March 17
March 3
February 3
January 27
January 20
January 13
December 4
November 11
October 14
September 30
September 16
Refreshments Green shamrock (of course!) cookies were provided by D. Ross, and these were complemented with coffee and Irish Creme syrup provided by J. Brennan.
Mission and Goals The Mission Statements and Goals document was unanimously approved. Any suggestions for mechanical/non-substantive changes or corrects are to be sent to J. Dahl.
Assessment Plan The Plan for the Assessment of Student Academic Achievement was approved unanimously, with the following changes: A) page 3, #3. Annual reports...The General Education Subcommittee will prepare an annual report for the Assessment Council and the Educational Policy Committee. B) page 5, B.2....the school/division report is forwarded to the Assessment Council by November 15 for the previous academic year.
CLEP The Committee discussed the correspondence from Business and History regarding acceptance of CLEP credits. The Committee unanimously approved the motion to move forward with the CLEP-acceptance document, including only those departments that have confirmed their acceptance of CLEP exams without contingencies.
Next meeting The next meeting will be April 7, 1999 at 2:30 p.m.. The topic for discuss will be the Assessment Council report.
Call to order The eleventh meeting of the academic year came to order at 2:30 p.m. in Kt. 178. Members present: L. Wright-Bower, presiding; J. Silver; D. Oberstar; D. Ross; J. Brennan; S. Hannah; R. Tierney, secretary; J. Dahl, guest. K.Brown absent.
Refreshments R. Tierney provided a carrot cake.
Approval of Minutes The minutes of February 17, 1999 were accepted with one friendly amendment: D. Oberstar did make the cranberry-pumpkin bread with the assistance of his wife, who cut the cranberries.
CLEP (revisited) The revised copy of the CLEP policy was sent to all departments for review and comments; chairs were asked to respond by March 19th.
Mission statements There was a question about the meaning of "endorsement" in regard to departmental/school mission statements and goals. J.Dahl explained that EPC has examined similar documents in the past (SD 93-10, SD 93-27 and SD 94-10). EPC is the only internal group that reviews these documents. There have been revisions due to program changes, etc and not all mission statements have had Senate approval. J.Dahl consolidated all the mission and goals statements into one document, and a process was proposed for future revisions. The Committee will review the document at the next meeting. Minor corrections were made: on the resolution, no. 2 "by" to "to"; page 44, no. 5 "iwll" to "will"; page 61, no. 2 "to" to "with". J.Dahl will send to the Committee members via email information regarding which mission statements have not been through the approval process so that these can be focused on more closely.
Institutional program review S. Hannah distributed to each committee member a copy of "Guidelines for Review of Academic Programs" ("Guidelines"). The Senate (SD 93-26) made the Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) responsible for program review. The purpose of this review is program enhancement. Included in the charge to OAA was the development of general guidelines for program review. The OAA set up a committee to develop the principles and process by which the program reviews would be done. The resulting "Guidelines" included a statement of 10 principles, a review schedule, and program review "questions" or topics to be addressed. This document was distributed to department chairs and EPC for feedback. EPC will review and provide feedback on this document at the next meeting or through email.
Next meeting: The next meeting will be March 17 in Kt. 178. J.Brennan volunteered to provide treats.
Call to order The ninth meeting of the academic year came to order at 2:35 p.m. in Kt. 178. Members present: L. Wright-Bower, presiding; D. Ross; J. Silver; S. Hannah; D. Oberstar; K. Browne; R. Tierney, secretary; J. Dahl, guest. John Brennan, absent due to illness.
Refreshments D. Ross brought a box of assorted, and delicious, cookies.
Approval of Minutes The minutes of January 27th were accepted as written.
Incomplete grades K. Browne provided each member with an extensive handout relating to many aspects of incomplete grades including copies of forms relating to incomplete grades.
Jack Dahl (Institutional Research and Analysis) provided an historical perspective on grade policies at IPFW. In 1985 he and Steve Hollander codified the IPFW policies. At that time, there was some discussion with Purdue West Lafayette regarding how much IPFW's policies could deviate from those of West Lafayette's. Some policies were considered "non-negotiable"; the policy on incomplete grades was one of those.
