CRC Report to BCTC Faculty Council
May 9, 2011
KCTCS CRC met April 27, 2011 to consider curriculum revisions from statewide CIT program. All endorsed with edits. Also endorsed reaffirmation of CIT105 as General Education – Computer Literacy course.
BCTC CRC met on April 8, 2011 to consider changes to the Political Science focus area for the AA degree. The CRC had questions on the proposal and did not approve. Proposal sent back to authors.
Attached are the resolution and question from the KCTCS CRC, delivered to the KCTCS Senate Council on April 21, 2011. Also attached is a section from the Senate Council notes of that meeting containing Dr. Box’s response (my highlights).
Thanks to Michael Benton, Tim Birch, Will Bradley, Jeff Durham, Nathan Hoskins, Kevin Jensen, Dave Magee, Trish Miller, Jennifer Parr, Rick Smoot, and Debbie Davis. Over the past two years, the BCTC CRC has considered 95 proposals with a 96% success rate!
RESOLUTION
KCTCS SENATE Curriculum Review Committee (CRC) ON COMMON COURSE NUMBERING
WHEREAS, the House Bill (HB) 160 Transfer Action Plan mandates a common course numbering system for KCTCS courses, and
WHEREAS, despite said mandate, the KCTCS CRC has observed an ongoing and unresolved issue regarding duplicative courses, and
WHEREAS, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the body charged with the accreditation of KCTCS institutions, grants said accreditation on a per institution, not system, basis, and
WHEREAS, SACS accreditation criteria stipulate that the individual institutions must have control over their respective curricula in order to maintain SACS accreditation, and
WHEREAS, increasing the educational benefit to students must be of paramount concern in curriculum design and revision, and
WHEREAS, KCTCS faculty place high value on seamless transferability of courses and credits, optimum student access and affordability, and timely completion of degree requirements, and
WHEREAS, KCTCS faculty also place high value on institutional autonomy and local flexibility, and
WHEREAS, the KCTCS value of institutional autonomy and the accreditation criteria of SACS pose contradictory and seemingly incompatible stipulations relative to the legislative mandate of HB 160,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the KCTCS Senate CRC affirms that the constructive and timely resolution of this institutional predicament must be given the highest possible priority within KCTCS and, therefore, requests that the KCTCS Senate Council petition the KCTCS Chancellor’s Office and the KCTCS Legal Office for guidance.
KCTCS Curriculum Review Committee
3/25/2011
KCTCS CRC respectfully requests clarification of the approval process for general education status. We are requesting the clarification based on Council approval of general education status for mathematics courses submitted by Elizabethtown Community and Technical College. When the course proposals were submitted to CRC for the 1/20/11 meeting, the courses were not endorsed. CRC requested ECTC to work with the System Mathematics committee to try to achieve a common course numbering system for mathematics courses as directed by CPE. It was also agreed that ECTC could continue to use the MA prefix until resolution could be reached on the duplicative courses.
ECTC chose to by-pass the recommendation made by CRC and take the courses to the 2/15/11 Council meeting. In addition, they added the request for general education status. Can general education status be approved by Council only and approved at the same time a course is endorsed rather than waiting for final course approval and approval of general education status by CRC?
Our understanding, based on p24 of the Curriculum and Rules Development/Approval and Program Approval Process Manual, 2010-2011, and Senate Rule 3.2 is that both CRC and Council approve general education status. If we have misinterpreted this, please clarify the process for us.
We further request the formation of a workgroup composed of members from KCTCS Rules, CRC, and Council to review the procedures for curriculum approval to determine areas that warrant clarification, i.e., local college autonomy versus system curricula committees and legislative, SACS, or CPE directives.
Respectfully,
KCTCS Curriculum Review Committee
April 6, 2011
From the notes of the April 21, 2011 Senate Council Meeting:
C. Dr. Box reported that he had checked with Legal Services, who found no issues with the process. He noted the following:
--The current curriculum process (review and feedback by CRC/Council with local college faculty approval of curriculum) was implemented in fall 2006 as a result of SACS recommendations to Jefferson and Bluegrass.
-Research by an Ad Hoc Committee in response to the SACS recommendations was conducted in 2005 which found states (in SACS region) with common numbering systems, curricular standards, etc.
-SACS found the resulting revised curriculum process (currently in place) acceptable in meeting standard 3.4.12.
-Processes are in place to address duplication (DACUM/Gap Analysis, duplicated course list, revised Expedited Form, etc.).
-Council is the executive body of the Senate and, as such, can agree or not agree with actions/recommendations of the standing committees (CRC/Rules).
-Rather than “contradictory”, the processes (HB160, CPE Transfer Action Plan/TES, KCTCS policy, curriculum frameworks, system level review/feedback, local college faculty approval of curriculum, etc.) are “complementary”.
Dr. Box also reported that the math committee has been called into session and are addressing the issue of duplication. The math courses in question already carried general education status; reaffirmation of
general education status is a practice initiated by Council and is not currently addressed in the Rules.
Discussion followed by Council members, who expressed their appreciation for the work of CRC.
With the agreement of the Rules Committee Chair, by a motion from David Martin and second by Paula Lange, Council voted unanimously to clarify Section III, 2.0 of the Rules as follows:
For a course to be granted or reaffirmed for General Education Status for all KCTCS colleges, it must first be reviewed by the KCTCS Senate Curriculum Review Committee and then approved by the KCTCS Council.
The Rules Chair submitted the Rules form for Section III, 2.0.