Arts and Science Senate

Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Academic Year 2005 - 2006

Minutes

12th meeting, Dec 13, 2005 – Approved 25 Jan 2006

Present: Robert Cerrato (interim chair), Judith Lochhead, D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Catherine Marrone, Arlene Feldman, Sarah Sternglanz, Darlene Prowse, Thomas Weinacht, Stephanie Dinkins, Ellen Lindquist, Kathleen Flynn (guest)

Absent: Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005), Leslie Volpe, Claire Green-Ford, Vanessa Dumont, Anthony Phillips

I. Committee Business

1. Review of the minutes from 7 Dec, 2005 - approved

2. The committee selected Wednesdays 9:30-10:30 am for the spring 2006 meeting time. The first

meeting is tentatively scheduled for January 25, 2006.

II. Routine Administrative Matters

1. none

III. Old Business

1. none

IV. New Business

1. Journalism

The committee began review of the proposal for the Major in Journalism and had a few initial

observations and questions

Rationale and background – items to address before submitting the proposal to the state

(a) Will the major compete with other SUNY and private programs in NYS? In particular, Hofstra might have reason to oppose our proposal to the NYSED. How will SBU’s program be different?

(b) Accreditation: Why are the other SUNY and private programs not accredited? Is it their choice to not seek accreditation, or have their proposals been rejected? What national undergraduate programs DO have accreditation? Does it matter in the job market if a student receives a degree from an accredited program?

Grammar immersion:

(a) the proposal addresses the issue of student preparedness in basic writing skills and proposes

completion of a rudimentary grammar immersion course (RGIC) as a prerequisite to the Major for students who are not properly prepared. How will the program measure student preparedness?

(b) The issue of writing preparedness is a university-wide concern, and subject of a recent external review of the Program in Writing and Rhetoric (PWR). (A copy of the review report may be available in the Provost’s office.) Will the RGIC address issues in this report?

interfere? The committee recommends consultation with the Director of the PWR.

(d) Will the RGIC be open to students outside the JRN major?

(e) the proposal’s sample course sequence indicates the RGIC may be taken concurrently with WRT 102. Would the RGIC be more or less beneficial if taken concurrently with WRT 101?

Acceptance into the Major in Journalism:

Although the committee recognizes that the Major, if approved, will likely be administered by a professional school rather than a College of Arts and Sciences department, the committee will review the proposal as if it were a major within CAS.

(a) Majors within the college should not exclude students based on GPA or other criteria.

(b) However, if the Major lies outside the College, then the admission criteria for potential freshmen and transfers should be more explicitly stated in the proposal and the bulletin entry.

Credits for the major:

(a) The committee comments that the standard maximum credit load for undergraduate degrees is 120 credits in the Arts and Sciences. The proposed sum of 128 credits could be reduced if some courses double count for more than one graduation requirement (i.e., university and major requirements). The credit summary on the final page of the “Proposal for a major and minor in Journalism at Stony Brook” does not account for courses that satisfy more than one requirement classification, and could therefore be too high.

(b) The proposal indicates a requirement for students to specialize in a non-Journalism area. Generally, concentrations are directly related to the subject matter and pertinent courses are offered within the same department that offers the Major. if a concentration is to be required, it should be counted as a part of the total credits required for the major. Therefore, the credit requirement for the major totals 65 (47 for the major and 18 for the concentration). (for example, see the Major in Geology)

concentration. A program may not require students to complete a minor according to current University policy (with the BUS major as a recent exception).

Sample Course Sequence:

(a) Several courses are missing from the sample sequence: JRN 320, 350, 388, 410, 411, 488

(b) Is 488 required? If not, will taking it lengthen the time needed to complete the major? Or will 488 replace another course?

(c) A double asterisk on the sequence (**) indicates that outside concentration courses excludes courses taken to fulfill DEC requirements. Why?

Phase I – Traditional Values and Skills: the committee recommends replacing or deleting “traditional values” from the title of this section. Perhaps “Foundations and Skills” would be more appropriate and less loaded.

Phase III: are electives required, and if so, will this push the credit load beyond 128 credits? 128 may be already too high.

Course proposals:

(a) The committee did not have time to review the submitted course syllabi. However, the members indicate that in order for a proposal for a Major to be submitted to SUNY or NYSED, all required courses must be proposed using the course proposal form and approved on campus. Syllabi must accompany a course proposal form, but the proposal indicates that syllabi may not be submitted until Feb 1, 2007 based on the time line for hiring faculty. Can sample syllabi be included with the course proposals?

(b) What will be the frequency of offering for each of the 32 courses? Four full time faculty may be too few.

The committee recommends meeting with Howard Schneider before the holiday break for further

discussion of the above issues.

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Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Academic Year 2005 - 2006

Minutes

11th meeting, Dec 7, 2005 – Approved Dec 13, 2005

Present: Judith Lochhead, (interim chair), D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Leslie Volpe, Anthony Phillips, Catherine Marrone, Arlene Feldman, Sarah Sternglanz, Darlene Prowse, Thomas Weinacht, Robert Cerrato

Absent: Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005), Claire Green-Ford, Vanessa Dumont, Stephanie Dinkins, Ellen

Lindquist

I. Committee Business

1. Review of the minutes from 29 Nov, 2005 – approved

II. Routine Administrative Matters – approved

1. European Languages

ITL 441/571 – add prerequisites for Spring 2006 topic offering

Prerequisites: ITL 395 and 396 (normally ITL 311 and ITL 312)

2. Change components for FRN 111 to lecture only for the spring term only.

III. Old Business

1. none

IV. New Business

1. Undergraduate Biology

Extension of experimental status of BIO 358 through summer 2006

The curriculum committee reviewed the request on Wednesday morning 12/7 and conditionally approved the experimental offering of BIO 358 during summer 2006. The course may be scheduled pending agreement to the following:

(a) The experimental course was originally approved with the expectation that the Undergraduate Council would review the various outstanding issues regarding video lecture delivery at Stony Brook. Those issues are now under review in the Undergraduate Council (first discussed on Dec 6, 2005 and will most likely continue into the Spring semester).

