Have a good break everyone!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
SGC Minutes
Draft minutes of the 3/25/10 Shared Governance Committee meeting are online. Please send corrections to Andrew.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Health Care Advisory Committee - 15 March 2010
Budget Update
It looks like that the 6.1% increase will be approved. Final word will be given in late may. There is some on how segregated fees will be handles.
The new prevention director Tom Sieger is very seasoned public health experience. High hopes for him, served as state-wide instant adviser during h1n1. Starts on april 12.
Mental Health Models:
There are 5 finalists, committee will be invited to interviews.Mental health issues need to be connected to physical health problems. VA (being able to meet with someone anytime) program is most successful modal to deal with mental health.Not serious counseling, just lighter counseling is in demand.Drinking behavior is another mental issue that needs to be slid back a bit. UHS screens for high-risk alcohol use and possible depression; also relationship/domestic violence. It is in the form of a green slip. A lot of negative feedback from students about screening for alcohol. Depression has better feedback.
Student Health Survey:
They want to do a survey of students to find how UHS is doing. The survey is almost done, but some two new questions were proposed for adding, and one question would be rearranged.
Monday, March 22, 2010
March 22 L&S Curriculum Committee
In the Monday, March 22, 2010 meeting of the L&S Curriculum Committee, we touched upon coverage of the potential Liberal Arts major/degree proposal from the Badger Herald (http://badgerherald.com/news/2010/03/11/liberal_studies_majo.php) as well as approved the creation of the course East Asian Languages and Literature 361, an Advanced-level course titled Masterworks of Japanese Literature: The Tale of Genji.
We will potentially be implementing a policy change for the Curriculum Committee regarding course overlaps after positive discussion at the Faculty Senate. We will hopefully work with the Registrar and academic departments to use prerequisite requirements to regulate course overlaps. More discussion on this topic is coming, and it will be looked into over summer.
There was further discussion of Liberal Arts proposal – looking to incorporate information from existing Integrated Liberal Studies program, and have invited a professor from the department to a future meeting.
This brings up evaluation of essential learning outcomes for UW and whether or not existing programs are serving the purpose they are intended to. Topic of how do we assess the efficacy of existing programs – survey recent alumni? Faculty? Graduating seniors? Based on previous institutions UW-Madison is further along the path of assessing learning outcomes compared to peer institutions.
We need to consider the infrastructure necessary to support such a multi-dimensional program – possibly creating a directive with core values and goals for the program. There is concern about whether or not existing programs have served the purpose they were intended to and if we are thinking about such a program, we need to establish the incorporation of values. There is potential for Liberal Studies to incorporate addressing social concerns. It shouldn’t become “just another degree.”
Moving forward we will prepare a written statement for the Faculty Senate. Eventually if we decide to proceed, we’ll write a request for permission to plan which includes addressing the need for the program, learning outcomes, how the program relates to the institution, relation to other academic programs, need for unusual resources (ex. Special tuition funding; probably not necessary for this option). It’s a long process to begin a new program, involving many steps going up to the Board of Regents, and is very complicated and detail-oriented – shortest period of time is three years, can be up to seven years which is a huge time commitment. Need to look at what other programs are doing and translate it into a realistic program for Madison.
Need to be conscious of the fact that we are not a small liberal arts college; we are a large research institution. how social and natural sciences integrate with humanities and have students ask why they are here – mechanisms to invite students to reflect in a regular way on the extent to which they are accumulating skills (i.e. integrating knowledge and learning to draw connections across academic areas).
There are still many questions about the program and nothing is decided, it’s an ongoing discussion at this point about how to best proceed. If created, what students would this program serve? How are the academic values we are instilling into students translating outside of the classroom? Is there a way to create a shared experience for all L&S Students? Questions of specialization v. general education and open program v. enclave of “bright students.” Is there value in a common curricular experience? And of course, a question regarding funding exists.
If you have questions or comments, please let me know – once there is a more firm vision/proposal we’ll look into student feedback.
Emily Kesner ekesner@wisc.edu
We will potentially be implementing a policy change for the Curriculum Committee regarding course overlaps after positive discussion at the Faculty Senate. We will hopefully work with the Registrar and academic departments to use prerequisite requirements to regulate course overlaps. More discussion on this topic is coming, and it will be looked into over summer.
There was further discussion of Liberal Arts proposal – looking to incorporate information from existing Integrated Liberal Studies program, and have invited a professor from the department to a future meeting.
