Minutes, StAC Meeting
Thursday February 7th, 2008, 4:00-5:30
Furman Hall 204
Present: Professors Ching (Chair), Kazee, Knight, Nelsen, Patterson, and Worthen; student Elizabeth Bradley. Absent, professors Hutton and Khandke, and student David Solomon.
1) The definition of a study away program in Mayterm
The following text is what Ching wrote and sent via email to committee. There seemed a general consensus of agreement about the concept, but subsequent email debate questioned the number of nights chosen.
“A study away program in Maymester is any course that meets one of the three following criteria: 1) an international travel component of any duration; 2) an oversight stay away from Furman for four consecutive nights or longer; 3) overnight stays away from Furman's campus that total ten nights or more, even if none of them is longer than four consecutive nights.”
The committee discussed the issue for approximately 45 minutes, and decided to rephrase the definition as follows:
"A study away program is any program receiving Furman credit that
requires off-campus housing [whether residential or domestic]."
However we realize that short-term field trips away from campus that only
require one or two nights away from campus are a needless detail that need
not come under review, so we decided to add the caveat, "'off campus
housing' is not meant to include accommodations associated with domestic
field trips of short duration."
2) The process of approving May X study away programs
The following text is what Ching wrote and sent via email to the committee. Again, there seemed a general consensus on the general concepts here. However, it came to the Chair’s attention via Lynne Shackelford that Provost Kazee wanted to raise the issue of whether StAC’s review should occur as part of the online course proposal system.
“Any Maymester course that qualifies as a study away program, see above, would have to be approved by our committee. In the course proposal system, StAC would become a box that the proposer could check that would require StAC's approval before the curriculum committee can bring the course/program to the faculty for approval. Once a Maymester study away program is approved, it is approved in perpetuity, unless it is subjected to significant changes. What would constitute "significant change" will be specified by StAC. Like any study away program, in any given year, the administration has the right to determine if a Maymester study away program will be allowed to go, even if it has received prior approval from StAC and the faculty. Therefore, it is the obligation of the Maymester committee [or will that become the Registrar's Office if a Maymester committee will not exist?] to inform StAC, the Asst. Dean for Intl. Ed. and Study Away, and the Provost of proposed Maymester study away courses in each year. Only when those courses have received the Provost's [or should this be the Asst. Dean for Intl. Ed.?] approval, will they be allowed to proceed. It is noted that this might require that the deadline for submitting all Maymester courses be earlier than expected, because study away courses often need significant advance time for making deposits and so forth; however, the Maymester committee [or Registrar's Office] will not be able to assess any one Maymester course without having all proposals before it.”
It was decided by the committee that for the sake of consistency that StAC should review May X programs through the same mechanisms that it has discussed for regular term programs, i.e. not through the course proposal form, but through a distinct form/proposal coming out of the office of the Asst. Dean for Intl. Ed. and Study Away. What follows is the text the Lynne Shackelford, Chair of ITF Committee, has inserted into the May X primer as a result of subsequent email exchanges between Ching and her after this meeting:
What process does a faculty member follow to propose a May Experience course?
For a regular course the following steps should be followed:
· The faculty member consults with the department chair.
· The faculty member completes a course proposal using the online Course Proposal System. The system directs the proposal first to a department for review. Then, following the model for First Year Seminars, the proposal will be reviewed by the May Experience Committee, and then reviewed by the Curriculum Committee, and APC—if the course counts towards a concentration. If endorsed by Curriculum and APC, if appropriate, the course will be presented to the faculty for approval.
For a study away course the following steps should be followed:
For Study Away Program Approval
· The faculty member discusses plans with the Assistant Dean for Study Away and International Education.
· The faculty member submits a study away program proposal to the Assistant Dean for Study Away and International Education and the Study Away Committee. A copy of the proposal guidelines is available from the Assistant Dean.
· The Study Away Committee reviews the safety and feasibility of the study away program, but does not evaluate the course content, which is the responsibility of the Curriculum Committee. The Study Away Committee will present the study away program to the faculty for approval.
Please note the following:
o Once a May Experience study away program has been approved, it does not need to be submitted again, unless the program has significant changes. These changes will be specified by the Study Away Committee.
o In any given year, the Provost has the right to determine if a May Experience study away program will be allowed to be offered, even if it has received prior approval from the Study Away Committee and the faculty.
o The Assistant Dean for Study Away and International Education and the Study Away Committee may develop additional policies for May Experience study away programs.
