University Academic Council
Thursday, November 20, 2008
(Note: Details of approved curricular changes are available on the University Academic Council webpage.)
The University Academic Council was called to order by Dr. Gerald Jones at 3:05 p.m. on Thursday, November 20, 2008. Also present were Dr. David Taylor, Dr. Pat Beatty, Dr. Tim Edwards, Dr. Nancy Kudlawiec, Dr. Thomas Ratkovich, Dr. Doug Wymer, Dr. Mark Davis, Dr. Rob Riser, Dr. Jeff Gentsch, Dr. Stephen Slimp,Mr. Carey Moore, Dr. Wayne Bedford, Dr. Mitzi Green, Dr. Martha Hocutt, Dr. R. T. Floyd, Dr. Haywood Mayton, Dr. Gene May, Ms. Marsha Cannon, Dr. Tom DeVaney, Dr. Neil Snider, Dr. Tina Jones,and Dr. Linda Carr.
Dr. Jones suggested time for everyone to review the minutes from the meeting of Tuesday, February 26, 2008. Dr. Pat Beatty made motion for approval and Carey Moore second. The minutes were approved.
College of Education
Department of Teacher Education
Dr. Martha Hocutt presented proposals for three Educational Specialist programs/degrees in the areas of Elementary Education, School Counseling, and Library Media. She reported that the first two programs had already been approved by the Alabama State Board of Education and approval of the Library Media degree was expected shortly. The degree in each area includes a 33-semester-hour pattern of courses, and a number of new 600-level courses were proposed to satisfy these requirements.
Next Dr. Hocutt introduced a proposal for a Master's Degree in Instructional Leadership, a certification program designed to meet new Alabama Standards for Instructional Leaders. Hocutt reported that UWA was one of the state leaders in this area and other schools were looking at UWA's model as something of a template for their own programs. As part of the proposal, the numbering system will be changed for a number of graduate courses, with a new prefix of "IL" (Instructional Leadership) replacing the former "EL"(Educational Leadership). Name changes for SC 540, SC 543, and SC 545 were also proposed. This program will not be available on-line, however, because of the field experience component of the degree. All candidates for teacher education programs are required to have FBI and ABI clearance and fingerprinting before entering the schools.
Finally, Hocutt requested changes in the prerequisites and course descriptions of undergraduate clinical/field experience classes to include FBI/ABI clearance and fingerprinting as required by many partnership schools these days.
After discussion, all of the changes presented by Dr. Hocutt were approved by the Council on a motion from Dr. David Taylor seconded by Dr. Doug Wymer.
College of Liberal Arts
Department of History and Social Sciences
Dr. Rob Riser proposed changes in the course pattern for the M.A.T. program in history that would require students to complete an equal number of hours in both U.S. history. Certification candidates would take 12 graduate hours in each. These changes would assure that grraduates of the program have a more marketable, generalist degree in history. The changes would also streamline the comprehensive exam process for the degree.
Dr. Taylor moved to approve the change in principle, but emphasized that the precise language of the proposal, as it would be included in the University Catalogue, should be presented to the Academic Council at its next meeting. The Council approved Dr. Taylor's motion, after a second from Mr. Carey Moore.
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Dr. Wymer asked the Council to approve courses in BY/EN 441/541 Environmental Toxicology; BY/EN 455/555 Ecological Management; and BY/EN 456/556 Ecological Restoration. These courses, or variations thereof, have been offered very successfully as selected topics in the past. The Department proposes to add these to the Catalogue as regular course offerings and adjust the numbering to reflect current NSM policy, cross-listing them for either Biology (BY) or Environmental Science (EN) credit.
The changes recommended by Dr. Wymer were approved by the Council on a motion from Dr. Taylor seconded by Dr. Hocutt.
Division of Nursing
A proposal from the Division of Nursing for a new course on test taking strategies was presented by Ms. Marsha Cannon. The course would be designed to help nursing students prepare for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX), but would be broader in scope than NCLEX preparation alone. It would also include such topics as critical thinking, time management, and study techniques. Dr. Wymer asked if the students would be allowed to repeat the course for more practice if desired, to which Dr. Taylor responded that while some students may choose to audit or repeat the course on a non-credit basis, receiving double credit for the same class would be problematic.
On a motion by Dr. Taylor seconded by Mr. Moore, the Council approved the proposal from the Division of Nursing.
In other business, Dr. Taylor stressed the importance of consistency in the format of course descriptions in the Catalogue. Noting that currently there is no uniform editorial policy for these descriptions, he plans to ask the Dean's Council to develop such an editorial standards policy. Upon approval by the Dean Council, the policy will be distributed to the individual Departments for input. The Departments will then be asked to review their own course descriptions for revision in conformity to the new standards.
With no other business to discuss, the Council then adjourned.