Core Education Committee

Voting members present: Aidas Banaitis, Geoffrey Barstow, Abigail Crowell, Kelsey Emard, Daniel Faltesek, Colin Johnson, Lori McGraw, Brian Mills, Rene Reitsma, Randy Rosenberger, Kari-Lyn Sakuma, Paula Weiss
Voting members absent: Matthew Kennedy
Ex-officio members present: Academic Affairs – Heath Henry; Core Education – McKenzie Huber; Ecampus – Karen Watte; Difference, Power & Oppression – Natchee Barnd; WIC – Sarah Perrault
Guests: Pat Ball, Stephanie Baugh, Kristin Nagy Catz, Michael Jefferis, Caryn Stoess

Course reviews

• MTH 111Z – Precalculus 1: Functions
  • Violates SB270 – legally required to list materials at the bookstore.
  • Questions regarding pre-requisites have been resolved.

Action: Motion to rollback with question to 1) consider an Open Educational Resource (OER) alternative to ALEKS, 2) provide a rationale if there is not a good alternative, and 3) list the text at the bookstore in accordance with Oregon SB270 and remove the statement in the syllabus to avoid the bookstore; seconded. The motion passed with 12 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• OC 201 – Oceanography
  • There may have been some confusion around the concept of the ‘essential assignment’.
    • It should be the culminating assignment. Kristin and Heath can have a conversation with the proposer to explain what they are looking for.
  • Assignment weight between the two modalities is very different – labs are worth more for on campus and on campus has access to extra credit while Ecampus does not.
    • Do all modalities meet the requirement that the lab comprises 25% of the class?
      • Yes

Action: Motion to rollback with three requests: 1) clarify which specific assignment will be used for the essential assignment for each Learning Outcome (LO) (work with Heath to identify essential assignments); 2) make grading evaluation more similar across modalities or provide rationale for why they are so significantly different; and 3) submit an Ecampus redevelopment proposal; seconded. The motion passed with 12 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• BOT 101 – Botany: A Human Concern
  • Missing Core Education LOs.
  • CIM does not match syllabus regarding assignments and how they will be assessed.
    • Lab report is not an option in CIM so they selected paper.
    • There are other discrepancies in the syllabus related to the essential assignment.
  • Essential assignment is missing from the table and not described in CIM.
  • LO3 lists presentations as the essential assignment in CIM but discussion on the syllabus.
  • There is no implication in the syllabus or CIM on how the course is meeting all parts of the category.

Action: Motion to rollback with request for additional detail and clarity in the syllabus and CIM on 1) how the course meets LO3 and 2) what the essential assignment for each LO is and make sure that essential assignment is discussed in the assessment portion of the Core Ed table in the syllabus. We also strongly recommend developing course specific LOs that are not replications of the past bacc core category; seconded. The motion passed with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• BOT 220 – Introduction to Plant Biology
  • Excellent course specific LOs
  • Excellent details.
  • Core Ed outcomes are listed in the table and the Ecampus redevelopment has been submitted.
  • The course title is missing from Ecampus syllabus but otherwise doesn’t seem to have many issues.

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. Motion passed with 19 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• PH 104 – Descriptive Astronomy (second review)
  • Requested revisions were made.

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. Motion passed with 10 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• COMM 218Z – Interpersonal Communication
  • No discussion.
• MTH 112Z – Precalculus II: Trigonometry
  • Content didn’t seem fully developed – missing due dates.
  • LO 3 did not seem fully addressed.
  • Will discuss further next week.
• MTH 105Z – Math in Society
  • No discussion.

Open Educational Resources

• No discussion.