2005-2006 FACULTY SENATE
California State University, Sacramento

AGENDA
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Foothill Suite, 3rd Floor, University Union
3:00
- 5:00 p.m.

MOMENT OF SILENCE

MINA ROBBINS
Emeritus Faculty
Division of Nursing

CONSENT CALENDAR

CONSENT ACTION

FS 06-84/Ex. COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS - SENATE

Elections Committee
Kyle Lemoi, At-large, 2006
Alicia Patrice, At-large, 2006
Xin Ren, At-large, 2006

FS 06-85/Ex. COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS - UNIVERSITY

Instructionally Related Activities Committee
Mary Botkin, At-large, 2006

REGULAR AGENDA

FS 06-86/Flr. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF MARCH 2, 2006

SECOND READING

FS 06-83/GEP/GRPC/Ex. GENERAL EDUCATION, CHANGES TO POLICY

BACKGROUND: In response to the CSU-wide Facilitating Graduation Initiative, the General Education Policies / Graduation Requirements Policies Committee recently discussed changes in General Education policies related to Area C and D restrictions and overlap between G.E. and major. The complexity of policies addressing specific limitations in the General Education Program makes it difficult for students and many faculty advisors to interpret and apply them. Clearly written explanations of policy restrictions do not suffice; follow-up explanation and clarification from experienced advisors is often necessary. Due to a misunderstanding or a lack of awareness of these policies, students often take courses they believe will apply to G.E. and learn after the fact that courses do not apply as intended.

The Faculty Senate recommends amending General Education policy as follows:

  1. Broaden the Definition of GE Area C4

Change the Area C4 requirement to: One course from this area or a second course from Area C1, C2, or C3.

Current policy requires students to take one course from each of the four sub-areas in Area C, The Arts and Humanities:

Students may fulfill Area C4 either with a course listed in Area C4 or an extra course from either Area C2 or Area C3 – but not from Area C1.

ARGUMENTS: The current General Education policy provides no explanation for the exclusion of Area C1 as an option for fulfilling Area C4. Excluding Area C1 from the “Further Studies” area does not address the objectives of Area C, nor does it add to the overall integrity of the GE program. Furthermore, enabling students to apply an additional World Civilization course to General Education is consistent with the university’s goals related to diversity and global education. Finally, the exclusion of Area C1 as an option for the “Further Studies” area is inconsistent with a parallel policy in Area B5, Further Studies in Physical Science, Life Forms, and Quantitative Reasoning, in which a course can be taken from either Area B5 or an extra course in any other sub-area in Area B.

  1. Remove course restrictions in Areas C and D1a

Remove the restriction "No more than 2 courses may be taken from the same subject designation" from Area C and Area D1a. [Since the only practical application of this restriction was in D1a, remove the general language for all of area D.]

Currently students are limited to not more than two courses from the same subject designation, e.g., History, in Area C, Arts and Humanities (four courses required) and in Area D1a, Foundations in Social and Behavioral Sciences (one or two courses required).

ARGUMENTS: Removing these limitations would provide greater flexibility for all students and would reduce the number of GE courses taken erroneously. This change would address the problem encountered by many students who are disadvantaged when they change majors and are left with surplus, unusable GE courses. The recommendation would also resolve the inequity between native students who are limited by this policy and transfer students who, not being informed of the restrictions, do not have it applied to courses taken prior to their enrollment here.

  1. Consolidate and simplify GE – Major Overlap Policies

Consolidate policies addressing overlap between major and General Education to a single basic rule: “Not more than nine units from courses bearing the same designation as students major, e.g. Photography. may be applied to General Education requirements."

Current policies regarding overlap of courses between major and General Education include many, interacting variables—

ARGUMENTS: The complexity of GE – major overlap policies make it impossible to clearly articulate these requirements in writing. (See example below.) Faculty advisors who have worked in the Academic Advising Center need at least a full semester to learn them. The complexity of overlap requirements make the desirable prospect of integrating GE and major advising daunting for most faculty. Students often make mistakes and take longer than expected to fulfill GE requirements because of the complexity of overlap requirements.

To illustrate the complexity of G.E.-Major overlap policies, the university’s current effort at trying to explain it in the printed and online Advising FAQ is included below:

Can I use a course from my major for GE requirements?

Parts of this can get complicated, so we’ll answer in sections:

FIRST READING

FS 06-87/Ex. DOCTORAL PROGRAMS, POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR

Background: Following are the ad hoc committee’s recommendations for new University Policy Manual language with respect to campus doctoral programs. Currently the Manual only contains provisions regarding doctoral programs jointly operated with other institutions (e.g., University of California campuses). The proposed policy addresses both joint doctorates and any stand-alone doctoral program, e.g., the proposed Ed.D. program. While the ad hoc committee recommends leaving the existing joint doctoral policy largely intact, certain specific changes are proposed, e.g. with respect to clarifying funding requirements and specifying standards for faculty participation more appropriate to applied programs. The new stand-alone provisions also draw on the existing joint-doctoral program guidelines, but contain as well some unique features, as appropriate. We also recommend adding a more general introductory section addressing such major topics as the consultation process and the need for sufficient funding.

The Faculty Senate recommends adoption of the policy changes governing doctoral programs as outlined in Attachment A.

The current policy language can be found at the following link: http://www.csus.edu/acaf/univmanual/newdegapr.htm.

INFORMATION

  1. Faculty Senate's home page:  www.csus.edu/acse, or, from the CSUS home page, click on Administration and Policy, then Administration, then Faculty Senate.
  2. Status on actions taken by the Senate:  http://www.csus.edu/acse/05-06_actions.htm   
  3. Upcoming Senate meetings:
  • March 30, 2006 - Senate meets
  • April 6, 2006 - 1st organizational meeting of the 2006-2007 Senate (3:00 - 3:30); 2005-2006 Senate meets (3:30-5:00)
  • SPECIAL EVENT: Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - Outstanding Teaching and Community and University Service Awards reception
  • April 20, 2006 - 2nd organizational meeting of the 2006-2007 Senate (3:00 - 3:30); 2005-2006 Senate meets (3:30-5:00)
  • April 27, 2006 - Senate meets
  • May 11, 2006 - Senate meets