Present:	John Berges, Kathryn Dindia, Doug Howland, Connie Jo, Jay Moore, Tom O'Bryan, Jeffrey Oxford, Charles Schuster, Kristene Surerus, Michael Weinert
Excused:	Sandra Prahl, Steven Redd, Peter Sands
Guests:	Margaret Atherton, Jay Beder, Kim Romenesko, Kris Ruggiero

1. Call to Order - The Chair, Kathryn Dindia, called the meeting to order at 2:05 p.m. in HLT 241.

   It was moved, seconded, and approved to suspend the agenda to accommodate guests.

   V.A.

   Members of the international subcommittee (Margaret Atherton, Jay Beder, Kris Ruggiero) joined the meeting to respond to questions about the report the subcommittee submitted to the APCC. Jay Beder told the L&S APCC that he thought the criteria created by the faculty to guide decision-making about what constitutes an international course was too broad. He said it was almost impossible for the committee to deny international status for any course because the "or" in criterion number one (international courses must "shed light on the current world situation by relating the course subject matter to contemporary international issues or events or the historical and cultural contexts underlying them") makes almost all courses eligible if the rationale is framed appropriately. He believes the insertion of the "or" by the faculty has taken away from the original intent of the requirement; he would like to see the language clarified. Margaret Atherton said that she views herself as being on the opposite end of the continuum from Jay. She reminded everyone that the faculty voted to add the "or" so they must believe that historical context is an important factor to use when determining the suitability of courses that will meet the international requirement. She also said that she and other members of the subcommittee looked at how other institutions define their international requirements, and their research clearly showed that most institutions use "historical context" as a defining principle. Because the faculty voted to keep the requirement at 9 credits, Margaret said that a broad definition of international makes sense. There have to be enough courses from which students can choose so that they can meet the requirement. She would be concerned if the subcommittee was not passing courses. Kris Ruggiero said that she recently went to the web and looked up other institutions' requirement. Kris said that her approach was not entirely systematic; nonetheless, her research yielded some interesting results. The University of Utah has criteria very similar to the criteria used in L&S, as does the University of Iowa. The courses approved at these schools are similar to those being approved in L&S. Kris said she believes it is a good thing that the subcommittee has approved a lot of courses. Jeffrey Oxford, who is also a member of the international subcommittee, said he has questions about the original intent of the requirement. What did faculty really mean? He believes the contemporary aspect of the requirement is important. Another subcommittee member, Chuck Schuster, said he feels that if you have a requirement, you should be able to say "yes, this meets it" or "no, this does not meet it." The subcommittee cannot figure out a way to say "no." He told the AP&CC that the subcommittee is flailing. The only criterion that is objective is whether a course has 75% international content. Learning goals and measurable outcomes are needed. Connie Jo agreed. She believes we need to outline what we expect students to gain from completing the requirement. John Berges, another member of the subcommittee, said that in his view the problem lies with the fact that people who are applying for international status do not thoroughly answer the questions on the approval form. He believes that if a person can make a sensible case for their course, then the course should be approved. The sixth member of the international subcommittee, Kathryn Dindia, said she thought the intent of the requirement was to teach about contemporary international culture and issues. However, because it is a nine-credit requirement, such a narrow definition is not possible. She, too, pointed to the committee's earlier research which showed that the L&S requirement is in line with other institutions' requirements. After hearing testimony from all of the subcommittee members, Doug Howland wondered about the crux of the problem. Chuck replied that the committee is unable to apply the criteria to the courses because they are too broad and subjective. John Berges replied that the subcommittee does not know if it achieved what it set out to achieve. Tom O'Bryan said the bottom line is that we must trust the faculty. Doug agreed; it seems to him that the faculty meant to keep the requirement broad. Connie said she remains concerned about how L&S degree requirements will be assessed. Tom said we do not have to assess each piece of the degree requirements-the Bachelor's degree can be assessed as a whole, focusing on the major. Kathryn said the subcommittee does not have a recommendation to bring to the faculty, but members of the subcommittee felt it was important to report on what was happening. There appeared to be agreement among L&S APCC committee members that the decisions made by the subcommittee followed the intent of the faculty. Given that the course review process had slowed considerably, the subcommittee was disbanded; future international course approvals will be handled by the L&S APCC.

   It was moved, seconded, and approved to return to the order of the agenda.

2. Procedural Matters -- none
3. Automatic Approvals - none
4. Automatic Consent - With the contingency that three typos be corrected in the minutes, there were no objections to any of the automatic consent items; they stand approved.
   1. Approval of Minutes #7, 2006-2007 (February 12, 2007)
   2. Special Listing Request

      Child/Adol	Afric 451	Rites of Passage in Black Societies	Certif Prog
      Child/Adol	L&I Sci 648	Materials for Children	Certif Prog
      Child/Adol	L&I Sci 658	Materials for Young Adults	Certif Prog
      Child/Adol	Psych 260	Child Psychology	Certif Prog
      Child/Adol	Psych 560	Developmental Theories	Certif Prog
      Child/Adol	Psych 660	Experimental Child Psychology	Certif Prog
      Religion	Hist 385	Political Islam to Zionism: Middle Eastern Intellectual History, 1789-1990	Intdeptl Major

