Minutes of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Commitee Meeting

March 8, 2011 – BCC 204

 

Present: Robbin Crabtree (CAS Dean), Robert Epstein, Manyul Im, Scott Lacy, John Miecznikowski, Elizabeth Petrino, Giovanni Ruffini, Leslie Schaffer, Roxana Walker-Canton, Joan Weiss (CAS Associate Dean), Lei Xie, Qin Zhang (Chair)

 

Regrets: Jerelyn Johnson

 

Meeting called to order by Zhang at 3:35 p.m.

 

  1. Appointment of Manyul Im as secretary pro tempore

 

  1. Approval of Minutes – Motion to approve by Lacy, seconded by Xie. Discussion – minor corrections from Miecznikowski, recorded by Zhang. Vote: 10 favor (unanimous) for approving the minutes as revised.

 

  1. Consideration of revised new course proposal for IL 280 – Motion to approve by Im, seconded by Petrino. Discussion – Zhang noted that this is a reconsideration of a modified proposal and that the proposer, Janie Leatherman, had broadened the course from its more narrow Fullbright focus which was one source of concern for ASCC in the initial proposal. Weiss noted that the attached appendix to the syllabus was garbled. Zhang stated that the garbling may be due to a file upload problem and that she would try to correct it. Weiss also noted that on the syllabus, the Week 7 readings were on research design but that there was also 10-page research paper due that week on research design, leaving insufficient time in between the class sessions and the assignment. Zhang said she would inform Leatherman of the problem. Epstein stated that the course content was much improved but suggested that the revised catalog description replace Ô(puzzle)Õ with Ôor puzzleÕ. Vote: Unanimous in favor of approving IL 280 as a new course.

 

  1. Consideration of revised Anthropology new minor program proposal – Zhang noted that this was a reconsideration of a modified proposal and gave Lacy the floor to provide information about the Sociology departmentÕs responses to the ASCCÕs concerns about the initial proposal. Lacy stated that the department had met to approve changes to the proposal in order to address the concern that Sociology majors would be able to double-count too many courses in getting an Anthropology minor. Lacy pointed out the change in the proposal that allows only one overlapping course allowed for a Sociology major – Anthropology minor program of study. Weiss pointed out an inconsistency in the number of required courses in the description of the minor. Lacy indicated that he would have the chair of Sociology, David Crawford, bring the description into line with the second description on the proposal as the department had intended. Lacy addressed the other ASCC concern in the initial proposal about why the two required courses in the minor are Biological or Cultural Anthropology courses rather than courses that cover all four areas of the field. Lacy explained that the two tracks reflected by the courses reflect the state of the field for most Anthropology programs. Zhang wonderd which course provides training in quantitative methods. Lacy replied that both of the required courses would provide it. Epstein wondered whether Biological Anthropology would be cross-listed with the Biology program. Crabtree offered that an important related consideration is the Anthropology course having to apply for core credit for sciences core credit if it is designed as a science course rather than a social science course. Lacy concurred with Crabtree. Epstein wondered whether all four fields of Anthropology would be offered in one way or another. Lacy affirmed that they would be, because the two required courses could not plausibly be taught without including important elements of the remaining two fields, such as Linguistic Anthropology. Crabtree stated that program chairs or directors should always think about cross-departmental cooperation in designing courses that may have significant overlaps across disciplines, for the sake of resource optimization. Motion to approve the new Anthropology minor program by Im, seconded by Miecznikowski. Vote: Unanimous in favor of approving the Anthropology minor

 

  1. Consideration of Communication Major program revision – Zhang welcomed Maggie Wills (Chair) and David Gudelunas (Internship Coordinator) from Communication Department for informational session. Wills stated that the proposed revision will bring the program better in line with other programs in the university and with Communication programs in other universities and also that it will formalize what many students in the Communication program are already doing. Wills informed the committee that the main revision is to require all 10 courses in the major to be from the Communication curriculum. Wills qualified this by saying that the department will still encourage enrollment in relevant courses outside of Communication through its advising. Gudelunas added that social sciences core requirements for Communication majors must still be taken outside of the department (as is already required). Crabtree wondered about the extent to which Communication chatted with, alerted, or dialogued with chairs or faculty of other departments who might be affected by the revision—English and Marketing, for example. Those people might think the Communication majors had been boosting their enrollments and might worry about the collateral effects of the change. Wills indicated that she had discussed the issue with Jim Simon in the English department about impact on English writing courses. Marketing will also be approached but, Wills pointed out, the Communication student practice is already reflected in 10 CO courses often with the addition of a marketing minor, so the conversation with Marketing should be okay. Gudelunas added that Communication has talked with their students and is confident that the enrollment continuity in those other programs will remain in place. Crabtree emphasized that there are program reviews and revisions in the offing with some of the relevant programs, so it is important to keep in conversation with them. Weiss suggested that it may be good to publicize the double-counting advantages for double-majoring with those departments, in the catalog. Crabtree added that Communication should work on catalog copy to clarify that. Epstein wondered if Communication has enough faculty to provide core courses for non-majors and majors, with the increased Communication course coverage required by the change. Wills replied that she has already reserved more spaces for majors in the enrollment rollouts. Crabtree added that historically, Communication has not serviced the core with quite the same demand as other social science programs. Motion to approve the Communication degree requirement revision by Miecznikowski, seconded by Epstein. Vote: unanimous approval of Communication degree requirement revision.

 

  1. Consideration of Asian Studies Program Revision – Im explained that the Asian Studies minor would be revised in two ways; first, that any three semesters of Asian language work could count toward the minor, replacing the existing requirement that one of those semesters had to be an advanced level course; Im noted that of the two languages, Chinese and Japanese, that are currently offered, only Chinese even has an advanced level course; second, that the Asian Studies Seminar, AN 310, would be offered each term in conjunction with another course in the Asian Studies curriculum, in a rotation that allows the teaching load to be spread more equitably among the Asian Studies faculty. Weiss asked whether students would be signing up for AN 310. Im replied that that would be the case. Crabtree explained that AN 310 would be the course an Asian Studies minor would sign up for but it would be taught at the same time and place – and by the same instructor – as another Asian Studies course. Weiss suggested that Asian Studies add description in catalog copy about AN 310 that explains more clearly that the courses taught in conjunction with AN 310 would rotate among different departments and disciplines. Im added that the new set up would allow Asian Studies minors to plan their course work better since each term would have an AN 310 section available. Motion to approve Asian Studies Program revisions by Ruffini, seconded by Epstein. Vote: unanimous approval of Asian Studies Program revision.

 

 

Adjourned at 4:48 p.m.