February 23, 2024
UNDERGRADUATE COUNCIL
MINUTES
February 23, 2024
2:30 p.m.
Upchurch Conference Room, BELL 3162
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Voting: Alan Ellstrand, Chris Liner, Casey Harris, Kevin Hall, Paul Calleja, Rhett Hutchins
Megan Hull, Lona Robertson, Garry McDonald, Laurie Apple, and Manuel Rossetti
Non-Voting: Gina Daugherty, Lisa Kulczak, and Suzanne Kenner
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Voting: Adriana Gonzalez, Ethel Goodstein, Rodney Thomas II, and Samantha Robinson
Non-Voting: Tiffany Murphy, Suzanne Kucharczyk, and Amanda Corbell
GUESTS: Kelsey Greub, Steven Rosales, Kelly Way, Dave Bostwick, Matt Ganio, Kate Chapman,
and Nathan Kemper
Chair Alan Ellstrand called the meeting to order at 2:30 p.m.
1. The minutes for the January 26, 2024 meeting were approved.
2. Course Change Proposals:
All course change proposals were approved without opposition. The approved courses
are listed on the CIM Course Report created by CourseLeaf and will be forwarded for consideration to the Faculty Senate,
meeting scheduled for March 13, 2024.
3. Old Business:
Follow-up discussion on the Council’s interpretation of two questions on the program
proposal form in CourseLeaf.
Acting Vice Provost Matt Ganio was in attendance to provide some context for considering
how these questions might be interpreted/clarified going forward. The Council passed
a motion to task Chair Alan Ellstrand, Acting Vice Provost Ganio, and the Director
of Curriculum Review and Program Assessment to implement the following changes in
CourseLeaf Program Management, pending Graduate Council adoption of the changes proposed
by Undergraduate Council. Additionally, the Director of Curriculum Review and Program
Assessment will work with the Registrar’s Office to clear up existing programs indicated
as interdisciplinary but that do not meet the criteria of the newly defined question.
The Director will also monitor the response to this question in all proposals going
forward.
i. “Is this program interdisciplinary?”
After discussion, the Council agreed to the following verbiage change for this question:
“Is this program interdisciplinary between two or more colleges or schools?”
Additional clarification regarding the expectation that an agreement exists between
all relevant parties will be provided via the following Help Bubble text: Programs are interdisciplinary when an agreement exists between at least two departments/programs
across multiple colleges/schools to collaborate on determining and managing curriculum
requirements for an academic program.
Documentation confirming said agreement should be uploaded as an attachment to the
proposal. Responses to this question should carry over from an existing proposal
to a new proposal; this functionality has been verified by the Registrar’s Office.
ii. “Does this proposal impact any courses from another College/School?”
The current working definition for this question is when a course from another college
is added or removed from core program requirements.
Should this also include:
a. Courses from another college added or removed from a list of electives?
b. Courses from another college rescheduled from one semester to another in the 8 Semester
Degree Plan?
c. Another situation?
The Council discussed and agreed to modify the second question to: “Do the proposed changes impact any specific course(s) from another college or school?”
The Council also agreed that changes referenced in items a and b above should prompt
a “Yes” response to this question. Additional clarification for these specific scenarios
will be added via the following Help Bubble text: This includes courses added or removed from core or elective requirements as well
as courses that are rescheduled from one semester to another in the eight-semester
degree plan.
Responses to this question should reset with each new proposal but are currently being
carried over from the previous submission; the Registrar’s Office is following up
with CourseLeaf to see if this functionality can be adjusted.
4. New Business:
The following program change proposals were approved on the CIM Program Report. The program change proposals will be forwarded for consideration to the Faculty
Senate, meeting scheduled for March 13, 2024.
a. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food,
and Life Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness – AGBSBS
– Agricultural Business, Bachelor of Science in Agri Food & Life Sciences presented
by Nathan Kemper.
We are changing our MATH requirement to focus on the MATH content we need our students
to have in order to be successful: calculus. We will require MATH 2043 or higher level
calculus going forward.
To be successful in many of our upper division courses, students need to have a basic
understanding of calculus. We want to make this explicitly clear in our curriculum
but making calculus, at the survey level or higher, required (4a_agbsbs_report_02232024).
b. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food,
and Life Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness – AGBSBS-ABMM
– Agricultural Business: Agri Management & Marketing Concentration presented by Nathan
Kemper.
i. Changed Total Hours field to reflect required hours for the degree program, not the
concentration hours.
