1. Minutes from September 17, 2015, were approved as written.
2. Postings
The following courses were discussed and approved by the UGC:
ARBC 350 – Arabic Media – (New)
ARBC 355 – Introduction to Arabic Culture and Civilization – (New)
ASIA 330 – The Dao of Intermedia (New) – Revised
ART 355 – The Dao of Intermedia (New) – Revised
Print Media (BA Visual Art) (Program Change)
Print Media (BFA Visual Art) (Program Change)
Print Media Program Change for Minor (Program Change)
MLL 413 – Language, Gender and Sexuality – (Change: Prerequisite & Description)
MATH 290 – Special Topics in Mathematics – (Change: Max. Total Credits & Description)
STAT 290 – Special Topics in Statistics – (Change: Repeatable, Max. Total Credits & Description)
PHED 103 – Team Handball (New) – Revised
3. The following posting will be discussed at the next UGC meeting:
PHED 103 – Team Handball – (Change: Course Number, Formal Title, Transcript Title, Recommended Course Preparation, Prerequisite, Description)
4. The following postings were tabled and need departments to submit additional information:
The UGC discussed and tabled the following courses from 10/1/2015 meeting:
ART 339 – Design Thinking for the Social Entrepreneur (New) – The UGC discussed the revised posting but still has a few concerns that need to be addressed. 1)The prerequisite ENGL 110 is the section of English comp aimed at non-native English speakers. The UGC suggests ENGL 100 or ENGL 110 with a C or better as a more appropriate prerequisite. 2) The UGC would like to know what the means of assessment are. Will students show they meet the objectives with papers? One on one interactions with the professor? Journals? Interviews? Critiques? The department needs to specify the means of assessment.
BTEC 300 – Biotechnology Survey: Legal, Ethical, Regulatory & Biosafety Issues (New) – The UGC discussed the revised posting and tabled it because of the following concerns. 1) The UGC would like the department to remove BTEC from the Transcript description, this would allow for spaces between the keywords of the course title. 2) The UGC is concerned that the grading mechanism is vague and would like more description of the 750-word papers to be included in the syllabus. One-half of the final grade depends on these papers, but there is no description of what is involved in them. Without the description, it ‘s hard to tell if the workload is consistent with other 300-level STEM classes. 3) Please remove the descriptor “weekly” in the catalog description.
BTEC 350 – Statistics for Translational Life Science (New) – The UGC discussed the revised posting and tabled it because of the following concerns. 1) The UGC would like the department to remove BTEC from the Transcript description, this would allow for spaces between the keywords of the course title. 2) It is not clear what “application examples are.” Please describe them in the sample syllabus. 3) The catalog course description seems scanty. The UGC suggest STAT 350 as a model for this course.
MATH 365 – Financial Mathematics for Actuaries – (New) – The UGC would like the department to fix the catalog course description because it seemed to be too colloquial. Rather than using the formulation “We will,” the committee suggests using “This course will…”
STAT 365 – Financial Mathematics for Actuaries – (New) – The UGC would like the department to fix the catalog course description because it seemed to be too colloquial. Rather than using the formulation “We will,” the committee suggests using “This course will…”
MATH 390 – Special Topics in Mathematics – (Change: Max. Total Credits & Description) – The UGC tabled the course because it is requesting at least some recommended courses in preparation. If the department doesn’t want to be locked into a set of prerequisites, the committee would like to see some recommended lower level MATH/STAT courses. This recommendation is in place for all upper-level classes, as the course preparation indicates to students the rigor of the course.
MATH 490 – Special Topics in Mathematics – (Change: Max. Total Credits & Description) – The UGC tabled the course because it is requesting at least some recommended courses in preparation. If the department doesn’t want to be locked into a set of prerequisites, the committee would like to see some recommended lower level MATH/STAT courses. This recommendation is in place for all upper-level classes, as the course preparation indicates to students the rigor of the course.
STAT 490 – Special Topics in Statistics – (Change: Max. Total Credits & Description) – The UGC tabled the course because it is requesting at least some recommended courses in preparation. If the department doesn’t want to be locked into a set of prerequisites, the committee would like to see some recommended lower level MATH/STAT courses. This recommendation is in place for all upper-level classes, as the course preparation indicates to students the rigor of the course.
POLI 468 – Disaster Politics (New) – The UGC tabled the course and made the following recommendations. 1) The catalog course description is long and seems very tailored to the expectation that the same person will always be teaching the course. The description reads like the introductory paragraph on a syllabus than a catalog description. The UGC recommends that the Department reframe it in the third person (ex. This course will…) rather than in the first, and you shorten and tighten the description. 2) For online classes approved by the UGC, the standard has been that a sizable portion of the grade as to take place face-to-face. Could you please think about how you might incorporate some in-person encounters for this class? One idea would be exams that take place on campus. 3) There seems to be some discrepancy between the statement that the class will rely on “heavy discussion” and the fact that the only required discussion appears to be the posting of discussion questions. 4) In choosing all three grading options, POLI students taking this class would not be able to have it count towards the major if they want to audit or take the class P/F. The grading method is entirely the Departments choice, but not all instructors are aware of the ramifications of the P/F option for their majors.
The UGC discussed and tabled the following courses from 9/17/2015 meeting:
BIOL 490 – Chemical Communication and Brain Disorders (New) – The UGC tabled the course because there seems to be a problem with the required short papers (10) and the number found in the schedule of classes (4). The UGC was also concerned that the workload was light for a 400-level class.
POLI 372 – Understanding Transitioning Nations: Study Abroad in Poland (New) – The UGC requested that the department updated the course proposal and receive support from the Study Aboard Program.
POLI 476 – State and Societal Transition in Post-Communist Europe: Study Abroad in Poland (New)