UMM CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

MEETING # 3 Minutes

September 19, 2006, 10:00 a.m., Prairie Lounge

Present: Judy Kuechle (chair), Michael Korth, Jenny Nellis, Ferolyn Angell, Van Gooch, Harold Hinds, Escillia Allen, Sara Haugen, Clare Strand, Nancy Helsper, Jeri Mullin, and Isaac Linehan-Clodfelter

Absent: Jooinn Lee, Gwen Rudney, two students and one Humanities faculty member yet to be named

Visiting: Tom McRoberts, Brenda Boever, Andy Lopez, Pareena Lawrence, Bryan Herrmann

Approval of Minutes from September 12, 2006

Kuechle asked for approval of minutes from the September 12, 2006 meeting.

MOTION (Linehan-Clodfelter) To approve minutes.

Discussion:

Strand asked that guest presenters receive copies of draft minutes for review. After a brief discussion, the committee agreed to allow guests to read the minutes after they have been approved. If the guests suggest a change to the minutes, the minutes would be brought back to the committee for consideration.

VOTE Motion passed to approve minutes by voice vote (6-0-0)

CONTINUED DISCUSSION OF F GRADES IN GPA CALCULATION

Kuechle began by recapping what was discussed at the September 5 meeting. The committee was looking at F grade calculations and whether F’s are included in the GPA calculation for majors/minors/licensure. Kuechle then asked the committee to continue the discussion.

Strand stated that she was thinking about capturing F grades and having them display at the end of APAS, separate from ones that are repeated. If repeated, the F grade doesn’t count in the GPA. If not repeated, an F grade counts against them. Korth stated that it was too complicated to do it that way, since the committee had realized at the last meeting that UMM has too many ways to calculate GPAs. Korth said that F grades should be counted until they are replaced, which is exactly the way it’s done in the U of M GPA. Strand asked what would occur if a student receives an F grade in a required course, and the course is deleted. The student could not retake the course to replace the F grade, and the F would be calculated in the GPA. Korth answered that the discipline would accept a different course if a student could not repeat a required course.

Kuechle asked if the committee agreed on how it should be stated in the catalog. Korth stated that if the committee was being asked to approve catalog copy, he wanted to see it in writing. Kuechle answered that the Scholastic committee is working on wording the section in the catalog related to the F grade and GPA. She was only asking if the Committee had any further discussion regarding F grades.

Kuechle then asked the committee if there was any further discussion needed on the wording of D and D+ grades. The question at the earlier meeting was whether “no grades of D accepted” means that no grades of D+ are accepted. The original intent was to include no grades lower than a C-. Kuechle suggested to Gooch that biology might want to add D+ in their wording, or change it to no grades less than a C-. Gooch replied that biology had already put into motion a change of wording. Nellis added that Humanities disciplines were also considering changing their wording. The committee agreed that “no grades below C-“ is the preferred wording.

Gooch offered a scenario in which a pre-med student has 10 elective credits in biology. The student takes 15 credits, and gets a C in one class and an A in the other two. In that scenario, can the student pick the two grades of A to count toward their electives in the major? Strand answered that there is a feature in the system that will allow just such a choice, called “best GPA.”

NEW BUSINESS

Helsper brought a question to the committee regarding the format of the next printed catalog. Because the next catalog will be fed from ECAS, the Twin Cities expects all hard-copy catalogs to have the same formatting as the undergraduate Twin Cities catalog, with the major/minor sections in front, and with all courses listed alphabetically in the back. Helsper asked if the committee had a preference. Helsper said that she would be the one who would manually do the work if we want to keep the catalog format as it has been in the past, with the courses required for the major/minor listed after the major/minor requirements. Helsper would be willing to do the work if the committee agreed that it was preferable. The Twin Cities may not agree, but she offered to request that UMM keep the old formatting and see if they agree.

Discussion: Hinds was concerned that the LAAS major would be negatively affected if students could not see the required courses listed directly after the major. Allen stated that being a transfer student, she has used catalogs with both formats and prefers our current printed format much more.

Strand stated that not all courses are consistently listed under the major/minor sections. Helsper responded that we have listed courses from other disciplines for interdisciplinary majors/minors.

Gooch stated that if courses at the 3500 level and above are required, students will have to thumb far back in the catalog to find them. Strand added that the current printed catalog is annoying because the Continuing Education (CE) courses are at the end and are not imbedded in number order. She stated that if the formatting remains the same, that should be fixed. Helsper answered that CE courses are pulled out because people don’t always notice the CE designator before the title and some CE courses are offered in the evening or are offered at an additional cost. Korth added that we are progressing to have them in the catalog at all, since years ago CE courses were listed in a separate catalog.

Hinds stated that as it is, a student can look at the catalog and see what courses apply to the discipline. In LAAS, students are not sent all over the place. Courses are repeated after the major/minor information so students know what to take, even those not designated as LAAS. Our current catalog offers disciplines the opportunity to do that if they choose.

Kuechle stated that it would make our catalog bigger if we repeat the listing of courses in all majors/minors. Korth asked whether it would involve a lot of work to continue with the old format, since it would have to be done manually. Helsper answered that she would have to do this manually for clusters. It would still take less time than it took to do past catalogs because she doesn’t have to edit the course, as this information is fed from ECAS.

Strand stated that statistics should be fixed since math and computer science electives are not listed in the front. She added that if we are going to do it for some, it should be done for all disciplines. It’s not consistent now. Hinds replied that each discipline should be allowed to present their discipline the way they choose. Strand explained that she meant that it should be done consistently for all disciplines. Hinds replied that he did not believe that would be a good position to take. Korth agreed that it would not be necessary to be consistent. Hinds added that for LAAS, it makes perfect sense to list them all, while for statistics, as Korth had stated earlier, it would not be necessary.

Kuechle asked Helsper how much work would be involved if we continued to do it as we have in the past. Helsper answered that all it consists of is cutting and pasting sections. She added that it is more work for interdisciplinary majors, which is another reason why she would prefer not to have to do it for all disciplines.

The committee agreed that Helsper or Kuechle should contact the Twin Cities and request that Morris be allowed to continue the old format for the printed UMM catalog.

OTHER BUSINESS

Kuechle reminded the committee that curriculum reviews begin September 26, with Science and Mathematics.

Nellis mentioned that, after speaking with her discipline coordinators in Humanities, she would like to forward Mary Elizabeth Bezanson’s name to the Executive Committee to replace Tracey Otten on the Curriculum Committee for fall term 2006. (Otten was removed because she is in class during the scheduled meeting time.) Kuechle stated that Bezanson would be welcome to attend the meetings as a guest until the Campus Assembly approves her appointment.

Nellis asked the committee how many GenEd designators a course can have. Kuechle replied that courses can have only one. Nellis then brought forward a request from a discipline coordinator in Humanities, asking the Curriculum Committee to consider allowing courses to have multiple GenEd designators. Kuechle answered that a subcommittee of the Curriculum Committee had studied the issue and decided to allow only one. Helsper added that the issue was revisited by the committee just a few years ago. Committee members agreed that they did not wish to revisit the issue at this time.

STRATEGIC POSITIONING TASK FORCE PRESENTATION (TASK FORCE MEMBERS, guestS)

Kuechle welcomed Andy Lopez, Pareena Lawrence, and Bryan Herrmann to talk to the committee about activities of the Strategic Positioning Task Force.

Kuechle thanked the Task Force members for meeting with the Committee.

The meeting adjourned at 11:00a.m.

Submitted by Darla Peterson