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Curriculum and Educational Policies Committee

CEPC Minutes 3/14/2007

Members present : Dietz (chair). Ananda-Owens, Beld, Carullo, Cisar, Gross, Lind, Lovett, McClure

  1. Call to order:
    Chair Dietz called the meeting to order at 3:15.
  2. Approval of minutes from 3/7/07:
    The minutes from 3/7/07 were approved with minor revisions.
  3. Announcements:
    None
  4. Physics 292/392:
    Kathryn will propose a friendly amendment to the faculty meeting minutes to change Physics 292 to 392.
  5. Grade and marking system changes:
     Chair Dietz communicated comments from some departments regarding the grading and marking system changes. The word(s) “failure” and “no understanding” were discussed. “Inadequate understanding” was suggested as a better descriptor for this category. Other suggestions/comments were also discussed.
  6. Cross-listing courses policy:
    CEPC discussed language for cross-listing courses. It was determined that this language should appear on the CEPC and Registrar’s website. The policy was approved with minor revisions to the language. Mary Cisar will make the suggested changes and resend it to the committee for final review.
  7. 5-day exam period:
    CEPC continued the discussion on the change to the permanent, 5-day exam period beginning Fall of 2007. Possible problems that could arise, such as what procedure a student with three exams in one day would follow to reschedule one of the exams. Ways to address such issues were discussed. Option 2 with the later exam start times was preferred by the committee. This is not an item to be green-sheeted for the faculty. The registrar will communicate the new exam schedule to the faculty.
  8. 09-10 calendar :
    Mary Cisar described the 09-10 draft of the academic calendar. Rationale for specific items scheduled within the draft were discussed. It is possible that one or more of the CEPC guidelines for the academic calendar may need to be broken in order to make the schedule workable. The option of losing one Tuesday/Thursday class or the reading day was also discussed.
  9. Other business:
     The rationale for foreign language requirement policy was reviewed and approved by CEPC with minor revisions.

    Recommendation to formally approve a double-degree option for St. Olaf students was presented and discussed. Suggestions were made to the language of the recommendation. Suggested revisions will be made to this document, and the revised document will be recirculated to the CEPC before being green-sheeted.

    CEPC discussed the possibility of convening another forum on possible changes to the MCS language.

    It was suggested that we reserve some CEPC meeting time in early April for honorary degrees.
  10. Adjourn:
    The meeting was adjourned at 4:45.

Submitted by Robert McClure