Arts
and
Sciences Curriculum Committee
Minutes
of the meeting of November 14, 2006
Convened
at
3:30 p.m.
Present: Professors Bayers, Davidson, Garvey,
Harriott, Rosivach (chair), Salafia, Weiss, Wills,
Dean Snyder
Agenda:
1.
Announcements
Rosivach
indicated
that various odds and ends from the previous meeting had been taken
care of.
One question in particular concerned the name of the art history
course, "Art
History 109: Jewish Art: Moses to
Modernity" was
correct. The
answer is yes, that is the correct course name.
2.
Approval
of Minutes
September
16, 2006 minutes were approved, with minor changes. Bayers noted that
his
comment on page 3, under Literary Journalism course, should reflect
that Simon
advised all journalism students (not all students). Weiss noted that
there was
a typo on page 2 in the section on Bi 375, the four question marks
should be
deleted.
¤
Garvey
moved to approve; Davidson seconded. Approved unanimously.
3.
New
course proposals:
Re: LAC
295 – Service Experience in Latin America and the Caribbean
Rosivach
asked for a motion to approve, which came from Davidson and was
seconded by
Harriott.
While
the
overall view of the course was positive, there were many questions.
Weiss began
by asking how do you balance 120 hours with 40 hours (depending on
whether
course is taken in Summer or Winter)? Davidson suggested that the 40
hours in
Winter was just the service component while there was also an online
component.
Weiss thought there should be a preparatory component in Summer too. In
spite
of Davidson's best efforts to explain his understanding of the service
learning
nature of the course as a model that was being widely accepted, Weiss
still
seemed uncertain how the equivalence was achieved, as well as when,
where, and
how research was done, etc.
Weiss
also
asked where the "Guide for Reflection" was? It was supposed to be
attached. It
was agreed that the guide was missing.
Weiss
asked
how transportation, housing, and other costs figure into the course.
Davidson
presumed this would go through the new office of experiential learning
that is
being set up. Rosivach thought students would pay, as they do for study
abroad.
Davidson pointed out that that was not necessarily so. For the Beijing
program,
students only have to pay for transportation. Weiss continued that she
was
curious, but Davidson suggested that the issue might not be in the
committee's
purview anyway.
Weiss
asked
about the service evaluation form that should be attached. She could
not find
it, and it also seemed to be missing.
Weiss
found
it problematic that under purpose, it was specified that LAC 295 counts
toward
the minor or the individually designed major in LACS. Rosivach
indicated that
it just meant that this course could be one of the courses a student
might consider
for an individually designed major. Weiss accepted the explanation but
indicated that she still had a problem with the terminology.
Weiss
asked
where is the service experience agreement form? It also seemed to be
missing.
Rosivach and Davidson responded that this was a standard form that was
available in the study abroad office, and need not be appended.
Rosivach
pointed out that what we do with regard to this course will have
consequences
beyond this particular course. There is a real push for experiential
service
learning and we should expect to see more coursed s presented to us for
approval. Weiss responded that she thought this was indeed a well
prepared
course; it was just that she had lots of questions about it. She did
not wish
her questions to be taken as anything but questions.
Davidson
wondered whether the chair could request the appropriate offices (e.g.,
study
abroad) to provide the committee with relevant materials such as those
that had
come up in our discussions, so that the committee would be in a better
position
to evaluate these proposals.
Weiss
raised further questions about the course, specifically about grading
and the
fact that 30% of the grade was assessed by a non Fairfield U person.
The
subsequent discussion concerned maintenance of academic standards, and
the
like. Davidson felt that ultimately we might have to rely on some
outsiders,
sometimes.
Snyder
wondered if anyone had any idea how they will fund the course. (The
Dean had
not been present for the previous, brief discussion of this issue.) He
related
a the history of a previous course and the enormous problems that were
raised
by not having this information spelled out. Ultimately the president had to make the final decision on
funding.
Harriott
felt that the purposes of the course were well spelled-out, but that
they could
be applied to any service learning course. She was not sure whether
this was a
problem or not. Some discussion ensued about how the course was
developed.
Ultimately, while the purpose seemed to be a bit like a standard
template, it
was felt that it adequately applied to this particular course.
The
questions kept coming and finally, Davidson suggested that, given the
extraordinary nature of the discussion on this course and the many
concerns
raised, we should consider tabling it and inviting relevant parties,
e.g.,
Prof. Sourieau, Prof. Crabtree,
etc., to
respond to all of the concerns about funding, oversight, academic
templates,
student access, etc.
