Approval of Minutes of the 12 November 2018 Faculty Senate Meeting: The minutes were approved without changes.
Faculty Senate President Report: Senate President Joe Moffett reported on the following issues:
Curriculum Committee – Leigh Whittinghill: Chair Whittinghill reported on the following items:
The Title III Director was not able to attend today’s meeting, but will be attending a future Senate meeting
Moffett was asked to share a flyer about the launching of the Quality Enhancement Program (QEP). The launch will be from 11am-12:30pm in HH 112. Vice Provost Beverly Schneller said the event is a Q&A session and an opportunity for members of the QEP committee to address faculty questions and to learn about the QEP and how it might fit into other campus programs. The committee has not yet finalized the QEP proposal, so this is a good time to get faculty feedback. The QEP is a focused effort to support student learning, institutional effectiveness and the student experience. We must have a sustained project that will improve the life of the campus. Once the time frame of the QEP project is over, there are some parts of it that will remain in place.
Next Thursday, 12/6, is the Board of Regents meeting. Typically, the Senate President is given some time to update the Board on the work of Senate. Moffett asked senators to let him know if they have any issues they'd like him to mention in his report to the Board. The meeting will be on campus, not at the Farm.
CC 18-19.07 Gerontology Course Number Changes: This is a course number change of 600- and 700-level courses to master's-level courses. This change must be implemented in advance of the program launch. The program and courses have been approved but not yet put in the catalogue. This is just an error that needs to be corrected.
VOICE VOTE: unanimous yes with no abstentions
CC 18-19.10 Change to PHE 389: The department wishes to change this course from a two credit course to a three credit course. It doesn't fit in well with the rest of the electives in terms of course credits for the program, and they can't teach all of the curriculum in two credit hours.
VOICE VOTE: unanimous yes with no abstentions
CC 18-19.11 Courses to Replace IGS Sequence: These are the three courses to come out of the QEP. These will eventually replace the IGS sequence. They will be rolled out in sequence during the pilot stage alongside the IGS courses. This will start fall 2019. These will be required courses.
stage alongside the IGS courses. This will start fall 2019. These will be required courses.
Moffett asked, what if the courses don't work out? Schneller responded that then we will go back to the drawing board. Moffett asked, would this be a new discipline at the university, with the intention that these classes aren't going to add more hours onto the core? Schneller responded that each course will have its own focus. A senator asked if students would take these classes when they are freshman. Guest Peter Smith responded that the courses have to be taken in sequence: ENG 101 is a prerequisite for Hum 200, and then each course in the sequence is a prerequisite for the one that follows. A student might not get to the end of the sequence until the end of his junior or senior year, but that's okay because the third course is a capstone course. The seniors in the class could mentor those sophomores and juniors in the class. Moffett asked, who would be the faculty teaching these courses? Smith responded, we haven't gotten that far yet. It would have to be someone comfortable with teaching interdisciplinary material and working on course development. We will put out a call for faculty and see who's interested and willing to work on the HUM sequence. Faculty from different disciplines would work with the class teams on different projects in the 300-level course. A Senator asked if students will now have to take IGS and HUM classes. Smith responded, no, the new HUM classes will be cross listed with the IGS classes. A Senator stated that there was