Proposal of a new environment and society minor and a report on athletic policy will top the bill during Wednesday’s University Senate meeting.

USen, which serves as the university’s academic governing body, has also been addressing faculty concerns about overcrowded classes caused by high enrollment numbers.

USen will meet Wednesday at 4 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium. This month’s agenda features a summary of USen’s work last year, including a change in the tenure policy and a debate about off-site storage plans for library materials.

The Committee on Curricula will present ‘environment and society,’ a university-wide undergraduate minor that would focus on the natural and social aspects of environmental issues, according to Wednesday’s written agenda. The report proposes an 18-credit program, the typical amount for a minor, with courses ranging from environmental policy to conservation biology.

That committee will also introduce a master’s in collaborative design degree in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, with a proposed starting date of fall 2012. Initial partnerships would be with programs in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management and the School of Information Studies, according to the report.

Barbara Kwasnik, chair of the Committee on Curricula and an iSchool professor, said interdisciplinary programs and partnerships breed creativity.

‘You wouldn’t normally think about something like VPA and the iSchool having collaborative programs,’ Kwasnik said. ‘There’s these two different ways of looking at the world: one looking at technology and one looking at design. And they need each other.’

Another committee, the Committee on Athletic Policy, will give a report on its accomplishments last academic year. Topics include the athletic department budget and its compliance with new NCAA rules regarding the review of new students’ academic records.

At last month’s USen session, the Academic Affairs Committee discussed its concerns about the spike in student enrollment this year. Committee member Mary Lovely then requested an inquiry into the issue.

Jonathan Massey, chair of the Agenda Committee, said USen is establishing an ad hoc committee to assess the effects of the recent increase in undergraduate students. It will also study how the university plans for certain enrollment levels, he said. The group will consist of members from the Academic Affairs, Instruction and Student Life committees. 

Lovely, a professor of economics, said faculty should be part of the dialogue about planned growth. She said she believes the university has the capacity to grow and that it would offer more opportunities for students.

‘This is not really a complaint,’ Lovely said. ‘This is more a ‘Hey, this really needs to be paid attention to now.’ I think it’s starting to affect the quality of the experience that students have here.’

Economics courses close out on the second day of enrollment, Lovely said, and students plead with her for spots in already enlarged classes. Her department isn’t alone in this, Lovely said. She said faculty should know what steps are being taken to maintain the quality of student instruction across the university.

‘They want deeper instruction. And the better-quality student we get, the more they want,’ she said. ‘So how do you manage all these things?’

shmelike@syr.edu

Published on October 11, 2010 at 12:00 pm