Faculty Senate Minutes

May 3, 2006

Attended by:  Phil Droke, Gloria Rose Koepping, Katie Gulliford, Bob Maplestone (Proxy for Igor Glotzman) Dee Skinner, Buzz Wheeler, Tony Wilson, Keith Paton, Bob Baugher, Rolita Flores Ezeonu, Darryl Brice, Aaron Warnock, Joy Smucker, Kathy Oberg, and Jeff Wagnitz.

Meeting began at 3:05 p.m. in room 411 of the Library.

The Minutes from the April 12^th, 2006 meeting were approved.

Old Business

The Senate received feedback from the Instructional Cabinet asking us to reconsider, or more fully justify our proposed language for the Science requirement of the A.A. degree.

 As Chair Droke wrote us in his email of 4/26/06, “They point out that HCC must accept other community college’ transfer courses that have fulfilled their (not our) requirements as a lab science.  Requiring our students to fulfill a 5 credit requirement seems to potentially put them at a disadvantage.  They also point out that if our Science folks do not want our one credit, etc., classes to count as a lab they are already able to stop putting the “L” next to the class.  They can, in fact, choose to put the “L” designation only on 5 credit classes if they wish.  They can also, in the future, change their minds and designate other combinations of classes with their Lab approval without changing the graduation description in the catalogue.” 

Senators briefly discussed these issues and Division Chair Bob Maplestone clarified what he saw as the Cabinet’s major point.  “The number of credits is not important, but the outcome is the important part.”   Do you want three hours of lab time or some other amount?  Dean Jeff Wagnitz added there was a desire to leave some kinds of decisions remaining with the departments themselves.

The Science Faculty will discuss this feedback further and report back to the Senate.

Chair Phil Droke stated that the executive committee will work up a proposal for a scaled down PR and R committee for the full Senate to consider.

New Business

Five new DTA/MRP (Direct Transfer Agreement/Major Related Program) Planning sheets were brought to the Senate for approval.  All of them were unanimously approved.

Joy Smucker, Chair of the Business Division, presented the Associate in Business DTA/MRP, otherwise known as an A.B.  As with all the DTAs, these planning sheets of approved coursework provide the students with consistent and reliable advising.  Although there is no guarantee of admission with a DTA, students can expect that they will have met the prerequisites of a particular program.   Many Community Colleges in Washington State have these DTAs, and it would be advantageous for our students to have the same opportunity.  The language on the diploma will be amended such that it reads, “Associate in Business”.  This specification will be noted on the transcript as well and will signal to the four year schools that the student has met the prerequisites for that particular major.  There is a hope that this will speed up admission decisions at the four year schools which will benefit students.  After brief questions the Associate of Business was unanimously approved by the Senate.

Kathy Oberg, Chair of the Health, Physical Education, and Education Division, presented the Associate in Pre-Nursing DTA/MRP (Planning Guide version, Nursing MRP 6-6-05).  After a period of brief questions, the Associate in Pre-Nursing was unanimously approved by the Senate.  The language on the Diploma will be amended such that it reads, “Associate in Pre-Nursing”.  This specification will also be noted on the transcript as well. 

Bob Maplestone, Chair of the Pure and Applied Science Division, presented the A.S. in Bioengineering /Chemical Engineering, the A.S. in Computer and Electrical Engineering,  and the A.S. in Mechanical Track Engineering (to include Preparation for Civil, Aeronautical, Industrial, Materials Science, and other Engineering subfields as well) (Version 5/1/06).  The general A.S. will still be available to students.   These 3 new DTA/MRPs will have the advantage of allowing our students to transfer more than 90 credits to the four year schools if they need the credits as prerequisites for their major.  These new A.S. DTAs range in credit load from 96-106.  Again, the language on the Diploma will be amended such that the type of Engineering DTA is reflected on the credential.  After brief questions, these three Engineering DTAs were unanimously approved by the Senate.

Meeting adjourned at 3:45 p.m.

Next meeting is May 17^th, 2006.

Minutes submitted by Gloria Rose Koepping, Faculty Senate Secretary