Contingent upon the outcome of discussions in the Undergraduate Council, the curriculum committee approves the offering of the video lecture delivery of BIO 358 during the Summer 2006 term only. Note that this approval excludes offering the video lecture delivery model during Spring 2006 since +/- 500 students are already enrolled.

(b) The committee would like an assessment report of the Fall 2005 video lecture delivery offering as soon as possible after the start of Spring 2006 classes, but no later than February 17, 2006. This will give the committee time to review the assessment before students begin to enroll for Fall 2006 in April, 2006.

(c) Specifically for assessment, the committee requests documentation and statistics showing comparison of the Fall 2005 offering to the Fall 2004 offering. Such documentation and statistics should address the points on the committee's 2004-05 annual report, attached. Note that these are the same points that the Undergraduate Council is discussing.

(d) The committee requests grade comparisons between BIO 358 in Fall 2005 and (1) prior offerings of BIO 358 and (2) other undergraduate BIO courses in Fall 2005.

2. Winter session

Two late requests to add ITL 447 (directed readings) and AAS 487 (independent research) for winter 2006. Can these courses and others like them be offered during the winter session? The committee determined that the issue will require further discussion for winter 07, but for winter 06, we should not offer tutorials until there is ample time to review research plans and/or reading lists, etc. The committee thought that the model for tutorials works well in the fall, spring and summer (usually offered in the extended summer session), but might be too compressed for the 3 week winter format. The committee did not have time for complete discussion due to the timing of the requests.

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Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Academic Year 2005 - 2006

Minutes

10th meeting, Nov 29, 2005 – Approved Dec 7, 2005

Present: Robert Cerrato (interim chair), D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Leslie Volpe, Anthony Phillips, Catherine Marrone, Arlene Feldman, Kathleen Flynn (guest), Sarah Sternglanz, Ellen Lindquist, Darlene Prowse, Stephanie Dinkins,

Absent: Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005), Claire Green-Ford, Vanessa Dumont, Judith Lochhead, Thomas Weinacht

I. Committee Business

1. Review of the minutes from Nov 16, 2005 – approved

2. Bx/MBA – the next DUGS meeting on 30 Nov will discuss the implementation of the recently approved Bx/MBA programs. The committee members had concerns that they hope will be addressed at that meeting

(a) advising: students in each major should have access to a workable 5-yr sample course sequence upon entrance into the program

(b) frequency of MBA offerings: MBA courses need to be offered often enough to allow flexibility across departments. Extreme example: if MBA 5xx is offered only once per term, then all departments who have students participating in the Bx/MBA program would need to schedule their offerings for seniors around the one MBA 5xx offering each term.

II. Routine Administrative Matters

1. AAS 212 – change title for spring 2005 from Great Books of India to AAAS Topics in the Humanities. Awaiting course proposal for a standalone course, “Great Books of India”

Approved

III. Old Business

1. none

IV. New Business

1. MSRC

Transfer credit for MAR 380

The committee approved this request as follows: the transferred course, a lower division Ichthyology course from Nassau Community College, from may satisfy the equivalent of MAR 380 for major requirements in MSRC, but may not fulfill the University 39 upperdivision credits requirement.

2. Art

DEC proposal for ARH 330 (G or K)

The committee agrees that a designation of DEC G is most suitable for this course because of its content. Also, the prerequisites of ARH 330 include courses that already satisfy DEC K

In review of the syllabus for this request, the committee recommends a few general changes to page two of the syllabus:

(a) final grade percentages of quizzes, participation, and completion of assignments should be explicitly stated rather than listed as variable factors.

(b) “final exam cannot be missed” should be removed – this is not university policy. Please refer to p. 72 of the online Bulletin

(c) “all final grades are final” should be removed – this is not university policy. Please refer to p. 73 of the online Bulletin

http://www.stonybrook.edu/ugrdbulletin/current/pdfs/AcademicPolReg.pdf

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Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Academic Year 2005 - 2006

Minutes

9th meeting, Nov 16, 2005 – Approved Nov 29, 2005

Present: Judith Lochhead (interim chair), Robert Cerrato, D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Leslie Volpe, Anthony Phillips, Thomas Weinacht, Catherine Marrone, Arlene Feldman, Kathleen Flynn (guest)

Absent: Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005), Claire Green-Ford, Vanessa Dumont, Ellen Lindquist, Sarah Sternglanz, Darlene Prowse, Stephanie Dinkins

I. Committee Business

1. Review of the minutes from Nov 1, 2005 - Approved

2. Bx/MBA

Gillespie relayed discussion from a meeting on November 7, 2005 regarding the implementation of the new combined degree programs. These programs have been approved by NYSED. Maria Doelger is in process of revising the sample course sequences to include appropriate number of DEC courses, and sample sequences from majors most likely to combine with the MBA.

II. Routine Administrative Matters – approved

1. Approve ITL 211 and DAN 465 for winter. These courses were previously pending approval.

Gillespie approved them based on departmental response.

2 SPN 420 – remove lab. Lecture only. Contact hours remain the same.

III. Old Business

1. Mathematics

MAE 447 – The committee agrees that changes to the course are not necessary.

IV. New Business

1. Africana Studies

New course proposals:

AFS 320, Black Popular Culture and the Urban Terrain

AFS 339, Recent African American History

AFS 392, The Black Power Movement

AFS 394, Black Nationalism in America

Pertaining to al four proposals: Please revise the course proposals and submit electronically.

