UNDERGRADUATE COUNCIL MEETING                               

November 29, 2006

Johnson Hall Conference Room

 

Present:

Andrew Bonamici, Hilary Gerdes, Dan Keller, Anne Laskaya, Dean Livelybrooks, Dan Patton, Steven Pologe, Ashley Rees, Ron Severson, Karen Sprague, Arkady Vaintrob, Kate Wagle, Malcolm Wilson, and Pat Bartlein,

 

Absent:

Herb Chereck, Dave Hubin, Martha Pitts, Kathy Roberts (Christopher J. Murray), Bill Ryan, Paul Engelking, Lyllye Parker, and Ken Calhoon

 

Guests:

Linda Zimmer, Director, Interior Architecture program, AAA

 

Minutes:

            The Chair informed the Undergraduate Council that minutes for the November 15 and November 29 meetings will be distributed electronically.  They will be submitted for approval at the first meeting of the Winter term, 2007.  The Chair reviewed the Agenda with the Council members. (HO #1-11292006)

           

            The Council was reminded to read the Accreditation Self-Study section on Information Resources and Technology written by Deborah Carver, Dean of Libraries, and distributed electronically by Andrew Bonamici.  Members were asked to send their comments directly to Deborah.

           

            Hard copies of a proposed new program, a minor in African Studies, from CAS were distributed to members for review.  The proposal will be discussed in the Winter term.

 

 

Introductions:

The Chair introduced Linda Zimmer, Director of the Interior Architecture program in AAA, and Kate Wagle, Head of the Department of Art, AAA, as presenters for a new proposed program in Product Design.          

 

Agenda

AAA Proposal for Product Design Program

Kate Wagle presented background information on how the idea for a Product Design program at UO developed. Currently, many Interior Architecture and Art courses overlap in the area of Product Design. Both IA and Art have materials studios and utilize available computer-aided drawing and computer-aided machining (CAD-CAM) support.  Certain IA and Art courses address contemporary design, explore the impacts of production and consumption, and study the phenomenon of branding in product design, as well as exhibit design in interior design.  It is felt in AAA that these courses form a natural base for a program in Product Design.  Additionally, AAA would like to make Product Design courses accessible to students as electives.  AAA has consulted with the School of Business for the contribution of business and marketing courses that would be suitable to a Product Design program.  The UO would be pioneering a “homegrown” program in Product Design.

 

            The current basic 4-year BA/BS liberal arts degree in Architecture would remain the foundation of the new Product Design program.  The fifth year of study would lead to the BFA professional degree in Product Design.  Outside students with four-year degrees could transfer into the fifth-year professional program.  The BFA would be offered in Portland, where there is better access to professional design activity.  The proposal for the Product Design program adheres to guidelines for accreditation by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD).

 

            At present, there are no Product Design faculty for the core curriculum of the program.

 

·        Discussion

The Undergraduate Council raised the following questions for the presenters:

-What is the probability of getting the faculty positions needed for the program?

- GTFs are listed as instructors for 400 level courses.  Is this appropriate?

- Does the absence of an engineering department on campus weaken a Product Design program?

-What does industry prescribe for science &/or math foundations for this program?

-Is there any way to get the program started in stages? Or to scale the program over time?

 

Several specific suggestions were made to the presenters:

-Explore the feasibility of hiring regular faculty for the program; get approval on hires to avoid basing an undergraduate program on temporary faculty, which isn’t ideal

            -Include a staged approach in the formal proposal itself

            -Mention advising resources and opportunities in the proposal

-Define 484/584 courses more specifically in the proposal

-Move some of the required courses from the sophomore year to the junior year and thus allow more opportunity for electives in the sophomore year

 

            The Chair invited the AAA presenters to return to the Undergraduate Council with a revised proposal for the Product Design program in the Winter term of 2007, once a synopsis of the proposal had been approved by the Office of Academic Affairs. 

 

Accreditation Self-Study Report: Undergraduate Education

            Several members of the Council commented favorably on the section of the Accreditation Self-Study Report on Undergraduate Education which had been distributed by Karen Sprague.  The Chair encouraged members to continue reviewing the document and to send their comments directly to Karen.

 

            Karen asked Council members to help her assemble samples of student work from a variety of academic areas to be reviewed by accreditors.  The work should represent a broad range of quality.  

 

           

The meeting was adjourned.

 

The next UGC meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 8, 2007, 9:00am at Johnson Hall Conference Room.