Baccalaureate Core Committee Meeting Mon, 2013-03-18 15:00

Voting Members Present: Linda Bruslind, Trischa Goodnow, Uta Hussong-Christian, Kerry Kincanon (co-chair), Michael Lerner, Melinda Manore, Rebecca Olson, Marion Rossi (co-chair), Ken Winograd
Ex-officio Non-voting Members Present: Vicki Tolar Burton, Michelle Bothwell

Summary of Action Items

• Three new courses were approved for addition to the Baccalaureate Core, and one change course proposal to an existing Bacc Core course was also approved. Decisions on two other courses were deferred pending the BCC receiving additional information.
• The BCC co-chairs updated the committee on additional Synthesis Category Review work, which will commence spring term.
• Under the guidance of Vicki Tolar Burton, the BCC engaged as a group in an exercise aimed a prioritizing recommendations from the Review of Writing Report. The BCC agreed to continue the process individually prior to our first meeting of spring.

Meeting Minutes from February 13 were approved.

Course Reviews
BEE 469 (WIC), PS 343 (Cultural Diversity), and WS 463 (Contemporary Global Issues) were approved as additions to the Baccalaureate Core. A change course proposal to an existing Cultural Diversity course, ES 231, was also approved. 

Per the BCC Standing Rules, WR 329 (Writing II) was referred to the Writing Advisory Board. The BCC was concerned with the narrow focus of the course. The content of the course focuses heavily on preparing a law school admission essay. Writing II is a Second Year Skills requirement, meaning students should complete it by the end of their second year. The BCC was concerned about a second year student’s readiness to focus on preparing a law school essay, but the BCC deferred decision until we hear back from the Writing Advisory Board.

A decision was also deferred on HORT 111 (Biological Science). The BCC wanted to get more information from the proposal originator regarding the proposed shift of what was formerly a departmental orientation course to a Bacc Core lab science and have requested that the co-chairs invite the proposer to a meeting early spring term.

The BCC noted that proposers continue to struggle with the last question in each BCC question set in the Curricular Proposal System. This question specifically refers to unit level assessment plans for the course. A request was made to talk with the Office of Academic Programs, Assessment, and Accreditation to incorporate instructions to proposers to consult with the school or department head prior to answering the question. The co-chairs will move this request forward.

Synthesis Category Review Updates
Kerry Kincanon and Marion Rossi shared updates regarding the Synthesis Category Review follow-up. Units with courses who had incomplete files (Category Review webform and/or syllabi) have an April 1 deadline for submitting outstanding materials. Those units whose initial submission was insufficient for us to recertify have an April 15 deadline to submit follow-up information. We will commence with reviewing these courses during spring term.

Review of Writing Report Prioritization Exercise
Vicki Tolar Burton led the group in an initial exercise to start prioritizing recommendations from the 2011-2012 Review of Writing in the Bacc Core Report. Vicki created a review rubric that we initially started considering as a group. Given the number of considerations, the BCC decided as a group that this was an activity best handled individually prior to our next meeting, and Vicki agreed to provide specific instructions to the group via email. Vicki will collect and collate responses.

Other Business
Vicki Tolar Burton also reported on positive developments relating to a project to update WIC Writing Guides. WIC has applied for a Technology Resource Fee (TRF) grant to help facilitate continued movement forward on this project.

A request for spring term meeting availability will be forthcoming from the co-chairs prior to the start of spring term.

Meeting adjourned at 4:30 PM.