Present:    S. Conklin (EDUC), C. Downing (BUS), P. Eubanks (LAS), W. Goldenberg (VPA), J. Hertz (HHS), K. King (EDU), C.T. Lin (LAS), K. Millis
                (LAS), N. Osorio (LIB), D. Rusin (LAS),  D. Sinason (BUS), J. Stewart (EET), R. Wheeler (Interim Vice Provost).  Students:  K. O’Kelly (LAS)

Absent:     D. Gough (HHS),  L. Rigg (LAS), S. Short (EET), W. Tolhurst (LAS)
 
Guest:      K. Van Mol (Catalog Editor/Curriculum Coordinator)

ADOPTION  OF AGENDA

MOTION: C.T. LIN/K. KING MOVED TO ADOPT THE AGENDA.  THE MOTION CARRIED.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
 
A.     The minutes of the September 5, 2002 were approved electronically.
 
REPORTS
 
APASC- R. Wheeler
 
On behalf of APASC, R. Wheeler moved that the UCC receive the September 4, 2002 minutes.  The motion carried.
 
R. Wheeler said there was only one policy matter in these minutes. He said this involves new catalog language.  He said it relates to the admission criteria for the university.  The admission criteria for regular admission have stated either rank in the upper half of the high school class and an ACT composite of at least 19, or rank in the upper two thirds of the high school class and an ACT composite of at least 23.  He said an increasing difficulty is that a number of high schools, including some very good ones in our service area,  no longer calculate a class rank, so they do not provide that information to us.  Some of these schools feel that their students are being disadvantaged as a consequence, so we have a proposal for a change in the admission criteria which comes in two parts.  First, in order to be regularly admitted a candidate may present with a composite ACT of at least 19 and either upper half of their high school class or grade point average of at least 2.75 from their high school, and second, candidates may present with an ACT composite of at least 23 and either rank in the upper two thirds of their high school class or a grade point average of at least 2.5.    He said that some high schools provide two grade point averages and two class ranks, one based on the classes and the grades that were achieved, and another in which classes which are honors classes or advanced placement classes are given significant additional weight, which can change the grade point average and the class rank.  He said the proposal now is if a student presents with both weighted and unweighted class rank, to take the better of the two when considering them; and if they present with both weighted and unweighted grade point average, to take the better of the two.  This is also endorsed by the Advising Deans and approved by APASC.  And that constitutes the proposed catalog change coming from APASC.
 
GEC —J. Hertz
 
R. Wheeler said the committee met on September 19, but minutes aren’t available. J. Hertz said that this was an orientation meeting and they looked at the bylaws and the overwhelming agenda for that committee - 42 courses scheduled for review this year.  She said the GEC was having a retreat this Saturday.  She said in addition, Virginia Cassidy came to talk about the committee developing an assessment plan for general education components of the curriculum this year, prompted by the imminence of the North Central Association review.
 
 
HONORS COMMITTEE – R. Wheeler
 
On behalf of the Honors Committee, and in the absence of D. Gough, R. Wheeler moved that the UCC receive the September 6,  2002 minutes.  The motion carried.
 
R. Wheeler said that there were no matters of policy included in these minutes.  He said the meeting was an orientation to the work of the Honors Committee.  He said he was extremely pleased by the work of the new director Michael Martin and his staff in getting things up and going.  He mentioned that last Saturday, in connection with Parents weekend, there was a special reception for perspective honors students and there was a huge turnout.  He said everyone was extremely pleased by the interest being shown by potential students in the Honors Program.
 
CIUE – K. King
 
K. King reported that the committee met on September 9, 2002 but the minutes are not yet available.  He said two main areas were covered at the meeting.  The first was regarding the applications for funding for the improvement of undergraduate instruction, a more consistent deadline date of submission was approved so that every year the committee wouldn’t have to invest time in reestablishing a deadline date.  The second was the issue of  letters of support for a faculty member; that is required now for the proposals submitted by undergraduates.  He said for faculty members for the instructional improvement grants the issue of having a chair’s signature to show support was included, and some editorial changes to the microsoftware acquisition software proposal and the proposal for projects for improvement of undergraduate education were approved.  R. Wheeler mentioned that the budget of the CIUE Grants is on the order of $43,000 and he has been able to protect that through the various budget recisions we have encountered; however if there is a midyear budget recision, as rumored, he will not be able to fully protect that budget.
 
 
CUAE – C.T. Lin
 
C. T. Lin reported that the CUAE met on September 10, 2002 but the minutes were not yet available.  He said that four items were discussed.  One action item was that the Guidelines for the Undergraduate Special Opportunity in Artistry and Research (USOAR) were approved.  One information item was that Dan  House, Director of Institutional Research, gave a presentation regarding the characteristics of NIU students compared to other institutions.  He said undergraduate enrollment was up and also indicated that the minority enrollment was also increasing, especially the Hispanic enrollment.  He said that the NIU student looked apolitical as compared to the other institutions.  He said another information item for a future agenda was the use of space and innovations in Barsema Hall and how can this innovation be extended to other parts of the university.  He said they also talked about class scheduling and transportation to classes.  R. Wheeler mentioned that on the issue of student friendly environment, he sent a request to all the department chairs and deans to provide him with anything that they had done to create student friendly environments, and he received a dozen lovely responses, many of which were done very inexpensively, to create little corners in their departments or colleges for students to feel at ease and at home.  He said the committee will be taking a look at these next week.
 
CUC – S. Conklin
 
On behalf of the CUC, S. Conklin moved to receive the September 12, 2002 minutes.  The motion carried.
 
S. Conklin reported that one of the responsibilities of this committee is to oversee various undergraduate curricular programs that don’t have other academic homes and they received the annual report from the Division of International Programs as well as the Center for Black Studies.  She said the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology had a numbering issue on some courses that were withdrawn from the minutes to be worked out at the college level and then resubmitted.  The College of Education issue that was discussed had to do with naming the options rather than tracks within a minor in the Dance Education submission.
 
There was discussion about the use of the wording “senior status” and “sophomore standing” but there is no difference between the terms “status” and “standing.”  There was also discussion about the term “or consent of the department.”
 
V.      OTHER REPORTS
 
A.      UNIVERSITY ASSESSMENT PANEL — N. Osorio
 
N. Osorio said that the first meeting of the UAP will be on Friday.
 
OLD BUSINESS
 
A.     Agenda for the UCC Retreat on October 20
 
D. Rusin handed out a tentative agenda for the UCC Retreat on October 20, 2002. He said more items could be added.  Additional topics suggested were the changing of the undergraduate student makeup (more students from single parent families).  C.T. Lin suggested inviting non-traditional students to attend the retreat for their input. K. O’Kelly said he would contact SWAN and invite the director to attend. J. Stewart suggested that we should include goals for higher education in Illinois (the Illinois Commitment).  R. Wheeler suggested adding results from  the Illinois Report Card; he said that he could make a summary of this available to this committee.   D. Rusin said he invited the chairs of the standing committees to attend the retreat.  He said that Provost Legg will be attending.
 
Meeting adjourned at 1:55 p.m.
 
Attachment: Tentative UCC Retreat Agenda
Christine Welch, Secretary