Executive Council Meeting
May 13, 2008, 11:00 am, UW1 211B
Present: Constantin Behler, Steve Collins, Bill Erdly, Dan Jaffe, Nancy Place, Gowri Shankar, Suzanne Sikma and Mike Stiber
Guests: Bruce Burgett, Colin Danby, Dan Jacoby and David Stokes
Adoption of Agenda
The agenda was adopted as amended.
Reports of Officers
A. Chair - Mike
Mike gave update on an Electrical Engineering degree that will be offered at UWB. The curriculum will be developed at the UWS campus, while the courses will be taught here and UWB will manage admission criteria for the program. This is a good interim step toward bringing an EE degree to UW Bothell. VCAA Jeffords will have further discussions on this with the EC and a coherent plan will be developed. An EC recommendation on this program will be made after further review.
B. Vice-Chair - Dan
Dan gave an overview of the academic planning process, the comment period on Blackboard is over, faculty input has been received through Blackboard and other campus processes. A recommendation from the EC on STEM has been requested from the Chancellor and VCAA. Dan has drafted a proposal for EC consideration on STEM planning at UWB. He updated the EC on the Faculty Council on Tri-Campus Policy, representatives from UWB, UWT and UWS serve on the FCTCP, addressing issues across the 3 campus system. Dan also serves on the Faculty Senate Committee on Planning and Budget, one issue that will impact UWB involves building new programs that need start-up funding. At this time we build on existing FTE resources. Dan informed the EC that UWT has proposed an Environmental Engineering program, this points to the fact that UWB needs to act decisively and quickly in developing our STEM programs.
Dan Jacoby gave a brief update on the enrollment data that has come out of the survey he conducted. This data shows strong interest in health sciences and business programs. Data was collected from community colleges, the UW, across the State and nationally. The EC asked about the survey's methodology and how that influences the outcomes. Questions also surfaced about our transfer agreements with local community colleges and the UW, what percentage of students is UWB attracting from these sources?
Approval of EC minutes of April 22, 2008
EC minutes of April 22, 2008 will be reviewed at the next EC meeting.
Reports from programs
A. Business - no report.
B. CSS
Bill - CSS is reviewing the EE degree program.
C. Education
Nancy - Education Program has completed their director search.
D. IAS
Constantin - IAS site visit is finished, the program is busy launching and marketing new majors.
E. Nursing
Suzanne - the Graduate School review for all degrees is completed.
Reports of Committees
A. Campus Council on Academic Standards and Curriculum - no report.
B. Campus Council on Promotion, Tenure and Faculty Affairs no report
C. Instructional and Research Support Committee
Nancy - IRSC met and discussed the EC recommendation for a survey of the TLC. Becky Rosenburg will be leaving and with a new director coming in the committee thought it would be better to wait to conduct a survey. Andreas Brockhaus and Betsy Tippins reported on new technologies being considered for implementation at UWB. The funding of the Faculty Speaker Series is still being worked out. Nancy asked about ex-officio members of the committee being without vote, do we want to extend the vote to these members? The GFO Bylaws state that the status of these members is ex-officio - without vote.
Old business
A. Changes to the CUSP Charter
The EC reviewed the CUSP Charter with proposed changes submitted by Gray Kochhar-Lindgren. EC consensus was in agreement with the proposed changes. An official vote on this matter will be conducted by email ballot.
B. Consideration of MOU with UW Educational Outreach regarding conditional admissions for international students..
Dan opened discussion on the MOU between UW Bothell and the UW Educational Outreach English Language Programs (UWEO ELP). In collaboration with UWEO ELP UW Bothell would enter into an agreement to cooperate on a Conditional Admissions Program for the purpose of recruiting academically qualified international students for UWB. Under this program, UWB agrees to accept completion of ELP as equivalent to TOFEL in terms of satisfactory evidence of English proficiency for the purposes of admission to UWB. The discussion is still in the initial stage, Dan will invite Chris Gillman and VCAA Jeffords to an EC meeting for further discussion on this issue.
EC discussion
Conclusion: The EC would like to see the rationale for the target number, the feasibility of that number and the ability of UWB to absorb and support that number of international students. We need to accept responsibility for student success.
C. STEM Task Force Report and Resolution
Blackboard discussion of the STEM Task Force report is concluded. Dan submitted a resolution to the EC resolution for review and recommendation. The resolution was amended and voted on.
EC resolution on STEM (as approved by EC)
The EC wants to express its appreciation to the STEM task force for their excellent work in generating the final task force report. The EC concurs with the report that a new academic unit is needed to support the development of STEM majors at UWB. The EC urges the administration to start up a new unit as expeditiously as possible to develop the natural sciences, mathematics, engineering and applied technology and build bridges between the new unit and existing programs. The EC recommends that the administration facilitate joint appointments where appropriate and other mechanisms to foster interdisciplinarity and as a way to minimize the impact on existing faculty.
EC discussion
EC motion
The EC will conduct an email ballot to vote on the EC resolution on STEM.
New Business
A. Proposal from IAS for two new concentrations (STS and Environmental Studies)
Dan opened discussion on the Environmental Studies (ES) option from IAS. David Stokes jointed the EC to answer questions and provide information on the ES option. This option is an excellent opportunity to bridge science to an existing program and build on our strengths.
The Science, Technology and Society (STS) option and the ES represents a division of the current option in Science, Technology and Environment. The STS program will encourage cross-programmatic enrollment, it is broadly interdisciplinary. Both the STS and the ES degree programs are ideally situated to do well in IAS and support the emerging direction of the campus, creating bridges to existing programs. Other UWB programs should be alerted to the cross-programmatic opportunities, new hires in the areas of science communications and GIS as well as gaming tie into STEM and these programs.
EC discussion
The EC will conduct an email ballot to vote on the IAS options in Environmental Studies and Science, Technology and Society.
B. NOI from IAS for conversion of all concentrations to majors - discussion moved to next EC meeting, May 27, 2008.
Results of EC vote:
EC Ballot: Proposed STEM Resolution
Yes 7
No 1
Abstain 0
EC Ballot: Changes to CUSP Charter
Yes 8
No 0
Abstain 0
EC Ballot: IAS Proposal for an option in Environmental Studies
Yes 6
No 0
Abstain 2
EC Ballot: IAS Proposal for an option in Science, Technology and Society
Yes 6
No 1
Abstain 1
EC meeting adjourned at 1:10 pm
The next meeting will be May 27, 2008
Minutes submitted by Barbara Van Sant
