Minutes of the Educational Policy Committee

Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2001

Present:

Marge Legg, Bonnie Leonhardt, Rich Legg, Greg Bereskin, Pam Long, Cathy Daters, Kris Eitrheim, Michael Hustedde, Bryan Arensdorff, Terry Schlabach

Guests:

Dan Zeimet

Paul Koch

Christine Malaski

Christine Westensee

Walter Kurth

Regina Stephens

Martin E. Hansen

Phyllis Wenthe

Dan Bozik

Minutes of the November 13th, 2001 meeting were read and approved. (Kris Eitrheim moved, Terry Schlabach seconded).

A motion to approve a certificate program in Gerontology consisting of 21 hours of upper level aging-specific coursework within the Sociology Department ( Kris Eitrheim moved, Pam Long seconded)

Discussion followed about reason for certificate as opposed to minor. Regina Stephens explained that many people outside of SAU would be interested in certificate and other departments: nursing, social work, and psychology particularly would have interest in the program. The department conducted a study as recommended by the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education and results were favorable. The proposed program is consistent with the Association’s guidelines. Regina explained that the reason for one hour credit designations for certain coursework was that some existing courses had aging as part of coursework. The proposal included a limit of only 6 hours of transfer credit accepted for the certificate. Following discussion, the department agreed to eliminate the restriction on the number of hours and to modify the proposal to read on page 7 under section G Transfer Credits that “It is recommended that transfer credits in aging specific coursework may, upon approval of the Gerontology Program Director, be applied to the certificate” and to eliminate the reference to the credit hour limit on page 4. The department also agreed to change the required GPA from 2.5 to 2.0 on page 8 of the proposal.

The motion carried.

A motion to approve a new required course MOT 467 Psychosocial Intervention Across the Lifespan (4 cr) for Master of Occupational Therapy students beginning in the spring of 2003 (Terry Schlabach moved, Greg Bereskin seconded)

Christine Malaski explained that the new course pulls together and strengthens material previously presented as part of other coursework. The change is driven by recent changes in standards by The American Occupational Therapy Association and by student concerns that they be better prepared for likely changes to the certification exam reflecting the new standards. There is space in the program to offer the course without adding to the program’s length because another course is being moved to a prerequisite. However, in spring of 2003 the current cohort will need to take both these courses, so their program will actually be lengthened by four credit hours. Discussion followed on the problems associated with changing program requirements for current students. The department was asked whether course introduction could be delayed to eliminate this problem. The department pointed out that extra credit hours would not add to the students’ costs because the program has flat rate tuition, and that students were informed about the likely change and accepted it because of the new certification exam standards.

Motion carried.

A motion to approve the implementation of an automated process of student registration for second-grade option (Terry Schlabach moved, Kris Eitrheim seconded)

Dan Zeimet explained that the former method requiring students to complete a second-grade option form is no longer necessary for documentation and prevents students from online registration using second-grade option. Previously, processing the paper forms often resulted in late notification for financial aid and athletic eligibility. The new process would leave second-grade option policy unchanged and would be closely monitored to ensure that both student and advisor were kept informed. One member objected to the second-grade option policy itself. The motion carried with one abstention.

Submitted by

Bonnie Leonhardt