UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES COMMITTEE MINUTES

2001:Apr 10, Sept 12, Nov 13

2002:Feb 5, Mar 5, Apr 2, Sept 23, Oct 30, Dec 4

2003: Feb 19, Mar 26, Apr 23, Sept 17, Oct 22

2004: Feb 10, Mar 9, Apr 13, Oct 12 , Nov 9, Dec 7,

2005: Jan 27, Mar 10, Oct 26, Dec 9

2006: Feb 15 , Apr 5 , Oct 25 , Nov 15 ,

2007: Jan 30

27 February 2007

Members Present: Allen, Geller, Petrova, Rojas, K. Smith, Stecher

Ex-Officio Members Present: DeBlassie, Mogilevsky

Members Absent:  Larson (chair)

Special Guest:  Vince Schielack

The meeting began at 2:30 p.m. There were four topics put up for discussion: Topics –  University Studies Degree - Proposed Areas of Concentration, New Freshman Level Courses,
Offering New Examples in Engineering Calculus Courses, W Courses.  Below is a summary of each.

Topics-

University Studies Degree - Proposed Areas of Concentration. Dr. Vince Schielack was asked by Dr. Tim Scott to develop an area of concentration for the Math Department focusing on the teaching field.  He presented a proposed area of concentration in Mathematical Foundations to the committee.  He explained that this degree plan is very similar to the current teaching field plan for non-math majors who are seeking teacher certification; with the exception of PHYS 218, which is added as a science requirement.  Oftentimes students certified to teach math will become Physics teachers and this gives them a college-level course in the subject.  Students pursuing the University Studies degree will have to complete one area of concentration (21-24 hours) and two minor fields of study.  At this time it is not known if the degree will be a BA or a BS degree.  Dr. Geller is also working on a second area of concentration focusing on students who are Honors eligible and want to combine several areas of study such as mathematics, engineering and philosophy, etc.  There was some discussion on combining the two areas of concentration, and calling it "Mathematical Arts and Sciences," but no formal changes were made.  The deadline to submit proposals to the college is mid-April, so the committee will discuss further at the March meeting.  To view a copy of the Mathematical Foundations Area of Concentration, click here. 

New Freshman Level Courses. With the cutback in degree plan hours for math majors, it was decided to work on creating new courses for non-majors, along with the possibility of changing the format of the Freshman Math Retention Lab (Math 170.)  After a short discussion, it was decided that Drs. Rojas (chair), Geller, and Mogilevsky will head up a subcommittee to develop new core math course(s) fro non-math majors.  The subcommittee will give a report at the April meeting. 

Offering New Examples in Engineering Calculus Courses.   Dr. Rojas reported that Mechanical Engineering faculty are unhappy with the current set of examples used in the Engineering Calculus I classes.  They are happy with the course syllabus, just would like some examples that are more relevant to engineers.  Drs. Rojas (chair), K. Smith and Allen will review the examples and make recommendations to the committee and then to the instructors on using the proposed example sets.  The subcommittee will also look into how long it will take to work the new examples, and how beneficial they will be to the students, etc.   

W Courses.  Dr. Geller reported that according to Valerie Ballester, a course (such as Math 442) in which the grade is primarily determined by group work can be eligible for W status if 70% of the write-ups done in the course is individual.  For example, if four (4) projects are assigned, three (3) write-ups should be individual ones and the fourth one can be a group one.

 
The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Donna L. Hoffman