University of Oxford
Bob Miles reported that the proposal for a Visiting Student Program with Mansfield College will offer students an alternative to a program offered by a third-party provider, thereby reducing some of the costs.  After launching a visiting student program, the Study Abroad Office will seek to build a more structured relationship.  The higher costs for this program are expected to reduce enrollment.

The Administrative Boards approved the study abroad agreement with Mansfield College, University of Oxford.

3.  Study Abroad: Yunnan University, Kunming, China
The proposed eight-week summer program will provide six hours of TREQ credit and provide a cheaper option than the program in Beijing.

The Administrative Boards approved the intensive Chinese Language Summer Program at Yunnan University, Kunming, China.

4.  Study Abroad: Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (PUC), Santiago
The proposed undergraduate student exchange program will broaden options for students seeking to study in Latin America and is expected to enroll two to three students per year.  Of the 1300 UNC-CH students who go abroad each year, fewer then 40 go for a full year.  Interest will be greater for the semester exchange.  The Catolica universities draw middle-to upper-class students, so an exchange is anticipated.  Bob Miles noted that this program will require strong language proficiency and a willingness to adapt to local conditions.

The Administrative Boards approved the proposal to establish an undergraduate student exchange program with the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile.

5.  Study Abroad Advisory Committee Report
Dean Erika Lindemann reported that the proposal for the Burch Field Research Seminar in Vietnam discussed in the report will be brought before the Administrative Boards in the fall, after the Curriculum Committee has reviewed the courses as fulfilling appropriate General Education requirements.

6.  Curriculum review update

  • Foundations: Rich McLaughlin reported that Jane Danielewicz, Director of the Writing Program in the Department of English and Comparative Literature, met with the sub-committee to discuss a proposed one-semester, four-credit rhetoric requirement for all first-year students, regardless of BE credits. Dean Owen said that the associated costs are feasible.

Barbara Osborne, Associate Professor, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, will report on an internal, departmental review of LFIT courses. The sub-committee will also look at the academic content of LFIT courses.

The committee plans to review syllabuses for several Foundations courses over the summer.

  • Approaches: Monika Truemper-Ritter reported that the sub-committee has identified 62 courses to review.  The sub-committee will be looking at LA and VP requirements for film courses, as well as other Approaches designations, and is currently developing a rubric to guide it evaluation of these courses.
  • Connections: Nick Siedentop reported that courses from the last two years are being selected for review.  The sub-committee will look at the overlap of global issues (GL) and beyond the North Atlantic (BN), and will consider whether there is an appropriate time for students to take experiential education (EE) courses.  The committee will look at communication intensive (CI) courses; learn how many such courses reside in particular majors, and determine the feasibility of all departments’ offering CI courses to their majors.
  • Supplemental Education: Kenneth Janken reported that a rough draft of the sub-committee’s recommendations has been written.  After examining the College’s capacity for fulfilling the supplemental education requirement and the increasing tendency of students to select second majors and minors outside the division of the first major, the sub-committee will recommend that the supplemental education requirement be revised: BA degree students declaring only one major (and students pursuing the BS degree with only one major in psychology) must take three courses (nine hours) outside the division of the first major.  As a consequence, only about 650-700 students will need to complete the requirement, which also may encourage more departments to develop minors.
  • Miscellaneous: Gary Pielak reported that the sub-committee has been looking at three main areas: 1) educating the University community about the curriculum; 2) BE credit and its effects on the curriculum; and 3) cross-listed courses and multiple counting of courses.

Research into the history of cross-listing indicates that it grew out of the old curriculum, when departments were funded by FTE formulas.  FTEs generated by enrollments now go to the home department of the faculty member teaching the course.  The many issues and concerns regarding cross-listing  courses may be further considered with the Administrative Boards in the fall.

7.  Curriculum and courses update
Dean Lindemann reported that the Curriculum Committee met on April 20, 2010, to discuss the Criteria for General Education and possible revisions to the document.  Minutes from that meeting will be posted on the Blackboard site for all curriculum review sub-committees to consult.

The Administrative Boards approved the miscellaneous course and curriculum changes, effective fall 2010, which are attached to these minutes.

The meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m. for an end-of-the-semester social gathering at the Carolina Inn.

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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.