Languages & Literatures Department Meeting

MINUTES

10 March 2015

The meeting was called to order at 4:00 p.m. by Marilyn Durham, Chairperson.

Beth Lueck moved to approve the 2 December 2014 minutes; seconded by Maija Birenbaum.

The motion passed unanimously.

Attendance:

Marilyn AnnucciPeter HoffGeneva Moore

Daniel BaumgardtDaniel HollyRick Oehling

Michael BennettLisa HuempfnerManuel Ossers

Louis BettySusan Huss-LedermanJodie Parys

Maija BirenbaumRossi IvanovaDana Prodoehl

Nayla ChehadeJonathan IvryAsmahan Sallah

Alicia de GregorioDonald JellersonJanine Tobeck

Alexandria DelcourtMatt LangeJonathon Walter

Marilyn DurhamElena Levy-NavarroMaria White

Deborah FratzBeth LueckHolly Wilson

Hala GhoneimJoshua MabieTrudi Witonsky

Jian GuoJohn McGuiganYilin Zhang

Anna HajdikPilar Melero

Announcements:

  1. Deborah Fratz, Chair of the Scholarship Committee, called for volunteers to review scholarship submissions for the Forster, Heide, and Grant awards. Judges are still needed to assess the submissions from literature majors for the Forster award.
  2. Faculty who use Heide 302 and Heide 303, the computer labs, in the afternoons are reminded to close and make sure the doors are locked at the end of class when they leave. We have no support staff to close the labs’ doors, so we depend on faculty teaching in the labs to secure the rooms at the end of the day. Thanks very much.
  3. Please drop your copying requests off in the work room where the student workers will retrieve them and do the copying in a timely manner.
  4. The custodial staff in Laurentide Hall has been reduced by budget tightening, and your patience is requested. Offices may not be vacuumed and dusted as frequently, and garbage bins in offices will no longer be emptied daily, so please be considerate about where you deposit food waste which may decay and become an olfactory nuisance.
  5. Faculty advising Creative Writing majors and minors are reminded that the new CW curriculum will activate in fall 2015. Early-program majors and minors should be shifted over to the new plan whenever possible, and please use the checksheets in the workroom when advising these students instead of their ARs. Keep a list of names of students to be switched to the new plan, then give the list to Mary Orval at the end of advising season. The change will appear on ARs in fall 2015.
  6. There is Guest Housing on campus at Goodhue Hall in case of inclement weather or other unusual circumstances. Call 472-4200 for reservations. Detailed information is located on the H-drive, or available at today’s meeting.
  7. Beth Lueck announced that the new Literature/BSE curricular proposal is on its way. The Literature Committee plans to have it in faculty hands before the May meeting so we can discuss the full proposal at our last departmental gathering of the year.

Discussion/Action Items

The World Languages faculty moved into LT 3003 to discuss assessment, the A&R self-study, scholarships and other honors, university tutors, and new processes and paperwork since Vicki’s move to the Dean’s office.

The English faculty remained in the common area and discussed assessment of ENG 101 Signature Assignments (presented by Trudi Witonsky and Dana Prodoehl, with help from Rossi Ivanova). The second topic under discussion was the differentiation of 200-, 300- and 400-level literature classes (facilitated by Josh Mabie, with help from Jonathan Ivry). Both presentations were enhanced by the use of clarifying documents (including posters!), and animated discussion resulted in useful new insights about teaching writing in First Year English and articulating our instruction in upper-level courses for our majors.

A motion to adjourn was made by Dana Prodoehl, seconded by Trudi Witonsky, and passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Susan Huss-Lederman