UCGE Meeting Minutes
September 8, 2016; 3:30 p.m. Panorama Rooms Commons
Members present: Diane Prorak, Ro Afatchao, Tom Bitterwolf, Cassidy Hall, Brennan Smith, Dan Hickman, Sara Mahuron, Kenton Bird, and Dan Hickman.
Guests: Xiaogang Ma, Tom Drake, Madison Powell, Bryn A. Martin, Steve Beyerlein, and Kate Skinner.
Introduction, committee charge, need to include students in the committee (Danny Bugingo as a potential candidate); reminder about committee meeting rules (Robert’s Rules of Order)
Old business
o Motion to approve April 7 and 28, 2016 minutes by Ro and seconded by Tom. Minutes was approved unanimously.
New business
o ISEM 101 for non-natives: The need arose from an experience teaching non-natives that did not go well. Maybe a problem other instructors face in their classes: plagiarism and freedom to engage in controversial topics in class; all these may related to differences in culture. This section will focus on literacy issues, ability to understand readings, cross-cultural issues. Registrations issues will have to be explored and determined (having it just limited to non-natives, ESL students); could require instructor’s permission.
Discussion tabled until Kenton engages in conversation with IPO, the Registrar and the English Department.
ISEM 301-50 Years of Jazz at UI, Kate Skinner (School of Music)
o Focuses on the history of jazz at UI, history of jazz and the place of jazz in the history of music. Students will be required to attend some of the events of the UI jazz festival and write a paper. They will be listening to jazz music in class, watch videos of musicians including Lionel Hampton himself. They could use a special collections of the Library. Good opportunity to get students involved in the jazz festival. Kenton mentioned the idea was discussed during the planning meeting of ISEM some years ago.
Motion to approve by Tom and seconded by Cassidy. Discussion: Kenton suggested bringing in other disciplines, maybe sociology and gender studies. Unanimous vote to approve the motion.
ISEM 301: “Sport, Journalism and Ethics,” Steve Smith (Journalism and Mass Media) and Sharon Stoll (Movement Science)
o A course created around JAMM’s Oppenheim Ethics Symposium to investigate issues facing sports journalists in the digital age, including sexism, racism, converge of LGBT athletes and doping scandals.
Motion to approve by Tom and seconded by Brennan. Motion was carried unanimously.
ISEM301: “Tech Start-Up Entrepreneurship,” Bryn Martin (Biological Engineering)* and George Tanner (Business)
o This course will mix business and engineering (and applied sciences); it is a technology-based entrepreneurship; the course will include local Idaho entrepreneurs as guests. Students could pitch their final products at Idaho Pitch. There will be no requirements for math, business, or engineering courses.
Brennan mentioned that this course could be popular and fill up fast due to a lack of this type of class in applied sciences at UI. Kenton suggested having two sections with George Tanner. Kenton will convey the interest to the Assoc. Dean of Engineering.
Motion to approve by Tom, seconded by Brennan. Motion carried unanimously.
ISEM 301: “The ‘Blue Revolution’ and the Future of Wild Food,” Madison Powell (Animal-Veterinary Science and Aquaculture Research Institute)
o Topical subject for this year; the course will examine the explosive growth of aquaculture, the culture of aquatic plants and animals, over the past 20 years. It will engage students and have them think about ideas of blue revolution. Half of the lectures will be delivered via video conference, and the other half in-person. There will be online discussions on various aspects of the topic.
Motion by Tom, seconded by Cassidy. Discussion: Suggested that instructor consider including tribal events. Unanimous vote.
ISEM 301: “The Beauty of Data Science,” Xiaogang Ma (Computer Science)
o Data is a gateway between computer science and other sciences (domain science). Data science includes both data management and data analysis, and they each cover many topics that pose both challenges and opportunities for stakeholders who face the deluge. The course will focus on data collection, data cleaning, data analysis, visualization, successful stories, privacy and ethics.
Motion by Dan and seconded by Diane. Discussion: make the course appealing to other disciplines, such as art. Motion was unanimously approved.
ISEM: “Water, Water, Everywhere…,” Patricia Colberg (Civil Engineering)
o The course will be taught from an engineering perspective. It will challenge students to consider a more comprehensive understanding of the complexities of the global water crisis from a variety of perspectives: historical, engineering/scientific, legal, socio-political, economic, and environmental.
Motion to approve by Dan, seconded by Cassidy. Carried unanimously with reserve to cut down on of the reading load.
ISEM 301: “Building Our Energy Policy,” Steve Beyerlein (Mechanical Engineering), Dev Shrestha (Biological Engineering) and Scott Smith (UI Energy Plant)
(Presented by Kenton)
o This course will cultivate working knowledge of the current energy situation and will engage students in policy review/formation surrounding the UI campus, the Moscow community, the state of Idaho, and the nation. It will involve opportunities to interact with campus energy staff, state energy policy makers, utility representatives, and sustainability experts from regional industry.
Motion to approve by Diane, seconded by Cassidy. Unanimous approval but the instructor must submit a final proposal to the committee by the next meeting.
Report ISEM: Kenton will report via email on ISEM enrollment; the wait list (of ISEM course) was proposed to better manage the enrollment. There was general agreement among the committee members that activating the waitlist was a good idea.
Minutes recorded by Ro Afatchao
Meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m.