WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY

ACADEMIC COORDINATING COMMISSION MINUTES

Regular Meeting  --  October 18, 2005

Chair Tom Downing called the meeting of the Academic Coordinating Commission to order on October 18, 2005 in OM340 at 4 p.m.   There were fourteen (14) members present, six (6) guests, one (1) recorder, and the Registrar for a total of twenty-two.  (22).  (See attached roster).

Approval of ACC minutes

Members approved the minutes of October 4, 2005 with minor amendments. 

Appointments and Elections

o   Commissioners appointed the following faculty to the Honors Board for a 2-year term:

    Frances Howard-Snyder, Philosophy; MaryAnn Reynolds, Accounting; Shelby Sheppard, Secondary Education

o  Commissioners welcomed David Wallin, Huxley College, who will be appointed by the Senate to replace Kathryn Wayne as the Huxley College representative.

o  Commissioners approved the 2005/06 membership roster for the Teacher Curricula and Certification Council.

Announcements and Reports (td)

§      The Chair reported that there are four courses offered as First Year Experience (FYE) already on the books, and this number is expected to grow considerably in the next few years.  We are looking for a number or rubric that could uniformly identify these courses; the chair suggested that 117 seems to be a good candidate for FYE courses that are not simply versions of existing courses.  Two departments (Math and PEHR) already use the 117 number, but changing that would be easy. Regular courses offered as FYE would not need to be re-numbered, though for bookkeeping purposes it might be useful to subscript those offerings.

§      Downing reported that he has noted enthusiasm among colleagues for a plan to offer FYE courses in departments, which will now be required to create an FYE course (credit hours and instructor to be determined) whenever a new position is allocated.  Some have expressed interest in offering these courses even if they are not required by a new allocation to do so. The prospect of teaching 25 students is appealing, as is the freedom that would attach to a 117. The hope is that the FYE offerings can reach a larger number of freshmen than the 10% currently enrolled in a 2-credit FIG (Freshman Interest Group) seminar offered only Fall Quarter.

§      The chairs of the ACC and the GER Committee have agreed to be flexible on the deadlines for approval of FYE courses.

AGENDA ITEMS

Action Items - College Curricular Minutes .  The following were reviewed and accepted by the Commission:

The following guests attended from Extended Education and Summer Programs:  Barbara Audley, Director, Ariel Cleasby-Heaven, and Meredith Gilbert.  As part of the review of the EESP minutes of April 28, 2005, the Commissioners examined the certificate in Emergency Management in EESP.  There is some discussion underway, as well as a request for financial support from the legislature, on a proposal to create a major in Emergency Management, to be housed in Huxley College. 

One Commissioner asked whether the web design program offered in EESP had been created in consultation with the Internet Studies Center in the Computer Science Department and learned that some consultation had taken place with the Department when the EESP programs had been initiated about ten years ago. Consultation now seems important because of the changes since then, including the founding of the ISC. Audley reported that most of the EESP courses in web design are not credit bearing.    

The minutes were approved.

Minutes Discussion

International Programs – 5/23/05 postponed (All others accepted)..

Commissioners referred to the International Programs minutes of 5/23/05 for clarification on when the programs were evaluated for credit.  Registrar St. Hilaire explained that now students must bring a transcript back to have their work abroad evaluated and have an adjustment to the credits made.  There is an attempt to prescribe what they take before they leave for study abroad, so that they get into the specific courses that will reflect their actual study requirements.  The challenge lies in reconciling a preliminary evaluation or prediction of the credits a student can expect before going abroad with the actual workload and performance review following his return.  There can often be a delay of two or three quarters to get a document back from abroad to see what was done, and this can be a source of contention with regard to grades and credits.

Commissioners request clarification on these issues with International Programs prior to approval, so the minutes of 5/23/05 were postponed.  Chair Downing will contact Cecile Hanania, Chair, IPAC, and invite her or a representative to the next ACC meeting.

Woodring College.  Members were concerned that the minutes were approved by WCC in April but only reached ACC for today’s meeting.

