Present:	Karen Brucks, Eduardo Douglas, Glen Fredlund, Peter Geissinger, David Heathcote, Michael Liston, Kris Ruggiero, Gabrielle Verdier
Excused:	Joyce Kirk, Pat Kissinger
Guests:	Connie Jo, Tom O'Bryan, Kim Romenesko

1. Call to Order - The Chair, Glen Fredlund, called the meeting to order at 10:05 a.m. in Holton 241.
2. Procedural Matters - None
3. Automatic Consent
   1. Approval of Minutes #2, 2006-2007 (October 12, 2006) -- There were no corrections to the minutes; they stand approved.
4. Old Business - None
5. New Business
   1. Discussion of Sloane proposal created by Tom O'Bryan - Tom informed the committee that L&S had only two weeks to submit Sloane Foundation ideas to campus administration. Sloane's interest is in developing programs that affect local communities, particularly through the use of on-line and hybrid courses. Given the interest of the Foundation and the short time frame within which the College had to work, the College decided to draw from proposals that had been submitted in the past, and ended up submitting to campus administration a plan that would allow students to complete their first two years entirely on-line in compressed, 8-week sessions. Members voiced some concern with the plan, particularly around staffing and the shortened sessions. In terms of staffing, Tom explained that L&S offers course buy-outs or summer support to faculty members who want to develop on-line courses. If the Sloane Foundation proposal is funded, hybrid courses will have to be developed. Staffing of these can be handled in a variety of ways. For example, the lecture part of the course can be offered on-line but students can come to discussion sessions once a week (perhaps staffed by a TA) to give speeches or do other things that can only be done in person. Regarding the shortened session, Tom suggested that some faculty members probably would prefer to teach in 8-week increments because theoretically they could teach their full load in one semester, allowing them to focus entirely on research the following semester. Likewise, a portion of the student population prefers compressed sessions.
6. Adjournment - The meeting was adjourned at 11:30 a.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

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

 

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

Minutes #3, 2006-07.apgc