To provide consistency with program hours, per Registrar's request.
ii. Updated MATH requirement in 8-semester degree plan to match AGBSBS changes.
Updated MATH requirement in 8-semester degree plan to match AGBSBS changes (4b_agbsbs-abmm_report_02232024).
c. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food,
and Life Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness – AGBSBS-ABRM
– Agricultural Business: Agribusiness Risk Management Concentration presented by Nathan
Kemper.
Updated MATH requirement in 8-semester degree plan to match AGBSBS changes.
Updated MATH requirement in 8-semester degree plan to match AGBSBS changes (4c_agbsbs-abrm_report_02232024).
d. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food,
and Life Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness – AGBSBS-PRLW
– Agricultural Business: Pre-Law Concentration presented by Nathan Kemper.
Updated MATH requirement in 8-semester degree plan to match AGBSBS changes.
Updated MATH requirement in 8-semester degree plan to match AGBSBS changes
e. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food,
and Life Sciences, Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences – CPBT-M –
Crop Biotechnology Minor presented by Kelsey Greub.
Plant physiology is being deleted from the course options. A BENG and three BIOL are
being added to the controlled electives, which is being reduced from 6 to 3 hours.
Plant Breeding is being moved from the controlled electives to the core.
Some changes have to be made because the Plant Physiology (BIOL) course is no longer
being offered. In order to attract students from a wider range of majors, course options
from BENG and BIOL are being added to the controlled electives, which is being reduced
from 6 to 3 hours. Plant Breeding is being moved from the controlled electives to
the core because it is a core course and there is a new faculty member who has been
hired who can now teach the course (4e_cpbt-m_report_02232024, 4e_24-25_cpbt-m_proposed_02232024).
f. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food,
and Life Sciences, Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences – CPSCBS –
Crop Science, Bachelor of Science in Agri Food & Life Sciences presented by Kelsey
Greub.
CSES is developing a freshmen (1 credit hour) and sophomore (2 credit hour) level
course to add the CPSC degree as required courses. To include these 3 credit hours,
3 hours of general electives are being removed.
To better orient and integrate freshman into the department and help students develop
professional skills to succeed in college and their future careers, these two courses
are being added to the CPSC degree plan (4f_cpscbs_report_02232024, 4f_24-25_cpscbs_proposed_02232024).
g. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food,
and Life Sciences, Department of Human Environmental Sciences – EVMG-M – Event Management
Minor presented by Kelly Way.
Change required course block to total 9 hours. Add additional requirements block for
a total of six hours. Move HOSP 3673 and HOSP 4613 to additional requirements block
as an option and add HOSP 3653, HOSP 3713, and HOSP 4663 as options to meet total
of 15 hours for minor.
Changes allow students to move through the minor more freely and complete the minor
in a more timely fashion (4g_evmg-m_report_02232024).
h. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food,
and Life Sciences, Department of Poultry Science – POSCAC – Poultry Science Undergraduate
Certificate presented by Lona Robertson.
No longer a viable program (4h_poscac_report_02232024, 4h_poscac_deletion_ltr_of_notification_rev_bot_02232024).
i. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences,
Department of Arts and Sciences Dean – IDST Writing Req – Interdisciplinary Studies
Writing Requirement presented by Chris Liner.
IDST 40103 is approved to meet GELO 6.1 and so should also meet the writing requirement.
This change simplifies the process for students and faculty as it no longer requires
additional documentation (4i_idst_writing_req_report_02232024).
j. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences,
Department of Arts and Sciences Dean – IDSTBA – Interdisciplinary Studies, Bachelor
of Arts presented by Chris Liner.
i. Updated text of major to remove typos and use more consistent language across the
three options.
ii. Removed reference to Narrative Statement requirement.
iii. Removed 2.5 major GPA requirement.
iv. Updated text and 8 semester plan for 5 digit course numbers.
i. Updated language is clearer.
ii. Narrative statement has been built into the IDST intro course.
iii. Removing GPA requirement brings program into alignment with majority of ARSC programs,
which do not have a separate GPA requirement for the major (4j_idstba_report_02232024).
k. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences,
Department of Arts and Sciences Dean – PACEUM – Professional Agility and Career Essentials
Undergraduate MicroCertificate presented by Chris Liner.
