Core Curriculum Task Force Meeting
MINUTES
DATE AND Friday, February 16, 2007
TIME 10:00 a.m.
LOCATION SU 80, Room 223
Member(s) Present:
Susannah Brown; Fred Fejes; Jeff Galin; Paul Hart; Lee Klingler; Anthony Lombardo-chair; Cliff McCue; Debbie Raines; Allen Smith
Member(s) Absent:
Marina Banchetti; Oliver Buckton; Mark Jackson; Robin Jordan; Tim Lenz; Maria Petrie; Don Ploger; Don Torok
Guest(s): Mary Ann Gosser Esquilin
Agenda Items
1. Approval of Minutes
The minutes of January 12th meeting were approved as distributed.
2. Introduction of Interim Dean, Mary Ann Gosser Esquilin
Tony introduced Mary Ann who will be replacing him as Interim Dean of Undergraduate Studies. Mary Ann is a professor in the Honors College and had previously been on sabbatical. She will start her position as Interim Dean on March 1. Tony stated she was one of the original members on the core curriculum task force. Cliff thanked Tony for his support and leadership of the task force and how much he appreciated him for making progress with the core curriculum. All the members applauded in agreement.
3. Implementation of Recommendation 1 of Core Curriculum Revision Proposal – Establishment of Core Curriculum Council
Tony stated he will put the proposal on the PvAC meeting for Monday. (Note added: the PvAC met on the 19th and recommended that a Core Curriculum Council be established soon and that the CCTF should remain in operation working on core revision until such time as a smooth transition to the Council can be appropriately effected. The Provost also decided that the new Interim Dean should take over as chair of the CCTF). Fred Fejes reported that the college of Arts and Letters met with its UPC and specially formed college core curriculum task force to discuss the proposal and give feedback to the task force. He stated there was general, if not strong, support for the proposal and no criticisms or alternatives were offered. The task force agreed that the council should eventually be formed and be responsible for establishing criteria and it could be a subgroup of the UUPC.
4. Implementation of Freshmen Reading Program
The UUPC agreed at their last meeting that the college faculty on the UUPC would address implementation of the Freshmen Reading Program with their colleagues and relay the information back to the UUPC chair. Only the college of Arts and Letters had input. They recommended that if this proposal is accepted that it be administered by the Dean of Undergraduate Studies, that it be incorporated into the Learning Communities, the SLS classes and Freshman Resident Hall communities, and that it not be incorporated as a part of the formal curriculum. Jerry Haky asked Tony to write up an implementation plan to submit at their next meeting.
Tony contacted Random House publishing to inquire as to Susan Orlean's willingness to speak on The Orchid Thief at our Freshmen Convocation in August. They will send the request to Ms. Orlean's speaking agent. The publishers also stated they can put us in contact with the appropriate parties should we decide to purchase the books and provide instructor copies if need be. Tony stated there is a 20 year endowment in the FAU Foundation that we can use to pay for the Freshman Convocation. The task force asked how we can determine if the student has read the book. It was suggested that there could be an on-line quiz. Jeff Galin and Debbie Raines suggested setting up a site on blackboard. Debbie said she will go to OIT and ask them to setup a community site on blackboard and will send it to Tony to review. (Note added: Debbie did some preliminary work on a model of a blackboard site for the freshman reading and basically focused in showing what type of content could be presented via this platform. She sent the site to the CCTF for review). The task force discussed the idea of setting up kiosks on campus during orientation to sell the books and posting announcements of Susan Orlean.
