WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

ACADEMIC COORDINATING COMMISSION MINUTES

Regular Meeting

January 18, 2005

Chair Tom Downing called the meeting of the Academic Coordinating Commission to order on January 18, 2005 in OM340 at 4:02 p.m.   There were fifteen (15) members present, two (2) guests, and the Registrar (1) and recorder (1) for a total of nineteen (19).  (See attached roster).

Approval of ACC minutes

Members approved the minutes of January 4, 2005 as written.   

Appointments and Elections

Ad Hoc Committee on the Evaluation of the FIG Program

Following a paper ballot election, commissioners appointed the following faculty to the Ad Hoc Committee on the Evaluation of the FIG Program:

James Inverarity, Sociology, Chair

Kathleen Kennedy, History (cannot meet on Tuesdays)

Lorrie Brilla, PEHR

Jeff Newcomer, Engineering Technology, ACC rep to the committee

Lauren Balisky, Student Representative

The charge to the committee can be found on the Senate website under “Committee Memberships”.

General Studies Major – Return to Discussion

Chair Downing opined that the numerous discussions on the General Studies Major had reached the desultory stage  and sought direction from the membership on how to proceed.  Jeff Newcomer then distributed the text of a motion for consideration of the members, which will be considered as a discussion item at the next meeting:

Cancel the existing General Studies program effective Spring quarter 2006 (Provost Bodman corrected this to read Fall Quarter 2006 when the 2006-07 catalog would go into effect).  Existing students will be allowed to complete the program, but no new students can enter after Summer 2006.

Ask those colleges that are willing to support such a program to put forward proposals through the normal curricular channels during the 2005-06 academic year to create ‘clusters’ based degree options.  The clusters based degree should:  include upper division courses from three departments, provide for student access to upper division courses, provide advisors for students, and meet all state and university requirements for degree conferral.

Access to the clusters based degrees should be limited to students who are unable to complete a traditional major.  The clusters based degree should neither be used as a substitute for student-faculty designed majors, nor as a fallback for students who are unable to decide upon a major.  As such, students should not be allowed to declare a clusters based degree before having completed 150 credits.

Linda Kimball also plans to bring the text of a motion.  Members were reminded that doing nothing was an option. Provost Bodman will contact the Deans to determine their level of interest.  Currently “enrollment management” is under consideration by the Provost’s Council and the Office of Student Life, and consequently the General Studies major is of keen interest. 

AGENDA ITEMS - Action Items

Reading of College Curricular Committee Minutes.  The following minutes came before the Commissioners:

Carryovers from Last Meeting:

CFPA: DNC 120 (deferred).  Downing reported that the absence of rationale was completely accidental and will be forwarded to the committee shortly.  Downing noted it is important to say something about the prerequisites we wish to attach to FYE courses (see below).

Geology, ESCI.  Members confirmed that 10 hours is a full load for graduate students, and 15 credits for undergraduates.   Members will invite Dean Moheb Ghali to the next regular meeting as there  remain questions regarding total accumulated hours for thesis credits which may be related to research and fellowship questions as well as course credits, particularly in the sciences.  What is the standard, and is Geology and/or Environment Science deviating too far from a “standard”?  It would appear to be more appropriate to have a degree registration system wherein you sign up for a “degree completion” until you are actually able to defend and file your thesis. 

NEW MINUTES PRESENTED FOR ACCEPTANCE 1/18/2005

College of Business & Economics, 11/29/04.  Accepted subject to clarification with math department.  Commissioners asked:  Has the  the Mathematics department been apprised of the relationship with CBE and that students who would have taken the soon-to-be defunct  Economics 208 will be enrolling in Math 124 and 157? 

Honors Board, 12/10/04.  Accepted.  Members asked that NO STUDENT NAMES be referred to in the minutes (suggesta phrase such as “Chris Doe, student”).

Wilson Library Curriculum Committee, 9/24/04.  Accepted.   Credits for a library course were corrected to indicate only one credit.

Fairhaven.  Amst 316.  Accepted. Minor in American Cultural Studies, Accepted.  Commissioners reviewed forms for minor in American Cultural Studies which presented a list of course choices offering variable credits and components.  Members accepted the American Cultural Studies Minor with the caveat that the credit requirement for the minor be stipulated as 25 credits.

DISCUSSION

FIRST-YEAR STUDENT STATUS – DEFINED IN RELATIONSIP TO “FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE”

Commissioners acknowledged the difficulty in finding a clear definition of a “First-Year Student” from among fuzzy, subjective, and complex variables, including AP (Advanced Placement) credits, transfer credits and Baccalaureate in High School credits.

Commissioners noted the purpose of the definition – to clarify for whom FYE courses are intended, for which students these courses are most appropriate, and to point out those for whom these courses would provide little benefit.  We are actually trying to characterize the “prerequisite” for a FYE course.

Marie Eaton proposed that the purpose of FYE courses is “to try to provide smaller classroom experiences for students new to the institution that might socialize them to academic life at the university level, provide them with  t the grounding and exploration that could  pique their interest enough to make them stay for another term or another year as well as to build their academic skills.

Members proposed the following as prerequisite for FYE courses:

“A First Year Student for the purposes of stating a prerequisite for FYE courses is any student with fewer than 45 credits, no matter the origin of the credits. The prerequisite for FYE courses is: FYS status or permission of instructor.“

Constituent Concerns

o        Jeff Newcomer recommended that more information be included in the Bulletin about the student-designed major option, so that students know where to go for the information.  Each College should have a description for their college.  We need to look at this along with interdisciplinary majors in a more organized way. 

o        Provost Bodman will bring this forward to the Deans. Since this is an existing degree program, it is a matter of how it is going to be implemented, and raises interesting questions of whether the colleges want to contribute courses, whether they want to manage the program, who has status to get into classes, etc.   

Adjournment

Commissioners adjourned at 5:30 pm.

Rose Marie Norton-Nader, Recorder, January 18, 2005.  Amended by the Chair.

ACADEMIC COORDINATING COMMISSION 2004-2005 ROSTER