Faculty Senate Meeting April 29, 2010

Faculty Senate Meeting

April 29, 2010

Reports of Standing and Special Committees

RP&A Curricula Budgetary Affairs Administrative Review Student Affairs Personnel ITCC

Curricula Committee ReportApril 29, 2010

The Curricula Committee report (updated on April 27) includes:» 15 Degree Change (DC) forms» 61 Course Change (CC) forms» 20 Experimental Course (EC) forms

(informational only)» Report on transfer credit for military experience

and education


The April 27 updated report only removed several CC forms that were returned to the department and should not have been in the report.


Several DC forms merit individual attention and will be presented separately.

First, the Curricula committee moves for the approval of all of the CC forms in the report.

Curricula Committee Report

April 29, 2010 DC 0357 and 0358 Comp Eng & El Eng Removes FE exam as an assessment

requirement for graduation. In 1988, Academic Council required senior

assessment; Vice Chancellor specified FE exam for engineering programs.

Move to Table until June meeting, pending anticipated policy memorandum from Provost regarding acceptable senior assessment options.

Common Engineering Degree Requirements

DC 0363 Specifies common requirements for all engineering programs, to be included in catalog

Previous common catalog requirements were eliminated when Schools were eliminated.

Engineering DSCC has obtained approval from all engineering programs to this set of common requirements.


Wording of catalog entryEngineering Degrees

All engineering degree programs must be consistent with the following minimum requirements. The requirements of the degree program shall consist of 128 - 132 credit hours. Additional

hours may be required for specific choices of electives or Emphasis Areas. Courses that are at a lower level of coverage than the required courses in the curriculum (e.g. algebra, trigonometry, Intro to Physics, etc.) may not be counted toward the degree program. An average of at least two grade points per credit hour must be obtained for all credits counted toward the degree. In addition, an average of at least two grade points per credit hour must be obtained for all credits taken in the student’s major department.

The degree program shall include all courses in the Common Engineering Freshman Year, as listed in the current catalog under the Freshman Engineering Program.

The degree program shall include a minimum of 21 credit hours of course work as follows:» Engl 20» Hist 112, 175, 176, or Pol Sc 90» Econ 121 or 122» The remaining courses must be chosen from the list of approved humanities/social

sciences courses, published on the website for the Office of Undergraduate Studies (ugs.mst.edu). Departments may further specify the requirements for these electives.


Degree programs shall consist of 128-132 credit hours» Additional hours allowed for specific choices of

electives or Emphasis Areas» Courses at a lower level than the required

courses do not count toward the degree program. (e.g. algebra, trig, Intro to Physics, etc.)

» Cum. gpa of at least 2.0» Major field gpa of at least 2.0


Common Freshman Year courses required Must include 21 hours from following list:

» Engl 20» Hist 112, 175, 176, or Pol Sc 90» Econ 121 or 122» 12 hours from approved H/SS list, maintained

by Engineering DSCC, published on website of Office of Undergraduate Studies


Differences from previous School of Engineering requirements» 128-132 hours, rather than exactly 128» No FE exam requirement» No distinction between humanity and social

science courses» No restriction on skills/performance courses

(art, drama, music, speech, etc.)» No advanced H/SS requirement» No free elective requirements


Wording of catalog entryEngineering Degrees

All engineering degree programs must be consistent with the following minimum requirements. The requirements of the degree program shall consist of 128 - 132 credit hours. Additional

hours may be required for specific choices of electives or Emphasis Areas. Courses that are at a lower level of coverage than the required courses in the curriculum (e.g. algebra, trigonometry, Intro to Physics, etc.) may not be counted toward the degree program. An average of at least two grade points per credit hour must be obtained for all credits counted toward the degree. In addition, an average of at least two grade points per credit hour must be obtained for all credits taken in the student’s major department.

The degree program shall include all courses in the Common Engineering Freshman Year, as listed in the current catalog under the Freshman Engineering Program.

The degree program shall include a minimum of 21 credit hours of course work as follows:» Engl 20» Hist 112, 175, 176, or Pol Sc 90» Econ 121 or 122» The remaining courses must be chosen from the list of approved humanities/social

sciences courses, published on the website for the Office of Undergraduate Studies (ugs.mst.edu). Departments may further specify the requirements for these electives.


DC 0348 and 0349 Changes to BS in Chem. Eng. and BS in

Chem. Eng. with Biochem. Eng. Emphasis» Catalog statement: A cumulative grade point

average of 2.25 or better is required for admittance as a chemical engineering major.

» C or better required in all mandatory Chem. Eng. courses to meet Chem. Eng. degree requirements.

» Humanity-only elective replaced with H/SS elective.


DC 0360 & 0361 Changes to BS in Mech Eng, and

Manufacturing Processes Emphasis area» Require C or better as degree requirement for

Chem 1, Met Eng 121, Phys 24, Math 204, IDE 50, and programming course.

» Other minor changes


Other DCs with minor curriculum changes» 0346, 0347 El Eng & Comp Eng, replace Hum.

elective with Hum/SocSc elective» 0350 Changes to Mech. Eng. Emphasis area» 0351 Changes to Comp. Eng. Emphasis areas» 0352 Define Energy Conversion Emphasis area

for Mech. Eng. » 0353, 0355 Changes to Eng. Mgt. Emphasis

areas» 0354 Changes to BS in Eng. Mgt.


The Faculty Senate made a referral to the Curricula Committee to examine a policy to accept transfer credit for military experience and education. Specifically the committee was charged to research the sources of the credits and recommend policies for transferring the credits. A policy recently instituted by the Columbia campus was provided as a reference.

The Curricula committee discussed this issue at its April 6 meeting, though only briefly due to the already long meeting. The committee provides the following assessment.


1. The general concept of awarding credit for military coursework, subject to appropriate quality control measures, is consistent with our current campus practice and policy.

2. Our Registrar’s office has already evaluated and is already accepting ACE recommended transfer equivalency for college credit courses. As with all transfer credits, the appropriate department will evaluate courses for specific course equivalency.

3. The policy approved by the Columbia campus is almost entirely consistent with our current practice. Documenting the policy will be a positive step toward clarifying the practice.


4. The Columbia policy needs to generally be customized for our campus. In particular, the following points should be customized:

(a) For item 1, specific course credit for military experience should be recommended by our Aerospace Studies and Military Science programs.

(b) For item 3, the grade requirement for credit by completion of a subsequent course should be at the discretion of the appropriate department, rather than fixed at a C- as in the Columbia policy.


Conclusion:

» No major policy changes needing Faculty Senate approval.

» The Registrar’s office is most knowledgeable of our current practices, and is best equipped to prepare a policy statement similar to the Columbia policy.

Documents

Faculty Senate Meeting April 29, 2010