Undergraduate Studies Committee                                         Minutes 02/08/11

 

Attending Voting Members: P. Arce (SGA), M. Bauer (CS), J. Bennett (ROTC), K. Ellington (Psych), E. Foster (Financial Aid), R. Gordon (Psyc), M Gosz (MMAE), L. Hosman (SocSci), G. Fasshauer (Math), D. Kamper (BME), C. Koehler (MSED), G. Pulliam (Hum), G. Raman (MMAE), S. Sennott (Arch), M. Snyder (CAEE), K. Spink (BCPS), J. Twombly (SSB), R. Trygstad (ITM).

 

Attending IIT Guests: F. Bulaclac (U.G. Admissions), J. Dorr (Library), G. Doyle (Undergrad. Admissions), E. Helgren (Financial Aid), M. Lopez (Undergrad Acad. Affairs), F, Ruiz (MMAE), C. Segre (BCPS). G. Smith (Undergrad Acad. Affairs), G. Welter (Undergrad Acad. Affairs), P. Zachocki (Registrar)

 

The meeting is chaired by John Snapper.

The Chair notes that there is a quorum for business. Convene 12:55 PM.

Adjourn 1:45 PM. The minutes are recorded by Greg Pulliam.

 

The minutes of the Nov 30 meeting are approved.

 

It is moved and seconded on Nov 30 that

The general education requirement statement be revised to: Social and Behavioral Sciences: a minimum of nine credit hours. Courses that satisfy this requirement are marked with an (S) in this bulletin. The courses must be distributed as follows: Courses from at least two different fields.

The motion passes (14-1).

 

The UGSC views the motion as a short-term resolution of a problem in the (S) component of the general education program, due in part to the imposition of new course prerequisites. The UGSC charges M. Gosz to form a committee to propose a revised Humanities and Social and Behavioral Sciences general education program, which will supersede both the old program and the present short term resolution of the problems.

 

The faculty has charged the UGSC with an annual review of University resources for the IPRO program, with emphasis on compensation to the units to meet the in-discipline teaching duties of faculty teaching IPROs. Dr. Gosz presented a report to the UGSC. The UGSC reviewed and accepted the report.

 

The Faculty Council has expressed “concern that the process by which the IPRO program is being modified and updated needs additional faculty supervision.” In response, the UGSC opened discussion of the IPRO program and its faculty supervision. Dr. Ruiz provides the UGSC with a list of concerns.

 

Dr. Spink presents the UGSC with a proposal presently before the Graduate Studies Committee for a co-terminal 5-year degree program leading to MS/BS degrees in biology and biochemistry. The only change in the undergraduate component of the degrees is the substitution of BIO 544 for BIO 445. The UGSC views this substitution as a minor modification of the undergraduate degree, not requiring a UGSC vote.

 

Dr. Spink informs the UGSC of modifications to the degrees approved by the UGSC on Nov 30, including a name change in the degree approved as “engineering physics.” The UGSC does not believe that these modifications require a new UGSC review of the degrees. The matter is referred to the Faculty Council.

 

Issues were noted at the Nov 30 meeting concerning students registered in 6 credits of practice teaching in MSED-450. Financial Aid informs the UGSC that there is no advantage to the students in forcing the 6-credit registration into full-time status.