September 3, 2013

September 3, 2013

Academic Council (approved November 5, 2013)

Present:          Aguinaga, Barnes, Barrios, Daly, Fluegge Woolf, Hinkle, Jenkins, Jung, McAllister, Rogers-Adkinson, Starrett, Suhr, and Weller-Stilson  

Guests:            Vijay Anand, Brad Deken, Stephen Overmann, Sophia Scott, and Pradeep Singh  

Starrett announced that Interim Provost McDougall and Vice Provost Eddleman were unavailable to attend today’s meeting, and he would be administering the meeting. He welcomed everyone to the Council, and asked everyone to introduce themselves.  

A.  MINUTES: Upon a motion by Rogers-Adkinson; seconded by Jung, the minutes of May 7, 2013, were unanimously approved.  

B.  ACTION ITEMS:  

1.      BS Mathematics – Addition of Actuarial Science Option
Scott moved approval of the addition of an Actuarial Science option to the BS in Mathematics; seconded by Daly. Singh explained that the new option proposal was based on student requests over the last several years. The department worked closely with the Department of Accounting, and the Department of Economics and Finance in preparing the curriculum. Four new courses are being developed and will go through the course approval process; they are MA525 (3 credit hours), MA526 (1 credit hour), MA527 (1 credit hour), and MA528 (1 credit hour). Rogers-Adkinson noted that the motion to approve should be contingent on the approval of the new courses. Scott added that the Department of Mathematics had hired a new faculty member with a doctorate in Actuarial Science to support this program. Motion, contingent on course approvals, passed unanimously.

2.      Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology – Department Name Change to Department of Polytechnic Studies
Rogers-Adkinson moved approval of the department name change from the Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology to the Department of Polytechnic Studies; seconded by Jung. Scott explained that with the merge to the new College of Science, Technology, and Agriculture, the Polytech Department had discussions regarding the “Industrial” part of the department name. She explained that it’s been a common theme to go away from using Industrial in department and college names, as well as accrediting body titles. The accrediting body that accredits their Technology Management (formerly Industrial Management) programs recently changed its name and dropped the word Industrial from the title. The department has extremely varied majors and options, and feels that the Polytechnic Studies is a better fit to describe the department as a whole. Hinkle questioned when the change would take effect; Scott said the change would be effective in Fall 2014, and mentioned that the department is aware that the change will require all marketing materials to be changed. Motion passed unanimously.  

3.      Construction Management – New Minor
Rogers-Adkinson moved approval of a new minor in Construction Management; seconded by Jenkins. Scott explained that there is already a BS in Technology Management, with an option in Construction Management, and they feel that students in the other options would find this minor beneficial. The minor requires no new resources, courses, etc. She noted that there are some pre-requisites, which are noted on the proposal. Daly questioned the estimated number of students that would declare the minor; Scott explained that is unknown at this time, but they expect students who are already taking Construction Management classes as electives to find the minor appealing. Motion passed unanimously.  

4.      Sustainability – New Minor
Barrios moved approval of a new minor in Sustainability; seconded by Suhr. Overmann explained that sustainability has become a hot topic. There is a University ad hoc Sustainability Committee that was formed by President Dobbins. He also noted that the University is a member of AASHE, or the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. The Sustainability minor will be housed in the Environmental Science Program, but is truly an inter-departmental and inter-college minor. Fluegge Woolf questioned whether there are prerequisites for the courses in the curriculum; Overmann responded that there are, but expects that it won’t be a problem. For example, with the large number of courses to choose from, he expects a Biology minor would choose the courses he/she already has met the prerequisites for. He said the curriculum was intentionally built for some double dipping, for that reason. Starrett mentioned that last academic year, there was concern about proposals for new minors when we were unsure of the potential number of students who will declare; Overmann explained that there isn’t a way to know the potential number at this point. Further discussion occurred. Motion passed unanimously.  

C. Informational/Discussion Items:  

1.      External Review for Programs Not Subject to Accreditation
Starrett explained that the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), during their visit last fall, recommended an external review for programs not subject to accreditation. He stated that there have been changes in Institutional Research, and the hiring of Dr. Kang Bai as the Assistant Provost for Institutional Research and Academic Assessment. The handout Dr. McDougall prepared highlights the expected process and details involved for such a review. Starrett explained that we would hire a couple reviewers, but there’d be no on-campus visit. The document will likely go to Faculty Senate for input. Jung questioned how reviewers would be chosen, and encouraged that be added to the document. Deken questioned how granular the review would be; is it every program, every degree, or the department that is being reviewed? Suhr questioned how many programs this would entail; Starrett anticipated it to be about half of our programs. Scott questioned how the reports from the review would be used; Starrett stated that the reports would be for our use only, that we’d only report to HLC that we have the process in place. Starrett explained that the reviews would likely be on a five year cycle. Overmann questioned how the process would be funded; Starrett expected that it would be from the Provost Office.  

2.      Contract for General Education Credit for Study Abroad
Barrios explained that the contract was brought to the Council as an information item only. The document was revised to remove the signature lines for Chairs and Deans, as they do not need to be part of the process. Fluegge Woolf suggested the wording be changed in the questions so as not to seem directly only toward US citizens.  

D. Other:  

1.      Hinkle announced that the online instructor drop process was ongoing and seemed to be working well. She added that if a student needed to be re-added to a class, faculty should follow the same online process.