College of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee

Meeting of February 15, 2011

3:30 pm to 5:00 pm, BCC 204

Minutes

Present: Bob Epstein, Manyul Im, Jerelyn Johnson, Scott Lacy, John Miecznikowski (Secretary Pro-tem), Elizabeth Petrino, Giovanni Ruffini, Les Schaffer, Roxanna Walker-Canton, Joan Weiss, Tommy Xie, Qin Zhang (Chair).

Called to order: 3:32 pm

1. Announcements:

The Chair thanked Manyul Im for his work as ASCC Chair in the Fall 2010 term.

The ASCC may need to meet on Wednesday, February 23, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. in BCC 204 if the ASCC does not get to review and approve all of the courses on today’s Agenda.

Im mentioned that he is working on a cheat sheet for chairs and program directors on the guidelines followed to approve a course.

Weiss announced that there is a proposal to add the Individually Designed Major (IDMJ) Committee as a standing committee. This proposal will be an amendment to the CAS Governance Document and the proposal will be considered at an upcoming CAS Meeting.  The IDMJ Committee has been an ad hoc committee since the inception of the Individually Designed Major in 2002.  This proposal codifies the nature and duties of the Individually Designed Major Committee. Weiss asks the ASCC endorse this proposal at today’s meeting.

2. Approval of Minutes (Meeting of December 14, 2010):

Im moved to approve minutes, seconded by Ruffini. Minor corrections to the minutes followed. Weiss offered a correction (page 2). Miecznikowski offered a suggestion (page 1).

Motion: Chair called for a vote to approve minutes. The minutes were approved (8 for, 3 abstained).

3. New Course Proposals:

BI381 (Biology Seminar), Miecznikowski moved to approve, Im seconded.

Discussion: Should mention in the Catalog description that there will be two lectures per week. Im noticed that the catalog description is 11 words over the limit.

Motion: Chair called for a vote on BI381. Eleven approved and the motion passed unanimously.

CO237 (Sports, Media, and Culture), Weiss moved to approve, Walker-Canton seconded.

Discussion: Miecznikowski thought that Prof. Serazio developed a very detailed proposal. Weiss mentioned that Prof. Serazio answered all questions in the course proposal form. Zhang commented that the syllabus is excellent and that the course objections reflect the core pathways. Epstein noticed that the course is based on social theory and wondered how the course differs from the sociological perspective. Xie wondered how the instructor will evaluate the short response course blog postings. The instructor did not notice any grading criteria. Xie mentioned that it is difficult to grade on-line posting. Does the instructor have a detailed rubric clarify the grading criteria of the course-blog postings?

Motion: Chair called for a vote on CO237. Eleven approved and the motion passed unanimously.

CO323 (Gender and Organizing), Im moved to approve, Petrino seconded.

Discussion: Zhang mentioned that the course was offered last term as a special topics course. Prof. Arendt would like to offer the course as a regular course. Prof. Arendt changed and corrected the name of the course to Gender and Organizing. It was called several different course titles within the proposal. Im stated that the syllabus should reflect a 14 week schedule not a13 week schedule. Walker-Canton mentioned that the e-mail address and phone number for the Director of Academic and Disability Support Services should be mentioned in the syllabus. Weiss noted that the instructor should clarify when the students should sign up for the reaction papers.

Motion: Chair called for a vote on CO323. Eleven approved and the motion passed unanimously.

EC130 (Haiti: An Economic Perspective) Johnson moved to approve, Walker-Canton seconded.

Discussion: Zhang mentioned that the course will be cross-listed in Latin–American and Caribbean Studies, Black Studies, and International Studies. A letter from International Studies is still needed in order to cross list the course with International Studies.

Zhang wondered how Prof. Miners will implement the service learning component. Petrino stated that the service learning component will be optional. She mentioned that Prof. Miners should mention the Office of Service learning and give Melissa Quan’s contact information in the syllabus. Lacy asked if the course has to be approved for Service Learning for us to approve the course. Weiss mentioned that Service Learning approval does not affect our approval of the course. Walker-Canton stated that the instructor should develop another assignment if the pen-pals can not be located. Xie observed that one of the course objectives is to improve the quantitative reasoning skills of the students in the class. He stated that Prof. Miners should work quantitative reasoning training into the course outline.

Motion: Chair called for a vote on EC130. Eleven approved and the motion passed unanimously.

FR 260/EN-117 (Introduction to Sub-Saharan African Culture)

Discussion: The Chair will send the course to the Dean for cross listing approval. The Chair will send the course to the UCC for approval since it will affect the Core Requirements.

No vote since no action was taken on the course.

