Minutes
Curriculum Committee
October 7, 2003
Members: James
Swartz (Chair), Gerald Adams, Diane Robertson, Andy Hamilton, Tyler Roberts,
Mark Montgomery, Devan McGranahan, Lilly Radoshevich, and Elizabeth Clark. Guest:
Helen Scott
1. The minutes
of 9/23/03 meeting were approved.
2. The request for EDC 467 and 469 to move from 10 credits to 12 credits was
approved.
3. The request for EDC 34X as a set of new courses was approved.
4. The committee approved the following statement written by Jim Swartz to be
sent to all faculty regarding MIPs.
I wanted to point out to you an opportunity that some might not know about. In the spring of 2002 the Curriculum Committee approved a new course designation, DEPT 299, for summer research credit involving students who are not advanced. The catalog entry is below.
299 Directed Summer Research 2 or 4 credits
Directed Summer Research at the 200 level is intended for selected students who have the appropriate academic preparation to benefit from an early research experience. Summer research may be pursued in Grinnell or on a field excursion, always under the direct and continuous supervision of a Grinnell faculty member. Summer research will involve a search of the necessary literature, seminar or other formal discussion, and written reports, as well as laboratory or fieldwork. Offered summers only. Prerequisites: completion of first-year student status.If faculty members wish to supervise 299 Directed Summer Research projects they may apply for funding through the submission of a proposal to the Committee on Support of Faculty Scholarship in the standard way (see http://www.grinnell.edu/offices/dean/supfac/oncampusopportunities/gb_guides/). A faculty stipend of $500 for a 2 credit project or $1000 for a 4 credit project is also available. Students apply for such projects via an application available at the Office of the Registrar (see http://web.grinnell.edu/registrar/forms/indepstudysum.pdf).
5. Discussion of compensation for independents. Helen Scott shared with the committee her thoughts regarding our discussion and research on independents. The point she wanted to make was that nowhere in our discussion have we discussed the value of independents for both faculty and students. She suggested that this would be a good time for the CC to survey the faculty regarding the importance of offering independent study for them in their teaching and in student learning. She supplied the committee with a sample survey form. The complete text of her comments is attached to these minutes.
Several members of the committee are concerned about the question of equity. If we are committed to equity then should all independents be compensated? If this is too expensive then maybe no independents should be compensated? What form should the compensation take (course credit, other)? One member felt that it was not a question of equity but the real problem is that the faculty is too small to accommodate all the release time that is being accumulated.
The committee decided that at this time it would be helpful if we had a discussion with students and faculty (at the divisional level) regarding compensation and equity for all forms of independent work. The discussions will center around the following options (the document that will be circulated to all divisions is attached).
1. We cannot afford to give equal compensation to the faculty for all forms of independent study and therefore we should have no compensation for any, including MAPs.
2. We value all forms of independents including MAPs because they allow us to expand the curriculum beyond our normal course offerings on an occasional basis. We want to maintain the distinct nature of MAPs, and we want to encourage and support other forms of independent study so we will compensate all types of independents on an equitable basis.
3. Compensation for MAPs, MIPs, and summer research should only be awarded if the work is supervised during the summer. There would be no compensation for MAPs or other independent work during the academic year. The rationale is that the faculty has nine-month contracts and they have the choice of doing independents /MAPs or not doing them during the regular academic year. But if faculty are expected to do or want to do MAPs, MIPs, or summer research during the summer they should be compensated.
4. Based on the number of independents being currently taught, it seemed clear that granting course-leaves for independents and MAPs would have a significant negative effect on the curriculum and class size. We could minimize the negative impact on the curriculum by placing limits on compensation. For example:
a. Limit the number of course credits that can be accumulated per academic year.
b. Limit how the course credits may be used (e.g. only to extend sabbaticals).