(a) Q1: DEC K – please provide justification to classify the courses as DEC K by completing Q16 on each proposal. Include the learning outcomes of each course.

(b) Q2: the course description (i.e., bulletin text) of each course should be truncated, and the course proposal should address the learning outcomes for DEC K. Please see the following link for instructions on writing course descriptions as well as the Undergraduate Bulletin for definitions of the DEC designations.

http://ws.cc.stonybrook.edu/senatecas/New%20Course%20Proposal%20Form%20Guidelines.htm

(c) Q10: For each proposal, the response to this question is inconsistent between the course proposal and the course syllabus. If films will shown, please specify on the syllabus and in the proposal when and where students will view the films or film excerpts. Will there be outside student preparation before viewing the films?

(d) Q20: if any course will be crosslisted with another, the committee needs an endorsed memo from each participating department with justification for the crosslisting.

(e) Syllabus: each syllabus needs more clarity. Please include a daily break-down of assignments and class topics for the semester; the correct course number; instructor office hours (if known), learning outcomes for DEC K, and a revised course description. Also, the committee found a few typos. In addition, each syllabus should include statements about academic integrity and students with disabilities

AFS 320 – in addition to the points above,

(f) the course description states that content of the course is focused on culture “around the world,” however, the supporting details in the course proposal suggest that the course pertains mostly to the US, with only some implications to culture outside of the US. Either the content needs revision or this phrase should be removed from the course description.

AFS 339 – in addition to the points above,

(g) the grading breakdown adds up to 105%. This should be revised

(h) the course has no final: please consider how this will affect enrollment at the end of the term

3. Physics and Astronomy

Transfer credit from NCC – MDS 103 Forensic Science

This item does not need review by the committee and has been forwarded to the Transfer Office.

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Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Academic Year 2005 - 2006

Minutes

8th meeting, Nov 1, 2005 – Approved Nov 16, 2005

Present: Robert Cerrato (interim chair), D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Sarah Sternglanz, Leslie Volpe, Anthony Phillips, Darlene Prowse, Stephanie Dinkins, Thomas Weinacht,

Absent: Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005), Claire Green-Ford, Vanessa Dumont, Ellen Lindquist Catherine

Marrone (at departmental review), Judith Lochhead, Arlene Feldman

I. Committee Business

1. Review of the minutes from Oct 26, 2005 – approved

II. Routine Administrative Matters – approved

1. European Languages:

Activate standard courses:

GER 475 Undergraduate Teaching Practicum I

GER 476 Undergraduate Teaching Practicum II

RUS 475 Undergraduate Teaching Practicum I

RUS 476 Undergraduate Teaching Practicum II

Geosciences

GEO 111 – inactivate GEO 111 per earlier proposal and formally approve changes Theatre Arts

(a) Update THR major, part A Core program. Change from THR to DAN courses per approved changes to the DAN minor

(b) Activate standard courses:

DAN 475 Undergraduate Teaching Practicum I

DAN 476 Undergraduate Teaching Practicum II

DAN 487 Independent Research

DAN 488 Internship

III. Old Business

1. none

IV. New Business

1. Mathematics

MAE 447- change format from tutorial to seminar

(a) Request is okay in principle, but requires some coordination with PEP

(b) If PEP agrees, change title and course description as follows:

MAE 447 Directed Readings Seminar in Mathematics Education course description: Tutorial studies in Seminar discussions regarding recent advances in mathematics education.

More discussion is needed

2. Winter session syllabi

Theatre Arts

THR (DAN) 465 Contemporary Dance Technique III

approved, contingent upon the department amending the syllabus to include a day-by-day outline of the course, including assignments and discussion topics.

European Languages

ITL 211: Intermediate Italian I

not approved, based on the following concerns:

(a) When compared to the bulletin course description, there is still too much emphasis spent on grammar, and not enough emphasis on the study of texts.

(b) page two of the syllabus does not seem to match p. 1 and appears to be from a syllabus for ITL 112. Is this course meant to be offered as ITL 112 or 211?

(c) the committee notes that a course that focuses on selected Italian texts should specificity the readings in a day-by-day outline of the course.

(d) one typo in the first paragraph: "May not be taken for credit in edition addition to ITL 201."

3. Asian and Asian American Studies

The department proposes two courses, and the committee approved each with modifications. The

resulting courses will be active starting in Spring 2006. Eventually, the new courses will be crosslisted with POL courses:

AAS 338-J Contemporary India: History, Politics, and Diplomacy (Post-1947)

AAS 339-J Contemporary China: History, Politics, and Diplomacy (Post-1947)

Committee concerns were:

(a) Since the courses will be crosslisted, the prerequisites should reflect prerequisites from each department. AAS and POL

AAS 338-J: Prerequisites: AAS 201 or POL 101; U3 or U4 standing

AAS 339-J: Prerequisites: AAS 219 or POL 101; U3 or U4 standing

(b) originally, the department proposed DEC F, however, DEC J is more appropriate in both cases

Political Science) that justifies and supports the crosslisting of the courses between departments.

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Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Academic Year 2005 - 2006

Minutes

7th meeting, Oct 26, 2005 – Approved Nov 1, 2005

Present: Robert Cerrato (interim chair), D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Catherine Marrone, Arlene Feldman, Sarah Sternglanz, Leslie Volpe, Anthony Phillips, Kathleen Flynn (guest), Darlene Prowse, Stephanie Dinkins, Thomas Weinacht, Judith Lochhead,

Absent: Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005), Claire Green-Ford, Vanessa Dumont, Ellen Lindquist

I. Committee Business

1. Review of the minutes from Oct 18, 2005 – approved

II. Routine Administrative Matters

1. MSRC

experimental course proposal: MAR 291

Correspondence with Mary Scranton: previously the committee approved MAR 291 but recommended the course be offered as a non-variable 3.0 credit course. However, correspondence with Scranton indicates that the syllabus has been changed “to indicate that those taking it for 1 credit will simply not do a final report and need to only attend 60% of class meetings/assignments.” Also, Scranton indicates that students needing more than 2 credits for full time status will enroll in internships.