The IPFW policy on incomplete grades requires that the instructor send a grade change to the registrar when the student has completed the assigned work for the course. If the instructor does not initiate the change in grade, the parent-institution policy governs. See 6.4 Incompletes in the IPFW code for complete provisions of the policy.
The computer system at IPFW enables the registrar to compile a list of one-year-old incompletes.
The proposed policy, which originated at Purdue University North Central, brings the Purdue West Lafayette policy closer to the IPFW policy. For this reason, the committee is in favor of endorsing University Senate Document 97-7.
Jack Dahl will write a resolution encouraging the Purdue West Lafayette registrar to adopt the proposed policy, which will be reviewed by the Committee prior to a vote.
Midterm grade reports Midterm grade reports was one strategy to identify students at risk and, as a result, improve retention. Pros and cons of midterm grade reports to first year students was discussed. This issue will be considered further when more information is available on cost, etc.
Next meeting No meeting next week (2/10). Next meeting Feb. 17th, 2:30 in Kt 178.
Call to order The eighth meeting of the academic year came to order at 2:40 p.m. in Kt 178. Members present: L. Wright-Bower, presiding; S. Hannah; D. Ross; D. Oberstar; J. Silver; K Browne; J. Brennan; R. Tierney, secretary.
Introductions John Brennan, the newest member of the Committee, and the other Committee members exchanged introductions.
Refreshments L. Wright-Bower provided a dessert pizza to celebrate her birthday.
Approval of Minutes The minutes of January 20th were approved as written.
CLEP The Committee unanimously agreed with the suggestion made by C. Isaacs regarding the time limit on the validity of CLEP exams (see minutes of January 20th).
A resolution with the CLEP Policy on Acceptance of CLEP Credit will be forwarded to the Senate for approval.
Policy on Incompletes Due to a lack of clarity regarding these issues, the incomplete policy and the course deletion policy will be explained next meeting by someone from the registrar's office.
Next meeting The next meeting will be February 3rd in Kt 178 at 2:30 p.m.
Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m.
Call to order The seventh meeting of the academic year came to order at 3:00 p.m. in Kt. 101. Members present: L. Wright-Bower, presiding; S. Hannah; K. Browne; D. Ross; D. Oberstar; J. Silver; R. Tierney, secretary; Carol Isaacs from Admissions, guest.
Refreshments Refreshments were provided by R. Tierney. L.Wright-Bower volunteered to bring treats for the next meeting.
Approval of Minutes The minutes of January 13 were approved with the change of "Calendar Committee" to "Calendar Subcommittee."
Next meeting The next meeting will be January 27th in Kt 178 at 2:30 p.m.
Vacancy on EPC L. Wright-Bower notified all individuals who were on the ballot of the vacancy requesting a response from those interested and available at the established meeting time.
Interim report L. Wright-Bower notified the Committee members that John Brennan volunteered to fill the vacancy. Minutes from this academic year will be sent to J. Brennan to familiarize him with the work of the Committee to date.
CLEP L. Wright-Bower distributed the proposed Memorandum/Resolution regarding "Campus-wide Acceptance of CLEP Credit." Two handouts were distributed: 1) "Policies on Acceptance of CLEP Credit," a table showing the tests that are accepted and the passing score for each test at IU Bloomington, Purdue WL, IUPUI, and what is being proposed for IPFW; and 2) "Policy on Acceptance of CLEP Credit," a listing of the examinations, credit hours, minimum scores, and course equivalents for IPFW. Carol Isaacs discussed the proposed policy with the Committee. Minor changes and additions were made, and Carol Isaacs will incorporate these changes into the final draft. The CLEP acceptance policy will be updated as indicated. Admissions will be asked to send out a notice to departments, on a yearly basis, asking if they want any updates to the CLEP policy.
The CLEP policy was unanimously approved by the Committee. A statement will be included in the resolution to Senate stating that the departments will have an opportunity to update the policy on a yearly basis.
The Department of Admissions will investigate and make recommendations regarding the time period during which the CLEP score remains valid.
