December 7, 1999

December 7, 1999

MINUTES OF ACADEMIC COUNCIL

Present: 

Anderson, Buis, Burton, Cron, Dahiya (McGowan), Hinkle, Holt, Janzow, Jones, Keys, Kellerman, Lipetzky, McDougall, Miller, Naugler, Shaw

Guests:

Green, Hart, Jackson, King, Langenfeld, Nahikian-Nelms, Pujol
 
1. Minutes:  Naugler moved that the minutes of November 2, 1999 be approved.  McDougall seconded the motion.  Motion carried.

 
2. Action Items

 
1. Nutrition Programs

 
1. Changes to Minor in Nutrition:  Nahikian-Nelms discussed the proposed changes to the Minor in Nutrition.  These changes are being requested to accommodate changes in the Dietetics major.  She advised that this is not a huge change, but a substitution of coursework.  One course will be removed, and HE520 will be added, which takes the place of two old courses.  Shaw moved to approve the change; Dahiya seconded the motion.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 
2. New Master of Science in Nutrition and Exercise Science Program:  Keys noted that the M.S. is being proposed in response to a regional and national need.  Nahikian-Nelms advised that the program would be managed jointly by the Department of Health and Leisure and the Department of Human Environmental Studies, and reported that the program has been approved by Graduate Council.  Nahikian-Nelms advised that before developing this program, the departments began with a needs assessment surveying graduate students.  They believe that this program will be well-served by the collaboration of the two departments involved.  Nahikian-Nelms also reported that the departments have the resources to provide this program under the current budget and staffing situation.  There are graduate faculty members in both departments, and they will be able to draw on some current graduate-level courses as well as developing additional coursework.  Cron asked if they feel that the library resources are adequate at their current level to support this program.  Nahikian-Nelms replied that they think that there are excellent library resources available, and they don’t see any need for additions.  Holt noted that there are no library expenses requested in the proposal.  Naugler pointed out that this degree would be the first Master of Science degree offered by Southeast Missouri State University.  He questioned whether it would be more appropriate for the first Master of Science degree program at the University to be housed in the College of Science and Technology.  Nahikian-Nelms pointed out that the Master of Science is the appropriate degree for this type of program.  Holt advised that Southeast has the authority to issue Masters degrees; this would simply be a new type of Masters degree.  Naugler suggested that the College of Science and Technology may want to revisit their programs since they offer the Master of Natural Science degree, but have no M.S. degrees; Dahiya agreed.  Shaw thought that the College chose to offer the Master of Natural Science degree.  Janzow noted that the climate at the time of the decision made the Master of Natural Science degree more politically palatable than the Master of Science degree.  Burton said that there is  a trend toward the development of more free-standing Master of Science programs.  McDougall questioned the way the number of faculty were listed in the proposal.  He asked if the definition of “full time” was different for various sections in the proposal, specifically in reference to the calculation of FTE.  Pujol advised that 9 hours is considered full time for graduate students, but the formula for calculating FTE requires them to divide by 12.  This causes the discrepancies in the figures.  There was also discussion of the salary figures used in the projections.  Holt advised that the proposal’s narrative gives a clearer explanation of the financial projections.  Holt also pointed out that even if the program is approved, the additional faculty position requested in the proposal may not be approved.  Even if there are students who want to enroll in the program, there are other considerations to approving faculty positions, such as available funds.  If an additional faculty position is requested at some point in the future, that decision will be made separately, when the time comes.  Anderson moved to approve the new Master of Science in Nutrition and Exercise Science Program; Naugler seconded.  The motion was approved unanimously.

