ACADEMIC POLICIES COMMITTEE

MINUTES

Meeting Time: 8:00 am Feb. 2, 2001

Meeting Place: KU 310

Presiding: James Dunne

Senators Present: Bartlett, Cox, Dunne, Erdei, Pedrotti, Saliba, Staubach.

Guests: George Doyle, Pat Palermo

1. The minutes of the Jan 19. 2001 meeting of the APC were approved without alteration.

2. Calendar Issues

Donna Cox affirmed that she has joined the Academic Calendar Committee and gave a brief report. She stated that Tom Westendorf said, that although the priority list used by the calendar committee lists the goal for the number of three-day-a-week classes per semester to be 42 (43) and the goal for the two-day-a-week classes to be 28 (29), it is the higher number in parentheses that is the actual goal. Further Donna Cox reported that Tom Westendorf is working on assembling data that can be used to compare the University of Dayton’s Schedule to that of other Universities on Semester schedules. This comparison would be used by the APC to assess the need for an increase in the number of meeting days.

3. Overview of the Competency Program

George Doyle, chair of the Competency Implementation Subcommittee, provided the APC members with a handout summarizing the progress made by the competency committee. The document is entitled Competency Program (a Work in Progress). George Doyle went over this document with the attending members of the APC elaborating on several points detailed below.

The implementation of the General Writing and Oral Communications Competencies will begin in the Fall of 2001. The oral communications competency requires that students earn a "C" or better in three 1 credit hour courses. John Erdei and others asked whether or not these 1 credit hour courses could be taken sequentially in the same semester. Apparently students will be able to do so.

The Quantitative Analysis (Math) competency is due to be implemented in the Fall of 2002. Students entering the University in that year must demonstrate competency in all of the three areas of algebraic modeling, growth modeling, and probability and statistics modeling in order to graduate from the University. Competency in a given module can be demonstrated by passing a class with a "C" or better in which that module is covered or by passing a web based course on the material in that module. Members of the Competency Implementation Subcommittee have been working closely with Paul Eloe, chair of the Mathematics department. George Doyle reported that Math 114 is being redesigned so that all three modules are covered in that course and so a student earning a "C" or better in Math 114 would have satisfied the Math Competency requirement. It is anticipated that students taking other math courses would have to demonstrate competency in one or more modules by passing a web-based test on that material. Study guides and practice material on the web are envisioned. John Erdei cautioned that the web-based tests should be designed carefully so that in order to pass a student need only demonstrate competency at the basic level outlined in the Math Competency document.

The Information Literacy Competency is due to be implemented in the Fall of 2003 (in the minutes of the Jan. 19^th meeting of the APC this date was stated as 2002). George Doyle stated that information literacy would be incorporated into a variety of general courses, with the possibility left open that given units may determine additional general competencies appropriate for their students. Leno Pedrotti and James Dunne commented that this design differs from the other three competencies in which all students must demonstrate mastery of the same set of skills. George Doyle affirmed that this was the case.

Several questions were raised as to how the graduation competencies were to be implemented. George Doyle stated that that students entering in the year in which a given general competency is implemented, would be expected to satisfy the graduation competency enforced by their department upon graduation. George Doyle said that the details of how departments are to form and communicate their general competency requirements are still being formulated. Jim Dunne asked George Doyle for the minutes to past and present meetings of the Competency Implementation Subcommittee meetings and for George to keep the APC apprised of the doings of that committee.

4. The next meeting of the APC was scheduled for Friday Feb 16, 8-9:00 am in AN 113 (Conf Rm, Dept of MIS & Decision Sciences)

The meeting adjourned at 9:00 am.