Up-date 1/21: C. Isaac sent an e-mail message to the members of the Committee stating:
While I have not yet heard back from IU or Purdue, the thought emerged from discussion here in admissions that each department should handle "old" CLEP credit just as they do now regarding "old" transfer credit. Departments look at transfer credit from other institutions on a case by case basis both in regard to course content and how long ago it was taken. Some Departments (nursing) are very specific and most others less so. If I hear anything different from Bloomington or West Lafayette I'll let you know.
Policy on Incompletes The proposal was unanimously withdrawn for further consideration.
Plus-minus grades J. Silver volunteered to write a comparison of the present policy to the proposed policy. This will be reviewed at the next meeting.
Release of student information This will be discussed at the next meeting.
Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.
Call to order The sixth meeting of the academic year came to order at 2:30 p.m. in Kt 178. Members present: L. Wright-Bower, presiding; K. Browne; D. Ross; S. Hannah; D. Oberstar; R. Tierney, secretary.
Refreshments K. Browne provided a selection of delicious dessert treats, which were enjoyed by all.
Next meeting The next meeting will be January 20, at 3:00 pm, in Kt 101. R. Tierney will provide treats.
Approval of minutes The minutes of January 13th were approved as written.
CLEP Linda Wright-Bower will bring a final draft of the resolution for the acceptance of CLEP credit to the next meeting prior to submission to the Fort Wayne Senate.
Plus-minus grades The Committee voted unanimously to accept Purdue West Lafayette, University Senate document 96-8 "Semester Grades and Scholastic Indices." L. Wright-Bower will draft a resolution to be considered by the Committee at the next meeting prior to being sent to the Fort Wayne Senate for approval.
Incomplete policy The Committee voted unanimously to accept Purdue West Lafayette, University Senate document 97-7 "Incomplete Grades Regulations and Procedures." This policy would be applicable only to Purdue students. L. Wright-Bower will draft a resolution to be considered by the Committee at the next meeting prior to being sent to the Fort Wayne Senate for approval.
Calendar 2001-2002 The Committee voted unanimously to accept the proposed calendar. The calendar will be forwarded to the Senate for final approval.
It was suggested that K. Browne, who serves on both EPC and the Calendar Committee, ask the Calendar Committee to consider a survey of the faculty to get their input about the placement of fall break for academic year 2002-3, i.e., leave as it is, take Tuesday and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week off, etc.
Committee Vacancy Due to the death of Steve Hollander, a vacancy exists on the Committee. In order to fill this vacancy, the names of others who were on the ballot, in order of votes cast, was obtained. L. Wright-Bower will notified the individuals of the meeting time.
Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 3:40 p.m.
Call to order The fifth meeting of the academic year came to order at 2:45 p.m. in SB 372. Members present: L. Wright-Bower, presiding, K. Browne, D. Ross, S. Hannah, D. Oberstar, S. Hollander.
Refreshments Deborah provided a chocolate torte and Steve provided chocolate candy bars.
Next meeting The next meeting will be January 13, 2:20 in Kettler 178. Kevin Browne will provide treats.
Approval of minutes The minutes of November 11th were approved as written.
CLEP credit The proposal will be finalized for submission to the Senate in January. The deadline for the January meeting is December 15th, 5:00.
Plus-minus grading This issue was discussed briefly, then tabled until the January meeting.
Freshman earlywarning Jeannette Clausen and Frank Borelli visited to discuss an early warning policy for freshmen. Specifically, they have in mind the institution of midterm grade reports for freshmen only. The implications of such a program were discussed by the committee. It was recognized that if interventions are to be successful, they must be undertaken early, and by midterm grades, it may be too late to intervene for that particular course.
Nevertheless, it will serve to target those students who may need additional help. Another concern was that if the warning is not attached to a specific program with effective follow-up, it is highly likely to be ignored by the student. It was suggested that the advisors might play a role in making sure that the students appreciated the implications of the warning and took constructive steps. Another suggestion was that effort be concentrated on at-risk courses. It was recognized by committee members that it is very difficult to identify at-risk students, but students who apply or enroll late, who are undecided and/or part-time are in this group.
The action suggested by the committee was that a recommendation be written by Frank Borelli for submission to the Senate. The committee agreed that they would be supportive of such a proposal.