 
2. Nursing Programs

 
1. Revisions to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing:  Green discussed the proposed changes to the Bachelor of Science in Nursing.  She advised that the second section of the proposal sets out the rationale for the changes.  The department felt that the curriculum needed to be revised to reflect changes in needs in the field of nursing.  They also hope that these changes will help to streamline students’ entry into the Masters program.  Another goal that these changes should meet is to try to increase students’ licensing exam scores.  Southeast Missouri is a rural area, and these changes should give students more rural exposure.  Additionally, hospitals and other agencies can no longer provide lengthy orientation periods for new nurses; these agencies expect the nurses to be ready when they start working.  The change of the practicum to the last semester of the program addresses this need.  Also, the program will now admit students to the nursing program straight from high school.  Under the old program, students had to complete their freshman year and then be admitted to the nursing program at the beginning of their sophomore year.  This change should improve enrollment by attracting students who were unwilling to come here for their freshman year not knowing if they would be admitted to the nursing program as a sophomore or not.  This change will also allow students to start taking nursing classes as freshmen.  Holt pointed out that the Department of Nursing depends on other departments for the service classes that are required by the program.  He inquired as to whether the Department of Nursing had worked out these changes with the other departments.  Green advised that there have been no changes to the support courses; these changes are only rearrangements to the internal content of the program.  McDougall asked if there would be any questions about library resources since the curriculum has been totally redefined.  Green advised that the department does not think so.  There will be new textbooks, but since the program is becoming more community-focused, and the Masters program is already community-focused, the journals are already in the library.  Green described some of the curricular changes to the program.  She advised that in the Bulletin, under “Required Nursing Courses (BSN),” NS009 will remain a part of the curriculum.  The rest of the courses in that portion have been revised or recreated.  There are no changes to the courses listed under “Required Support Courses (BSN).”  Of the courses listed under “Required Nursing Courses (RN to BSN),” NS380 and NS390 will remain, but 17 new courses will take the place of the required courses.  Green also reported that the new courses have all gone through the thirty day review process and have been approved.  There was some discussion about the definition of “spirit” contained in the proposal.  McDougall asked if these changes will better position our students to take the licensure exam.  Green response was that it should since the practicum will now be at the end of the program; students will get more direct clinical experience right before the exam.  Keys moved approval of the program revisions of the BSN.  McDougall seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

 
2. Revisions to the Master of Science in Nursing:  Jackson pointed out that the Department of Nursing conducted a survey of nurses.  The conclusions of the survey showed that there are two nursing roles that are not addressed by the current program:  nurse educator, and nurse case manager.  In redeveloping the MSN program, they looked at core courses and meeting needs.  The Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) track is being left as is.  The Family Nurse Clinical Specialist track will be changed to better meet the needs of the region.  Holt questioned how pharmacology can be omitted from the non-FNP track.  Jackson responded that this change is consistent with what they found in other programs, and they may revisit this issue later.  Currently, pharmacology is not in great demand.  Also, with the revisions, students will have six hours of electives, and pharmacology could be taken as an elective.  McDougall clarified that the Family Clinical Nurse track will be replaced with the Advanced Nursing Roles track, which will not require pharmacology.  Jackson advised that this is correct.  Buis commented that he thinks that the periodicals contained in the nursing collection at Kent Library are sufficient and heavily used, but he thinks that the monograph collection needs some work.  He advised that he would be willing to work with the department to correct this.  Keys moved to approve the revisions to the Master of Science in Nursing.  McDougall seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

 
3. Minor in Small Press Publishing:  Jones reported that the objective of this minor will be to provide students the opportunity to gain experience in small press publishing regardless of their major.  They expect a small number of students initially, and they have discussed the question of a possible overlap with required courses for English majors who want to take this minor, and they will address this situation with the English department.  There was a general discussion of the content and requirements of the minor.  Hinkle noted the GPA requirement for the minor.  Anderson asked if the courses will be solely for the Macintosh, or multi-platform.  Shaw notes that the IT course that is part of the minor is PC-based, so students will be exposed to both.  Jones moved that the minor be approved.  Dahiya seconded.  The motion was passed unanimously.

 
4. Graduate Assistantship Criteria:  Burton reported that this issue was reviewed because there was a department that wanted to grant an assistantship to a student whose GPA was less than 2.7.  The Graduate School rejected the assistantship.  The matter was taken to Graduate Council, which formed a subcommittee to review the issue.  The subcommittee brought forward the four criteria listed on the handout Burton provided; the Graduate Council approved those criteria.  Miller asked about the second point, which states that students with a previous Masters degree being eligible.  Burton clarified that the Masters degree would have to be from an accredited institution.  Jones moved to approve the criteria.  Dahiya seconded.  The motion passed unanimously.

 
3. Discussion Item:  Clarification of Overlap of Courses in a Major and a Minor:  Hinkle advised that she has been asked several times about the “real” policy regarding overlap of courses in a major and a minor.  For example, all of the courses for the math minor are fully contained in the majors of physics and computer science.  She has been asked several times if students who are physics majors can also have the math minor listed on their transcripts since they have completed the required coursework for the minor.  Hinkle advised that the Bulletin states that a student cannot have a minor in the same discipline or field of study as their major.  She has also checked the registrar listserv to see how other institutions address this question, and most will not allow more than 2 courses (6 credit hours) to overlap.  Shaw asked why we wouldn’t show the math minor on the transcript if the courses are contained in the physics major.  If the student has completed the work, they should get credit for it.  Naugler suggested that credit could be given if a major/minor pairing was required, or if the math minor was a second minor.  Holt said that if this is not a pervasive issue, and if no standards are being violated, this should not be a problem.  If a student declares the minor and completes the coursework, the minor should be reflected in the transcript.  This will be the interpretation unless future questions cause this issue to be revisited.