Minutes

LPWG-Structure
Meeting Notes

October 18, 2007

At its meeting on October 18, 2007 the members of the LPWG-Structure group interviewed by telephone the registrars at Coe College and Wartburg College.

November 1, 2007

Present: John Bolen, Walter Pearson, Cyd Dyer, Sharon Wilkinson, Amy Doling, Mike Hadden and Steve Griffith.

The meeting began with a brief review of the timeline for bringing the LPWG-Structure group’s recommendations to the full LPWG for discussion. Griffith would like to have open meetings on the recommendations before the end of the fall semester so that the actual recommendations could go to the faculty in January or February

In lieu of a phone conference with the Roanoke College registrar, John Bolen circulated the questions and answers he received from Roanoke. In addition, Bolen reported on his visit to Luther College. Luther has recently changed to a four credits per course model, and reduced the number of courses required for graduation.

The report from Roanoke and the information about Luther led to a discussion about the various calendar options related to May Term. It was agreed that the decision to require fewer than four May Terms, would necessitate moving graduation to before May Term as do Coe and Roanoke. Hadden reported that he had contacted Coe to learn more about the impact of early graduation on spring sports. There didn’t seem to be problems at Coe.

The group then discussed a new proposal circulated by Griffith for a calendar composed of four, eight-week semesters. This is a model under consideration for the evening and weekend program. Jim Thorius suggested that it be discussed for implementation for the traditional program. The opinions of the 8-8-8-8 calendar were mixed. It was recognized that the model would allow interesting opportunities for experiential education including travel and internships. Several practical considerations were identified including the need to have enough eight-week courses so students doing experiential work in one semester would find courses available to them in another. There were a variety of opinions of whether a majority of faculty would see the model has exciting or impossible. Concern was expressed about sequential courses and the possible uneven impact on academic disciplines. In that no one could think of any other institution that used the 8-8 for their traditional program, it was agreed that having such a calendar might be a unique advantage. Concerns were expressed about campus facilities, and how faculty might be encouraged to re-imagine their courses to fit into the model. In the end, the group decided that it would move forward with the assumption that the College would remain with a May Term, but report that the 8-8 option was discussed and that if the larger group was interested, we might continue the discussion.

The group then returned to the question of the calendar, the date of graduation and the number of May Terms that might be required.

Topic G: Break weeks, the number of May Term courses required, etc

Recommendation #7: Two May Terms should be required. All first year students should be required to take a May Term. The second required May Term should be off-campus (travel abroad, domestic travel, internships, etc.)

Recommendation #8: Graduation should be moved to before May Term with a break between graduation and the start of May Term.

It was agreed that the next meeting would focus on the daily schedule. John Bolen will bring possible options for discussion.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m.


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LPWG-Struc LPWG-Structure Meeting Notes October 18, 2007 At its meeting on October 18, 2007 the members of the LPWG-Structure group interviewed by telephone the registrars at Coe College and Wartburg College. November 1, 2007 Present: John Bolen, Walter Pearson, Cyd Dyer, Sharon Wilkinson, Amy Doling, Mike Hadden and Steve Griffith. The meeting began with a brief review of the timeline for bringing the LPWG-Structure group’s recommendations to the full LPWG for discussion. Griffith would like to have open meetings on the recommendations before the end of the fall semester so that the actual recommendations could go to the faculty in January or February In lieu of a phone conference with the Roanoke College registrar, John Bolen circulated the questions and answers he received from Roanoke. In addition, Bolen reported on his visit to Luther College. Luther has recently changed to a four credits per course model, and reduced the number of courses required for graduation. The report from Roanoke and the information about Luther led to a discussion about the various calendar options related to May Term. It was agreed that the decision to require fewer than four May Terms, would necessitate moving graduation to before May Term as do Coe and Roanoke. Hadden reported that he had contacted Coe to learn more about the impact of early graduation on spring sports. There didn’t seem to be problems at Coe. The group then discussed a new proposal circulated by Griffith for a calendar composed of four, eight-week semesters. This is a model under consideration for the evening and weekend program. Jim Thorius suggested that it be discussed for implementation for the traditional program. The opinions of the 8-8-8-8 calendar were mixed. It was recognized that the model would allow interesting opportunities for experiential education including travel and internships. Several practical considerations were identified including the need to have enough eight-week courses so students doing experiential work in one semester would find courses available to them in another. There were a variety of opinions of whether a majority of faculty would see the model has exciting or impossible. Concern was expressed about sequential courses and the possible uneven impact on academic disciplines. In that no one could think of any other institution that used the 8-8 for their traditional program, it was agreed that having such a calendar might be a unique advantage. Concerns were expressed about campus facilities, and how faculty might be encouraged to re-imagine their courses to fit into the model. In the end, the group decided that it would move forward with the assumption that the College would remain with a May Term, but report that the 8-8 option was discussed and that if the larger group was interested, we might continue the discussion. The group then returned to the question of the calendar, the date of graduation and the number of May Terms that might be required. Topic G: Break weeks, the number of May Term courses required, etc Recommendation #7: Two May Terms should be required. All first year students should be required to take a May Term. The second required May Term should be off-campus (travel abroad, domestic travel, internships, etc.) Recommendation #8: Graduation should be moved to before May Term with a break between graduation and the start of May Term. It was agreed that the next meeting would focus on the daily schedule. John Bolen will bring possible options for discussion. The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m.
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