CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION POLICY PROCEEDINGS
April 7, 2014
The Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee met on Monday, April 7, 2014, at 3:30 p.m. in the President’s Conference Room. In attendance were Ava Connelly, Kimberly French, Jeff Laub, Jim Lemons, Brent Lester, Muriel Mickles, Charles Poff, Matthew Poteat, Will Sandidge, Larry Scott, and Ernie Wade. Absent were Joe Csaky, Judy Graves, and Ruth Hedrick.
Ernie Wade called the meeting to order.
Approval of Minutes. The minutes from the October 22, 2013, meeting were distributed for the committee to review. Matthew Poteat’s name was omitted from the list of those in attendance. Jeff Laub made a motion to approve the minutes with the correction. Muriel Mickles seconded the motion. The minutes were approved with the addition of Matthew Poteat’s name.
Approval of Prerequisites for ENV 121 and 122 (General Environmental Science I and II). Jeff Laub proposed the following prerequisites for ENV 121 and ENV 122: Readiness for ENG 111 and completion of developmental math unit 3 or placement in unit 4 or above. Will Sandidge distributed CVCC’s Policy for Adding Course Prerequisites or Corequisites and asked the committee to review it before discussing the prerequisites being presented to the committee. Ernie asked if there were checks and balances in place in Peoplesoft to enforce prerequisites. If the student has not met the prerequisites entered in Peoplesoft, they must meet with a counselor or faculty member to get approval to enroll in the course. Will stated that the implementation of this policy may initially impact enrollment, but will improve retention in the long run.
Will expressed concern about establishing prerequisites without having supporting data. The VCCS does not specify prerequisites for ENV 121 or ENV 122. Jeff stated that the VCCS leaves the decision to establish prerequisites for some courses up to the individual college. The suggested prerequisites for ENV 121 and 122 are the same as BIO 101 and 102 so that the courses can be treated as transferrable general education courses. Jeff said that Lynchburg College and Sweet Briar College accept these courses.
Will stated that in the future he feels the college needs specific data to support adding prerequisites which are not included in the VCCS Master Course File.
Ernie made a motion to approve the prerequisites for ENV 121 and 122, with some modification to be consistent with the wording in the VCCS Master Course File. Matthew seconded the motion. The committee approved the prerequisites.
Approval of Adding Prerequisites for BIO 276 (Freshwater Ecology). Jeff discussed the addition of ENV121 to the list of prerequisites for BIO 276 – Freshwater Ecology (currently BIO 101-102 or divisional approval). The proposed prerequisites would read: BIO 101-102, ENV 121 or divisional approval. Muriel Mickles suggested inserting the word “or” between BIO 102 and ENV 121.
Ernie made a motion to approve the prerequisites for BIO 276 with the suggested modification. Matthew seconded the motion. The prerequisites were approved.
The approved prerequisites should be sent to Evan Abatecola to be entered in Peoplesoft, and to Donna Hobbs to modify in the 2014-16 CVCC Catalog and Student Handbook course descriptions. She will forward them to Wil Perez to modify in the online course descriptions.
Election of Chairperson and Recorder for the 2014-15 Academic Year. Brent Lester was elected chair for the 2014-15 academic year. It was decided that the recorder will be elected at the first committee meeting next year.
Will thanked everyone for serving on the committee this year. The meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m.
Submitted by Ava Connelly