Date Approved: April 11, 2006

Minutes

Academic Council

March 7, 2006

Present: Athinarayanan, Buis, Cron, Curtis, Ferguson, Hathaway, Hinkle, Janzow, Jones, McDougall, McGowan, Prater, Reinheimer, Shaw, Starrett, Stephens, and Syler

Guests: Gale McMahan, Sakina Drummond

A. Minutes of February 7, 2006

Since the minutes were distributed at the meeting and Council had not reviewed, it was agreed to bring them back to the next meeting for approval and/or revisions at that time.

B. Action Items

1. Revision: B.A. in Anthropology

Jones distributed a revised document. Upon a motion by Jones; seconded by Curtis, the curricular changes to the B.A. in Anthropology were approved. Jones noted that the changes were made in response to program review. Motion passed unanimously.

2. New degree program: Cooperative M.A. in Criminal Justice

Janzow explained the new graduate degree that is jointly offered by Southeast and Missouri Southern. The approval process was discussed whether a Southeast degree being offered at another location takes Board of Regents and Coordinating Board approval. Stephens noted that CBHE told Missouri Southern that if they offered a Master’s degree, it must be in collaboration with other Missouri universities. Our degree will be offered at Missouri Southern and some courses will be taught by their faculty. Prater added that HHS College Council will meet in early April and at that time will discuss the new program; after that it will be presented to Academic Council at the April meeting. John Wade, chair of Criminal Justice and Sociology, will be invited to attend that meeting. It was asked if at that time the Council would be willing to broaden the discussion to include international campus degrees; transfer or joint degrees.

3. Admission Requirements - Communication Disorders Program

(A revised handout was distributed.) Prater moved acceptance of the admission requirements for the Communication Disorders program; McGowan seconded. This revised policy was returned from the February meeting with suggestions by the Council to add retention, graduation and grievance/appeal policies included. Motion passed unanimously.

4. Composition Placement Task Force

Stephens reviewed the results of the February Academic Council meeting in which the Task Force recommendations were presented. After discussion when and how changes would be implemented, Jones made the following motion: “As a result of the analysis and report by the English Composition Placement Task Force, the Academic Council proposes that the Director of Writing Assessment change the cutoff score on the WP001 writing assessment from 4.0 to 3.5 (on a 6 point scale) to qualify a student for initial composition placement in EN 100. This change should be effected to apply to all incoming new, first-time students for the incoming fall 2006 freshman class.” Curtis seconded. The motion passed with one abstaining.

Stephens stated that at the April Academic Council meeting the Council would vote on the issue of EN100 being a visible part of University Studies. Stephens asked Starrett to bring the recommendation of the University Studies Council and Dean Jones to discuss the issue with the English Department. The issue will be whether or not to formalize the current process. Stephens emphasized that this is formalizing a current practice.

Stephens informed the Council that the President had received a copy of a 6-page letter to superintendents from DESE (Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) regarding possible changes concerning MAP and ACT or SAT exams for high school students. The state task force is considering replacement of the high school MAP exam with a standardized, college-entry exam (such as Act or SAT). She read the following from the DESE letter: “We plan a preliminary discussion about this is at the March State Board of Education meeting. It is likely that the committee will recommend that we replace the high school MAP assessments with the ACT, but with some important qualifications or additions. For example, the ACT does not adequately cover our science standards. No Child Left Behind requires that we have a science assessment at the high school level no later than 2008. So, if we make any changes, we will have to keep the MAP science exam in place or find some other means of “augmenting” an existing national exam. I also expect that the committee will recommend a mandatory writing assessment as part of any new assessment plan.” Stephens pointed out that all high school juniors would be taking ACT Plus exams rather than MAP and the State would pay for it. Another comment Stephens read from the DESE letter: “Virtually every student would be required to take the test as a junior, but nobody would be required to “pass” the test in order to graduate.” She also noted that COPHE sent word to DESE that they supported these recommendations.

McDougall made a motion to examine math placement; Syler seconded. Stephens asked the Council to bring to Academic Council current placement processes.

C. Information Items

1. Graduate Issues – Commencement Participation

Janzow stated in tracking graduate students who participate in graduation ceremonies, found that many did not fulfill the requirements to go on and graduate. He noted that 57% did not graduate within the 2 years. Thirty-three students requested permission to walk in graduation and did not complete the degree requirements. It was suggested for a policy to be placed in the catalog that you cannot participate in graduation ceremonies unless finished in the program. The need for an appeal for emergency exceptions was also discussed. Shaw stated that he did not see a need to vote on this issue. Janzow will take the results of this discussion back to the Graduate Council and report back at the next meeting.