UNDERGRADUATE COUNCIL MEETING

NOVEMBER 26, 2002

Members present:  Jim Imamura, Sherri Barr, Colleen Bell, John Postlethwait, Herb Chereck, Malcolm Wilson, Steve Ponder, Deborah Baumgold, Karen Sprague

Members absent:  Kathy Roberts, John Nicols, Wendy Mitchell, Lowell Bowditch, Paul Engelking, Hilary Gerdes

Review Draft Survey

The council reviewed the draft Survey of Group-Satisfying Courses and had these suggestions for revision to the Course Content section:

• Add ‘Does the course meet the general education guidelines in its group?’
• Remove the word ‘ideally’ from question 1. 
• Add a question regarding the rationale for offering group-satisfying courses at the 300-level, rather than the 100- or 200-level.

The council made the following suggestions for revision to the Course Organization section:

• Can a person without specialized background understand the syllabus?
• Omit the duration of class question since this survey will address only courses offered during a regular academic term (fall).

Deborah will revise the draft survey and send it to council members for any additional revisions this week.

Plan the Review Process

Composition of Work Groups

It was proposed to divide the council members into two work groups, each having representation from Arts and Letters, Social Science and Science.  In order to have adequate representation of the social sciences, the Undergraduate Council will need to fill the vacant CAS at-large position with a social scientist.  Council Chair Deborah Baumgold will look into this matter.  As a check on the consistency of the review process, it was suggested that both work groups begin by evaluating the same 20 syllabi and then meet as a whole to compare their findings.  It was also suggested that during the review process, the composition of the groups should change periodically to remain fresh.

Communication with the Campus

At the December 4 UO Senate open forum, Deborah will present the council’s plan to initiate the five-year review cycle of general education that was mandated by Senate legislation in 1999.  She will explain that the council will begin by considering the group-satisfying courses offered during Fall 2002, and will use the survey form to provide structure for the process.  She’ll describe the nature of the survey questions, the course materials that the council will request, and the kind of description we hope will emerge from the review process and be brought to the Senate for its consideration later this year.

Next Meeting 

The council meeting scheduled for December 10 will not be held.  The next Undergraduate Council meeting will be during the first week of Winter term.  The day and time will be announced before winter break. 

Meeting adjourned at 9:15