¤
Davidson
moved to table until our Dec. 5 meeting; Garvey seconded. Approved
unanimously.
Re: GR
327 - Advanced Greek Readings III
Davidson
asked of Rosivach whether, in light of the fact that they were
in the middle of a search, he envisioned a time when Ancient Greek
could be
taught as a regular course rather than an overload? The discussion of
this
peripheral issue was somewhat extended, but not particularly relevant
to the
current course proposal, and there was no apparent resolution.
¤
Weiss
moved to approve the course; Davidson seconded. Approved unanimously.
Re: CO
569 – Continuing Thesis Research
¤
Davidson
moved to approve the course; Garvey seconded. Approved unanimously.
4.
Cross-listing
of courses
Rosivach
indicated that the issue dealt with offering credit for courses in
other
departments: What does this involve?
What, if any role, does the A&SCC have in this? He had
received
questions about this, and needed answers. This came up in the context
of a
communication from the Asian Studies Program that listed all of their
offerings. He figured he would just throw the issue on the table since
the
A&SCC did not seem to have a specific policy on the issue.
Salafia
mentioned PY 203 Statistics for the Life Sciences, which is cross
listed as BI
203. He did not recall needing A&SCC approval. The course had been
set up
with the approval of the two departments. Davidson said that the same
had been
true of the course "Evil" that carries credit in both Philosophy and
Religious
Studies departments.
Rosivach
felt that what was important was that the relevant faculties had
reviewed the
course. After that it merely became an administrative matter. It need
not come
to the A&SCC. On the other hand, the actual giving of separate
numbers for
the same course was another issue, and he wondered whether we saw the
need to
get involved.
In
response
to some questions, Salafia gave a bit of the history of BI/PY 203. The
course
had been taught for many years to Psych majors as a required course.
There was
a very different stats course in the Bio department, but many Bio
majors had
opted to take the Psych course. I approached the instructor of the Bio
course
who happily agreed to give up the stats course for another preferred
course.
Since the Psych course was already set up as a research and
hypothesis-testing
oriented course, it satisfied the requirements of Biology and did not
have to
be revised, except for the obvious inclusion of some additional
biological
examples and data.
Weiss
said
she was aware of courses like RS 48 and PH 48, and the like. But she
wondered about
a course for the Asian Studies minor. Does it get an Asian Studies
number; the
answer from several committee members was no.
Rosivach
simply reiterated that he, as chair of the A&SCC, had received the
list
from the Asian Studies Program , and was unsure ho to proceed, but did
not want
to make policy on his own. This was "Case1." Additionally, there was
the issue
of the same course listed in two departments, e.g., PH 48/RS 48. What
should
policy be on that? This is Case 2." Is it sufficient to receive
approval on the
department level, or should it come to this committee under whatever
form?
Davidson
saw no problem regarding Case 2, s long as the course has been properly
approved by all relevant committees.
Snyder
felt
that the committee should at least be consulted. Maybe there was no
problem
with departments, but there could be some with programs. Coming before
the
A&SCC would at least insure a conversation.
Davidson
wondered whether it might just be a question of advisement to the
directors of
programs. Perhaps the Dean's concerns are more properly issues for the
Dean's
office than for this committee.
Garvey
pointed out the English does a fair amount of cross-listing. She raised
a
specific question of a student who took a course that was cross-listed
with
English and Theater. The student had taken the course as a Theater
course and
now wanted it to count as English core. Garvey did not know whether
there was a
policy on that. Weiss and Davidson gave examples of courses where there
are
specific rules for what may be counted for what.
Rosivach
suggested that a subcommittee of two members of A&SCC should be
formed to
research the issue and propose some sort of policy, or at least
resolution
for Bayers and Salafia were
pressed into service for the subcommittee.
5.
Special
topics courses:
Rosivach
indicated that the A&SCC had approved a policy statement on this in
May
2002 and forwarded it to the College Faculty for action. He contacted
Susan
Rakowitz, the Secretary of the College Faculty, and she could find no
record
that the issue had been taken up.
Rosivach's
guess was that the papers failed to be passed on during a transition of
officers. The question is what should we do now? Should we discuss it
further,
or should we approve it and forward it, as is, for approval of the
College
Faculty.
After
some
general discussion and clarification, there was general agreement that
Rosivach
should do the latter.
Salafia
motioned to adjourn, and Wills seconded.
The
meeting
ended at about 4:40.
Respectfully
submitted,
Ron
Salafia
Recording
Secretary