Oakland University Senate
April 7, 1967
Agenda
MEMORANDUM
March 30, 1967
To: All Members of the Senate
From: Donald D. O'Dowd, for the Steering Committee
Re: Agenda for Meeting of April 7, 1967
The next meeting of the Senate will be held on Friday, April 7, at 3:30 p.m. in Room 235, Science and Engineering Building.
A. Old Business
1. Recommendation from the Long-Range Planning Committee (Mr. Varner)
a. The Long-Range Planning Committee submits the following policy statement to the Senate and recommends that it be adopted:
The Academic Senate supports the establishment of a program in General Studies at Oakland University, This unit, ultimately to become a School of General Studies, will have the authority to develop appropriate practices, standards, requirements, and policies so that the growing number of adults in this area have available to them opportunities for liberal learning of high quality. This authority will include power to appoint a dean or director, design a curriculum, offer certificates and degrees, hire faculty, and enroll students. In supporting the establishment of a program in General Studies, the Academic Senate recognizes the differences in maturity, objectives, and needs between the adult and the adolescent.
Simultaneously, the Senate notes its expectation that curricula leading to baccalaureates and certificates in General Studies will require the demonstration of levels of competence and understanding equal to or greater than those levels required by existing curricula in existing units of the University. To assist in developing an appropriate style and level for General Studies, the Senate herewith requests its Steering Committee to form an ad hoc Committee on General Studies, advisory to the Director of General Studies. This committee will serve until such time as the Senate approves a formal plan of operation for General Studies.
Comment:
The Long-Range Planning Committee of the Academic Senate herewith recommends the establishment of a new program at Oakland University. This new unit, ultimately to become the School of General Studies, would be intended primarily to serve the needs of the adults in this area1 who, although they are carrying responsibilities in business or industry or in the home, seek to extend their understanding of and competence in the world in which they live. It is our view that this large population can best be assisted by a separate school which recognizes and is prepared to deal with the fact that its mature students, while so different from "normal" undergraduate students, do have at least comparable aptitude and, quite possibly, a much greater appetite for learning. The experience of others,(e.g. General Studies at Columbia and other universities, The College Proficiency Examination Program in New York State and its national counterpart funded by the Carnegie Corporation) suggests strongly that a School of General Studies would be both useful and academically sound.
We've been led to our recommendation by what seems to be compelling reasons. First of all, given the political reality that Oakland will grow to ten to fourteen thousand students within the next ten years, we must take steps now to protect the present units of the University, especially the largest, the College of Arts and Sciences, from depersonalization. While an undergraduate college enrolling eight to ten thousand students may offer the same courses and may enlist what appears to be the same sort of faculty as a smaller college, the character of the environment from the standpoint of the individual undergraduate may, in fact, be close to that of Berkeley in 1967. We believe that the probabilities of developing, for example, a first-rate School of Arts and Sciences will be enhanced by the formation of a first-rate School of General Studies. The alternative is to develop greater diversity within the College of Arts and Sciences in order to meet the needs of a larger and more diverse student body. We prefer, in this case, to establish separate units for separate populations so that no unit need grow beyond appropriate limits. Thus, the College of Arts and Sciences would be essentially reserved for the recent high school graduate who will devote himself full time to developing his intellectual style and his intellectual power and who will, more often than not, be in residence; the part-time student (in many cases twenty-one or over) who is working full time but has the energy and the drive and the capacity to earn a baccalaureate in General Studies over a period of fifteen to eighteen semesters would have an intellectual home in the School of General Studies.
We propose that, given appropriate internal and external approval, a Director of General Studies be appointed early in 1967-68. The Director, in turn, would make all necessary plans for enrolling the first students in the fall of 1968. Admission during the first year would probably be limited to adults seeking area concentrations in the humanities and behavioral sciences with provision made for broadening admissions as additional courses and curricula can be offered. One of the keys to success here would be the maintenance of a single admissions procedure which could relate the capacities, the needs and the responsibilities of each applicant to the programs of the various colleges and schools, thereby generating a student body within Arts and Sciences which is more homogeneous by placing in General Studies those part-time students attempting to combine their college work with full or part-time employment.
The Academic Senate is invited to endorse the concept of a Program of General Studies because:
1) there is a large and growing population in the area whose educational needs for degree-credit programs, credit courses for non-matriculated students, and certificate sequences can best be met in a School of General Studies;
2) establishing a School of General Studies will allow a fuller and richer development of the present units of the University, especially the College of Arts and Sciences;
3) having several different kinds of colleges on the campus provides for an increase in the number of students served in response to the real pressures of the times while, emphasizing our deeply-held concern for excellence in a pluralistic setting.
