Academic Policies Committee

Year-End Report, 2007-2008

Academic Policies Committee has had a busy year. Its accomplishments include:

1. Review of the following documents passed by the Senate:

a. DOC 07-01 Change of Reporting of Grade-In-Progress from ‘P’ to ‘IP’

b. DOC 07-02 University of Dayton Assessment Plan

c. DOC 07-03 Guidelines for the Development of Course-Based Graduate Certificate Programs

2. Continued work on the following matters before the Senate:

a. DOC 06-09 Habits of Inquiry and Reflection

Beginning in the fall, the APC reformatted the consideration of this document, replacing the system of working groups with a single subcommittee (which subsequently became known as the CAP Subcommittee). The APC charged the subcommittee with completing a set of curricular recommendations and submitting them as a working document by August 15, 2008. Throughout this process, the APC has received regular reports from the subcommittee’s chair, Dr. Don Pair. At times the APC has offered suggestions, but most of its relationship with the subcommittee has centered on ensuring that the subcommittee has consulted with key stake-holding groups on campus, and that it is making progress toward producing a working paper for campus-wide discussions in the fall. I’m pleased to say that the subcommittee is on track to meet its deadline, and that we will have a document before us on August 15 that will include:

1. recommended curricular vehicles for delivering a common academic program that meets the HIR learning outcomes;

2. a proposal for how these vehicles might be phased in over time, and;

3. an inventory of resources needed to ensure the success of implementation.

Throughout the process, the subcommittee has considered the following questions/issues:

1. What should the make-up of the list of specific required courses look like?

2. Which of these courses will be provided by a specific discipline?

3. What are the courses that will not fit into the first two categories?

4. How will co-curricular learning experiences be connected to classroom experiences?

5. How will the intercultural and international components of the learning outcomes be embraced without simply creating more courses?

6. How can diversity and concepts of diversity be infused into the curriculum without simply creating more courses. CAP has been working on this topic with Jack Ling.

The subcommittee will be soliciting feedback on a number of its ideas at a combined Humanities Base and Cluster meeting on the morning of May 6. All members of the community are invited (and encouraged) to attend this meeting.

b. Senate DOC I-07-04 Challenges and Recommendations for the University of Dayton Honors and Scholars Programs

The APC did not believe that this document was ready to be considered by the Senate in its current form. To this end, it has been consulting with the Honors and Scholars Team to revise the document. Honors and Scholars will meet with the APC again on May 1 to provide answers to some of the questions we raised and provide an update on where it is in the revision process.