Approved as variable 1-2 credit course

2. Hispanic Languages –ANT 420: Add film lab component and adjust contact hours accordingly

Approved

3. Economics

additional prerequisites for topics courses ECO 351, ECO 352 and ECO 353: add "C or higher in ECO 303" for the spring 2006 term only

Approved

III. Old Business

1. Anthropology

New course proposal ANT 359/ANT/DPA 559 Archaeology of Food

Response from Katheryn C. Twiss

The department agreed with the committee’s recommendations. The undergraduate portion of the course was approved; and the graduate portion of the course will require approval by the graduate council.

IV. New Business

1. Journalism

Two experimental course proposals: Both courses were approved for the Spring 2006 term and will fulfill requirements for the minor in Journalism. Please see the following comments and minor corrections to the proposals:

JRN 280: The History and Future of the American Press

- this course, if it becomes a permanent course, would be a good candidate to satisfy DEC K and Skill 4

JRN 285: Colloquium on the News

- the prerequisites were removed from this course due to an apparent cut/paste error.

2. Chemistry

New course proposal: CHE 477 Undergrad Teaching Practicum III

Approved, with one question from the committee: Will the undergraduate student teaching assistants be paid?

3. Chemistry

Increase credits on CHE 321 322 and 326

The committee had a positive review of the proposal, however, some follow-up is required.

(a) The committee asks for Phillips to consult the dean regarding the impact on resources, if any, regarding the need for TA’s

(b) The committee agrees that the proposal is pedagogically sound and that it is good for the course credit to reflect the contact hours

(b) In addition to the Biology and Biochemistry programs, the committee requests confirmation from other undergraduate program directors/chairs that commonly require these courses for their majors (e.g., Biomedical Engineering (BME), Chemical and Molecular Engineering (CME), Engineering Chemistry (ECM), the Health Sciences major (HAV), Marine Sciences (MAR), Marine Vertebrate Biology (MVB), Pharmacology (BCP), and the BS in Psychology (PSY-BS)

4. Theatre Arts

Revisions to the Theatre major and courses

Request to allow THR majors a choice of THR 216 or THR 230 to fulfill requirement #5

Approved

THR 307 Performance Laboratory: change to 0-3 credits and repeat for max 3 credits

Approved

THR 246 Stage Lighting: remove THR 216 from the advisory prerequisites

Approved

THR 322 Acting III: change repeatability

The committee requests clarification on a few points:

(a) Acting III is perceived by its title to be the third in the sequence following Acting I and Acting II. However, it is unclear given the rationale for the change if the course will continue to be a course whose content focuses on the craft of acting or on the history/technique of acting. If it is the latter, the committee observes that the department might re-conceive what the course’s relationship is to Acting I and II.

(b) the committee agreed that it is appropriate for the focus of the course to change according to circumstances, however, it is not a true topics course.

(d) given these requests for clarification, the committee anticipates that the department may want to re-title the course as a “workshop” or true “topics” course.

5. Women’s Studies

WST 301 – remove prerequisites. The committee agrees that removing prerequisites altogether for a 300-level course is not appropriate and the course should continue to have advisory prerequisites.

WST 305 and WST 39x – revise prerequisites. Approved as follows: WST major or minor or WST 102 or WST 103 or WST 301 or WST/PHI 284 or 6 credits of departmentally approved courses

WST 305 – add DEC G. Approved.

WST 398 – add DEC K. Approved. Note that DEC K does not require approval from Albany.

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Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Minutes

6th meeting, Oct 18, 2005 – Approved Oct 26, 2005

Present: Robert Cerrato (interim chair), D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Catherine Marrone, Arlene Feldman, Sarah Sternglanz, Leslie Volpe, Ellen Lindquist, Anthony Phillips, Kathleen Flynn (guest), Darlene Prowse, Stephanie Dinkins

Absent: Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005), Claire Green-Ford, Vanessa Dumont, Judith Lochhead, Thomas Weinacht (attending departmental review)

I. Committee Business

1. Review of the minutes from Oct 11, 2005 – Approved

II. Routine Administrative Matters

1. none

III. Old Business

1. Writing and Rhetoric (FOR WINTER)

review of WRT 101 winter syllabus

Approved, contingent upon response to the following

(a) For the winter syllabus, the committee recommends adding page numbers for the readings, similar to the Fall/Spring syllabus

(b) the committee recommends lowering the attendance and participation to 15% to equate to the two weeks students can miss in the Fall/Spring term before failure. (Two weeks of class equates to roughly 15% of the contact time for the course.)

IV. New Business

1. MSRC

experimental course proposal: MAR 291

the curriculum committee had a positive review of the experimental course proposal for MAR 291.

The course was approved pending resolution/agreement on a few issues

(a) Course title: The committee agreed that the title, "Transitional studies," would inappropriately classify the course as a supplemental course for transfer students (As PHY 291 appears to be).

They suggest a simple title: "Topics in Marine Sciences."

(b) Credit load: by coincidence, a member of the committee had a list of the students who will need this course. Several of them will need 3 credits to remain full time after dropping BIO 201. Also, offering the course as a variable credit course would require the instructor to assign different work-loads for different students in the same class, even though the course follows a discussion format. The syllabus does not indicate variable assignments for the students, therefore, the committee recommends that the course be offered as a fixed 3.0 credit course (not variable), and that it meet for the contact hours to satisfy 3 credits (you'll need to add one hr per week for the remainder of the term).

