Undergraduate Council Academic Programs Subcommittee Meeting

October 14, 2003

Members Present: Ara Arabyan, Bonnie Barber (Co-chair), Sandra Beeler, Byron Bissell, Paul Burkhardt, Carol Evans, Jennifer Jenkins, Patti King, Cindy Rankin (Co-chair, Denise Roe, David Tansik

Members Absent: Wayne Decker

Guest: Kathryn Bayles, Department Head, Speech & Hearing Sciences

Cindy Rankin called the meeting to order at 3:40 p.m.

A motion was made by D. Tansik to approve the minutes of the September 9, 2003 meeting. Seconded by Bonnie Barber. Passed with two abstentions.

Patti King reported that she and Jennifer Jenkins had met with David Cox to familiarize him with pending UGC issues including programs pending from last year, current program proposals, and anticipated Focused Excellence changes. The vote on the Asian American Studies Minor was discussed at that meeting and a decision was made to notify the department that the subcommittee had motioned to deny the proposal, but the motion was denied by the full council. The department could decide whether to continue pursuing approval, including garnering possible support from the Asian Pacific American student organization.

African American Studies major has an issue with creation of courses in preparation for the major:

• Current courses were approved as Gen-Ed course, are very popular and well attended.
• Cannot be used to fulfill both Gen-Ed and major requirements.
• They may not have resources to offer others. Only three faculty members
• Issue will have to be resolved and Curriculum and Registration is working with them.

Over the years, the subcommittee has made numerous requests for guidelines concerning their role in program approvals. Jennifer and Patti hope to work closely with D. Cox on this issue in his new role. A memo was drafted to the Provost notifying him of the status of the proposed Focused Excellence changes that have begun the approval process and requesting that the proposals outlining the specifics of the remaining Focused Excellence changes be submitted as soon as possible to be able to route them through the appropriate approval process, which is a time-consuming process.

Asian American Studies Minor

• Would like input from student group to verify student support and the problems presented by a thematic minor as a solution. (C. Rankin)

• Using a Thematic Minor presented the following pros and cons as identified by subcommittee members:

• Individualized to each student and does not have a readily identifiable "focus"
• No way to adequately market the minor’s existence to students who might be interested
• There would be no standardization or consistency in the focus, and it wouldn’t meet the political interest of the students who wanted this minor in the first place.

• Subcommittee’s role is to assist the Council in doing their work, including providing sufficient information for decision-making. (D. Roe)
• The department had done a full revision as requested by the subcommittee and although there is not a strong objection to the minor; there is also no glowing support. (P. King)
• With only two members present at the last presentation, perhaps the full subcommittee would have come to a different decision after deliberation. (B. Barber)
• We need to let the department know that the subcommittee is very open to seeing the proposal again. Their issue would be the numerous revision they have already made and what else can they do. They will want to know what to do and we will say actually we do not need any changes. (B. Barber)
• Need to bring the people forward who are vested in this program. If the department is not vested and no one else comes forward, that is information we need as a subcommittee. (D. Roe)
• Students were vested but current indication is that they are no longer at UA. T. Vance indicated that by using the past tense when referring to student interest. (D. Tansik)
• Issues identified by the subcommittee include:

• Need to clarify level of support within the department to support the minor. Do they want to pursue?
• Will this lead to a proliferation of small majors and/or minors with different ethnic focuses?
•  Consideration of the pros and cons of the thematic minor as an alternative.

• Right now demographics may not support the minor but it may in the future (C. Evans)
• Some schools have gone to an ethnic studies program to deal with the proliferation of majors. (P. Burkhardt)

Motion made by C Rankin to approve the minor. Seconded by D. Roe. Motion passed with one abstention.

Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences to the Department of Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences name change of majors and department - 
Kathryn Bayles presented the department’s view: 

• Change would support accurate reflection of the discipline, curriculum and research.
• Name would be more recognizable to the national certification and credentialing body.
• Mission of the department more understandable to lay community and UA.
• Improved ability to attract students with interests in language disorders and treatment.
• Increase in the number of clients, children and adults seeking clinical services.

Linguistics, Cognitive Sciences, and Language, Reading, & Culture were contacted and support the name change. Linguistics is more the study of language development whereas Speech, Language & Hearing Science is more clinical about language including neurobiological expressions, diseases and disorders. Faculty are recognized as either speech, language, or hearing scientists doing both basic and applied research on such areas as the impact of aging, memory systems, and physiology.

The program is not primarily English based; the research and clinical applications apply to any language from Swahili to French. It has to do with the development, use, and disorders of language no matter what is spoken. The program deals with diseases, deafness, and other events impacting language whether involving English or not.

Motion by P. Burkhardt made to approved the name change of the Department of Speech & Hearing Sciences to the Department of Speech, Language, & Hearing Sciences for the majors and department; seconded by A. Arabyan - passed.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 P.M.

Respectfully submitted by Sandra Beeler