Attachment B
Faculty Senate Agenda
November 8, 2001

TRANSMITTAL FORM

DATE: October 25, 2001

TO: EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

FROM: CURRICULUM POLICIES COMMITTEE

ISSUE: APPROVAL OF MUSIC PROGRAM

BACKGROUND: As you know, the program review team recommended a 2-year provisional approval of the music program, pending departmental response to some of its recommendations. Three issues needed to be addressed:

1. The grading of Music 100 and 142
2. The prerequisites for Music 14
3. The catalog listing of Music 100 and 142

Two members of the CPC (Linda Buckley and Jerry Tobey) reviewed the matter and reported back to the committee that the music department's response was satisfactory. The responses to the three issues are described in Attachments A and B. Therefore, the CPC recommends full 6-year approval of the Music Program.

An important related issue is this: The proper procedure for program approval is that it go through the Curriculum Program Review Subcommittee, which then makes its recommendation to the Executive Committee. On this occasion, the Executive Committee involved the CPC in the process. This is not typical. It is not the CPC's task to judge the merit of specific recommendations, and whether or not a program should comply with them. However, the CPC does have a role in determining how binding a recommendation should be. That is what we are now working on, i.e., we are developing language to clarify what is required from a program in order to move from the temporary approval track to the full-cycle approval track. Furthermore, the denial of full 6-year approval to various programs does not follow uniform standards or guidelines across the campus. This is a second generic issue raised by the case of the Music Program, and this, too, is being addressed by the CPC.

RECOMMENDATION. The recommendation can be presented to the Senate as follows:

FS 01. . . ./CPC,Ex.: CURRICULUM REVIEW -- MUSIC DEPARTMENT

The Faculty Senate receives the recommendations of the Curriculum Policies Committee on the program review of the Music Department and recommends that the Bachelor of Arts degree, the Bachelor of Music, the Credential Program, and the Minor and the Master of Music be approved for six years or until the next program review.

ARGUMENTS FOR: see background section, above. The Music Department has acknowledged and responded to all the recommendations made by the program review. The CPC feels that the response amply warrants extending full 6-year approval to a generally excellent program.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST: none