2. Geosciences

Removal of GEO 111 from requirements for the major

Approved, contingent upon response to the following. Is the department requesting that GEO 111 be inactivated, and if so, how will students in programs other than GEO be affected?

3. English

EGL 204 prerequisite and minor changes

Both requests were approved

4. Theatre Arts

Revisions to the minor in Dance

Approved. The committee notes that some paperwork will need to be completed by the executive

secretary for General Education purposes

5. Anthropology

New course proposal ANT 359/ANT/DPA 559 Archaeology of Food

Approval pending the following concerns:

(a) The committee observes that the course enrollment may be lower than anticipated if the course does not satisfy a DEC requirement. If the department agrees, DEC F may be appropriate for the course. When the course was offered as a topic to ANT 394-F in Fall 2004 and Fall 2005, it enrolled 10 and 12 students respectively. The committee hopes enrollment will increase if the title is more visible than that of a topic.

(b) The committee is concerned that without a final exam, students will not be motivated to attend the final weeks of class and requests clarification or explanation. One suggestion is to change the second midterm exam to a final exam that would occur after the in class presentations.

(c) If class enrollment reaches 30 or 40 students, time will be very limited for all students to give their in class presentations.

(d) The amount of class participation that counts towards the final grade is perhaps too high.

The committee recommends decreasing it and increasing the weight of the exams.

Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Minutes

5th meeting, Oct 11, 2005 – Approved Oct 18, 2005

Present: Robert Cerrato (interim chair), D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Catherine Marrone, Thomas Weinacht, Arlene Feldman, Sarah Sternglanz Leslie Volpe, Ellen Lindquist, Anthony Phillips, Kathleen Flynn (guest)

Absent: Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005), Claire Green-Ford, Vanessa Dumont, Judith Lochhead, Darlene Prowse, Stephanie Dinkins

I. Committee Business

1. Review of the minutes from Sept 21, 2005 – Approved

2. Review of the minutes from Sept 28, 2005 – Approved

II. Routine Administrative Matters

1. Winter Session syllabi

Political Science: POL 101: Approval of syllabus for POL 101 for winter. The department made the requested changes.

History: HIS 399: approved by committee on 28 Sept. This course was originally submitted as HIS 396-K, but should be offered as HIS 399-K to avoid conflict with AFS/HIS 396, which may also be offered in the winter session.

III. Old Business

1. Winter Session syllabi

MSRC: MAR 388 Tropical Ecology: see below

Hispanic Languages: the committee clarified that the phrase “incompletes will not be given” from the winter syllabi. Although University policy states that temporary incomplete grades may be assigned at the discretion of the instructor, the committee clarified that extraordinary circumstances should be considered, and restrictive phrases indicating otherwise should not appear in syllabi.

History: HIS 396: approved

IV. New Business

1. Winter Session syllabi

Writing and Rhetoric: WRT 101:

(a) The committee would like to compare a recent syllabus for a fall/spring offering of WRT 101. Of primary concern is the amount of reading required in the course.

(b) will the course require placement by the Writing Placement Exam, and will there be an offering of a placement exam in time for students to enroll?

2. Ecology and Evolution

New course proposal: BIO 3xx Diversity and Evolution of Reptiles and Amphibians

Approved, contingent upon

(a) completion of question 11 on the course proposal

(b) selection of a course number.

3. MSRC

New course proposals:

MAR 352 – Introduction to Physical Oceanography

approved, contingent upon the following revisions

(a) amendment to the course description “not for credit in addition to MAR 350.”

Subsequently, the course description of MAR 350 should be similarly amended.

(b) course prerequisites stated on the course proposal do not match those on the syllabus MAR 353 – Physical Oceanography Lab

approved, contingent upon the following revision

(a) course prerequisites stated on the course proposal do not match those on the syllabus

Proposed revisions to major requirements:

MAR – changes approved (increase credit requirement by 1 due to the approval of new courses, MAR 352 and MAR 353)

MVB– changes approved (increase credit requirement by 1 due to the approval of new courses, MAR 352 and MAR 353)

ATM – approved, contingent upon the committee’s review of a revised bulletin entry for the ATM major.

Proposed revisions to existing courses

ENS 301 – not approved (new course description). For further review, the committee requests clarification as to why the scope of the course should change from a broad geographic approach to one that is more specific to NY State. The committee thinks that a more specific content focus would be less attractive to prospective out-of-state students as well as to out-of-state employers who may potentially hire MSRC graduates.

MAR 350 – not approved (new title and course description). For further review, the committee requests a syllabus for the course with the revised title and justification for the changes.

MAR 380 – not approved (revised course prerequisites). For further review, the committee requests a syllabus for the course with the revised prerequisites as well as justification for the change.

Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Minutes

4th meeting, Sept 28, 2005 – Approved Oct 11, 2005

Present: Judy Lochhead (interim chair), D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Robert Cerrato, Catherine Marrone, Thomas Weinacht, Darlene Prowse, Stephanie Dinkins, Arlene Feldman, Sarah Sternglanz

Absent: Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005), Claire Green-Ford, Leslie Volpe, Vanessa Dumont, Ellen Lindquist, Anthony Phillips

I. Committee Business

1. none

II. Routine Administrative Matters

1. none

III. Old Business

1. Winter Session syllabi

Psychology: PSY 345: approved

History: HIS 399: approved [note: this course was originally submitted as HIS 396-K, but should be offered as HIS 399-K]

MSRC: MAR 375 Marine Mammal Rehabilitation: see below

MSRC: MAR 388 Tropical Ecology: see below

2. MSRC

New course proposal:

MAR 375 Marine Mammal Rehabilitation (WINTER)

Approved. The committee recommends that, given the course title, one lecture should be devoted to the topic of sea turtles. [note: per email from the instructor on 9/27/05, the course title should be changed to Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Rehabilitation

New course proposal:

MAR 388 Tropical Ecology (WINTER)

The committee remains concerned regarding two points:

(a) credits and contact hours. It is the committee's understanding that students can take no more than 4 credits in the Winter Term, thus a 5 credit course is not allowable. The committee also suggests the course should devote more time to field work and less to lectures. Instead of a 5 credit structure (4 credits lecture (50 hrs) plus 1 credit lab (37.5 min) = min 87.5 hrs) [note: 95 contact hours are indicated in the syllabus], the course could be more effective as a 4 credit course, divided into 2 credits of lecture (25 hours,) plus 2 credits of lab/field work (75 hrs), totaling 100 hrs over 18 days.

