MARIETTA COLLEGE FACULTY MEETING
April 21, 2003
MINUTES (Approved 9/15/03)

A meeting of the Marietta College faculty convened at 5:00 p.m. April 21, 2003, in the Selby Science Center, room 101. Dr. Sidney Potash, Chair of the Faculty, presided.
  1. Announcements

    1. Curriculum Committee. Dr. DeWine reported briefly on the work of the Curriculum Committee and commented on the amount of inter-disciplinary course work that had been developed.


    2. Interdisciplinary workshop. Dr. DeWine reported that a two-day workshop on interdisciplinary courses was planned for early in the Fall.


    3. Hartel Fellowships. Dr. DeWine reported that work was well along with securing grant funding for Hartel Fellowships which would allow faculty to develop residence hall programming.


    4. Impact of masters programs. Dr. DeWine indicated that she did not expect the masters programs currently being developed to have a negative impact on the quality of undergraduate instruction. The proposed programs would be operating with existing resources. She reported on the work of Graduate Council which had produced a set of criteria for enhanced undergraduate courses. A copy of the requirements is attached to these minutes as Exhibit (pink). She also said that she was satisfied that all the faculty teaching in the programs had adequate credentials. An area that Dr. DeWine indicated she was working on was that of the great inequities in undergraduate advising loads. In reply to a question concerning the apparent lack of prerequisites for graduate courses, the provost said that the need for prerequisites had not been discussed but the appropriateness varied from field to field, she disagreed with the suggestion that the lack of prerequisites meant that a student could enter the programs without an undergraduate degree since that was a general requirement for admission. Responding to a question concerning the allocation of academic interest associated with the incoming freshman class, Dr. DeWine indicated that she had seen nothing to indicate that the pattern of previous years would not continue.


    5. Events. Dr. DeWine reminded faculty of several upcoming events: Staff Appreciation Day, April 23, the Spring Choir Concert, April 25, and Faculty and Staff Recognition Day, May 9.

  2. Curriculum Committee

    Discussion continued on the motion introduced at the April 14 meeting, namely


    Documentation was attached to the minutes of the April 14 meeting as Exhibit D.

    Dr. Hodson was joined by Dr. Liane Gray-Starner and Professor Tina Ullman and all described their hopes for the program. Dr. Hodson indicated that contrary to what was reported in the Marcolian, undergraduate students could not enroll in enhanced courses. Various issues were raised with responses in parenthesis: was 40% of credit based on enhanced courses too large a percentage for a graduate program (program was interdisciplinary in nature and the enhanced courses would have minimal overlap with the work done by the students at the undergraduate level); courses in Mass Media were already heavily subscribed and often closed (resources flowing from the graduate programs would allow for the addition of hardware which would alleviate that constraint on current enrollments); where in the program would students integrate the content of the various courses (the six core courses were the heart of the program and the integration would be a factor in designing the projects which would also create familiarity with the different aspects of the profession); could the program delivery on the technology? (much of the equipment is the best that can be obtained with a larger server being added during the 2003 summer).

    On being put to a ballot vote with Dr. Barnas and Prof. Osborne as tellers, the motion passed: Yes 32, No 28, Abstentions 2. (This included absentee ballots.)

    [Secretary's note: Subsequently, the Provost agreed to a request from the Higher Learning Commission and the name of the degree was amended to "Master in Corporate Media."]


  3. Honors and Investigative Studies Committee

    Dr. David McShaffrey, chair of the Honors and Investigative Studies Committee, reported briefly on the work of his committee. An effort had been made to integrate the Honors and Investigative Studies programs and it was expected to have new criteria developed for honors projects. Dr. Rader spoke to his own positive experience of participating in the Honors Program and emphasized the importance of getting students started early on research projects.


  4. Dr. Sidney Potash

    Chair-elect Professor Osborne expressed his appreciation of the work of Dr. Potash during his two years as chair of faculty. The faculty joined in with applause.


  5. Adjournment

    The meeting adjourned at 5:50 p.m.

Fraser G. MacHaffie
Secretary of the Faculty

Exhibit (pink): “Guidelines for Enhanced Undergraduate…”

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