2016-03-01 Minutes
MINUTES
MEETING OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE BOARDS
of the General College and the College of Arts and Sciences
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
3:30–4:32 PM, 3020 Steele Building
Members in attendance: Navin Bapat, Rob Bruce, Kelly Giovanello, Amy Herring, Li-Ling Hsiao, Doug MacLean, Lee May, Abigail Panter, Michael Rolleri, Margie Scarry, Nick Siedentop, Keith Sockman, James Thompson, Louise Toppin, Charlie Tuggle
Guest: Jaye Cable
Absent: Daniel Anderson, Chris Derickson, Kevin Guskiewicz, Cary Levin, Christian Lundberg, Vladas Pipiras, Mark Schoenfisch
Staff: Ben Haven
1. Welcome and updates by Abigail Panter, Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
Senior Associate Dean Panter welcomed the Boards and started the meeting with a few announcements.
Two weeks ago, the State of the Department Profiles were distributed to the Directors of Undergraduate Studies (DUS). Feedback will be incorporated into the next iteration, which will be distributed to departments via DUS following the fall 2016 census.
The College has nearly completed syllabus collection for the current term via the Online Syllabus Management Tool (OSM). As of today, 99.2% of spring 2016 syllabi have been uploaded to the tool. The Office of Undergraduate Education is exploring the possibility of a similar product for independent study learning contracts, but would rather have an online form with a built-in workflow. To get a better understanding of how independent study courses are taught and supervised, a survey was recently sent to spring 2016 faculty supervising more than two students. Class sections were selected for this survey referencing the independent study report, which is now University Policy Memorandum (UPM) #30. Senior Associate Dean Panter asked if three volunteers from the Boards would be interested in reviewing the data set produced from the survey results.
The Southern Associate of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS COC) will send a committee to visit the UNC Chapel Hill campus for three days, from April 11 – 13. There will be multiple interviews regarding responses to seven previously discussed items. The Office of Institutional Research and Assessment (OIRA) is currently working on these responses with drafts due today. Every comprehensive standard has to be passed for UNC-Chapel Hill to start any new initiatives. These reports are submitted to the review committee and then brought back to the Provost and Chancellor for revision. In June, the committee brings this report before the Review Boards of SACS COC.
2. New Undergraduate Tracks in the Curriculum for the Environment and Ecology, Jaye Cable, Chair, Curriculum for the Environment and Ecology
Jaye Cable presented proposals to create a track within the BA Major in Environmental Studies and another track within the BS Major in Environmental Science. Both proposals are a response to student demand and would create parity across all four tracks within the Environment and Ecology majors.
- The Boards approved the Sustainability Track in the BA Major in Environmental Studies, since it is cleaner to set up a separate track instead of keeping it as a basic component, or concentration, within the major.
- The Boards approved the Quantitative Energy Systems Track in the BS Major in Environmental Science. According to Cable, there is much demand for this track, Environment and Ecology has done its due diligence to reach out across campus to find appropriate courses, and there is an additional financial incentive since a group on campus would like to fund the teaching of more courses in this area.
3. Policy on Semester Hours Limit from Professional School Courses
The current policy for students pursuing a degree in the College limits the total number of hours that can be taken outside the College to 24. This policy was last reviewed roughly 10 years ago. If a student majoring in the College is approved to pursue two minors in the professional schools, the limit may prevent them from obtaining enough credits to complete both minors. Also, there are drawbacks for students who pursue a professional school degree then later decide to switch to a College major. There are not currently firm numbers on how many students this affects, but it is a small subset of the total student population. Nonetheless, this policy does dissuade ambitious students from pursuing their major/minor goals. The Office of Undergraduate Education recommends that the maximum limit of 24 hours outside the College be changed to a minimum limit of 90 hours in the College for those students pursuing a College major. This will enable most students to pursue more than one minor in the professional schools and will not hinder students as much when they decide to switch from a professional school major to a College major further into their undergraduate career. The Boards approved this policy change with a recommendation that it be initially pursued as a pilot program to be reviewed after a certain number of years.
4. Curriculum Committee Report, James Thompson, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Curricula
The Boards approved the Curriculum Committee Report as distributed.
5. Curriculum Revisions, Nick Siedentop, Curriculum Director for Undergraduate Curricula
6. Online Bulletin Update, Nick Siedentop, Curriculum Director for Undergraduate Curricula
This summer, incoming students will receive a printed version of the Undergraduate Bulletin, as well as a new version of the online Bulletin. UNC-Chapel Hill has contracted with Leepfrog to create this web-based catalog using an application called Course Leaf. This application will pull information about courses directly out of PeopleSoft/ConnectCarolina. Course Leaf has a sleek, intuitive interface, which is easy to navigate, and break ups the text-heavy Bulletin. Additionally, General Education requirements, repeat for credit rules, and grading bases will be added to each course listing, which will provide much-needed information to students, staff, and administrators in an easily digestible format.
The meeting adjourned at 4:32 PM.