Monday, June 01, 2009
May 27, 2009 Ad Hoc Committee Meeting
Present: Chris Cobb, Janet Fore, Joe Incandela, Michael Kramer, Nancy Nekvasil, Charlie Peltier
Guest: Jessica Ickes
I. Updates
Laurel Thomas has accepted a position on the committee to replace Daniel Party. She will join the committee for the first time at the retreat. The president of Faculty Assembly has been informed of the appointment.
Joe, Chris, and Janet met with ICS Committee on 5/14 and the meeting went well. The ICS Committee was supportive of our work on LO3. Julie expressed interest in sequencing this, with a critical thinking course addressing LO3 during the student’s first year and then addressing it again in a later year. It appears that our committee will need to revisit LO3 at a later date.
II. Summer Schedule
Our regular weekly meetings are scheduled for Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m., except for the 6/4 retreat which will be next Thursday, and the 6/9 meeting to accommodate Laurel’s schedule.
Joe announced that summer stipends will be paid out on 6/1 & 7/1.
III. Retreat
The retreat will be next Thursday, June 4, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., on the second fl mezzanine of the library. Dean Patricia Fleming will attend. The committee discussed the importance of having a specific agenda for the retreat. Possible ideas:
IV. The Crossing/Center of the Cross
We discussed what the center represents, focusing on three ideas:
We then discussed the question of whether individual courses could be truly interdisciplinary or whether multiple courses in different disciplines were required.
Everyone agreed that tandems would be considered interdisciplinary. Therefore, one option would be for students to design their own integration by taking tandems and linked courses with their W class and Critical Thinking Seminar.
An assessment issue was raised as to whether there be a requirement for each student to “do” integration in addition to integration being demonstrated via a tandem and/or linked courses. During this second “stage,” the student could choose from a menu of integration options. A potential scheduling issue arises because some majors are unable to take their W class during first year. A proposal was discussed that would create different schedules for B.A. and B.S. students.
An extensive discussion ensued about whether this second stage integration requirement could be incorporated into the Advanced W or Senior Comp. No consensus emerged on this issue. However, consensus was reached on the notion that each major department should oversee the second stage integration requirement, with each department offering its majors a set of options.
We discussed whether students needed both integration of skills and integration of disciplines. LO1 seems to conceive integration as knowledge-based. Critical thinking is to be incorporated in all work, as a suboutcome. It was suggested that such integration could be highlighted by elevating it to a learning outcome. Another suggestion raised the possibility of addressing integration between the arms/within the slots of the model rather than addressing it in the Crossing. We will discuss this further during the first portion of the retreat.
Guest: Jessica Ickes
I. Updates
Laurel Thomas has accepted a position on the committee to replace Daniel Party. She will join the committee for the first time at the retreat. The president of Faculty Assembly has been informed of the appointment.
Joe, Chris, and Janet met with ICS Committee on 5/14 and the meeting went well. The ICS Committee was supportive of our work on LO3. Julie expressed interest in sequencing this, with a critical thinking course addressing LO3 during the student’s first year and then addressing it again in a later year. It appears that our committee will need to revisit LO3 at a later date.
II. Summer Schedule
Our regular weekly meetings are scheduled for Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m., except for the 6/4 retreat which will be next Thursday, and the 6/9 meeting to accommodate Laurel’s schedule.
Joe announced that summer stipends will be paid out on 6/1 & 7/1.
III. Retreat
The retreat will be next Thursday, June 4, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., on the second fl mezzanine of the library. Dean Patricia Fleming will attend. The committee discussed the importance of having a specific agenda for the retreat. Possible ideas:
- discuss classes that would fit for each arm, double counting issues
- rough version of outcomes
- maybe deal with LO3 some more
IV. The Crossing/Center of the Cross
We discussed what the center represents, focusing on three ideas:
- A place that highlights significant elements of College’s identity. We reviewed concerns and tensions regarding a single dept controlling an element (a women’s studies-type requirement or a Catholicism requirement.)
- A place of common elements. These elements were described as common experiences overlaid onto other experiences. Examples include the senior comp, critical thinking seminar, and W & Advanced W requirements. Some discussion occurred about the appropriateness of the term “common elements” and whether “common experiences” or “common milestones” may be better.
- A place of integration or interaction. The committee spent a significant amount of time discussing the idea of the Crossing as a place of integration, what integration means, and how it can be achieved. There seemed to be a preference for integration across courses, not just integration of skill with content. The learning outcomes regarding integration were consulted. Integration would appear to require an interdisciplinary experience for the student.
We then discussed the question of whether individual courses could be truly interdisciplinary or whether multiple courses in different disciplines were required.
Everyone agreed that tandems would be considered interdisciplinary. Therefore, one option would be for students to design their own integration by taking tandems and linked courses with their W class and Critical Thinking Seminar.
An assessment issue was raised as to whether there be a requirement for each student to “do” integration in addition to integration being demonstrated via a tandem and/or linked courses. During this second “stage,” the student could choose from a menu of integration options. A potential scheduling issue arises because some majors are unable to take their W class during first year. A proposal was discussed that would create different schedules for B.A. and B.S. students.
An extensive discussion ensued about whether this second stage integration requirement could be incorporated into the Advanced W or Senior Comp. No consensus emerged on this issue. However, consensus was reached on the notion that each major department should oversee the second stage integration requirement, with each department offering its majors a set of options.
We discussed whether students needed both integration of skills and integration of disciplines. LO1 seems to conceive integration as knowledge-based. Critical thinking is to be incorporated in all work, as a suboutcome. It was suggested that such integration could be highlighted by elevating it to a learning outcome. Another suggestion raised the possibility of addressing integration between the arms/within the slots of the model rather than addressing it in the Crossing. We will discuss this further during the first portion of the retreat.
# posted by Joe Incandela @ 6:13 AM 
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