This brings up evaluation of essential learning outcomes for UW and whether or not existing programs are serving the purpose they are intended to. Topic of how do we assess the efficacy of existing programs – survey recent alumni? Faculty? Graduating seniors? Based on previous institutions UW-Madison is further along the path of assessing learning outcomes compared to peer institutions.
We need to consider the infrastructure necessary to support such a multi-dimensional program – possibly creating a directive with core values and goals for the program. There is concern about whether or not existing programs have served the purpose they were intended to and if we are thinking about such a program, we need to establish the incorporation of values. There is potential for Liberal Studies to incorporate addressing social concerns. It shouldn’t become “just another degree.”
Moving forward we will prepare a written statement for the Faculty Senate. Eventually if we decide to proceed, we’ll write a request for permission to plan which includes addressing the need for the program, learning outcomes, how the program relates to the institution, relation to other academic programs, need for unusual resources (ex. Special tuition funding; probably not necessary for this option). It’s a long process to begin a new program, involving many steps going up to the Board of Regents, and is very complicated and detail-oriented – shortest period of time is three years, can be up to seven years which is a huge time commitment. Need to look at what other programs are doing and translate it into a realistic program for Madison.
Need to be conscious of the fact that we are not a small liberal arts college; we are a large research institution. how social and natural sciences integrate with humanities and have students ask why they are here – mechanisms to invite students to reflect in a regular way on the extent to which they are accumulating skills (i.e. integrating knowledge and learning to draw connections across academic areas).
There are still many questions about the program and nothing is decided, it’s an ongoing discussion at this point about how to best proceed. If created, what students would this program serve? How are the academic values we are instilling into students translating outside of the classroom? Is there a way to create a shared experience for all L&S Students? Questions of specialization v. general education and open program v. enclave of “bright students.” Is there value in a common curricular experience? And of course, a question regarding funding exists.
If you have questions or comments, please let me know – once there is a more firm vision/proposal we’ll look into student feedback.
Emily Kesner ekesner@wisc.edu
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Joint Southeast Campus Area Committee - March 15, 2010
The meeting last Monday started off with a review of the updated plans for Gordon Commons. At the previous meeting in January a few committee members voiced concerns about the appearance of the facade facing Dayton St. They felt that it lacked a suitable amount of windows and wasn't appealing to pedestrians. In response, the design team added more landscaping and increased the amount of windows. They also incorporated the use of different surface materials to make the facade more interesting. The committee seemed pleased with the updates. The final plans will go before the city Planning Commission on March 23 and construction should start in December of this year or January of 2011. If this happens then the entire project will be completed in the spring of 2013.
Next, the board reviewed plans for the Charter Street Heating Plant. This new facility will replace the old heating plant and will run on natural gas and biomass making it much more environmentally friendly. The project would add rail lines and remove unneeded spurs between West Washington and Dayton. A draft of the plans will go before the Planning Commission on May 10 and the Urban Design Committee on April 7. There will be more specific plans drawn in the summer with a potential fall demolition. The start time is still unclear, 2011 at the earliest. The committee voted to approve their recommendation of the project.
Other updates:
Chazen Museum of Art - on schedule, opening fall 2011
East Campus Utilities - Park St. portion started 4 weeks ago
Hockey Swim Project - on hold for funding purposes
South Campus Union - a few weeks behind schedule, catching up
WI Institute for Discovery - on schedule, the exterior will be done in May and the sidewalks will be restored
Joe Klosterman, jfklosterman@wisc.edu
Next, the board reviewed plans for the Charter Street Heating Plant. This new facility will replace the old heating plant and will run on natural gas and biomass making it much more environmentally friendly. The project would add rail lines and remove unneeded spurs between West Washington and Dayton. A draft of the plans will go before the Planning Commission on May 10 and the Urban Design Committee on April 7. There will be more specific plans drawn in the summer with a potential fall demolition. The start time is still unclear, 2011 at the earliest. The committee voted to approve their recommendation of the project.
Other updates:
Chazen Museum of Art - on schedule, opening fall 2011
East Campus Utilities - Park St. portion started 4 weeks ago
Hockey Swim Project - on hold for funding purposes
South Campus Union - a few weeks behind schedule, catching up
WI Institute for Discovery - on schedule, the exterior will be done in May and the sidewalks will be restored
Joe Klosterman, jfklosterman@wisc.edu
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