IT Program Steering Committee Notes 9/28/16
Patricia Galvis Assmus, Beth Henneman, Rick Adrion, Jon Olsen, Graham Gal, Nikki Stoia, Maria Toyofuku, Janine Solberg, Carol Will, TreaAndrea Russworm, Patience A.M. Hartley.
Welcome back and introductions
Patricia welcomed everyone and shared appreciation them and for Jerry, as he is away on research. She then introduced Patience A.M. Hartley as the new Administrative Assistant and thanked Graham and TreaAndrea for their commitments to advising.
Update on the IT Program
Enrollment- Patricia - The program is doing well, with successful recruiting efforts we have many new enrollees bringing the program to 628 students.
Provost > CICS move- Patricia- Updates on the move to the new college including; how the IT Program still fiscally resides in the Provosts office, the Computer Sciences Business Manager is on leave, a new C.S. Dean is expected in August with interviews happening the weekend before Thanksgiving. Patricia is on the Search committee.
Summer 2016 activity – Patricia- Students are making progress on the C.C.C. O.W.L. Book, it is being tested at Springfield Conservatory of the Arts (SCotA) and The University of North Carolina.
Patricia attended SIGGRAFF and learned of many new technologies and made many interesting contacts. The company, Roland, offered demonstrations and materials to 5 College Students and Staff in conjunction with the IT Program for or around the ICT Summit. Their brochure was distributed to committee members. They could/ would demonstrated designs that we submit in advance. Patricia distributed the Roland brochure to the committee. Maria asked what they expect in exchange and Patricia said that there are “no strings attached!” Patricia mentioned that she was especially impressed with their ability to quickly produce a customized book, she thought that it may be helpful to the English Department. Jon suggested usefulness to the Book Restoration Course at Smith College.
ICT Summit 2017- As mentioned above, Roland would like to participate. Nikki suggested a “very cool” idea of integrating an IT Program “swag” design competition for student engagement. Maria suggested collaborating with the Digital Media Lab in the library. Jon noted that the lab is sponsored by competitor MakerBot.
Patricia mentioned that she connected with an alum at SIGGRAPH, Karen Sullivan, that has co-written a book called “Ideas for the Animated Short: Finding and Building Stories” that may be an interested speaker. Patricia also noted a studio with locations in Columbia and Brazil may be interested in collaborating.
A meeting should be determined and held soon to begin ICT Summit 2017 planning.
Information and Academic Issues
Advisors- Graham and TreaAndrea asked for the committee’s guidance onapproval of internships, practicum and transfer courses taken abroad or outside UMass Amherst as Broadened Inquiries. Graham’s gut reaction is no on the majority. It is established in a group that no more that 20% of the Minors requirements can satisfied outside of UMass and that no experience that is paid can be credited toward the minor, as per University Policy. Nikki said that many minors have pre-approved study abroad exceptions and that the University vets the articulation of transfers and their equivalencies. Patricia and TreaAndrea pointed out the issue of many internships being graded as Pass/Fail and the requirement of a letter grade for IT Minor requirements. Patricia said that it has happened, although very rare, that an exception has been made at an Advisors discretion. Nikki demonstrated, (after asking is everyone had FERPA clearance, which everyone did) how to find a letter grade on an unofficial transcript within SPIRE. Rick said that each course needs approval on an individual basis. Patricia said that there is a 25 residency credit minimum. Rick noted that about 6 to 12 disciplines have auto course transfers, but for IT there are no State colleges or universities that have course to course equivalents to the courses offered here at Umass Amherst. He went on to note that at the inception of the IT Program money was allocated toward beginning IT courses at other state entities with the intent to qualify as UMass equivalent transfers and that many have faded off since. “There may still be a few at Salem State.”Patricia suggests that the advisors make recommendations with examples and then the committee can vote.Nikki noted that most minors require 3 out of 5 UMass Amherst courses. She recommended a stipulation that certain courses can be decided by advisors and that the committee trust the advisors discretion not to “water down the integrity of the program.”TreaAndrea believes that there are times when it makes sense to make exceptions on a case by case basis, so long as a syllabus and course description are provided, adding that Foundations courses are the easiest to consider and compare.Graham expressed concerns of students trying to “backdoor” degrees.John suggests that if ISOM (or any colleges/school) accepts them as transfers, then the IT Program should. Patricia disagrees and believes that we need consistency between colleges.Nikki says that there is an extensive vetting process within admissions that determines transfer credits, equivalency and that no student can transfer more that 75% of any degree.Rick questions the standards of transfer technical requirements and says that Computer Sciences has high and specific standards and will rarely accept transfer of basic computer classes.TreaAndrea asks about the specifics of this campus and programs that exemplify the IT Minor goals.Rick reiterates and agrees with Nikki’s suggestions to trust the advisors discretion. He adds the suggestion of 1 exception per student. We read the current language as a group on the active website under the heading “IT Minor Requirements”. A discussion on details of language takes place.Patricia makes a motion on behalf of the advisors to change the policy to “no more than 1 transfer” and “any course needs to be approved by an advisor.” A vote is not taken and discussion continues.TreaAndrea asks for clarification.Rick suggests “1 course beyond foundation may be accepted.” Nikki adds that Majors Preapprove transfer credits. Each word is considered and discussed. The language is read and reread. Patricia makes a motion to accept the changes. The language voted on and approved unanimously is: Approval required It may be possible to count a practicum or an internship (minimum of 3 credits) as one, and only one, of your electives. This requires the approval of the IT Program Advisor. You must provide documentation to demonstrate sufficient IT content in the internship experience. Additional web page changes include; Heading- IT Capstone (Not offered 16-17),Under Accepting Grades Tab- Remove #4 and bottom 2 dated requirements. A discussion on Pass/Fail language on practicum internships occurs, it is decided to leave it to the discression of the advisor. A discussion of the drop down “Requirement Search” menu is discussed, no changes at this time. Rick needs to leave.
Rubric changes- Patricia explains that some Rubrics have changed from COMPSCI to INFOR.
Revisit and schedule review of available classes and Requests for Proposals -Plans were quickly discussed and it agreed by all that both things should be considered shortly. RFP in the Broadened Inquiry requirements were especially needed. The hope is that new areas and Professors can be reached out to. Each Committee member will keep an eye out for possibilities for the future.
Scheduling of Steering Committee Meetings- Meetings will continue to take place on Wednesdays. First Wednesdays are not good for Marie.
Meeting adjourned at 2:00pm.
Respectfully submitted, Patience A.M. Hartley