(b) The previous version of the course proposal indicated that final projects could not be completed abroad and would be instead completed after returning to SBU because of the need for computer and library resources at SBU. Will the final projects no longer require the use of computers or for library research?

IV. New Business

1. Winter Session syllabi

The Committee reviewed several syllabi from the proposed list of courses for the winter session.

Political Science: POL 101

The committee recommends that this syllabus be revised before the course is offered in the winter session.

(a) the attendance policy (item 3 in the syllabus) should be deleted. SBU does not have an

attendance policy.

(b) the paragraph on p. 2 that begins “I do not hold you responsible for attending the course…”

should be modified or removed. Students should not be encouraged in any way to not attend classes, especially since one class constitutes 1/12 of the entire course.

(d) the course only has two graded exams, and no quizzes. The committee recommends several small assignments (daily quizzes or short homework assignments for each daily reading) to encourage the students to complete the readings and to receive feedback on their progress.

(e) Indications that students should “skim” or read “quickly” should be removed.

Political Science: POL 102

approved, with one suggestion to indicate the specific page numbers for readings on the syllabus

Political Science: POL 103

approved, contingent upon two points:

(a) the “course requirements” seem to refer to a spring or fall semester. This should be revised to indicate the winter dates and time frame, especially item 4 (extra credit)

(b) The “course outline” could have more detail as to specific page numbers for readings.

Philosophy: PHI 300

approved

Philosophy: PHI 306

approved, contingent upon response to the following suggestion

(a) the syllabus lacks a clear grade breakdown

(b) exams: there are three exams, but the committee recommends a few quizzes or short writing assignments to provide the students with feedback on their understanding of the course material.

Hispanic Languages: HUS 254

approved, contingent upon response to the following committee recommendations:

(a) the statement, “incompletes will not be given” could be rephrased. Although university policy permits instructor discretion in assigning incomplete grades (p. 71 of the Bulletin), the committee recommends that the language could be softened to allow “extreme circumstances.”

(b) the course delivery includes six films. Depending on how long these film showings are, the contact hours for the course may need to be extended. Please contact Gillespie.

Hispanic Languages: SPN 112

approved, contingent upon response to the following committee recommendations:

(b) the instructor is not indicated on the syllabus

(c) the meeting times are not indicated. Since this is a four credit course, it will need to meet TWThF 9:00 am – 1:25 pm

Hispanic Languages: SPN 311

approved, contingent upon response to the following committee recommendations:

(b) the instructor is not indicated on the syllabus

Theatre Arts: THR 101

approved, contingent upon response to the following committee recommendations:

(a) The final project was unclear. Please specify or define the final project

Theatre Arts: THR 104

approved, contingent upon response to the following committee recommendations:

(a) a participation grade of 25% is above the maximum recommended amount of 20%.

Theatre Arts: THR 110

approved, contingent upon response to the following committee recommendations:

(a) the meeting times are not indicated.

(b) the readings and textbook should be specified in the syllabus.

(c) 40% of the grade is devoted to “assignments / participation.” The committee recommends that the “assignments” and “participation” should receive separate percentages, and that participation should not exceed 20%.

(d) attendance: note that the university does not have an attendance policy

(e) the committee recommends that the course content should include examples of model speakers and examination of different speaking styles. The syllabus should specify who the model speakers will be and how they will be evaluated.

(f) the statement regarding disability should be standardized to match the statement prescribed by the University. Contact Gillespie for the official statement.

Economics ECO 326:

Approved, contingent upon the following suggestions

(a) the committee recommends that the “prerequisites” could be stated as they are in the bulletin with additional description of the prerequisites to follow

(b) homework: the syllabus states that homework will be given after each Friday, but there are only two Friday classes excluding the final class. The committee recommends a few quizzes, additional homework assignments or short writing assignments to provide the students with feedback on their understanding of the course material. This is especially true since “more than 50% of questions on the exams are from homework.”

Economics AMS 335/ECO 355:

Approved, contingent upon the following suggestions

(a) problem sets: if 5 problem sets are assigned, each would count for 4% (this appears to be a typo on the syllabus)

(b) problem sets: The committee suggests specifying the spacing of the problem sets in the syllabus.

Economics ECO 360:

approved

Chemistry: CHE 133

approved

Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Minutes

3rd meeting, Sept 21, 2005 – Approved Oct 11, 2005

Present: Robert Cerrato (interim chair), D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Judy Lochhead, Catherine Marrone, Thomas Weinacht, Darlene Prowse, Stephanie Dinkins, Arlene Feldman, Anthony Phillips, Sarah Sternglanz

Absent: Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005), Claire Green-Ford, Leslie Volpe, Vanessa Dumont, Ellen Lindquist

I. Committee Business

1. Review of the minutes from Sept 14, 2005 – approved with minor revisions

2. Gen Education update

Gillespie presented the status of Gen Ed and there are 3 concerns:

(a) the Committee is anticipating a quicker response time from SUNY. For the proposals sent on 4/24/2004, the committee had no response until approximately one year later. The committee requests that the process be accelerated for the batch of proposals that were submitted on 6/28/2005.

