Academic Policies Committee

AGENDA

for Sep. 14, 2005 Meeting

• At our initial meeting we will discuss how the committee will operate. Generally, for each item that we have been asked to handle, one committee person other than me will be the lead person on it. (For a few items, I will also play a major role.) At meetings, we (again, except for me) will take turns serving as scribe to take notes and write up minutes following the meeting. I will post the minutes on a web site (where I will also post other documents of interest). As work is completed on various items, either the lead person or myself will report what has been done to the full Senate (and possible introduce related motions).
• We will briefly discuss the continuation of this committee's long reputation for doing good work --- thoroughly investigating issues and not rushing (too much) to wrap up the work on items.
• Current items that we need to work on are listed below. We will discuss these and them determine who will take the lead on each one.
  1. We've been asked to consider the development of a University Curriculum Committee. (Item AP2005-2) [Note: AP Comm member Bob Ehrlich initiated this item last spring.]
  2. We've been asked to consider several suggested changes to the academic calendar. (Item AP2005-3) [Note: Among these are a request from the student government that there will always be reading days prior to final exams, and request from some faculty members that the spring semester not start too late in January (so that it can end sooner --- of course ending sooner works against the student request for reading days).]
• Some items which may come our way are listed below. We will briefly discuss these.
  1. We are usally given some catalog copy to approve/edit before the next catalog goes to press. [Note: I haven't heard anything about this yet.]
  2. We've been asked to consider a review of quality concerns (of academic programs and faculty) associated with the UAE campus. (Item AP2005-1) [Note: I've told the Executive Committee that we're not going to do anything with this unless it is made more specific, and until the UAE campus and its programs become further developed.]
  3. We may be asked to complete the work on the proposed new course evaluation forms. [Note: At the last Senate meeting David Kuebric suggested that our group should take it over, but I suspect that my ranting about this at the Executive Committee meeting on Monday may result in us not being asked to take this on.]
  4. I expect that we'll be asked to approve an alternate way for undergraduate students to fulfill the university's Gen Ed requirements.
  5. We may be asked to look into something that this committee investigated two years ago --- a change in the catalog concerning academic appeals (grades, suspensions, etc.).