Annual Report of the University College Committee
Academic Year 2006-07
Submitted May 1, 2007

1.  Committee chairperson: Emily R. Smith

2.  Committee membership
Bruce Bradford (DSOB)
Suzanne Campbell (SON)
Laura McSweeney (Mathematics & CS)
Rose Rodrigues (Sociology & Anthropology)
Emily Smith (GSEAP)
Brian Torff (Visual and Performing Arts)
Edna Wilson (Dean UC, ex officio)

3.  Meetings attended:

The Committee met 8 times during the 2006-2007 year. All members of this committee attended and participated reliably.  Members who could not attend a meeting could send comments on the scheduled agenda items.  Specific attendance follows:

Bradford [5]
Campbell [8]
McSweeney [7]
Perkus (ex-officio/invited guest) [2]
Rodrigues [6]
Smith [7]
Torff [7
Wilson [6]

4.  Dates of meetings:  

September 19, 2006
October 20, 2006
November 15, 2006
December 13, 2006
January 24, 2007
February 28, 2007
March 21, 2007
April 25, 2007

5.  List of principal topics considered by the committee:

Concerns regarding on-line courses:  Committee members discussed several issues related to on-line courses, including the impact of on-line courses on traditional classes, the scheduling and approval of on-line courses, the quality of instruction, competing enrollments between grounded and on-line classes, the evaluation of on-line courses, and the assessment of student learning in on-line courses.

Improving Communication between UC and Full-Time Faculty: The Committee continued to discuss ways to improve communication between UC, full-time faculty, and department chairs from the various colleges/schools whose faculty teach for UC, particularly around the development, approval and implementation of on-line courses. Also discussed need for greater full-time faculty involvement in UC and to provide information to faculty about the type of programs UC offers and how many students are served.

Evaluation of Adjuncts: The Committee discussed current ways by which the departments and UC evaluate adjunct professors and considered the value of developing more consistent and effective ways of assessing adjunct professors.

Revision of the Handbook description of the UC committee:  The Committee submitted the proposed change of the UC charge (“To act as a formal communication link between faculty and the undergraduate and graduate components of the School of Continuing Education on matters of educational and administrative policies”) to both the Academic Council and the General Faculty. The change was approved by the General Faculty at the April 13th, 2007 GFM.

Review and Revision of Procedures for Building the Course Schedule for University College: The major work of the Committee this year focused on reviewing and revising the procedures for approving and developing the UC course schedule. Completion of this task involved substantial discussion of issues related to UC and department chair communication, issues related to on-line courses (see above), hiring and evaluating adjuncts, and how to distribute these procedures to all faculty.

Development of UC Governance Document: As a result of our work on the Procedures for Building the UC Schedule, the Committee considered the need to update and revise UC’s Governance document (of which these revised Procedures would be a part).

6.  List of decisions taken by the committee:

Distribute Revised Procedures for Building UC Course Schedule. The Dean of UC will send out the revised Procedures for Building the UC Course Schedule to department chairs each semester.

Revision of the Handbook description of the UC committee:  The Committee proposed the revision of the General Purpose and Specific Duties of the committee. The proposed revision was approved by Academic Council and the General Faculty.  

7.  Anticipated effects of these decisions:

Distribution of Procedures for Building UC Schedule: The intention is that the revised Procedures will underscore the importance of ongoing communication between UC and department chairs and make the process for developing, approving and scheduling courses in UC clearer and uniform.

Revision of the Handbook description of the UC committee:  The revised committee description will align the Handbook description to the Committee’s current practice of discussing both undergraduate and graduate programs offered through UC.  

8.  Unfinished business:

Responding to the needs of Adult Learners in UC: Developing courses of interest to adult learners, and identifying and addressing barriers faced by adult and part-time learners.

Establishing a UC Curriculum Committee: Consider both the need for a UC Curriculum Committee and the role that UC might serve on this committee.

Infusion of Jesuit Mission into UC: In conjunction with Goal #3 of the Strategic Plan, the committee needs to be updated on efforts in this area of infusing the Jesuit mission into graduate education and discuss ways of supporting these efforts.

Development of UC Governance Document: The committee just began this work this year and hopes to continue it next year.

Evaluation of Adjuncts: Developing a uniform and effective process for evaluating adjunct professors.

9.  Future agenda items:

The 2007-2008 UC Committee could spend the year updating the UC Governance document.

Examine current practices and procedures for soliciting faculty to teach for UC and make changes where necessary to reflect schools’ differing needs and policies.

Provide more information and guidance to faculty about study abroad programs and transfer credits so that faculty can advise students appropriately on course selection. This could be done at a GFM.

In addition, the other “Unfinished business” is equally important and could be addressed by next year’s committee.