(c) if any courses are not approved by SUNY from the 6/28/2005 submissions, the Committee requests a written response from SUNY detailing the reason for each rejection.

(b) Skill 4 – the committee hopes for a response soon from SUNY regarding the status.

3. Departmental reviews – volunteer needed for SPD, Nov 15.

Dinkins will attend on Sept 15 for SPD

II. Routine Administrative Matters

1. none

III. Old Business

1. Winter Session syllabi

Sociology: SOC 310: approved

IV. New Business

1. Winter Session syllabi

The Committee reviewed several syllabi from the proposed list of courses for the winter session.

MSRC: MAR 388 Tropical Ecology.

see below under MSRC new course proposals

MSRC: MAR 375 Marine Mammal Rehabilitation

see below under MSRC new course proposals

Music: MUS 101: approved

Philosophy: PHI 101: approved

Art: ARH 101: approved, with suggested changes

a few suggestions for the syllabus:

(a) the class meeting time is missing from the syllabus

(b) the breakdown of the final grade is unclear regarding the percentage of quizzes, exams and the final paper. There is an inconsistency: under "exams" the instructor states there will be 2 exams, but these are not included in "the final grades" on p.2. The committee suggests a clear chart for the breakdown of the final grade.

History: AFS/HIS 396: Slavery, Abolition and Emancipation 1600-1865

approval is pending the following revisions:

(a) some concern that the Department of History course is offering the course once as a standalone

course and again as a crosslisted course with AFS. The committee requests clarification for doing so.

(b) the committee notes that the syllabus is missing a day-by-day breakdown of assignments

5. MSRC

New course proposal:

MAR 388 Tropical Ecology (WINTER)

The Committee sees this course as an attractive addition to the curriculum, however, given the co-requisite enrollment in MAR 487, they note a few necessary changes before approval. To summarize, the committee had the following concerns regarding the proposal for MAR 388:

(a) course contact hours: It was not clear how many contact hours would be spent on each component of the course (i.e., lab, lecture and research), but based on the committee’s calculation indicates that the number of contact hours necessary to satisfy the credit requirements exceeds 200 hours over the span of 18 days.

-- MAR 388 would require 12.5 hours minimum of lecture contact, plus 75 hours of laboratory contact, for a total of 87.5 hours

-- MAR 487 cannot be judged the same as a lecture course with only 37.5 hours for 3 credits. At a minimum, it should be equivalent to lab time with 3 hours per credit. So, MAR 487 would require a minimum of 3 x 37.5 = 112.5 hours.

-- MAR 388 combined with MAR 487 is 112.5 (MAR 487) + 87.5 (MAR 388) = 200 hours. Over 18 days, the total is over 11 hours a day, not including breaks for lunch etc. This is without any reading or preparation for MAR 388. It is possible to do, but it is pretty tight.

-- Is >11 hours per day (and this is without any reading, preparation time, assignments, etc.) really practical? It can be, but the instructors need to convince the committee that this can work.

(b) One major concern that the committee had was that the plan, as currently described, called

for students to complete the project after returning to Stony Brook. They would to do this to access "word processors and literature available through the library". Students would also need time to analyze their data on the computer, prepare plots, etc. Under this scenario, all the students in the class will probably need to take an incomplete for one or both courses, since they could not turn in their papers within a day or two of returning.

-- Is there another way out of the grading problem or are incompletes going to be given to all students? Is this fair to students? Is the Registrar going to accept this?

(c) How is grading of the research project going to be split up between MAR 388 and MAR 487? The committee needs a better breakdown than provided of what elements of the project are going to count towards grading for each course.

(d) The terms “practical exam” and “oral presentation” are unclear. Their length and content could affect the calculation of contact hours. Will other students be present for the oral exam or is this a one-to-one student/ professor meeting?

(e) What about students that just want the MAR 388 part of the course? Can they take it? If not, why not just make MAR388 six credits? It would seem that there is potential for attracting more students if MAR 388 were possible to take alone. Some students may not be interested in or need research credits.

(f) In any event, the instructors should consider whether some splitting of credits between

winter and spring might be better in light of the above concerns. It could be 3-3, 4-2, or even 5-1.

(g) the requirement that students participate in SCUBA or snorkeling may raise legal issues for the University. The committee recommends that a legal statement be placed in the syllabus that clarifies the University’s position on this.

New course proposal:

MAR 375 Marine Mammal Rehabilitation (WINTER)

The committee agrees that this course will be an attractive addition to the curriculum.

However, a few aspects of the proposal need attention from the department before approval.

(a) the committee recommends dropping “Topics” from the course title since this course will not offer different topics from term to term

(b) the committee notes that the reading assignments and required textbooks could be made more clear in the syllabus

(c) contact hours: The course proposal indicates that the course contact hours will be distributed into 2 credits lecture and 1 credit lab. The syllabus indicates that the meeting times for each component (lecture and lab) will be divided equally, 10 hrs each per week for a total of 60 hrs. However, according to the existing policy, the calculation in the syllabus may need revision. The minimum amount of contact hours for this course cannot be below 62.5 hrs, including 25 hrs of lecture meetings and 37.5 hrs of lab, not including breaks.

(d) The committee suggests that this course could be good in Winter as well as Summer, Fall and Spring.

Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Minutes

2nd meeting, Sept 14, 2005 – Approved Sept 21, 2005

Present: Judy Lochhead (interim chair), D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Catherine Marrone, Thomas Weinacht, Darlene Prowse, Leslie Volpe, Vanessa Dumont, Stephanie Dinkins, Robert Cerrato, Sarah Sternglanz

Absent: Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005), Claire Green-Ford, Anthony Phillips, Arlene Feldman, Ellen Lindquist

I. Committee Business

1. Selection of a regular meeting time

The Committee selected a meeting time that will alternate between Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

2. Review of the minutes from September 9, 2005

Approved

3. Review of the Annual Report

Approved, with some changes and additions

4. Selection of a committee chairperson

The Committee members unanimously elected Nancy Tomes to serve as Chairperson for the 2005-06 Academic Year. However, since Nancy is on leave for Fall 2005, Lochhead and Cerrato will divide the Chair’s responsibilities between themselves on a rotating basis.