   3. CAR Forms - view online at http://cfprod01.imt.uwm.edu/des/apps/carform/

      Chem 399	Special Chemical Problems: (Subtitle) (prereq)
      Sociol 605	Research Project in Sociology: (Subtitle) (delete)
      Sociol 705	Theory and Method in Social Organization (delete)
      Sociol 732	Complex Organization (delete)
      Sociol 733	Public Program Evaluation (delete)
      Sociol 766	Theory and Method in Social Psychology (delete)
      Sociol 770	Urban Sociology (delete)
      Sociol 775	Social Change and Social Evolution (delete)
      Sociol 780	Seminar in Race and Ethnic Relations (# chg to 920, title)
      Sociol 790	Seminar in Social Stratification (# chg to 925, title)
      Sociol 966	Seminar in Contemporary Social Psychological Systems (delete)
      Sociol 971	Seminar in Urban Demography (delete)
      Urb Std 733	Public Program Evaluation (prereq) (jointly offered status)

5. Old Business
   1. Discussion of the Report from the AP&CC International Subcommittee - see above
   2. Discussion of Curriculum Review Procedure - Kathryn Dindia reported that she was told by the Dean that curricular matters submitted to the College cannot be stopped by the Associate Dean. The L&S APCC will be allowed to review all such matters. Following the Committee's review, the Dean will decide whether or not to approve the requests.
   3. L&S Syllabus Policy - Connie Jo told the committee that she had created a model syllabus that she believes includes all of the information required by the uniform syllabus policy. She said she would bring it to the next meeting for feedback from the committee.
   4. Discussion of fulfilling a minor for which all courses are completed in the context of the major - A subcommittee composed of L&S APCC members Kristene Sureus and Jeffrey Oxford, along with Jonathan Kahl from Mathematical Sciences, will meet prior to the next AP&CC meeting to discuss this issue and bring back recommendations for consideration by the larger committee.
   5. Discussion of the proliferation of curricular areas - Tom O'Bryan said he is concerned with what he sees as a proliferation of curricular areas that are being developed in areas that have no departmental oversight. Interdisciplinary, certificate, and other non-departmental based programs do not have the same level of scrutiny as departmental-based programs. For example, independent studies in non-departmental curricular areas do not go to department chairs for review but, rather, are reviewed by directors or coordinators who do not always have faculty status. Connie Jo said that the campus APCC is planning to review certificate programs, though she is not sure when this will begin. She said the level of oversight of certificate/inter-disciplinary programs varies considerably from one program to another. Some have faculty advisory committees that meet regularly; others do not. Doug Howland said that his main problem with areas that are outside of departmental control is that when faculty members leave the university, the non-departmental area is often left without faculty replacements because this is controlled at the departmental level (and departments don't necessarily replace by specialty areas). To get a better idea of what's going on, Connie and Kim will put together 1) a list of curricular areas that are not associated with departments and 2) a list of certificate programs. They will note the level of faculty oversight these programs have and will look at annual reports submitted by programs, noting those programs that do not submit reports. They will bring their report to the next meeting.
   6. Discussion of proliferation of U/G courses - Connie Jo said U/G courses are created for a variety of reasons. Some departments use them because they do not have sufficient enrollment to offer "G" only courses. If the U/G designation was not available, these departments would schedule separate courses for undergraduates and graduates but would have the two courses meet together. Michael Weinert said that the Physics Department teaches U/G courses at a graduate level, and most of those who enroll are graduate students. Undergraduates who enroll in these courses are expected to function at the graduate level. This is why Physics U/G courses have a long list of course prerequisites for undergraduate students. The opposite is true in the History Department where U/G courses are populated primarily by undergraduate students, with a few graduate students also enrolling. Tom O'Bryan said there are too many U/G courses where the prerequisites for undergraduates are not significant enough to ensure that students will succeed. Because there seemed to be a variety of reasons to offer U/G courses, committee members felt that any action regarding U/G courses would disadvantage some departments and students.
   7. Discussion of extraordinary accommodations - Connie Jo said that the L&S Faculty passed a motion around three years ago that said that identified the L&S math and English competency requirements as integral to the degree in the College and, therefore, that the College should not make special accommodations to exempt students from these two requirements. However, recent court cases put the College's accommodation policy in question, so the extraordinary accommodations issue must be revisited. Connie Jo said that UWM's legal experts had outlined the steps that the College should take so that it would be protected from legal actions if it enforced its policy of non-accommodation for English and math. Members agreed that the subcommittee appointed to address this matter should be reconstituted and that committee needs to again hear from UWM's legal experts about how to proceed, given the time that has lapsed.
   8. Assessment of L&S Degree Requirements - postponed until the next meeting
   9. Sport and Recreation Courses -- postponed until the next meeting
6. New Business - none
7. Adjournment - The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Connie Jo, Assistant Dean
Secretary to the L&S Faculty

Distribution: Dean G. Richard Meadows
Associate Deans Gajdardziska-Josifovska, Schuster, Swain
Assistant Deans Horstman, Kissinger
Secretary of the University

Minutes #8, 2006-07.ap&cc