ACADEMIC POLICIES COMMITTEE
MINUTES

Meeting Time: 8:00 am Feb 20, 2002
Meeting Place: SM 113B
Presiding: James Dunne

Senators Present: Biers, Dunne, Hallinan, Johnson, Lasley, Pedrotti, Saliba, Sargent
Ex Officio Member Present: Palermo
Guests: Doyle, Eloe

Handouts: George Doyle provided two handouts. One was entitled “ COMPETENCY PROGRAM, a Work in Progress.” This handout was dated 1/31/01 and summarized the current status of the competency program. The second handout was a spreadsheet dated 2/19/2002. This handout contained a list of information literacy competencies and courses with content relevant to each of these competencies.

1.      The minutes of the Feb 6, 2002 meeting of the APC were discussed. It was agreed that the minutes should be amended to clarify the charge of the subcommittee formed to review and possibly reformulate the general education goal statements.

2.      Jim Dunne noted that Steve Dandaneau would be a guest at the March 6^th meeting of the APC. A discussion of the creation of new degree designations for graduates of the new Honors and Scholars program will take place at that meeting.

3.     Status of the subcommittees formed to revise portions of the General Education Policy document.

Jim Dunne noted that the formation of the subcommittee, headed by Dave Biers and charged with the editorial update of the goals statements in the general education policy document, was nearly complete. Dave Biers agreed to schedule the first meeting of this committee as soon as the membership list was complete. Jim Dunne informed the APC that the subcommittee charged with revising the statement in the general education policy document related to the administrative responsibility for general education may have a draft proposal ready for the March 6^th meeting of the APC.

4.    Report on the status of the University Competency Program.

George Doyle, chair of the Competency Implementation Subcommittee, reviewed the current status of the competency program. He reported that the fall 2001 implementation of the writing and oral communication competencies had, for the most part, gone smoothly. He noted that the information literacy competency, originally scheduled for implementation in the fall of 2003, was ready for implementation in the fall of 2002. He directed the attention of the APC members to the chart he handed out detailing some of the courses that were already delivering content related to various parts of the information literacy competency. He then noted, however, that the implementation of the Quantitative Reasoning competency would likely not occur as scheduled in the fall of 2002. George Doyle then yielded the floor to Paul Eloe, Chair of the Mathematics department, for a description of the status of the Quantitative Reasoning competency.    

Paul Eloe indicated that as the Mathematics Department tried to work out a scheme to implement the Quantitative Reasoning competency that had been approved by the Academic Senate, they began to run into a variety of problems. Further discussions with chairs of departments and academic deans suggested that the Quantitative Reasoning competency and its implementation were only grudgingly being accepted. Paul Eloe stated that, accordingly, he and a subcommittee from the mathematics department had nearly completed a draft of a new proposal intended to replace the current Quantitative Reasoning competency document. The proposal would alter both the description of the competency and its implementation. James Dunne asked Paul Eloe to elaborate a bit on the nature of the alterations. Paul Eloe said the language detailing the competency in the new proposal is more abstract than in the previous document. This would allow a greater freedom in choosing specific examples to demonstrate competency. In addition the language in the new proposal is more in line with the language in national mathematics guidelines. The implementation would still be a blend of classes and online tests. Students could pass some of the competency modules as a result of a high enough score on portions of an entrance/placement exam. A pilot program in which an existing placement exam would be modified to include questions that test competency in one or more of the Quantitative Reasoning modules is scheduled for the fall of 2002. Paul Eloe said that the new proposal would be presented to the Competency Implementation Committee at the March 1 meeting of that subcommittee. George Doyle noted that that committee would then pass the proposal on to the APC. Several APC members noted that if any action was to be taken this semester, the APC should be informed as rapidly as possible. It was reiterated that the implementation of the Quantitative Reasoning competency would not take place in the fall of 2002 as originally scheduled.

Joe Saliba raised the issue of how transfer students could be judged as having passed the competencies. Pat Johnson noted that a plan to transcript the passage of competencies needs to be developed.

5. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 am.