II. Routine Administrative Matters

1. none

III. Old Business

1. none

IV. New Business

1. Winter Session syllabi

The Committee reviewed several syllabi from the proposed list of courses for the winter session.

Sociology: SOC 302: Approved

Sociology: SOC 310: The committee reviewed the syllabus for SOC 310 and has a few minor

recommendations to strengthen the course.

1. the basis for evaluation of class participation is unclear as to the "frequency and quality."

There appears to be a contradiction between the emphasis on class participation/attendance and the statement "students are solely responsible to make up for missed lectures." The committee recommends that this be explained more thoroughly and explicitly.

2. the final grade indicates that 30% of the grade is devoted to class participation. The Committee recommends that 15-20% of the final grade is an appropriate maximum amount for class participation.

3. required reading: The committee recommends that the ethnics readings should be increased, or supplemented with a diverse list of ethnic readings in addition to the one required book. Although the schedule for the course indicates readings (articles, excerpts) other than the required book, the amount of reading is unclear. Reading requirements should be substantial for a 300-level course.

4. The amount of required writing in the class is unclear. The Committee recommends that substantial writing assignments should be required for a 300-level course.

Comp Lit and Comp Studies: CCS 101: Approved

Psychology: PSY 345: The submitted syllabus was for a Spring 2005 offering. The department will submit a revised syllabus specific to the winter session

Women’s Studies: WST 103: Approved with some minor changes

History: HIS 396: the committee recommends a few changes to the syllabus of "Hollywood" before

it will be acceptable for the winter session.

(a) The committee notes that reading assignments should be increased as appropriate for a 3 credit upper division course, especially given the amount of in-class film viewing (see below).

(b) The committee recommends that the course require more writing. The syllabus only indicates four pages of writing plus a final project, which appears to be a two-page film review.

(c) The committee remarks that the amount of film viewing does not adhere to the university guidelines as indicated on the Arts and Sciences Website:

http://ws.cc.stonybrook.edu/senatecas/Film%20and%20Video%20Policy.htm

A three-credit course requires a minimum total of 37.5 contact hours. Without significant outside class preparation, 3 hours of film viewing = 1 contact hour. Eight of twelve class meetings indicate viewing of a full-length feature film plus one or two film excerpts. The committee recommends that the film viewing be done outside of class or the class contact hours should be significantly increased.

(d) The course grading does not add up to 100%.

(e) 25% of the course grade is devoted to class participation. The committee suggests that class participation not exceed 20% of the total grade.

(f) Based on the above comments, the committee recommends that the syllabus is not acceptable in its current form, and that the instructor should revise the syllabus and resubmit it by Sept 19.

Arts and Science Senate

Undergraduate Curriculum Committee

Minutes

1st meeting, Sept 9, 2005 – Approved Sept 14, 2005

Present:Judy Lochhead (de facto chair), D. Kane Gillespie (secretary), Catherine Marrone, Thomas Weinacht, Darlene Prowse, Anthony Phillips, Arlene Feldman, Leslie Volpe, Vanessa Dumont, Ellen Lindquist, Dean James Staros (guest), Associate Provost Joseph Auner (guest)

Absent: Claire Green-Ford, Robert Cerrato, Stephanie Dinkins (available via mobile phone), Nancy Tomes (on leave, Fall 2005)

I. Committee Business

1. Review of the minutes from May 12, 2005

Minutes were approved

2. Selection of a meeting time for Fall 2005

The Committee will meet tentatively on Wednesdays 11:45-12:45.

3. Departmental reviews

Members volunteered as follows:

Writing and Rhetoric: Sept. 20 – K. Gillespie

Political Science: Oct 18 – T. Weinacht

Africana Studies: Nov 1 – C. Marrone

School of Professional Development: Nov 15 – TBA

4. Winter Session discussion.

Guests Associate Provost Joseph Auner and Dean James Staros attended for a general discussion with the committee members. Several topics were discussed:

(a.) syllabus review: the Committee was concerned that curricular guidelines should be established for the type of course that is appropriate to be offered in the shortened time period between the end of the Fall and beginning of the Spring semesters. For at least the first installation of the Winter Session, the Committee will review the syllabi for existing courses as well as proposals for any new courses.

(b.) shortened time period: Auner pointed out that summer and winter courses both meet twelve times despite the shortened session time. Summer students are allowed to enroll in two classes per session whereas winter students are only allowed to enroll in one. This limitation will allow students sufficient outside preparation time. Auner reports that he confirmed that the meeting times satisfy the SUNY mandate for contact hours.

(c.) pre-requisites: pre-registration for winter classes will serve as prerequisites to Spring classes. This raised the question of whether a winter (or summer) course provides equivalent preparation for subsequent courses as does the same course when offered in Fall and Spring. Staros responded that the Departments are responsible to do so, and it is in the Departments’ best interest to deliver equivalent courses in all terms to best prepare their students for their curricular paths.

(d.) unmet demand: although the winter session is a good opportunity to offer courses that have high demand and low supply during the Fall and Spring, the group agrees that the University should continue to meet demand in the Fall and Spring terms. Students should not be required to pay extra in summer and winter for required courses that are not available in the Fall and Spring.

II. Routine Administrative Matters

BIO 311 – remove 3 hrs of lab and add one hour of recitation

III. Old Business

None

IV. New Business

none