4:59 p.m., Nov. 3, 2010----The School of Urban Affairs
and Public Policy will be moving to the College of Arts and Sciences at
the University of Delaware, and will be renamed the School of Public
Policy and Administration.
The move and name change, which become effective Jan. 1, 2011, were
approved during the regular meeting of the UD Faculty Senate, held
Monday, Nov. 1, in Gore Hall. Changing the name of the school reflects
the range and scope of its activities, instructional offerings, programs
and research.
Included in the move to the College of Arts and Sciences are the
faculty, personnel, academic and other programs and activities in the
School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy, including the Center for
Community Research and Service, the Center for Applied Demography and
Survey Research, the Institute for Public Administration and the Center
for Historic Architecture and Design. This regular agenda item also
requires approval by the UD Board of Trustees.
The senate also approved the establishment of a new bachelor of
science in marine science major, with a concentration in marine biology.
The five-year provisional establishment of the new major in the College
of Earth, Ocean, and Environment becomes effective Feb. 1, 2011.
Academic degrees approved on a provisional basis are subject to
approval by the UD Board of Trustees after the provisional time period
has passed and the Faculty Senate has reviewed the degree program and
recommended permanent status for the degree.
Consent agenda items
Senators also approved requests to revise several programs in the
Department of Business Administration in the Alfred Lerner College of
Business and Economics, including the advertising minor, and majors in
international business studies, operations management, management and
marketing.
Consent agenda items do not require the approval of the UD Board of Trustees.
Writing across the curriculum
University Provost Tom Apple updated senators on initiatives to enhance student writing across the curriculum at UD.
I want to report to you that we had a very good workshop of
department chairs, and we discussed how to advance our agenda with
regard to writing, and each chairperson felt that they had the proper
message to take back to their departments, Apple said. A lot of it
comes down to resource issues and how to best use those resources to
accomplish the writing goals that we have set for our students.
Apple also addressed the issue of academic rigor, with a particular
emphasis on a more comprehensive approach to faculty evaluations and the
effect of current student-based evaluations on possible grade
inflation.
We had a wonderful meeting with the Faculty Senate executive
committee last week to talk about this issue, Apple said. We have an
independent faculty group that is going to meet with the Faculty Senate
executive committee and the coordinating committee to talk about this
issue.
In looking at the latest data on the level of student grade increases
between 2005 and 2009, Apple said student grades during that time have
risen by 0.3 to an average grade point average (GPA) of 3.0.
This is a really rapid increase, and my biggest concern is that we
are not challenging our students enough, Apple said. I have to ask
myself, are our students that much better than they were four years ago?
I think this is something that we have to look at.
Monday's Faculty Senate meeting also included college overviews
presented by Bobby Gempesaw, dean of the Lerner College of Business and
Economics; Kathy Matt, dean of the College of Health Sciences; and Nancy
Targett, dean of the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment.
The next meeting of the UD Faculty Senate is 4 p.m., Monday, Dec. 6, in 104 Gore Hall.
Article by Jerry Rhode
Originally published by UDaily.
