FAU - December Minutes

Home / CEUE / December Minutes

Council for Excellence in Undergraduate Education

MINUTES
Friday, December 1, 2006, 12:15pm
President's Conference room, ADM 340

1. Introduction of New Member – Dr. Karl Stevens, Dean, College of Engineering
Dr. Karl Stevens, Dean of the College of Engineering was introduced as a new member of the Council.

2. Approval of October 27, 2006 Meeting Minutes
Trustee Scott Adams and Vice President Charles Brown were not present. The minutes of the October 27, 2006 meeting were approved as distributed.

3. Report on Meetings with the UUPC (November 3 and December 1, 2006)
The University Undergraduate Programs Committee (UUPC) took the following actions on items brought from the Core Curriculum Task Force (CCTF) by Dr. Lombardo (November 3, 2006 meeting):

Passed the core curriculum purpose statement to be added to the catalog
Passed naming the core curriculum as “The Intellectual Foundations Program – FAU’s Core Curriculum”
Passed a requirement that each course in the core curriculum be identified as such in its syllabus
Made optional a requirement that the syllabus of each course in the core curriculum contain a statement as to how the course contributes to achieving the purpose of the core

4. UFS Steering Committee Action (November 21, 2006)
At their November 21, 2006 meeting, the University Faculty Senate (UFS) Steering Committee confirmed the actions of the UUPC except that the syllabus statement addressing a core course’s relationship to the core purpose was reinstated as a requirement, not an option. Steering’s recommendations will be placed on the agenda of the December 1, 2006 meeting of the UFS. (Note added after CEUE meeting: The UFS confirmed the core curriculum recommendations of Steering with the exception that the syllabus statement on relationship to purpose was made optional again.)

5. Core Curriculum Task Force Progress Report
The UUPC would like the CCTF to become one of its subcommittees. Since the CCTF received its charge from the Council, the Council’s view is that the CCTF should remain independent for now, but should report regularly to the UUPC on its work.

Dr. Lombardo gave a report on the November 20, 2006 CCTF meeting:

A broad outline for revising the core curriculum drafted by a subcommittee was presented. Members will submit comments and suggestions for review at the next meeting on January 12, 2007.
Dr. Lombardo distributed a document containing suggestions for themes within the core. Themes have been a topic of continued discussion in the CCTF.
The idea of freshman learning communities (FLC) clustered around the core rather than majors was introduced. This will be pursued with Student Retention.

6. Engineering Curriculum Initiative – Karl Stevens
Dean Karl Stevens reported on a curriculum revision initiative in the College of Engineering undertaken in response to input from their executive advisory committee. It was the sense of the Council that the basic curriculum structure being developed could have implications for revision of the core. Dr. Stevens will be invited to the next CCTF meeting to discuss this further.

7. CTESS Status

A half-time interim director will not be appointed

Searches for two new coordinators are underway (Student Retention and Freshman Academic Advising Services)

• The present Student Retention coordinator has been upgraded to Assistant Director

8. Policy Issue - Definition of First Year Student Success
The idea of establishing some general benchmarks which define first-year success was introduced. This could be the initial proactive action of the Council, but has to be approached with great care. It will be discussed again at the next meeting on January 19, 2007.

Meeting adjourned at 2:00 p.m.