Oakland University Senate
Fourth Meeting
Thursday, 4 December 1986
3:10 p.m.
Gold Room C, Oakland Center
AGENDA
Respectfully submitted by Keith R. Kleckner for the Steering Committee.
A. Old Business
1. Motion from the University Committee on Undergraduate Instruction recommending the inclusion of an ethical component within undergraduate major programs (Ms. Eberwein; Mr. Burke). Item B.I. from the agenda of 13 November 1986.
MOVED that, since the study of moral values and Issues is a fundamental part of a liberal education, each department or school offering an undergraduate degree should see that its majors are receiving adequate instruction in the analysis of moral issues relevant to its discipline. This instruction should entail at least a substantial component of a course (or the equivalent grouping of components of several courses) meeting one or more of the three criteria below, depending on the nature of the discipline:
1. critical evaluation of the reasoning employed on moral issues, with the aim of finding the most rational resolution of the issues;
2. historical or social-scientific analysis of moral dimensions of society, with the aim of showing how moral values arise and how they influence human behavior;
3. exploration of moral dimensions of the human condition through literature or the arts, with the aim of appreciating the variety and ambiguity of moral commitment in individual cases.
Where applicable, attention should be given within the departmental courses meeting this recommendation to the kinds of ethical decisions graduates are likely to face in the professions they are preparing to enter. Faculty members teaching these courses should make presentations of material as objective as possible and represent to their students the general attitudes prevailing within their disciplines.
Second Reading:. Debatable, amendable, and eligible for vote at this meeting
B. New Business
1. . Motion from the University Committee on Undergraduate Instruction to increase credit requirements in the Computer Science major (Ms. Eberwein):
MOVED that credit requirements for the B.S. degree in Computer Science be raised from 124 to 128 credits.
First Reading: at this meeting. Debatable, amendable, but not eligible for final vote
Comment: UCUI proposes this escalation of graduation requirements in response to a request from the School of Engineering and Computer Science, which offers the following justification for this change.
Beginning with the 1986-87 academic year the specific course requirements for the B.S. in Computer Science were sharply increased. Most notably, the science requirements were increased by 6 credits: a requirement for (almost) any sequence of two science courses was replaced by a requirement for PHY 151-152 and PHY 158 plus an approved science elective. Moreover the requirements for the major were strengthened by adding a hardware course (CSE 171) and a new course in the theoretical foundations of computer science (CSE 343). In all, the net increase in credits required for the program was 5. This was achieved by reducing the free elective credit from 9 to only 4.
The School of Engineering and Computer Science is currently applying for accreditation of the computer science program by the Computer Science Accreditation Board. Their requirements (which stipulate free electives) promote apprehensions among faculty here that strengthening of this program at the expense of free electives was in error. It would appear that few, if any, students really have any free electives now, since the vast majority of them must take RHT 101 to satisfy the writing proficiency requirement.
A study was made of the graduating classes of April, June, and August 1986, whose members graduated under the requirements of the old program with its 9 credits of free electives. Only 9% of those graduates completed the program with exactly 124 credits. Under the requirements of the new program, even fewer students will succeed in graduating with only 124 credits. Thus it seems misleading to advertise the program for 124 credits when it is anticipated that more than 90% of its graduates will require additional credits. This motion, therefore, seeks to reflect actual conditions more accurately while responding to accreditation criteria.
2. Motion from the Steering Committee to fill a vacancy on the General Education Committee (Ms. Wilson):
MOVED that a replacement for Jerrold Grossman be confirmed as elected to the General Education Committee for the Winter 1987 semester.
Procedural motion: Debatable, amendable and eligible for final vote at this meeting.
C. Good and Welfare
Private resolutions
D. Information items
1. Report on academic program development