Adjournment Meeting was adjourned at 3:45.
Refreshments Linda provided delicious oatmeal raisin cookies and coffee.
Next meeting The next meeting will be December 2nd in the Science Building, Room 372. Deborah will bring gooey chocolate treats.
Approval of minutes The minutes of October 14th were approved as corrected: paragraph 4 under CLEP credit, sentence 3, should read: "Several suggestions were made..."
CLEP credit The Biology Department has agreed to accept CLEP credits as undistributed course credits. The CLEP score to be accepted for remains to be determined.
The CLEP policy was approved by the committee. A summary table will be prepared and submitted to the Senate. The necessity for Senate approval was discussed and was unresolved. It was decided to send it to them.
Freshman earlywarning Jeannette Clausen and Frank Borelli want to talk to us about instituting an early warning policy for freshmen, such as a mid-term grade report. Their meeting has been scheduled for 3:00, December 2.
Plus-minus grading Implementation of the plus-minus grading policy is awaiting approval by the Fort Wayne Senate. The policy will be discussed and voted on at the next meeting for submission to the Senate by the December 14th meeting.
Student grading This issue is currently on hold.
Continuing Ed. Policy revisions Revisions to the Guidelines for the Operation of the Office of Continuing Education were discussed. It was suggested that the format be modified to show two columns, one with the old and one with the new wording. The revisions were approved unanimously.
Title IV Roster format Currently, two rosters are sent out per semester. Changes pending in the reauthorization of the federal legislation may eliminate the need for the rosters; specifically, if a distinction can be made between a "no show F" and an earned F, the roster will not be needed. Faculty would be required to indicate the type of F, and in the case of a "no show F", would have to indicate the date at which the student ceased to attend.
Diversity Strategic Plan Copies of the Diversity Strategic Plan were handed out by Susan for information.
Adjournment Meeting was adjourned at 3:40.
Call to Order The third meeting of the academic year came to order at 2:40 p.m. in Neff 140. Member present: L. Wright-Bower presiding, K. Browne, D. Ross, S. Hannah, D. Oberstar, J. Silver, and R. Tierney (secretary). Steve Hollander sent his regrets for his absence and no treats.
Next meeting The next meeting will be November 11th in the Fine Arts Building. Linda will bring treats.
Approval of minutes The minutes of September 30 were approved with the following corrections:
The Political Science Department will accept CLEP credits.
Kevin will bring CLEP information from IU-Bloomington.
CLEP credit M.H. Thuente, English Department, wants more information from Carol Isaacs about the use of CLEP from IUPUI and IU-Bloomington.
Kevin brought the memos from Carol Isaacs, including the Kenworthy memo of 1981 that was distributed to the EPC last year and Carol's recommendations that were sent to the Deans by Jim Silver last spring.
Carol Isaac's recommendations were ACE recommendations.
Elaine Blakemore, Psychology Department, submitted some questions/comments to the committee. There is nothing to indicate that Psych 120 credit was earned as CLEP credit; it would show on the transcript as transfer credit. The decision to accept CLEP and how it appears on the transcript is made by individual campuses.
IPFW is a testing center for CLEP. Questions should be addressed to Julie Nothnagel, Testing Coordinator (position formerly held by Marilyn Gibbons).
The Biology Department now accepts CLEP on a case-by-case basis. Committee members expressed concern about the case-by-case policy, since one of the purposes of establishing a policy is to clarify for students not on campus which credits would be accepted. Several suggestions where make regarding the acceptance of CLEP by the Biology Department; the options were 1) not to accept CLEP at all, 2) accept CLEP as undistributed credit and the determine how the credit would be applied toward graduation, 3) change the passing score. Deb will discuss these possible options with the chairperson of Biology Department.
Student graders S. Hannah will bring this issue to the A.O.C.
Plus-minus grades Kevin will update the committee on this issue at the next meeting.
Grade escalation This will be added as a pendulous item. S. Hannah reported to the committee that D. Legg, mathematics professor, is doing some comparisons of grades over a several year period in one of math courses, and she will convey these findings to the committee when they are available.
Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 3:50 p.m.