For Course Approval
· The faculty member submits a proposal through the online Course Proposal System. As with regular May Experience courses, the proposal will be reviewed by a department, then by the May Experience Committee, the Curriculum Committee, and APC—if the course counts towards a concentration, and then, if endorsed, will be presented to the faculty for approval.
Note: In response to approving these minutes, Provost Kazee recommended a change to the bulleted point above that says “In any given year, the Provost has the right to determine if a May Experience study away program will be allowed to be offered, even if it has received prior approval from the Study Away Committee and the faculty.” He recommended the following: "In any given year, final approval for a May Experience program will be determined by the Provost, based on resource availability and any other relevant considerations, even if it has received prior approval from the Study Away Committee and the faculty."
3) Timeline for approving May X courses: from Brad Baron, via Lynne Shackelford.
Basically, we needed to determine if this seems reasonable from a study away perspective.
What is the planning and registration process for May X courses?
August 15, 2008 – Submit course proposals
Early to mid-September 2008 - Survey department chairs for intentions to offer May X courses
in 2009
May X courses requiring invitation and/or an application process can begin selection as early as
September
Mid-October 2008 - Finalize May X 2009 offerings
November 3, 2008 - Publicize May X 2009 offerings via www.furman.edu/mayx
December 1, 2008 - Begin registration via ARMS on a first-come, first-serve basis (no priority
order, pre-requisites fully enforced)
March 6, 2009 – Close open registration for May X 2009
March 9-13, 2009 – Decide on course offerings and course cancellations; confirm campus housing needs
May 11, 2009 - May X courses begin
The committee determined that his calendar would be satisfactory for this first year, but that it is probably not sufficient for the longterm, because study away programs often need more lead time to pay deposits and make arrangements. We decided that faculty interested in doing a study away course in the inaugural 2009 May X program should be encouraged to submit their courses for approval in the spring term 2008 so that they could proceed with advertising and perhaps even accepting students in advance (and thus having deposits paid) so that it would be well in advance if sufficient study interest in the program exists. The committee said that for future versions of May X that it would be beneficial to have an advanced deadline for approval.
4) The process of approving regular term study away programs, following the approval of StAC’s operating policy before the faculty at the Feb. 6th faculty meeting. The following was based on conversations at prior StAC meetings. While the following was not subjected to significant amounts of discussion due to time constraints, the committee members agreed generally that it looks appropriate and should be the foundation for drafting our Statement of Principals or Memorandum of Understanding to govern our review and approval process.
All Furman study away programs, whether new or existing, would have to be reviewed by our committee and upon approval put before the faculty for a formal vote. Precisely what information will be provided to the faculty to be voted upon will be determined by our committee soon. Once a program is approved by the committee, the faculty and the Provost, it is approved in perpetuity, like a catalog course. However, when the program will be allowed to go is up to the administration. Any substantive changes to a program would require reapproval by StAC and the faculty. The definition of “substantive change” will be clarified by our committee, and most likely would relate to the type of information that the faculty voted on in the first place. Every year, or perhaps more than once per year, StAC will inform the faculty of the slate of study abroad programs scheduled to go. “Inform” means the same process as our current system for 95 courses—StAC will provide a list of the programs and a certain amount of information for each program in a document posted to Faculty Notices in advance of a faculty meeting. The information is not for discussion or a vote, but if a faculty member has a particularly strong issues about any aspect of the list, s/he has the right to raise it in New Business.
Exchange and affiliated programs will not require faculty vote. It is believed that they represent a bureaucratic detail that StAC can handle on behalf of the faculty. The faculty would be informed of them in the same manner as current 95 courses. Ultimately, it is the Asst. Dean for Intl. Ed. and Study Away that will play the primary role in organizing and evaluating our exchange and affiliate programs. But periodically (frequency to be determined), StAC will review those programs and inform the faculty of them.
The meeting closed with one of the committee members suggesting the need for StAC to look seriously at developing a policy re. the minimum number of faculty members on any given study away program for reasons of safety and security. The committee members stated that s/he believed that at least two had to be present. This generated a brief exchange that was brought to end due to time constraints, but with the promise of raising it at the next meeting.