September 26, 2002 MnTC Oversight Committee Minutes

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Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
Office of the Chancellor
MnSCU MnTC Oversight Committee
September 26, 2002, 9:30 a.m.
ETC
Meeting Minutes

Present: Jerry Johnson, Linda Lade, Craig Froke, Debra Japp, Joan Costello, Larry Oveson, Greg Mulcahy, Jean Evens, Betsy Ingram-Diver, Alex Yard, Gregory Wright, Anne O’Mera, Scott Wrobel, Steve Whipple

1. Welcome and Introductions

Linda Lade welcomed all attendees and introductions were made.

A copy of the May 15, 2002 MnSCU MnTC Oversight Committee minutes were distributed and reviewed.

2. Information Updates

a. Status of Recommendation to Include World Languages in the MnTC

Craig Froke has contacted the University of Minnesota and he has been informed that it will be a couple of weeks before they establish a position on MnSCU’s World Languages recommendation. It seems likely that the U of M will only incorporate second year World Languages in MnTC Goal 8 (Global Perspective). They may also impose restrictions on this incorporation.

We could implement MnSCU’s recommendation without acceptance by the U of M, but it may not be in our best interest to do so.

When Craig obtains further information from the U of M he will bring it to the attention of the Oversight Committee and then we will consider our course of action. In the meantime we will not take any action to implement the MnSCU MnTC Oversight Committee recommendation. Technical Colleges should be advised to await the outcome of the U of M deliberations.

b. Technical College MnTC Review Process for 2002-03

Jerry Johnson provided a flowchart for the FY 03 review process. In this process faculty will review the courses and, if needed, provide initial recommendations for improvement. The Office of the Chancellor will oversee the incorporation of changes to assure they are made in concurrence with the recommendations. The courses will then be posted by the Office of the Chancellor on MnTransfer.org.

Jerry noted that there are currently 164 courses listed on MnTransfer.org and he anticipates receiving approximately 62 courses proposals for the September 15, 2002 review. A second review will be held on March 28, 2003
. At the end of this academic year this process will no longer be used and technical colleges will propose MnTC courses through their curriculum procedures. Jerry has made visits to each of the campuses and explained the current process as well as future plans and implementation premises.

c. Faculty Discipline Meeting Plan for 2002-03

Jerry Johnson distributed a copy of the Program Collaboration and Transfer FY 2000-03 Activities list. A small group planning meeting for the group one disciplines (accounting, biology, chemistry, English, political science, psychology, and sociology) is scheduled to be held on October 10, 2002. At this meeting faculty facilitators will accomplish two major goals: 1. develop a workplan which addresses the issues identified at the April 19, 2002 meeting, 2. develop an agenda for the November 22, 2002 discipline meeting. Faculty leadership reported that it continues to be difficult to identify faculty who are available to lead discipline activities for the remainder of this academic year. However, there does not seem to be a problem in obtaining the other small group participants.

The initial meeting for the group two disciplines (computer and information systems, economics, geography, history, law enforcement, mathematics, philosophy, physics and speech communication) will be held on April 11, 2003.

3. Rochester Community and Technical College Curriculum

Gregory Wright reviewed the music and art course documentation that had been submitted to the Office of the Chancellor by Rochester Community and Technical College. Several attendees expressed that the courses appeared to entail skill-based content which is not the focus of the MnTC.

It is the recommendation of the Oversight Committee that Rochester Community and Technical College’s local curriculum committee render a decision on these courses. Also, RCTC should seek input from institutions where transfer traffic is likely to occur to determine the transferability of these courses. Several Oversight Committee members indicated their institutions would respond to such an inquiry.

4. Summary of MnTC Implementation Analysis Report

Linda Lade distributed a copy the September 5, 2002 Summary of Findings report. She indicated that specific reports were given to each MnSCU college and university and she has requested that they be reviewed by their curriculum committees. The colleges and universities are to provide a response to her report by September 27, 2002, and several have done so.

5. Discussion of the future of the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum

Several stakeholders have expressed to Oversight Committee members that the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum needs to be reviewed and perhaps revised as it has existed for nearly ten years. Perhaps definitions should be changed, emphasis areas added, etc.

We will need to establish a structured process to obtain input from stakeholder groups. MnSCU college and university curriculum committees, faculty, transfer specialists, and academic administration are primary stakeholders. The Board of Trustees is committed to the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum and so the Trustees are stakeholders. Since the U of M is a Minnesota Transfer Curriculum participant they will need to engage in discussions at a future time. Also, the Minnesota Legislature has mandated the implementation of the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum so the legislature is clearly a major stakeholder.

The MnSCU MnTC Oversight Committee recommends that its Steering Committee develop a plan for obtaining stakeholder input and review of the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum. This plan should be presented at a future MnSCU MnTC Oversight Committee.

6. Discussion of Conversion of CEU Units to Credits

This topic was briefly discussed and the Oversight Committee recommends that this issue be addressed through the local academic standards oversight process.