1. Minutes from October 15, 2015, were approved as written.
2. Postings
The following courses were discussed and approved by the UGC:
ARCH 100 – Introduction to Archaeology (Change: Formal Title, Transcript Title & Description) – The UGC approved the course pending the department change the transcript title because it is too long.
ARCH 200 – Archaeology and Art of Greece (Change: Course Number & Description)
CMPE 450 (Change: Prerequisite)
CMPEGateway Program Change (Change: Prerequisite)
3. Tabled Postings
ARCH 330: Archaeology of Bronze Age Greece (Change: Course Number, Formal Title, Transcript Title & Description) – The UGC tabled the course because the course number is not available for use. The department can use 309 or 311.
ANCS 305 – Warfare in the Ancient World (New) – The UGC tabled the course because the committee had questions regarding the breakdown of grades on the assignments make up 50% of the grade but on the current syllabus it wasn’t clear what the assignments are and how you will assess them. The committee was also unclear what “experimental methodology” means in the course description and would like clarification.
ANCS 375 – Ancient Medicine (New) – The UGC tabled the course because the syllabus has a conflict with the “graded mini-essays,” it doesn’t reflect the breakdown of the grade. Also, the grade breakdown And in the grade breakdown, 50% of the grade is based on quizzes, which the committee found was unusual in a 300-level class. Can you take a look at this and adjust?
The UGC reviewed all of the Philosophy course proposals and tabled them because the department has consistently asked for one philosophy course “or permission of the instructor.” The Registrar’s representatives would like for this to be clarified. All professors have the option of allowing any student into their class, but if you build “permission of the instructor” into the course, it goes in a separate place in SA, and it means that for each student in the class, the professor will have to give permission. The UGC also recommends that the department reconsiders the way in which they are using “recommended course preparation.” Rather than stating “especially PHIL 3xx,” why not just use 3xx as the recommended course preparation, especially since all of the courses now have a hard prereq of one PHIL course.
Finally, in all of your courses, the UGC would like for the department to remove “or the second attempt” from the catalog description. Students can always take a class a second time for a better grade; you want to make sure you are limiting the number of credits they can earn in the same class, which allows for students to take special topics courses on different topics, even with the same number.
PHIL 399 – Topics in Philosophy (Change: Prerequisite & Description)
PHIL 399b – Topics in Philosophy (Change: Course Number, Prerequisite & Description) – The tabled the course because PHIL 398 is not available for use because it has been less than ten years since your department offered a course with that number, and courses cannot be retired until ten years has elapsed. Also, the UGC would like a clearer rationale for the department’s preference for having two special topics designations at the 300 and 400 level. The department also needs to specify a maximum number of credits for repeatability.
PHIL 420 – Advanced Topics in 19th and 20th Century European Philosophy (Change: Recommended Course Preparation, Prerequisite & Description)
PHIL 452 – Advanced Topics in Ethics (Change: Recommended Course Preparation & Description)
PHIL 454 – Animals and the Environment: Moral Theory and its Application (Change: Course Number, Formal Title, Prerequisite & Description) – The UGC tabled the course because the description is too long and confusing. The committee was particularly concerned with the lack of parallel structure in the descriptions of the various topics that the course covers and would appreciate a clearer course description.
PHIL 471 – Freedom, Determinism and Responsibility (Change: Formal Title, Recommended Course Preparation & Prerequisite)
PHIL 472 – Advanced Topics in the Philosophy of Science (Change: Recommended Course Preparation, Prerequisite & Description) – The UGC tabled the course because in the catalogue description, please add a comma between “physics” and “or” in the first sentence. The committee did not understand what the department meant to convey in the recommended course preparation “a background in some particular science.” It would be clearer to list some recommended courses in departments who might offer helpful training for the students taking PHIL 472. The course description needs a final period to end the sentence. Finally, please indicate the maximum number of credits of PHIL 472 that students can take.
PHIL 481 – Ancient Philosophy (Change: Title, Recommended Course Preparation, Prerequisite & Description) The UGC would like for you to indicate the maximum number of credits
PHIL 498 – Advanced Topics in Philosophy (Change: Recommended Course Preparation, Prerequisite & Description) – The UGC tabled the course because the prerequisites call for any PHIL course while the recommended course are 300- levels. The committee would like to know if this was the department’s intention? That a student could take this class after only a lower level PHIL class, but it would be better if they had more upper-level exposure?
PHIL 499 – Advanced Topics in Philosophy (Change: Recommended Course Preparation, Prerequisite & Description)
The UGC discussed and tabled the following courses from 9/17/2015 meeting:
POLI 372 – Understanding Transitioning Nations: Study Abroad in Poland (New) – The UGC requested that the Department updated the course proposal and received support from the Study Aboard Program.
POLI 468 – Disaster Politics (New) – Revised – The UGC tabled the course because there is no breakdown of how the assignments are weighted. The department mentions a “heavy emphasis on discussion,” but provide no sense of how you will measure and assess that participation. The UGC would like for the department to add a section to the syllabus that explains the various components of the students’ grades and how they will be weighted and assessed. Also, it is our understanding that every 400-level POLI class should have a significant writing component, but you mention only a midterm and final. How will you incorporate the writing?
POLI 476 – State and Societal Transition in Post-Communist Europe: Study Abroad in Poland (New)
4. Policy and Procedure Updates
The UGC was updated regarding related academic and policy procedures. The UGC will discuss at the next meeting Proposed Arbitrary and Capricious Grading Procedures, Proposed Honor Eligibility Requirements and the Credit Hour Policy.