This would require developing the ARSC 3013 Fulbright Career Connections and ARSC
3203 Professional ePortfolio into online courses.
We would like to offer this micro certificate to a wider audience including online
students as well as to campus students who want to take online courses in the summer
or regular semester. This micro certificate is part of a student success initiative
to assist students in making the connection between their Arts and Sciences degree
and their future career opportunities (4k_paceum_report_02232024).
l. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences,
Department of Geosciences – GEOGBA – Geography, Bachelor of Arts presented by Chris
Liner.
Change in designated CIP code from 45.0701 - Geography to 30.4401 - Geography and
Environmental Studies.
The new CIP code more closely aligns with programmatic expertise and content as offered
through the BA Geography degree in the Department of Geosciences. The revised code
applies to a program that provides "instruction in climate science, sustainability,
environmental science and policy, research methods, geographic information systems
(GIS), human geography, physical geography, remote sensing, and public policy," each
of which are elements of instruction and faculty expertise in the BA Geography program.
(source: https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/cipcode/cipdetail.aspx?y=56&cipid=91859) (4l_geogba_report_02232024, 4l_geogba_cip_code_change_ltr_of_notification_rev_bot_02232024).
m. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences,
Department of Latin American and Latino Studies – LALS Dependent Major – American
and Latino Studies Dependent Major presented by Steven Rosales.
i. Additions to newly cross-listed LALS courses. Removal of retired courses.
Expand available offerings to students in the major.
ii. Updated title to be in alignment to campus standards/other area studies programs.
Updated title to be in alignment to campus standards/other area studies programs (4m_lals_dependent_major_report_02232024).
n. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences,
Department of Psychological Science – PSYCBA – Psychology, Bachelor of Arts presented
by Kate Chapman.
i. Removed 2000 level MATH course requirement.
Faculty teaching PSYC 2013 found that taking the 2000 level MATH course did not improve
outcomes for PSYC 2013 and later courses.
ii. Added new careers in PSYC Course.
Student demand for career focused courses prompted adding a course to the curriculum
iii. Reformatted PSYC electives from specific lists to more general 3000 and 4000 level
requirements.
Reformatting the major to remove unnecessary references to specific PSYC courses allows
the department to do much needed expansion of their course offerings without having
to update their program each time they add a new course (4n_psycba_report_02232024, 4n_psycba_old_vs_new_comparison_02232024).
o. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences,
School of Journalism and Strategic Media – JSMSUM – Strategic Media Skills Undergraduate
MicroCertificate presented by Dave Bostwick.
The Strategic Media Skills MicroCertificate would provide 9 hours of content based
on best practices in crafting strategic communication plans that resonate with target
audiences and align with organizational or personal goals. It is designed to provide
undergraduate students with a foundation for strategic media skills in three areas:
1) an applied overview of public relations and advertising practices; 2) hands-on
use of digital tools for creating and publishing visual content; and 3) applied practice
for on-camera and/or on-microphone performance to deliver media messages. This microcertificate
will be open to all undergraduates.
The School of Journalism and Strategic Media (SJSM) wants to add a microcertificate
option for undergraduates who are specifically interested in strategic skills for
targeted media content in public relations and journalism. This microcertificate would
allow students to improve their skills without necessarily committing to becoming
an SJSM major or minor (4o_jsmsum_report_02232024).
p. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences,
School of Journalism and Strategic Media – WMMMUM – Writing for Modern Mass Media
Undergraduate MicroCertificate presented by Dave Bostwick.
The Writing for Modern Mass Media Undergraduate MicroCertificate would provide 9 hours
of content based on best practices in writing informational content for mass audiences.
It is designed to provide undergraduate students with a foundation for media writing
skills in three areas: 1) conventions for grammar, spelling and punctuation; 2) content
delivery on multiple platforms, such as advertising, public relations, broadcast,
and online news; and 3) narrow topic development to enhance audience engagement. This
microcertificate will be open to all undergraduates.
The School of Journalism and Strategic Media (SJSM) wants to add a microcertificate
option for undergraduates who are interested in writing-specific skills. This microcertificate
would allow students to improve their skills without necessarily committing to becoming
an SJSM major or minor (4p_wmmmum_report_02232024).
q. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Walton College of Business, Department
of Finance – WRME-M – Risk Management/Real Estate Minor for Business Majors presented
by Alan Ellstrand.
⦁ Change the name of the Finance Insurance/Real Estate Minor for Business Majors to
the Finance Risk Management/Real Estate Minor for Business Majors.
