April 25, 2025

UNDERGRADUATE COUNCIL
MINUTES
April 25, 2025
2:30 p.m.
Upchurch Conference Room, BELL 3162

 

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:
Voting:  Lona Robertson, Garry McDonald, Ethel Goodstein, Chris Schulte, Laurence Hare, Matthew Ganio, Kevin D. Hall, and Manuel Rossetti

Non-Voting:  Gina Daugherty, Miran Kang, Ed Bengtson, and Lisa Kulczak  

MEMBERS ABSENT:

Voting:  Alan Ellstrand, Rodney W. Thomas II, Rhett Hutchins, Megan Hull, Adriana Gonzalez, Kevin Brady, Jeremy Beaulieu, and Lesley Ramirez

Non-Voting:  Tiffany Murphy, Suzanne Kenner

GUESTS:  Shane Barker, Ellen Urton, and Jacquelyn Mosley

 

Chair Kevin Hall called the meeting to order at 2:32 p.m.

 

  1. The minutes for the March 21, 2025, meeting were approved.

 

  1. Consent Agenda:
    • 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 May 7, 2025.

 

  1. Old Business:
    • Follow-up discussion on Council website archiving.

The Council approved the proposal to update how agendas and minutes are presented on the website and to archive all but the last 3 academic years’ worth of agendas and minutes currently on the website.  Archiving will be done in collaboration by a) capturing the website on the Wayback Machine now and b) moving the archived content to the Institutional Repository over the course of the next two years. See the attached proposal.

 

  1. 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 May 7, 2025.

    1. Proposed undergraduate program change for the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food, and Life Sciences, Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness – AGBSBS-PRLW – Agricultural Business: Pre-Law Concentration
      (4a_agbsbs-prlw_report_04252025).

      Concentration to be offered online. We are also adding one required course to the concentration and changing the allocation of the 18 hours across the groups to accommodate the new course. These changes are integral to the broader efforts of the AEAB Department to create an online pre-law concentration within the BS in Agricultural Business program. This not only enhances the academic offerings at the University of Arkansas but also prepares students to address the evolving legal challenges in agricultural business, ensuring that they are equipped to contribute meaningfully to the industry and their communities.

 

  1. Additional Items/Announcements:

a.  K-12 Gifted Endorsement – Revising a Non-Certificate/Non-Degree Endorsement Licensure

      • This proposal is not a change to the endorsement, but merely alignment to the newest competencies for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

b. Educational Examiner Endorsement - Revising a Non-Certificate/Non-Degree Endorsement Licensure 

      • This proposal is for changes required to align with recommendations for the Educational Examiner. The educational examiner endorsement is a 27 credit-hour program for students who have a current license or who are enrolled in a program toward a special education teaching license and have enrolled or are enrolled in a graduate degree program and wish to develop the competencies necessary for education examiners. The University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions provides the coursework needed for successful teacher candidates to submit a request for the educational examiner endorsement from the Arkansas Department of Education. This program of study requires field experience. To meet this requirement, the student must identify a school-based mentor who is a school psychologist or educational examiner and is willing to provide observation, access to assessments, and written feedback on fidelity of their implementation of testing procedures across courses. Additionally, as of spring 2025, educational examiner endorsement students will be expected to complete a practicum and an education research methods course (e.g., ESRM 50103).

c. Celebrating the Service and Contributions of the Council Members who are retiring! 

      • Lona Robertson and Alan Ellstrand were recognized for their contributions to the Council, to their respective colleges, and to the campus community. While they will be sorely missed as Council members and esteemed colleagues, we wish them all the best in this next chapter of life.

 

 

The meeting was adjourned at 3:02 p.m.

 

Next Meeting: August 22, 2025 (agenda deadline is August 8, 2025).