Educational Planning Committee
Monday, October 10, 2005, 2:30pm
Alumni Conference Room

Present:  J. Adames, L. Anyanwu, B. Atsma, T. Cherubino, S. Chewning, R. Ford, E. Forestal, L. Garcia, A. Hawley, J. Magliano, D. Pires, D. Rivera, A. Rogoff, T. Signorelli, W. Smith, E. Zanes

The meeting was called to order at 2:30pm.  Susannah Chewning asked that everyone introduce themselves since many of those present were either new to the Committee or visiting.

ASL Proposal for Modern Languages

Eileen Forestal and David Rivera were at the meeting to request that the EOC consider their proposal of American Sign Language being considered as fulfilling a Modern Language requirement.  Forestall presented an outline of the proposal with supporting documents that indicate that many other institutions do consider ASL as a Modern Language and that it should transfer anywhere as such.  The courses to consider are ASL 101 (ASL I) and ASL 103 (ASL II), four credits each, and ASL 201 (ASL III) and ASL 203 (ASL IV), three credits each.  These courses do not need to be approved through Curriculum unless their pre-requisites, credits, or emphasis changes within majors.  Currently ASL courses carry a diversity emphasis while ML courses carry a humanities emphasis.

Everett Zanes asked if the current area of ASL (Psych/Soc) and the new area, Modern Languages, were comfortable with this change.  Tony Signorelli, representing Psych/Soc, and Adrienne Hawley, representing ML, were both present and support the change for their areas. 

Forestal also explained that the pre-requisite for ASL 101 is successful completion of the Basic Skills test; students who have not yet passed ENG 088 must “demonstrate College-level competency” according to the College catalog, so the ML pre-requisite of ENG 088 would probably be acceptable.  Students in ASL 101 must achieve a grade of C higher to take ASL 103; students in ASL 103 must achieve a B or higher to take ASL 201 or 202.  Students could take only ASL 101 and 103 as a ML requirement and would not have to take the 200-level courses unless they were pursuing certification in ASL instruction.

After some additional discussion, the Committee agreed that some of the issues of co-requisites and pre-requisites needed to be made clearer before action could be taken.  Forestal will submit a revised proposal before our next meeting, at which time we will continue to discuss the issue.

UCC’s Participation in the Mid-Career Fellowship Program

This was added to the agenda because the Committee was notified that the dues for the 2005-06 academic year had not been paid by the College.  Dr. Smith explained that the dues were not paid because no one applied for a fellowship in time for the deadline in May.  Faculty who wish to participate this year will have to wait until 2006-07.  However, in any academic year if faculty are interested and apply for the fellowship before the deadline, the dues will be paid.  UCC fully supports the program and hopes to be involved for a long time to come.

EPC and Continuing Education

Some concerns have been brought to the Faculty Executive Committee about the relationship between the academic faculty and Continuing Education, and we have been asked to consider adding review and recommendations of Con Ed to our Committee, pending further discussion by the FEC.  The Committee agreed that this made sense but would wait for further instructions from the Chair of the FEC before proceeding.

UCC’s Graduation Rate

At the April 2005 Faculty meeting, Dr. Brown stated that UCC has a 2% graduation rate overall.  Since that time a number of committees have discussed the matter, and it makes sense that the EPC should be involved in addressing it.  Dr. Smith informed the Committee that he is forming a Graduation and Retention Committee and would welcome members of the EPC to join. Debbie Pires, Len Anyanwu, and Jim Magliano expressed interest in this committee.  In discussing the problem, it was agreed that faculty play a huge role in retention, although not as many faculty are involved in the process as could be.  A suggestion that more one-on-one advising would be effective in retention was made, and it was agreed that this is the kind of idea that Dr. Smith’s committee can work to develop.

EPC Mission Statement and By-Laws Revision

Susannah Chewning presented the revised mission statement and by-laws of the Committee; some changes were suggested (see the final version attached).

EPC Rep for the Distance Education Committee

Because of her class schedule Chewning cannot attend the DEC meetings (which the chair of EPC is invited to attend).  She asked for a volunteer to take her place; Bert Atsma volunteered will attend the meetings on behalf of the EPC and report their concerns to us in future meetings.

With no further business the meeting adjourned at 3:40; the next EPC meeting will be on Monday, November 14 at 2:30pm in the Alumni Conference Room.

Respectfully submitted,

Susannah Chewning
EPC Chair 2005-06

Distribution: Len Anyanwu, Bert Atsma, Paula Belmonte, Thomas Cherubino, Susannah Chewning, Dr. Ralph Ford, Luis Garcia, Nicholas Gilbert, Jim Magliano, Deborah Pires, Pat Rodihan, Arlene Rogoff, Donna Weir, Everett Zanes.