Minutes: November 13, 2017

WESTERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY
MACRICOSTAS SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCE
PROGRAM REVIEW COMMITTEE
MINUTES FROM THE NOVEMBER 13, 2017 MEETING HELD AT 3:00PM IN WARNER HALL RM 315

Present: Paul Echeverria, Jessica Eckstein, Rondall Khoo, Rotua Lumbantobing, Helena Prieto, Forest J. Robertson, Çiğdem Üsekes.

Visitors: Carina Bandhauer, Joshua Cordeira, Shouhua Qi, Patrick Ryan, Laurie Weinstein, Howell Williams.

Scribe: Forest Robertson.

Meeting commenced at 3:01PM.

Old Business:

October meeting minutes (RL) were approved (JE/RK) with corrections:
1. Correction to the spelling of Çiğdem’s name.
Proposals from Social Sciences Department
1. A lengthy discussion was had on the reasons for modifying the ANT/SOC major and it was determined that more information would be needed for this change to be approved. The following changes would need to be made before the Committee would approve: please add general education courses on new ANT/SOC major program sheet (pre-competency general education curriculum), please construct new ANT/SOC major program sheet that reflects these new changes (competency general education curriculum), please include learning outcomes, and please include assessment plan. The proposal was tabled (JE/ÇÜ, unanimously approved) until the next PRC meeting (December 11th, 2017).
2. The two-tiered system and the various options for the SOC major were described in detail to the Committee. As described above in item 2a, it was determined that more information would be needed for this change as well so that it can be approved. The following changes would need to be made before the Committee would approve: please add general education courses on new SOC major program sheet (pre-competency general education curriculum), please construct new SOC major program sheet that reflects these new changes (competency general education curriculum), please include learning outcomes, and please include assessment plan. In addition, clarify what the “*” points to in the program sheet and remove “to” from the description after “*” on program sheet. The proposal was tabled (FR/RK, unanimously approved) until the next PRC meeting (December 11th, 2017).
3. A thorough description of this course was given by Dr. Laurie Weinstein who explained how this course would satisfy the “Scientific Inquiry” competency. Although it was not the responsibility of this committee at this meeting to discuss the resources that would be required to teach this course (since the course had previously been passed through all of the appropriate channels) it was pointed out that extra resources would be required to teach this course because it is run during a summer session and all faculty (regardless of FT or PT status) are paid as adjuncts. Based solely on the approving the SI competency for this course, the Committee unanimously approved this proposal (FR/RK).
4. Items d, e, and f were accepted as a package (ÇÜ/FR). It was discussed that a separate statement on how the outcomes would be assessed for each of the proposals would be needed for the three proposals to be approved. The Committee unanimously voted to approve the proposals pending the addition of an “Assessment” statement (HP/RL).

New Business:

Proposal from the Biological and Environmental Sciences Department
1. An assessment statement of the new BIO3xx course is needed before the Committee can approve this course. In addition, it was requested that a schedule of the advanced electives for Biology be included with this proposal so that the rotation of courses is stable and that a new course is not being added without removing/rotating something out from the course offerings. This request is based solely on the allocation of resources. This proposal was tabled (FR/RL, unanimously approved) until the next PRC meeting (December 11th, 2017).
Proposal from Communication and Media Arts Department
1. The proposal to align COM162 with the “Intercultural” competency was missing an assessment statement of the outcomes for the IC competency and the
  rationale for the OC competency (previously approved). In addition, the proposal was not organized/presented well. The Committee voted on the proposal and a vote of 0-7-0 was realized (RK/JE). The proposal has been rejected on Sharepoint and it will need to be re-submitted with the necessary changes.
2. The proposal to revise COM245 credit structure and to add “Health and Wellness” competency was discussed and the Committee needs more information on the intent/logistics of changing the credit structure. It is not possible to have a 5 week course. The Committee voted on the proposal and a vote of 0-7-0 was realized (RK/RL). The proposal has been rejected on Sharepoint and it will need to be re-submitted with the necessary changes.
Proposal from Digital Interactive Media Arts
1. The DIMA course replacement of ART111 – Drawing I with ART117 – Digital Photography was previously discussed in detail. All of the necessary changes had been made and the Committee unanimously voted to approve the proposal (ÇÜ/FR).
Proposal from the English Department
1. The Committee moved the discussion of item 4a up because Dr. Shouhua Qi had to leave. Due to a decrease in enrollment of Education majors, the Administration has requested that ENG429 and ENG430 be combined. ERC has approved and is waiting for PRC to approve as well. The Committee unanimously approved this proposal (JE/FR).
Proposals from Psychology
1. It was unclear why items 5a-c were submitted for consideration by PRC. The Committee unanimously voted to table these proposals until the December 11th, 2017 meeting (FR/RK).
Proposal from Women’s Studies
1. The proposal to update the Women’s Studies minor and program sheet was thoroughly discussed. The following changes were requested: change “Department Chairperson” to “Program Director,” remove “WS200 – Introduction to Women’s Studies” from the list of approved electives because it is a required course, and remove all of the listed cognate electives. The Committee unanimously voted to approve this proposal pending the changes to the language mentioned above (RK/FR).
Proposal from the World Languages and Literature Department
1. The proposal to align 16 courses with the “Information Literacy” competency was discussed in detail. Based on the level of the SPA162 and SPA164 courses, it is not appropriate to give these courses the IL designation due to the definition of the IL competency. SPA110W, SPA111W, and SPA196 already have two competencies, which are IC/W2, IC/W2, and IC/FY, respectively. Therefore, these courses need to be removed from the proposal. The Committee unanimously voted to table this proposal until the December 11th, 2017 PRC meeting (RK/ ÇÜ).
Proposal from the Writing, Linguistics, and Creative Process Department
1. Proposal to align WRT132, WRT133, and WRT134 with the “Creative Process” competency was discussed and it was determined that the proposal was missing the following: the statement of competency, the outcomes and how each outcome will meet CP competency, and an assessment plan. In addition, WRT132 already has the FY designation, which Dr. Patrick Ryan stated might need to be removed. The Committee told him that he would need to submit a proposal to remove the FY designation from WRT132. The Committee voted on the proposal and a vote of 0-7-0 was realized (RK/FR). The proposal has been rejected on Sharepoint and it will need to be re-submitted with the necessary changes.

Meeting adjourned at 4:35PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Forest J. Robertson