Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee
Meeting of March 18, 2008
Minutes
Present: Professors Steve Bayne (Chair), Sara Brill, Jessica Davis, Ron Davidson, Shannon
Harding, Olivia Harriott, Laura McSweeney, F. Cesar Maldonado, Jim Shanahan,
Joan Weiss; Dean Ray Poincelot,
Guest: Assistant Dean Beth Boquet.
The meeting was called to order at 3:32pm.
Professor Bayne announced that the
next ASCC meeting is scheduled for April 8, 2008 at 3:30 PM in CNS 100. Agenda
items to date include the discussion of graduate courses in American Studies
and (perhaps) Math. If necessary,
we will have an additional meeting in May, which will be difficult to schedule
during final exam period.
Professor Bayne suggested that we could meet on the same day as the
scheduled UCC meeting (May 6th).
Professor Shanahan pointed out
minor typos in the minutes. Professor Brill made a motion to approve the
amended minutes; the motion was seconded by Professor Harding. With the changes, the minutes were
unanimously approved.
Assistant Dean Beth Boquet joined
the meeting to discuss the Individually Designed Major. Dean Boquet provided
the committee with some background, explaining that this was her first year
overseeing the program and that she is working together with Professors Joan
Weiss, Jim Biardi, and Lisa Newton.
Dean Boquet then began walking the committee through the proposal
provided. Dean Boquet explained that, to date, 27 students have gone through
major. One of the real advantages to this major is that it gives students more
autonomy and allows them to take initiatives, in line with the goals of the
Strategic Plan. The committee has
worked with Anne Stehney and the Office of Alumni Relations to gather feedback
from advisor and student experiences (although only one former student has
responded). Dean Boquet explained that Advisor responses have been consistent;
for example, advisors appreciate the close contact with students, and the
opportunity to help them determine their educational goal, including
incorporating study abroad and research into their experiences. On the whole, students selecting this
major tend to be high-achieving individuals seeking enrichment. In terms of impact, Dean Boquet
explained that although the program is quite small, it has had a significant
impact on the students participating in it. Overall, the students seem to be engaged and committed to
the program. The program has no
resources; a fact that can perhaps be taken up with the Budget committee or the
Subcommittee on teaching compensation.
Dean Boquet also expressed some concern that the major can be somewhat "isolating",
and that perhaps in the future, steps can be taken to bring students in the
program together. Dean Boquet shared with the committee the guidelines for the
portfolio which were developed by the committee. Professor Bayne asked about the State of Connecticut
approval process, which initially allowed the program to run as a 3-year
pilot. Deans Poincelot and Boquet
said that the state approval had been extended. Professor Bayne suggested changing the "Suggested
Guidelines" section to "Guidelines" to make the portfolio more
specific. Dean Boquet explained
that while making a portfolio was an expectation of the major, the actual
contents of the portfolio may vary considerably based on the individual
experiences of the student.
Professor Bayne raised the question of whether students could fulfill the
requirements of the Independently Designed Major along with another major. Dean
Boquet suggested that this major should be treated as any other major, allowing
students to double major if they so choose. Dean Poincelot agreed, and said
that opposition might only arise when students were trying to include this
major as a third major. It was
also suggested that the ASCC might have to look into double counting to prevent
this from happening. Dean Boquet
further suggested that some of the steps that the committee has worked on may
discourage too many people from taking it on (example: meeting with
committee). Dean Boquet also
offered a snapshot of the program now, which currently has 4 majors: of these 3
have IDMJ as their ONLY major; 1 student has it as a second major; and there
are no triple majors. It was
explained that IDMJ's tend to be students committed to their interdisciplinary
minors. Professor Bayne and the
committee thanked Dean Boquet for her presentation, and Dean Boquet left the
room.
Motion: Professor
Davidson moved to approve, seconded by Professor Brill.
The Independently Designed Major
was approved unanimously.
4.
Graduate Mathematics New Course Proposals
The committee
discussed two new course proposals submitted by the Graduate Program in
Mathematics.
a.
MA531: Applied Mathematics I
Motion:
Professor Laura McSweeney made a motion to approve the course, seconded by
Professor Sara Brill. Professor Shanahan agreed to send
the list of typos (including some found in the catalog description) to Professor
Bayne.
The course was
unanimously approved.
b. MA532:
Applied Mathematics II
Motion:
Professor Shannahan made a motion to approve the course, seconded by Professor
Davis.
The course was
unanimously approved.
Professor Bayne
said that the committee should expect 4 more course proposals in math,
including a Capstone course.
5.
Election
of Subcommittee on Teaching Compensation for Faculty Supervision of Independent
Studies and Internships.
Professor Bayne
shared the names of the individuals who had been nominated to serve on the
subcommittee. Professor Harding
asked to remove from the ballot, since the Psychology Department already had
representation with another candidate (Professor Linda Henkel). It was suggested that Professor Jessica
Davis add her name to the ballot.
Professor Davidson asked for clarification about the role of Dean Boquet
on the committee. With the proposed guidelines, Dean Boquet would be a voting
member of the subcommittee, which will only be reporting back to the ASCC. Two ballots were distributed to members
of the committee: one was alphabetical, and a second ensured roughly equal
representation across different areas of the core. After some discussion, the committee agreed to use the
second ballot. Professor Bayne
then shared with the group each candidate's reasons for wanting to serve on the
subcommittee. A vote was
then held, and Professor Shanahan tallied the results.
Results: The following people were elected to the
subcommittee: Professors Jessica
Davis, Linda Henkel, Steve Bayne, and David Sapp.
proposals
Professor Bayne asked the committee
to revisit the motion requiring people to submit multiple hard copies of the
new course proposals.
Professor Bayne explained that in previous years, the Chair made all of
the copies. Potential problems
included the following: (1) We don't know the number on the committee year
after year, which will result in a waste of paper. (2) Members of committee will get information later with
hard copies. (3) This seems to be more work for the chair of the committee:
sorting through applications, separating them, sending them off etc. In short, the amount of work required
may discourage people from running for the Chair position. Professor McSweeney suggested that the
initial email from the ASCC Chair could specify the number of copies required
in a given year to prevent waste.
Professor Weiss agreed, and explained that the person proposing the
course should spend the time and money to printing the necessary forms. There was a lengthy discussion about
the benefits of receiving the forms in hard copy vs. the benefits of having
them available online. There was
also discussion about posting things on the faculty server, and providing
members of the committee with hard copies as well. This raises some security
issues. In the end, the motion was not overturned.
The meeting adjourned at 4:35.
Respectfully submitted,
Shannon Harding