IL280 (Global Leadership for Research and Project Development)

Discussion: Prof. Leatherman taught the course as a Special Topics course in the Fall 2010 term. It is a course on how to write a grant application for an International Fellowship. Im stated that the course has several goals reflected in the title and stated goals in the syllabus, but details in the syllabus seem narrower than the goals given in the title and stated goals. Lacy mentioned that the instructor should consider elements on how to search for funding opportunities besides a Fulbright application. Ruffini believes that it will be good for students to look for broader funding opportunities. Walker-Canton added that the assignments should be more varied, not just about Fulbright. Petrino liked the amount of writing that the students are asked to complete. Several committee members are disturbed that the students are not asked to complete a longer paper in addition to the grant application. Zhang noted that in the sample syllabus, week 13 is mentioned twice. The weeks should be renumbered. Zhang also mentioned that the instructor should mention the student handbook definition for academic honesty rather than giving a dictionary definition.

The ASCC recommends revising the course proposal and resubmitting it for approval.

IL 52-AY 52 (Culture and Political Economy)

Discussion: IL52 exists. It will be sent to the Dean for cross-listing approval. It will be sent to the UCC for review since it will affect the core requirements. Ruffini wondered if it was the Department of Sociology and Anthropology’s intent for it to count the course for the core.

PO 140 (Islam and Muslim Politics), Epstein moved to approve and Johnson, seconded.

Discussion: Johnson was surprised that we do not already have a course offered in this area at Fairfield. Ruffini noticed that the catalog description should read “based on stereotypes” (line 3)) instead of “based stereotypes” and that the description should read “drawing primarily on examples” instead of “drawing on primarily on examples ..” (line 6). Weiss stated that the Student disabilities statement is missing in the sample syllabus. Im mentioned that the catalog description should indicate the number of credits. Petrino and Epstein would like to see extended writing assignments included in the course. The instructor could use shorter writing assignments to develop and write longer papers. Extended writing with feedback is one of the goals for writing assignments. Ruffini commented that our students think in sound bites. Students need to learn to write more sustained arguments. Ruffini also questioned the pedagogical value of a 50 % oral final exam. Im stated that the instructor needs to tell the Dean and the Chairperson that she will give an alternative final exam.

Motion: Chair called for a vote on PO140. Eight approved, two opposed, zero abstained, and the motion passed.

RS152 (Women in the Bible), Miecznikowski moved to approve, Im seconded.

Discussion: Weiss stated that Prof. Harkins took the Department’s suggestions to heart and revised the course accordingly. Im mentioned that the instructor should shorten the catalog description. It is 34 words over the limit. Zhang noticed that the bullet point for “Short Analysis Papers on Specific Biblical Texts” should be moved over and not be a sub-bullet. Johnson stated that the box on rewriting papers was cut off.

Motion: Chair called for a vote on RS152. Ten approved, zero opposed, zero abstained, and the motion passed unanimously.

SP346, (Memory, Amnesia, and Engagement in Contemporary Spanish Theater), Im moved to approve, Miecznikowski seconded.

Discussion: The course will be taught in Spanish. All committee members liked the staged readings. Im asked if it should be reflected in the Catalog copy that the course will be offered in Spanish. The instructor needs to include a statement on Academic and Disability Support Services.

Motion: Chair called for a vote on SP346. Ten approved, zero opposed, zero abstained, and the motion passed unanimously.

Since the ASCC reviewed and approved all of the courses on today’s Agenda, the ASCC will not have to reconvene on Wednesday, February 23, 2011.

4. New Business

Individually Designed Major Committee. Im moved to endorse, Ruffini seconded.

Discussion: Weiss stated that there is a proposal to add the Individually Designed Major (IDMJ) Committee as a standing committee. The IDMJ Committee has been an ad hoc committee since the inception of the Individually Designed Major in 2002.  This proposal codifies the nature and duties of the Individually Designed Major Committee and creates a new standing committee in the College of Arts and Sciences. Im mentioned that having a standing committee would provide much better continuity than if it were an ad hoc committee. Zhang asked how many individually designed majors do we have at Fairfield? Weiss answered three in the class of 2011 and three in the class of 2012.

Motion: Chair called for a vote to endorse the Individually Designed Major (IDMJ) Committee as a standing committee. Ten approved, zero opposed, zero abstained, and the motion passed unanimously.

At the next ASCC meeting, the Anthropology minor, a program change for the Communication major requirements, and the Asian Studies program change will be considered.

5. Adjournment

Miecznikowski moved to adjourn, Ruffini seconded.

All in favor.

Meeting adjourned at 4:57 pm

Respectfully Submitted,

John Miecznikowski