The Long-Range Planning Committee has discussed sample academic requirements and curricula and suggested organizational desiderata as well as the fundamental reasons for channeling a portion of Oakland's growth in this direction. We stand ready to present fuller documentation for your consideration.
2. Recommendations from the Academic Affairs Committee (Mr. Burke)
a. The Academic Affairs Committee recommends that the following sentence be inserted on page 43 of the University Catalog as a footnote to item 1. under "Requirements for Bachelor's Degree":
* A student may count no more than 4 one-credit courses toward the bachelor's degree except in his major field and co-requisite courses.
Comment:
The reason for suggesting this qualification to the 124-hour graduation requirement is that it is possible at the present time for an undergraduate student to acquire an unlimited number of hours in chorus, orchestra, computer programming, and other areas in one-credit units and to apply these hours toward his bachelor's degree. A student enrolled in a major with relatively limited requirements, who is free to select a large number of elective courses, may accumulate some important portion of undergraduate graduation credits in one-credit courses. There have been no more than one or two incidents of this kind, but a regulation is needed to set a reasonable limit on the number of one-credit courses that can be applied toward graduation.
b. The Academic Affairs Committee recommends that a Concentration in Premedical Studies be established to appear in the section of the Catalog on "Interdepartmental Programs and Courses," with the following description:
Students intending to pursue careers in the medical or dental professions are expected to complete the Concentration in Premedical Studies. The concentration consists of a series of courses in biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics intended to satisfy the minimum requirements for admission to the various medical and dental schools in Michigan and elsewhere. In general, the concentration is completed with the following courses;
Biology 3 semester courses, including laboratories
Chemistry 4 semester courses, including laboratories
Mathematics 2 semester courses
Physics 2 semester courses, including laboratories
The Premedical Studies Concentration does not constitute a major. Students must select a major from among those offered by the University. Where necessary. University Course requirements or requirements for a particular major may be modified to accommodate the Premedical Studies Concentration. Each student in the Concentration will be assigned a premedical adviser who will assist the student in planning his academic program for as long as the student is enrolled in the Concentration.
Comment:
The establishment of such a program should enhance the University's ability to attract students of above-average ability, and to provide these students with guidance in choosing courses and in gaining entrance to medical schools. Mr. Torch, who has been working on this program, estimates that 5-10% of our student body may eventually make use of such a Concentration. All the departments in the College of Arts and Sciences have agreed to cooperate with this program.
A Premedical Advisory Committee would be established, each member of which would be assigned 15-20 advisees. Mr. Torch suggests the following starting membership for this committee:
R. Torch (Biology), Chairman
J. Davis (Chemistry)
J. Reddan (Biology)
C. Vann (Political Science)
c. The Academic Affairs Committee recommends that the following sentence be approved and added at the end of the first paragraph on "Major Standing and Requirements for Majors" in the Catalog:
A student who has completed 72 or more credits and does not have major standing is not eligible to continue as an enrolled student except by special action of the Committee on Academic Standing.
Comment:
The following administrative procedures and policies will be put into effect in support of this legislation if it is approved:
1) Every student with 56 credits of work attempted will continue to be given an opportunity to apply in a standard manner for major standing in an established department. It will be necessary for every major to have an approved set of courses established at the time he is admitted to the department and at the beginning of each semester in which he is in residence.
2) Departments will be given assistance in developing a procedure for establishing and recording a major program of courses for each advanced undergraduate student. This program will require approval by an adviser who is a member of the department faculty. Any change in the major program will require the approval of the major adviser.
3) Under normal circumstances a student will retain major standing as long as he maintains a 2.0 average in the courses that constitute his approved major program. If a student falls below 2.0 in approved major courses, he may be dropped from major standing by the department with the approval of the Dean of the School. The student does not need to be placed on probation or warning prior to being denied continuation of his major standing. The wide publication of the policy itself constitutes a continuous warning. The student has the right of appeal to the Committee on Academic Standing, which will have a power of final review.
4) Regular data will be supplied to the departments to facilitate the clerical chore of keeping the progress of the major program of each student under continuous review. The Registrar's Office will make every effort to provide the departments with well-designed materials to facilitate the implementation of this plan.
5) Except in unusual circumstances, a department is obligated to accept all applicants for major standing who meet the criteria stated by the department in the University Catalog.
d. The Academic Affairs Committee recommends that a Program of Independent Study Off-campus be established, with an appropriate entry in the Catalog, incorporating the following stipulations:
1) Any undergraduate student in good standing will be eligible to participate in the program after the completion of two semesters in residence.
2) A written proposal describing a course of activity will be prepared by a student applicant prior to beginning the program.
3) This proposal and the off-campus work it describes must receive the support and involvement of at least three members of the faculty, and the approval of the Dean of the relevant college.
