November 5, 2013

November 5, 2013

Academic Council (approved March 4, 2014)

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

Guests: Michelle Brune, Sophia Scott  

A.  MINUTES: Upon a motion by Gathman; seconded by Weller-Stilson, the minutes of September 3, 2013, were unanimously approved.  

B.  ACTION ITEMS:  

1. Family Economics and Management – Deletion of Minor
Rogers-Adkinson moved approval of the deletion of the Family Economics and Management minor; seconded by Scott. Brune explained that the minor was not being used, and no students were declared. Motion passed unanimously.

2. Women’s Studies – Deletion of Minor(tabled at 5/7/13 meeting)
Gathman moved to bring the deletion of the Women’s Studies minor back to the table for approval; seconded by Weller-Stilson/Starrett. Motion passed unanimously. The original motion and discussion from the 5/7/2013 meeting were “Barrios moved approval of the deletion of the Women’s Studies minor; seconded by Rogers-Adkinson. Barrios explained that the minor has had a complicated history. Ustinova explained that the minor was created over a decade ago, and with the retirement of the key creator, the oversight was transferred to the College of Business, but the minor was officially still with the Department of English. There have been no declared minors in the past six years. Fluegge Woolf questioned if the minor should be terminated or could be suspended and possibly brought back if revamped. Gathman reiterated Fluegge Woolf’s suggestion of suspending the minor, or possibly terminating it and creating a new “Gender Studies” minor. Further discussion occurred. Gathman moved to table any action on the minor until October; seconded by McGowan. Motion to table passed unanimously.” Scates further explained that the Department of English firmly wants to delete the minor, as there is no interest in it, and no other department wants to claim it and revamp it. Motion to delete the minor passed, with one opposed.

3.  Eliminating Graduation with Honors for Graduate Students
McDougall and Hinkle explained that this proposal has been unanimously approved at Graduate Council on 10/31/13, and would take effect with the Spring 2014 semester. Gathman moved approval to eliminate Graduation with Honors for graduate students; seconded by McAllister. Motion passed unanimously.

C. Informational/Discussion Items:  

1. Nutrition Minor – Curriculum Revisions
Brune explained that the Nutrition minor has been reduced from 18 hours to 15 hours. Heavy dietetics courses were replaced with more general nutrition courses, to make it more student friendly. Also, the minor will be available online in Spring 2015.

2. MA in Human Environmental Studies – Curriculum Revisions
Brune explained that the core requirements for the MA in Human Environmental Studies have been increased from 18 to 21 credit hours, while the specialization electives have been decreased from 18 to 15 credit hours. DS618, Environmental Design in Human Services, was added to the core to give the graduate student more in-depth course work specific to human services. Rogers-Adkinson suggested revising the wording for students with disabilities in the Student Learning Outcomes section of the DS618 syllabus.

3. BS in Mass Communication – Revision to requirement for Non-MC Prefix Courses
Jung explained that previously the accrediting body required a minimum of 83 hours outside of the MC prefix, with 68 of those hours from Arts and Sciences courses, which made it necessary to have unique advising for Mass Communication students. Now, this requirement is being simplified to a minimum of 78 hours outside of the MC prefix.

4. BFA in Theatre/BA in Theatre – Curriculum Revisions
Weller-Stilson explained that the revisions to the BFA in Theatre and the BA in Theatre are due to accreditation standards. In the BFA in Theatre, the Acting Option was increased from 39 to 40 hours to parallel the Musical Theatre Option. Four Advanced Dance courses were removed from the Acting Option, and four Acting courses were added to the option. There were some courses renamed as well. In the BA in Theatre, four new Acting courses were added to the Option, and two courses were renamed.

5. BS in Agribusiness: Horticulture Option/Horticulture Minor – Curriculum Revisions
Scott explained that the revisions to the BS Agribusiness Horticulture Option, and to the Horticulture minor are to make both more student friendly, even for non-majors who would like to take horticulture classes. In both, HO130 and HO230, totaling 6 credit hours, are being replaced by HO225, HO235, HO245, and HO255, totaling 8 credit hours. These courses will be offered as 8-week courses, with no prerequisites. Also, several courses have been renamed to include wording so as not to be confused with Community College courses.

6. HLC Faculty Roles and Qualifications
McDougall explained that the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) has set out new criteria and regulations stating that an individual who is teaching should have a degree one level above what they’re teaching, and that the institution should have a minimal threshold and process in place, such as five years advanced experience relevant to teaching assignment (with content and level taken into consideration). He will be discussing this issue with the deans, and propose that for exceptions, Chairpersons will submit a proposal with justification, which will be submitted to the Dean for approval, and forwarded to the Provost for final approval. He explained it is not possible to set criteria across the board, as each discipline is different. He will ask the deans to submit hypothetical examples. Althaus questioned if this was for part-time, full-time, or both; McDougall stated it would be for both.

D. Other:  

1. Hinkle announced that final grades for the Fall 2013 semester will be due on Sunday, December 22.

2. Gathman announced that we are moving to local hosting of Moodle (learning2.semo.edu) starting with the Wintersession 2013 and Spring 2014 semester.

3. Rogers-Adkinson announced that there will be a Teacher Education presentation for all colleges this Friday, November 8th at 1:00 p.m. in Dempster Glenn Auditorium, and encouraged anyone who has Teacher Education to attend.

4. Weller-Stilson announced that the Warhol exhibit is currently at the Museum.

Motion to adjourn was made by Gathman; seconded by Starrett. Meeting adjourned.