Present: Pat Muir, Cheryl Middleton, Margie Haak, Denise Lach, Manolete Gonzalez, Susan Shaw, Liz Gray, George Caldwell, Jay Noller, Vicki Tolar Burton, Annette McFarland.
Absent: David Bernell, John Bailey, Deb Pence, Michael Olson, Ken Winograd.
Minutes from 4/27/07 – Approved
Vickie Tolar Burton reported that Tracy Daugherty felt that it was very important for Literature and the Arts to be recognized as a separate category in the Baccalaureate Core. To ensure that Literature & Arts remains a separate category, the English department is willing to keep all WR I, II and III courses and all 100-level English classes at 3 credits rather than increasing them to 4 credits.
Concern was expressed by several committee members that in the future more classes may increase to 4 credits. Also, the committee would like to convey some of the concerns that have arisen during this review of the Baccalaureate Core even though we do not feel that any adjustments need to be made immediately.
Three motions were put forth and approved unanimously:
Motion #1: There is no current need to make adjustments to the Baccalaureate Core.
Motion #2: These discussions need to continue in a larger forum to determine if a task force should be convened to review the Baccalaureate Core.
Motion #3: We propose that a funded assessment of student and faculty perception of the Baccalaureate Core be conducted.
After motion #3 was passed, there was discussion about the outcomes that this committee has developed. It was felt that these outcomes should be forwarded to any group convened to review the Baccalaureate Core to help inform the discussion.
There was discussion about whether the outcomes for the Bac Core have completely eliminated any content-specific knowledge as they are all at the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy.
There was discussion about whether students understand why they need to take Bac. Core classes and what they should be able to take away from these classes. Some simple ways to address this issue might be:
A recommendation was made that a policy be developed to address requests for credit increases for courses in the Baccalaureate Core. It was felt that this was not within the scope of the BCC, but that the BCC could recommend what policy they would like to see in place.
The committee would like to thank our ad hoc members for their hard work and valuable input during this review process.
Action Item: Pat will contact Paul Farber to ask about keeping 100 level history classes at 3 credits each.
Future discussion topic: Susan would like to discuss removing DPD courses from the list of credits that can be transferred in from high school or community colleges.
Next meeting: Friday May 18, 1-3 pm in Gilkey 109.
