THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE Faculty Senate Minutes January 31, 1985 The Faculty Senate met at 3:30 pm in RL 1 with Dr. Alan Comer presiding. Members Present: Dr. Bennett, Dr. Betts, Dr. Combs, Dr. Comer, Dr. Coyne, Dr. Downes, Dr. Farzanegan, Dr. Grams, Dr. Greenawalt, Dr. Hollingsworth, Dr. Ruiz, Dr. Seitz (alternate), Dr. Shoaf, Dr. Stern (alternate), and Dr. Williams Members Absent: Dr. Dorr and Mr. Wengrow Visitors: Drs. Allen, Cochran, Daughton, Hung, Kormanik, Moseley, Nickless, Wilsman, Mr. Cagle, and Ms. Streppa I. ANNOUNCEMENTS Dr. Comer announced that there has been much concern regarding cancelling classes at UNCA in bad weather. There is some concern among the students that there be a written policy on this issue. Mr. Ken Cagle, Student Government President, requested to speak to the Senate and requested a uniform policy that does not penalize students who can't make it to school when it is open in bad weather. He indicated that 84 percent of UNCA students are commuters, and the average distance they travel is 15 miles. Dr. Coyne reported that the APC will review this issue. II. ELECTION FOR VACANT FACULTY SENATE SEAT Dr. Greenawalt reported that this issue came up at the meeting of January 24, but due to the lack of Senators it was decided to postpone it until the next meeting of the Senate when a fuller representation of people would be present. Dr. Greenawalt then read from the Constitution, Section 3, Article 1 regarding election of alternates. The Constitution indicated that should a vacancy on the Senate occur for any reason, the Senate shall elect one of the alternates to assume full duties of that position. The Senate proceeded to elect from the three alternates, Henry Stern, Ted Seitz, and Jack Wilson. Henry Stern was elected by ballot to fill the vacant seat on the Senate. III. GENERAL EDUCATION Dr. Comer announced that two additional meetings will be held in February and March for the sole purpose of dealing with the general education question. These meetings are scheduled for February 28 and March 28 at 3:30 in RL 1. Regular Senate Page 2 business meetings will be held February 14 and March 7 at 3:30 in RL 1. Dr. comer asked that the Senate consider procedures for how it wishes to accomplish the discussions and votes concerning general education. One option is that the Senate could operate as a committee of the whole, a procedure which would allow committee votes to be reviewed later as a whole by the Senate. Dr. Comer asked that any Senator with a whole plan distribute these to Senators for review before these meetings. Dr. Farzanegan requested that the minutes be more detailed to let the faculty who can't be at the meetings know where Senators stand. At this point, Dr. Comer began review of his status report on general education. Writing - The controversial decision is whether to leave unspecified the nature of the course that will satisfy the writing requirement and whether the completion of those courses is sufficient assurance that the students are competent to write. Dr. Comer felt that the Senate was persuaded by Dr. Rackham that the Literature department have time to study alternative ways to teach writing. The Senate must decide: a. whether requiring two courses is adequate or whether to include a competency evaluation b. do we wish to leave the specifics of the course to the Literature department. Mathematics - Dr. Comer reported that there was no dispute that a math requirement be added to the requirements for graduation. There seemed to be dispute about the level of such a mathematics course. There was a feeling at this hearing for a slightly modified algebra course that emphasizes the thought processes involved in solving word problems. The Senate must decide which of the proposed options will provide sufficient math preparation. Humanities - Dr. Comer reported that the hearing on the Humanities sequence stirred much debate. There was also much discussion at the hearing regarding separating the fourth course as a capstone course. The Senate must decide: a. whether to keep any Humanities sequence at all. b. if so, should the fourth course be retained in it? c. should the name be changed? d. does the Senate wish to specify particular content to the courses? Natural Science - Dr. Comer reported that there is more than a single issue to decide on here. One important issue is whether the Senate should impose on disciplines any particular style of instruction. Much discussion was heard at the hearing regarding the make-up of the required courses. Options are two courses within a single science, two integrated courses, or a three Page 3 credit integrated course followed by a course selected from one of the natural sciences. The Senate must decide: a. whether the Senate believes it has a responsibility in general education, that supersedes that of individual departments. b. alternatively, the Senate could set aside a specific number of credits for natural science, and allow the science departments to determine how best to use those credit hours. c. if there is a desire to offer "guidance" to the science departments, then the Senate must decide upon the kind of guidance. d. whether the natural science requirement must include some laboratory component. e. whether only the "traditional" sciences should count toward this requirement. Social Science - Dr. Comer reported that some of the same decisions have to be made on the social science requirement as on the natural science requirement. Dr. Comer believed it might be valuable to discuss the natural and social sciences requirements at the same meeting since the issues raised are similar. The Senate must decide: a. whether to allow the departments to determine the character of this requirement, or to impose some restrictions on departmental prerogatives. b. the number of credit hours in the social science requirement. c. whether to have a social science requirement at all. (it was suggested that a requirement may not be necessary.) Foreign Language - Dr. Comer reported that there was a fair amount of dispute over what would constitute a foreign language requirement. There was some doubt about the value of a six credit requirement. Many faculty felt that not much could be learned in only 2 semesters at the introductory level. The Senate must decide: a. whether to have a foreign language requirement or not. b. upon the appropriate number of credit hours to devote to the foreign language requirement. c. should credits be the criteria at all, or should we simply retain the present statement about foreign language, but without the options? d. if it wishes to instruct the foreign language departments to include more culture and conversation in the courses for general education. Art - Dr. Comer reported that there was much dispute about how many credit hours to be given to the requirement. Should a student be able to select from any of the fine arts represented on campus or does the Senate wish to specify some new and different course be proposed. The Senate must decide: a. whether to add a fine arts requirement. b. whether it wishes to specify the thrust of such a Page 4 requirement. c. the importance of "hands-on" activity in this requirement. d. if a distributional model could satisfy general education goals. Physical Education - Dr. Comer reported that a physical education requirement was excluded from the Task Force Proposal. There was some sentiment in the hearings to include it. If so, the Senate must construct such a proposal. The Senate must decide: a. if it is wish to remove physical education as a general education requirement. b. should the Senate believe physical education is needed, it must design the particulars of the requirement. Health Promotion - Dr. Comer reported that a health promotion requirement was not included in the original Task Force Proposal, but there was considerable discussion and sentiment in favor of some sort of health promotion requirement. The feeling that students should better understands the contributors of wellness, or lack thereof, was widely shared. The Senate must decide: a. whether health promotion is appropriately a part of the general education expected of every student. b. the configuration of any health promotion requirement. Bibiliography - Dr. Comer reported that bibliography is now a requirement but was excluded from the Task Force Proposal. The Senate must decide how our students will learn the library skills essential to their success at UNCA. Critical Thinking - Dr. Comer reported tht since critical thinking is one of the goals of general eduction, some sentiment was expressed for a critical thinking course. This course was not a part of the Task Force Proposal. It would require the Senate to decide the characteristics of such a course. The Senate must decide whether to propose a critical thinking requirement, and the specifics of such a requirement. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:30 pm. Approved, Submitted, Bruce Greenawalt Teresa Lovelace Faculty Senate Secretary Recording Secretary