EDUCATIONAL POLICY COMMITTEE
Minutes
December 6, 2007

Attending: S. Birrell, J. Cox, H. Dettmer (Chair), M. Gilbert, K. Hall (committee staff), R. Honey, R. Ketterer, J. Kimberley (student member), J. Menninger, M. Reagan, A. Segre

Excused Absence: M. Niño-Murcia

Guest: Professor Alan MacVey, Director of the Division of Performing Arts and Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts
              

1. The minutes from November 8 and November 29 were approved with a minor correction.
2. Professor Alan MacVey, Director of the Division of Performing Arts and Chair of the Department of Theatre Arts, presented two proposals. The first recommended discontinuing the BA Program in Performing Arts Entrepreneurship while the second proposed a new certificate in Arts Entrepreneurship to replace the former BA.  Both proposals have been unanimously approved by the Division of Performing Arts which worked closely with the Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center and the Department on Art and Art History on the new certificate. The Academic Advising Center was also consulted. The change is being made to better serve the needs of students and to remedy the shortcomings of the former BA in Performing Arts Entrepreneurship. New courses are being offered in arts management which will be included in the certificate, and the Department of Art and Art History will become a partner in the program. After discussion, the Educational Policy unanimously recommended the closure of the BA in Performing Arts Entrepreneurship and the creation of a certificate in Arts Entrepreneurship.
3. The Educational Policy Committee continued its discussion of the proposed curricular revisions to the BA and BS in psychology, noting the positive effects of the changes. Associate Dean Helena Dettmer reported that the department had discussed the additional requirement of an upper-level statistics course or of a computer science course with those departments and reported that the departments were able to support the additional enrollment in these courses. EPC discussed the use of the C- grade as a prerequisite within the psychology major, noting the pros and cons of the use of grades in general as prerequisites. At the end of the discussion, the majority of the committee recommended that CLAS continue its current policy allowing the use of grades as prerequisites, suggesting that the policy be reexamined before the advent of MAUI. EPC requested that the Department of Psychology clarify all prerequisites on its advising materials and on ISIS descriptions. The committee also recommended that the Department of Psychology clarify the total semester hours within the major which by definition includes cognate requirements.

Respectfully submitted,

EPC Secretary
Mark Reagan