USF Undergraduate Council - Minutes of November 25, 1996

Present: Lois Gonzalez, Mary Hardy, Margaret Hewitt, John Noonan, Ruth Short, Joseph Simon (Chairperson), Richard Wunderlin

Absent: Glen Besterfield, Janet Moore, John Richmond

Guests: Skip Davis (Environmental Sciences), Darrell Fasching (Religious Studies), Peter Stiling (Environmental Sciences), Curtis Wienker (Anthropology)

The meeting was called to order at 3:02pm.

1. The minutes of October 28, 1996 were approved as submitted.

2. Discussion and review of course proposals

   • ANT 4520 Forensic Anthropology
     Curtis Wienker presented this course to the Council. The course will provide students with experience in one of the most rapidly growing fields in anthropology. It has been offered twice as Selected Topics. Following further discussion, the course was approved.

   • BSC 4057 Environmental Issues
     Peter Stiling answered Council members' questions regarding this proposal. The course is designed for seniors of all majors and will allow students to explore a variety of current environmental issues. It has been approved by the General Education Council as a Major Works & Major Issues course. Following discussion, the course was approved.

   • GLY 4732 Beaches and Coastal Environments
     Skip Davis presented this new course to the Council. The course deals primarily with saltwater wetlands and is open to both majors and non-majors. It will be proposed as a Major Works & Major Issues course to the General Education Council. The second word of 7b was corrected to "none." Following discussion, the course was approved.

   • REL 3128 Race and Religion
     This course was approved at the September 9, 1996 Undergraduate Council meeting contingent upon a title change. The Religious Studies department must change the title to reflect more accurately the course's African American focus.

3. Discussion on Open University courses

   The Council discussed problems with Open University courses, including the amount of interaction between students and instructor. The Provost has appointed a committee to search for a new dean of Educational Outreach. Learning Communities and the Off-Campus Term Program will be topics for future discussions.

4. Distribution and assignment of new course proposals
   • ISC 4004 Scientific Concepts of Time - Joseph Simon
   • LIT 4386 British and American Literature by Women - Ruth Short
   • Proposed Undergraduate Honors Program in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences With Emphases in Speech, Language & Hearing Science, Educational Interpreting & American Sign Language - Lois Gonzalez
   • CEG 4850 Capstone Geotechnical/Transportation Design - John Noonan
   • CES 4604 Capstone Structural Design - John Noonan
   • CES 4606 Concepts of Structural Design - John Noonan
   • CES 4650 Capstone Materials Design - John Noonan
   • CWR 4812 Capstone Water Resources Design - John Noonan
   • EML 4174 Visual Basic for Engineers & Scientists - John Noonan
   • ENV 4450 Capstone Water and Wastewater Design - John Noonan
   • LAH 2020 Latin American Civilization - Joseph Simon
   • SOW 4510 Integrative Seminar - Margaret Hewitt

5. Announcement

   Margaret Hewitt, Janet Moore and John Noonan will work with Thomas Porter and Dean Robert Sullins on a Procedures Manual for new course proposals.

The next meeting will be Monday, December 9, 1996. The meeting was adjourned at 4:30pm.

Please send any suggestions or comments to:
Office of Undergraduate Studies