Curriculum Council

Curriculum Council

October 29, 2014

Minutes

Voting members present: Paul Adams, Mike Bailey, Tasha Biesinger, Bradley Boovy, Joan Gross, Sue Helback, Prem Mathew, Richard Nafshun

Voting members not present: Neil Davison, Mina Ossiander

Ex-officio members present: Ecampus – Alfonso Bradoch for Riggs; Registrar’s Office – Rebecca Mathern; University Libraries – Anne-Marie Deitering

Liaison members present: Academic Advising Council – Carey Hilbert;

Guest: Gary Beach

Curricular Proposals

• BS in Hospitality Management #90496

Curriculum Council Reviewers: Mike Bailey, Bradley Boovey (update)

• The program would be offered exclusively at OSU-Cascades.

• Online Proposal
• PDF Proposal

• Bradley drafted questions of what he and Mike felt were concerns expressed last week before forwarding them to the proposer:
  • Is this a BA/BS? If so, please show the difference in course requirements, i.e., one table for what’s common between the two, and two tables to show what is specific for a BA and what is specific for a BS.
  • Why is there a BS at all? It would seem that a degree in ‘hospitality’ would be greatly enhanced by proficiency in another language. Is there justification why, for some hospitality career paths, the BS would be better?
  • Why is Math 245 listed as a General Elective and not a requirement? It would seem like a degree in Hospitality would need Mathematics for Management, particularly the statistics.
  • Page 4 – why is Fitness listed as 2+1?
  • Page 5 – 6*4 =24 – where does the “27-28” credits come from?
  • Page 6 – Hospitality electives – is this “choose 12 from these 20”? If so, explicitly say it that way.

Action: Bradley and Mike will forward the concerns to the proposer.

• BA in Spanish to be Delivered at a Distance Online by OSU Extended Campus

Curriculum Council Reviewers: Tasha Biesinger, Sue Helback (review & report)

• Proposal
• Memo

• Sue reported that 17 courses are currently offered via Ecampus, and 16 more courses will be developed for online as per the proposal/MOU. They would like confirmation that there are enough personnel and resources to roll out and sustain this online program.
  • Four courses have already been refreshed and are offered online: SPAN 311, 312, 319, and 339.
  • Some prerequisites will be available at a later time. The roll-out date of Winter 2015 does not allow students to take the first pre-requisite courses offered in sequence, i.e., SPAN 311 (fall), 312 (winter), and 313 (spring).It’s unclear whether the courses have to be taken in sequence. What is the status of SPAN 313 & 316 in revision?
• Tasha noted a primary concern is that SPAN 350 isn’t going to be offered via Ecampus, but is a pre-requisite for at least three of the other courses. It’s a pre-requisite for at least SPAN 351, 455 and 465
  • Alfonso noted it was an oversight and will be offered in spring 2016
• Special topics courses listed on the proposal for revision (SPAN 435, 436, 438, 439) – are these really special topics? It was noted that any number can be used as a special course (although it shouldn’t occur). Each course can be taken for up to 9 credits – what will prevent students from repeating the course after it’s revised?
  • Alfonso stated that permanent courses could be created via a Category II proposal.

• Sue observed that SPAN 336 shows as being offered Fall 2014, but it’s not.
  • Alfonso responded that course development is awaiting acceptance by the Curriculum Council.

Action: the Curriculum Council doesn’t approve this proposal, but these concerns will be conveyed to the proposer.

• Joan and Bradley noted that, procedurally, there are no tenure-track faculty listed in the proposal. It was stated that the academic unit determines who will teach and develop courses.

Course Designator Requests

• BHS for the BioHealth Sciences Degree #85460

• This proposal has been reviewed by the Registrar and requires review and approval by the Curriculum Council.

• Prem asked Council members to use the proposed Course Designator Checklist when evaluating course designator requests.
• Prem stated that this request involves six courses, primarily reading and conference, thesis, etc.
• There was concern that the GS and BHS designators would be in effect at the same time, and students may retake the course with both designators – Rebecca stated there was no way to prevent this situation if a student changes majors.
• A primary rationale to change the designator involves perception: BHS vs. GS (General Science) for pre-health courses would carry more weight; GS is viewed negatively.
• Sue broached the issue of whether this proposal would also eliminate the GS designator at OSU-Cascades.
• Prem questioned whether it would be reasonable to wait until the unit submits a proposal to change the program, and assigns permanent course numbers to the blanket courses for which the course designator is being requested.

Action: this topic was tabled until the next meeting so further research can occur.

• FCSJ
  • The proposed FCSJ course designator would be used in conjunction with the existing graduate minor and undergraduate certificate program in Food in Culture and Social Justice which is housed in the School of Language, Culture, and Society (Anthropology).

• The proposed course designator has been reviewed by the Registrar’s Office and requires review and approval by the Curriculum Council.

• Joan explained that the proposed course designator is related to a new interdisciplinary program. Only the interdisciplinary courses would be assigned the new designator; the current Anthropology designator is not appropriate for these courses. Five classes would change and another five would be cross-listed; the five courses listed as ANTH have not yet been taught.
  • Food Studies is a more common designator across the nation, but can’t be used at OSU because of the Food Science & Technology unit.
• Gary conveyed from Stefani that there is a policy approved by the Curriculum Council that should prevent units from cross-listing two course designators within the same academic unit; several courses on the list would be affected. Gary noted that the policy has not been enacted.
• Sue questioned why the proposal states that the Anthropology designation may be seen as ‘restrictive’ by some students. Joan responded that a student may be attracted to courses that had food, culture and social justice, but may not be attracted to an Anthropology course.
  • Gary – will Anthropology for the five courses be changed or remain? Joan indicated that it would be fine to change the courses, but it’s up to the Council.

Action: Richard moved to approve FCSJ as a new course designator; motion seconded and passed via hand vote with four in favor, two dissenting, and no abstentions.

Academic Program Review Schedule – Stefani Dawn

• Not addressed

Course Designator Policy – Stefani Dawn

• Not addressed

Undergraduate Program Review Guidelines

• Not addressed