Regular Meeting of the Faculty Senate
Unapproved Minutes
May 6, 2013
Meeting called to order at 12:21 pm.
1. The motion was made to approve the minutes from the April 23, 2013 meeting. Motion was approved. Voice vote.
2. Dr. Lees made an announcement that the previous meeting indicated that there seemed to be strong support for the proposal by the General Education Committee on new general education requirements. He announced that he expects that the formal vote on the proposal will occur in the first official meeting of the faculty senate in the fall 2013 semester.
3. Benedetto Piccoli, on behalf of the Academic Policy Committee, presented additional courses for approval, similar to the courses presented at the April 23, 2013 meeting. The study aboard courses are being assigned new course numbers primarily as an administrative measure so that students will be able to apply for financial aid and student loans for these courses. The courses presented were:
- 50:070:375 Anthropology Learning Abroad
- 50:202:375 Criminal Justice Learning Abroad
- 50:920:375 Sociology Learning Abroad
All three courses were approved. Voice vote.
4. Joseph Martin spoke regarding the proposal of a B.S. in Health Sciences. The proposal is being made as there are limited options for those pre-nursing majors that do not get accepted into the competitive nursing program. The B.S. in Health Sciences is meant to be a path to a degree for these students who are not able to pursue degrees in the sciences or in the School of Nursing. These students would be able to use this degree to apply to other types of professional programs in the health sciences. The program would encompass 69-72 credits. The question was raised regarding the lack of an anthropology course being included in the program requirements, as is required of the nursing students (50:070:308). It was recommended to include an anthropology requirement, as that particular requirement is valuable to the experience of the nursing students. Dr. Martin agreed to add the anthropology course, required by nursing students, as a requirement to the proposed major in Health Sciences. The suggestion was made to change the “Spanish in the Healthcare Profession” to a language requirement to better meet the students’ needs. The suggestion was accepted. Dr. Martin emphasized that the structure of the B.S. as proposed is not meant to be permanent but is a template to get approval for the major. The concern was raised that on some campuses, the “Health Sciences” degree is more closely aligned with a “pre-med” major and there should be some more clarity that this B.S. is not meant to be pre-med. A further concern was raised; if we know for certain that this major will be one that post-baccalaureate programs or other professional programs will find appealing. More specifically, will these students find careers after graduation? There was also concern that this is currently structured as a default major for students who can’t get into the nursing program, but there should be more concern over the possibility that this may become a highly demanded program and more thought should be given to the potential growth of this program in the future. It was suggested that additional evidence that this will be a successful program should be provided for a better chance at this major being approved at the higher levels. Additionally, because of the scope that health professions can cover, it was suggested that further resources for advising are secured. One concern was that students will be falsely led by the terminology in the proposal that students will be able to move into specific professional fields with this degree and without proof that students will have these professional programs available to them, the program is advertising falsely. Dr. Martin agreed to reword the proposal to eliminate the claims regarding post-baccalaureate opportunities. Additionally, it was requested that if the proposal is approved, that the Dean is made aware that it is on the basis of support for advising, and faculty for potential increased course enrollment. Andrew Lees called for a straw vote regarding the proposal. The senate was largely in support of the proposal (only 1 vote against and 1 abstention). Dr. Lees requested that Dr. Martin make the changes suggested by the senate to the wording of the proposal (including a cover page of what changes are made), and obtain a commitment from Dean Lindenmeyer for resources. Once the changes are made, the proposal will be circulated via Sakai for a vote.
The meeting was adjourned at 1:15pm.
Present: A. Lees, A. Samokhvalov, R.Stevens, D. Lun, J. Smith, C. Fitter, W. Fitzgerald, A. Belander, K. Epstein, J. Gerver, H. Li, R. van der Wel, M. Chevrier, C. Dell Clark, J. Siegel, J. Mazelis
Absent: L. Bernstein, S. Kotchoni, B. Saidel, C. Singley, A. Espiritu, M. Amdur, C. Giaudrone, L. Thomas, J. Still, H. Jacobowitz, M. Yates, G. Brannigan, M. Fortner, I. Roseman, J. Hippolyte, K. Hohing, W. Glasker