DISCUSSION (continued from last meeting)

Report on Freshman Interest Groups (FIG)

o   Chair Downing reported that James Inverarity, who had chaired the initial report on the FIG would be available to come to ACC to respond to various concerns from the report. 

o   Members’ primary concern was the lack of protocol and hiring procedure for FIG instructors and they recommended that faculty rank be granted and some formal vetting process instituted, including peer review perhaps similar to that for hiring adjuncts.  Commissioners are concerned that the FIG program functions outside normal university processes, and that there is no structure available into which people can be brought.  Commissioners appreciated that this was originally a pilot program that has been on the cusp of moving out of that phase, and that the ACC can help decide whether the FIG will be part of the expanding FYE courses.

o   Commissioners suggested that a similar problem might exist with interdisciplinary studies and other programs which are currently in the process of being subsumed into a college so that a director can oversee the curricula approval process and courses end up in ACC as required.  A similar question might arise with experimental courses, which carry an X97 rubric and can only be taught for three times without having a regular course number attached to them. 

o   Commissioners also mentioned the question of academic freedom for FIG instructors who serve at the discretion of those who may have the power to hire or fire them.  Does a FIG instructor qualify for a faculty rank and hence come under the provisions limned in the Faculty Handbook?

o   Commissioners continue to stress focusing on the academic merits of the FIG program, and admitted that no one wants the program to continue under the current process and mode of financing.  Commissioners allowed that some good most likely comes out of the FIG, but the ACC must recommend what needs to be fixed, how it can be done, and if it is acceptable to the faculty as a whole.  Commissioners were reminded that talking about finances is not ACC’s job, though determining who may teach courses may very well be.

o   On the other hand, ACC recognizes that it can recommend whether or not it thinks the FIG program is worth the current investment.  Faculty development and professional development is a plus for FIGs.  Commissioners acknowledged that one FYE for a 3-credit course including development and salary could cost the university up to 10,000, while a FIG gets by with slightly more than $750. 

o   Grant Donnellan, a GUR instructor currently directing a FIG cluster, mentioned that the music department frequently hire adjuncts for a quarter who teach a musical instrument, and may also teach subjects such as music history or music theory, particularly when the full-time faculty is “maxed out”.  There is a correlation with the FIG instructors in this regard. 

o   Janice Lapsansky, FIG Director, averred that everyone who teaches in the FIG program is qualified to teach.  Donnellan agrees with those who say that if we value this kind of interdisciplinary experience we may be taking advantage of a lot of people, but points out that having oversight through a disciplinary body and giving the program more legitimacy will go a long way toward making it a much more viable offering.

o   Commissioners discussed the effect of FIGs on retention, and improved GPA – apparently the results are inconclusive.  One Commissioner strongly supported the element of professional development for faculty which is not an insignificant outcome of this particular freshman program.  Another supported the notion that the FIG ought to be recognized as one component of many offerings available to freshman in their first year experience.

o   Commissioners insist that it is the prerogative of ACC to present the elements that it thinks are strong, and also the elements that need to be changed.  Commissioners applauded Janice Lapsansky, current FIG Director, who has worked hard to improve the quality of the FIGs. 

o   Commissioner Thorndike suggested that longitudinal data ought to be available of what the students do in FIGs after 4 years since their FIG experience have gone by, and what they are doing now, whether their grades differed from non-FIG students, whether enduring friendships were formed in the FIGs, and so on.  Tracking the FIG student throughout his academic career could be relevant, and could be a marker we provide to the legislature to increase funding.  Do we graduate FIG students in 4 or 5 years at a higher rate than those not in the FIG?  Do they choose a major earlier?  With a small freshman group of 200 out of 2000 students, some unique effect ought to be detected. Janice Lapsansky, director of the FIGS program responded, however, that the FIGS had changed so much since the inception of the program that the relevance of these data might be questioned.

o   Everyone agrees that students should have at least one small class their freshman year.  ACC recommends identifying what is of value at present (and forget the data of the past when the program was first developing).  Our concern is its academic merit.

o   Commissioners will continue discussion at the next meeting with the intent of modifying the categories of questions presented in the minutes.

Constituent Concerns  - None.

Adjournment

Commissioners adjourned at 5:55  pm.

Rose Marie Norton-Nader, Recorder, October 18, 2005

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