Call to Order The second meeting of the academic year came to order at 2:35 p.m. in CM160. Members present: L. Wright-Bower presiding, K. Browne, D. Ross, S. Hannah, S. Hollander, D. Oberstar, J. Silver, and R. Tierney (secretary).
Kevin Brown, the newly-appointed registrar, introduced himself and provided a brief resume of his past experience. Other members introduced themselves.
Refreshments David distributed home grown Red Delicious apples. The members expressed their appreciation. Steve volunteered to provide the treats for the next meeting.
Approval of Minutes The minutes of Sept. 16 were approved with the addition of plus-minus grading added as a pendulous item.
CLEP credit Responses to Jim's memo regarding the CLEP exam were reported. Schools of Business and Education will accept the exams. The biology department will accept CLEP on a case-by-case basis. The chemistry, political science, and history departments did not response. The English department will accept W131 with conditions, and the mathematics department will accept with conditions. Sociology will not accept CLEP credit. Memos from Mary Helen Thuente (English department), Frank Paladino (Biology), and Iadicola (Sociology) were circulated. The committee will ask the biology department to review its position. Kevin will bring information about CLEP credit from the West Lafayette campus. This issue will be discussed further at the next meeting.
Student Graders A memo was received from A. Pugh, interim dean of ETC, regarding the practice of faculty hiring their own student graders. Concerns identified in the memo were confidentiality of student information, reduction of student/faculty interaction, and potential exposure of the university to liability. The committee added this to the pendulous items.
Meeting schedule Meetings are scheduled for:
Grade Reporting Forms Kevin brought the semester grade reporting form to the committee to discuss how the sheets will be filled out in the future. The committee was in agreement that Kevin, as registrar, could process the grade sheets as he saw fit.
Pendulous items
1. A discussion with Professor Ragatz from Medical Education
2. Bringing SIS and printed documentation into compliance with FERPA
3. Plus-minus grading at IPFW
4. Faculty-employed student graders
Next Meeting The next meeting will be October 14th in Neff 140. The meeting on October 28th is also scheduled for Neff 140.
Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
Call to Order The first meeting of the academic year came to order at 2:30 p.m. in CM 160. Members present: S. Hollander, J. Silver, R. Tierney, L. Wright-Bower, S. Hannah, D. Oberstar, and D. Ross.
Election of Chair, etc. Linda Wright-Bower accepted the position of chair. Roberta Tierney accepted the position of secretary with the clear understand that her minutes will not be nearly as entertaining as were Steve Hollander's.
Meeting times/days The committee will meet every two weeks on Wednesday at 2:30. The next meeting will be on September 30th in CM 160.
Refreshments David Oberstar volunteered to provide refreshments for the next meeting.
CLEP J. Silver's April 22nd memo was discussed. This memo was a draft proposal for the acceptance of CLEP examinations asking the deans to respond if they had questions or concerns. The memo was accompanied by an booklet explaining the various CLEP examination. The only response was from Linda Balthaser in Arts and Sciences. Jim will send the memo to the new acting deans asking for them to respond by Sept. 28th. Jim will draft a resolution to be presented to the Senate asking for a uniform policy on the acceptance of CLEP examinations be implemented by IPFW. A copy of the April 22nd memo is attached for the benefit of the new committee members.
Medical Education Since the committee was unable to meet with Barth Ragatz from Medical Education during the spring semester, he will be invited to a future meeting to discuss "Proposed Course Offerings in Medical Sciences." A copy of the Ragatz's memo of 11/26/97 is attached for the new committee members.
Distance Education S. Hannah, Interim VCAA, reported on a meeting of the Distance Education Task Force, which she convened and Mike Stockstill chaired. The purpose of the task force is to identify issues related to IPFW's participation in distance education. The task force membership overlaps with the membership of the Distance Education Subcommittee, with whom this group would be working closely.
Pendulous Items Due to the diligence of last years committee members, most items were brought to some resolution. Two continuing items are: 1) the discussion with Professor Ragatz, and 2) bringing SIS and printed documentation into compliance with Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
Next Meeting The next meeting will be on September 30th in CM 160.
Adjournment Adjournment was at 3:30 p.m.