Undergraduate Council Minutes

UNDERGRADUATE COUNCIL
Minutes for March 20, 2007
Open as pdf

Attendance
David Bell, Brian Colle, Janet Clarke, Donna DiDonato, Sarah Fuller, Kane Gillespie, Norm Goodman, Ridha Kamoua, Cheryl Hamilton, Martin Levine, Joe Mitchell, Beverly Rivera, Scott Sutherland, Andrea Tyree

Cheryl Hamilton volunteered to take the minutes of the meeting. 

The minutes of the March 6, 2007 meeting were approved as amended.

Challenge Exams
Brian Colle indicated that Rick Gatteau would prepare the updated paragraph for the Undergraduate Bulletin.

Southampton

Kane provided the following information about Stony Brook Southampton:

  • Inaugural class will begin Fall 2007
  • Goal of 200 freshman for Fall 2007
  • To date 135 have been admitted, 75 have accepted
  • Southampton has been deemed an “alternate location”
  • Four of the ten concentrations of the Environmental Studies (ENS) Major will be offered, and it will be possible for students to complete their entire degree at the Southampton location
  • Block curriculum will be offered in Fall 2007. A limited number of DEC courses

in each category will be offered. Likely courses for DEC A-F will be as follows:

  • WRT101/WRT 102
  • PHI
  • MAT123, MAT 125
  • MUS, ARS, THR
  • CHE, BIO, AST, ATM, ENS, GEO, MAR
  • ECO 108, SOC 105, POL 102
  • PHI

    Courses selected will be based on a theme of sustainability.

  • For Fall 2008, the goal is to develop four new majors from the existing concentrations within ENS. These majors will need to be proposed by late April 2007, after which they will need approval from the Curriculum Committee, SUNY and the State Education Department
  • Hiring of new faculty and student services staff will take place in the coming months. Dean Martin Schoonen will contact relevant chairpersons to hire new full-time and part-time faculty to teach in Southampton

Concerns were raised by both Sarah Fuller and Norm Goodman regarding the limited number of DEC courses from which Southampton students would be able to choose. Joe Mitchell pointed out that Southampton students would have the opportunity to take classes on West Campus should they choose to do so.

Norm Goodman also expressed concern that decisions are being made without consulting with the appropriate governance structure, and that information about Southampton has been very difficult to obtain. Joe Mitchell asked whether minutes of Southampton meetings could be forwarded to the Undergraduate Council.  Sarah Fuller suggested that the faculty committee about Southampton should also present their plans to the Undergraduate Council.   

Concerning library resources, Janet Clarke indicated that primarily marine sciences resources will be available at the Southampton campus for Fall 2007. Students will need to rely primarily on electronic resources and possible delivery of resources via inter-library loan.  Once curriculum has been settled, library staff will be able to determine the resource needs of the library.

Brian agreed to contact Martin Schoonen to inquire about his availability to meet with UGC next week.

DEC Discussion

Donna DiDonato indicated that the Provost would like feedback from faculty regarding the DEC requirements. Specifically, he is interested in whether they are meeting the needs of the campus, and whether they fulfill the SUNY General Education requirements. It was decided that the group would request information from the Office of Institutional Research to assess the following:

  • What courses are offered to fulfill each DEC requirement?
  • How many students have taken each of these courses?
  • Do the courses meet the actual objectives (assessment/ evaluation)?
  • Do we still stand behind the existing categories?

It was agreed that we would look at Fall, Spring and Summer sessions from 2002 to present. Brian offered to contact Provost McGrath to request this information from Emily Thomas. Kane agreed to request assessment data from Manny London

New Business

Scott Sutherland reported that Graham Glynn is in the process of developing a new strategic plan and is interested in feedback from the Undergraduate Council. It was agreed that he should be invited to address the group and provide an overview of the plan.

We will have four more meetings this semester. Brian will send the meeting schedule via e-mail.
 
The meeting was adjourned at 5:15 PM

Respectfully submitted,

Cheryl Hamilton