⦁ Change the designation of the minor from WFIR-M to WRME-M.
The new name better captures changes in the industry from insurance to the broader
term, risk management. The designation of the minor was changed accordingly (4q_wrme-m_report_02232024).
r. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Walton College of Business, Department
of Marketing – ABUR-M – Art and Business in Rome for Non-Business Students presented
by Alan Ellstrand.
Creation of an Art and Business in Rome Minor for non-business students.
This program is the result of a partnership between and Walton College and School
of Art. The program is designed to increase student awareness of the business practices
required to support the success of artistic endeavors in Rome. The program is designed
to encourage students to participate in the UA Rome Center programs (4r_abur-m_report_02232024).
s. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Walton College of Business, Department
of Marketing – WABR-M – Art and Business in Rome Minor presented by Alan Ellstrand.
Creation of an Art and Business in Rome Minor for business students.
This program is the result of a partnership between Walton College and School of Art.
The program is designed to increase student awareness of the business practices required
to support the success of artistic endeavors in Rome. The program is designed to encourage
students to participate in the UA Rome Center programs (4s_wabr-m_report_02232024).
t. Proposed undergraduate program change for the College of Education and Health Professions,
Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation – ODLR-M – Outdoor Leadership
Minor presented by Paul Calleja.
Added AOR statement; changed the description to include all degree-seeking students.
AOR required by legal (4t_odlr-m_report_02232024).
u. Proposed undergraduate program change for the College of Education and Health Professions,
Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation – PBHLBS – Public Health, Bachelor
of Science presented by Paul Calleja.
Added STAT 2823 Biostatistics as an option for the statistics requirement.
Suggested by advising team to give students more options for completing this requirement
(4u_pbhlbs_report_02232024).
v. Proposed undergraduate program change for the College of Education and Health Professions,
Department of Health, Human Performance and Recreation – PPBHL – Public Health (Pre-Public
Health) presented by Paul Calleja.
i. Added STAT 2823 Biostatistics as an option for completing the statics requirement.
The advising team suggested adding STAT 2823 as another option to fulfill this requirement.
ii. Removed NUTR 1213 because it was causing a bottleneck. It will still be required for
the major, just not for the pre-PBHL requirements.
Students will be able to move through the program smoother (4v_ppbhl_report_02232024).
w. Proposed undergraduate program change for the College of Engineering, Department of
Data Science – DTSCBS-ECAN – Data Science: Economic Analytics Concentration presented
by Manuel Rossetti.
This is the addition of an Economics Analytics (ECAN) Concentration to the B.S. Data
Science degree.
A data science degree with a concentration in economic analytics will provide students
with a strong background in economic theory and the latest applied tools in big-data
econometrics, forecasting, optimization, and machine learning methods in economics.
These “big-data” skills, combined with knowledge of economic modeling, will enable
them to identify, assess, and seize the opportunity for data-driven value creation
in the private and public sector (4w_dtscbs-ecan_report_02232024, 4w_data_science_ecan_concentration_02232024, 4w_dasc_economic_analytics_concentration_ecan_02232024, 4w_uoa_bs_dasc_suggested_plan_of_study_8-semester_v24-8a_ecan_02232024).
x. Proposed undergraduate program change for the College of Engineering, Department of
Data Science – DTSCBS-FIDA – Data Science: Financial Data Analytics Concentration
presented by Manuel Rossetti.
This is the addition of a Financial Data Analytics (FIDA) Concentration to the B.S.
Data Science degree.
A data science degree with a concentration in Financial Analytics will provide students
with a strong background in core financial concepts and the latest applied tools in
financial modeling and financial analytics. The concentration is structured so that
students will have the flexibility to focus heavily on financial analytics or to focus
on a combination of analytics and traditional finance content such as Investments
and Corporate Finance. These skills will enable graduates to apply cutting-edge technical
tools to financial projects and to bridge the communication gap between corporate
technicians and financial analysts (4x_dtscbs-fida_report_02232024, 4x_data_science_fida_concentration_nov_13_2023_v3_02232024, 4x_dasc_financial_data_analytics_concentration_fida_02232024, 4x_uoa_bs_fida_suggested_plan_of_study_8-semester_v24-8a_02232024).
5. Additional Items/Announcements:
a. Statistics AP test credit update – Changing Test Credit (5a_ap_stat_02232024).
Next Meeting: March 15, 2024 (agenda deadline is March 1, 2024).
Meeting adjourned at 3:58 p.m.