4) All arrangements for off-campus work must be completed and filed by the end of the pre-registration period in the semester preceding the semester of off-campus study.
5) It is expected that part of the preparatory work will include the designation of course equivalents totaling at least eight credits for the independent study to be accomplished. This is to be effected by negotiation with the supporting faculty members.
6) Whenever credit is sought toward the completion of a major, the department, through its chairman, must agree to the value of the independent work.
7) The Dean of Students Office will require a release from parents, absolving the University of responsibility for the well-being of students while they are participating in off-campus independent study.
8) The initial approval of a program for a student will be for one semester with the provision that the student may request an extension of the program for additional semesters.
9) The student must be registered at Oakland and pay the required fees during the period of independent study.
Comment:
We believe that for some students such a program would permit more rapid and significant growth as a scholar and mature person. Two students were given special approval to try out this idea during the winter semester of 1966, and the experiment seems to have been successful. We would expect that very few students would meet all the stipulations listed above, especially #3,4,6,and 7; and that those who could meet them might very well benefit greatly from this program.
3. Recommendations from the Committee on Graduate Studies (Mr. Johnson)
a. The Committee on Graduate Studies recommends that the Senate enact the following two motions:
1) The Senate revokes Item H of its enabling legislation on graduate programs (April 22, 1965) which reads, "Graduate-Undergraduate Courses Taken as a Graduate Student: In general, M.A. and M.S. candidates may be allowed no more than 12, M.A.T. students no more than 20, graduate credits for joint graduate-undergraduate courses."
2) The numbering of courses offered by the departments of the University shall be governed by the following regulation:
University courses and courses numbered 100-299 are introductory or intermediate undergraduate courses. Courses numbered 300-499 are advanced courses primarily for undergraduates. Courses numbered 500 and above are primarily for graduate students.
Comment:
The present regulations2 governing course numbering, together with the graduate regulation stated in the first motion, do not work well for several departments now offering graduate work. They are too specific for disciplines in which it is customary to attach graduate credit to a number of nominally undergraduate courses and in which virtually any graduate course, other than one giving credit for thesis work, will on occasion be taken by undergraduates. As a consequence, the bulk of courses taken by candidates for graduate degrees are in reality joint undergraduate-graduate courses, and such candidacies are in technical violation of our regulation on such courses.
The first motion would remove the major obstacle. The second would provide a more realistic and workable categorization of the curriculum than is now possible for some departments. At the same time, it would not keep other departments from making use of the distinctions prescribed in the present regulations if they wished to do so.
B. New Business
1. Recommendation from the Steering Committee (Mr. O'Dowd)
a. It is recommended that the following enabling legislation be approved:
All members of the Senate who are available on campus in early May and late August will assemble to act on behalf of the entire body in approving the recommendation of candidates for honors and degrees. The requirement of a minimum of fifteen votes for the enactment of legislation will be suspended for these spring and summer meetings of the Senate.
b. The following motion should be approved if the Senate wishes to retain the power of official action between May 1 and the date when the new Senate takes office in the fall.
The Senate as presently constituted will remain in office from May 1, 1967 until the legislative body established in The Constitution of Oakland University, the University Senate, is organized in the fall of 1967.
2. Report of Steering Committee Activities (Mr. O'Dowd)
a. The Steering Committee at the request of Chancellor Varner nominated seven members of the faculty to serve as members of a Commission on Student Life. The faculty members who accepted this important responsibility are: Messrs. Appleton, J., Coffman, Dutton, Fitzsimmons, Howes, Righter, and Shank
b. Three members of the faculty, Messrs. Hetenyi, Tomboulian, and Wedekind, have been nominated by the Steering Committee to serve on a newly created Parking Commission.
c. The Steering Committee has decided to postpone further discussion of the grading system until the fall semester. The complexity of the issue and the congestion of the agenda suggest that the problem could not be given the attention it deserves during this academic year. The Academic Affairs Committee and the Committee on Instruction are commended for their persistence in proposing solutions to grading difficulties.
DDO'D;lg
cc: All members of the Faculty and Administrative Staff
1 In 1960, of the 177, 114 males 25 years old and over in Oakland County, 24% had completed high school, 11% had one to three years of college, and 14.7% were college graduates. For the 183,534 women 25 years old and over, the comparable percentages are 35.0%, 19.7%, and 7.8%. (Source: Oakland County Planning Commission.)
2 "With the exception of University courses which are taken throughout all eight semesters, courses numbered 100-199 are normally taken by students in the first and second semesters, 200-299 courses in the third and fourth semesters, 300-399 in the fifth and sixth semesters, and 400-499 in the seventh and eighth semesters. Courses numbered 500-599 are assigned to introductory graduate-level courses, but most are also available to undergraduates; numbers 600-699 are generally assigned to courses open to graduates only."