The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its' Meeting #45 on
November 15, 1993:
MOTION PASSED (15 yes, 9 no, 3 abstentions)
==============
The UAF Faculty Senate moves to rescind the policy to assign
plus/minus grades.
EFFECTIVE: Immediately
Upon Chancellor Approval
Signed: B. D. Spell, President, UAF Faculty Senate Date: 11/16/93
APPROVED: Joan Wadlow, Chancellor Date: 11/18/93
-----------------------------------------------------------
The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its' Meeting #45 on
November 15, 1993:
RESOLUTION PASSED (1 abstention)
==================
WHEREAS, The University of Alaska Board of Regents is presently
revising the procedures for conferring honorary degrees, and
WHEREAS, The UAF Faculty Senate has been requested to review the
recommendations to the draft procedures for conferring honorary
degrees,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, That the UAF Faculty Senate
recommends that Draft Policy A, Paragraph 2 include wording about
an individual's contribution to a discipline and that the criteria not
be limited to "significant and lasting contribution to the University
and/or State of Alaska," and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the UAF Faculty Senate recommends
the Board of Regents appoint a representative(s) to serve on the
Honorary Degree Committees of the respective campuses so as to
review files and deliberate on nominations, rather than creating a
separate committee to do so independently of the campus
committees. This will encourage dialogue and permit a joint effort
between the Board of Regents and the committees, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the UAF Faculty Senate reaffirms
that it is the faculty's prerogative to review and recommend
candidates for honorary degrees.
Signed: B. D. Spell, President, UAF Faculty Senate Date: 11/16/93
-------------------------------------------------------------
The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its' Meeting #45 on
November 15,1993:
MOTION PASSED (w/2 nays)
==============
The UAF Faculty Senate moves to amend the Baccalaureate Core
Curriculum Guidelines for Oral Communication Intensive Courses.
EFFECTIVE: Upon Chancellor Approval
RATIONALE: The first two year's experience with Oral
Intensive courses under the Core Curriculum has shown
that the guidelines for designating a course as "O"
intensive are applicable to a number of different courses
across a variety of disciplines. But it has also become
apparent that is difficult to meet the guidelines in other
courses that regularly have large enrollments, because of
the demands on classroom time. To address this problem
we offer the following clarifications of the existing
guidelines for Oral Intensive courses, with the addition
of a new section of the guidelines (5) specifically for
courses that regularly enroll a large number of students
(20 or more).
A classroom organized under this new section of the
guidelines would fulfill one half of the oral intensive
requirement, to be indicated in the Catalog by the new
designation "0/2." Students would have to take TWO
courses with this new designation to meet the Oral
Intensive requirement, whereas a single course
designated "O" would be sufficient.
Apart from the addition of this new section to the
guidelines, they remain as previously structured, except
for clarifications in terms of the size of class to which
they would likely apply. In particular, section 4 of the
guidelines, formerly identified as "technical," is now
correctly identified as pertaining primarily to small
classes (under 12 students), as originally intended.
These guidelines were approved by the Faculty of the
Department of Speech Communication on October 5,1993,
and by the Core Review Committee on October 6, 1993.
Signed: B. D. Spell, President, UAF Faculty Senate Date: 11/16/93
APPROVED: Joan Wadlow, Chancellor Date: 11/18/93
CURRENT GUIDELINES:
-------------------
GUIDELINES FOR CORE ORAL COMMUNICATION INTENSIVE DESIGNATOR:
1. General Guidelines:
a. A minimum of 15% of the final course grade should be
based on effectiveness of oral communication. This
minimum is proposed so that a student's failure to attend
to the oral communication aspects of his or her work in
an "O" designated course will have an important effect on
his or her final grade for the course, while at the same
time not overshadowing the importance of subject
matter mastery.
b. Attention to oral communication in "O" designated
courses must be developmental, in that students need the
opportunity (i) to receive intermediate instructor
assistance in developing presentational competency,
(ii) to utilize their communication competency across
the span of the semester, not just in a final project, and
(iii) to receive instructor feedback on the success of
their efforts at each stage.
c. Exceptions to these guidelines may be made by the Core
Review Subcommittee because of unique circumstances
in individual departments.
2. Specific Guidelines for "O" Designated Courses Emphasizing
Oral Communication in Public Contexts:
a. Each student must be involved in the individual
preparation and delivery of at least 3 course related
presentations of at least 5 minutes duration each, to an
audience of at least 12 persons. ~
b. At least one presentation must involve questions from
the audience and responses by the presenter.
c. All presentations must have a clear introduction-body-
conclusion organization, appropriate to the discipline.
d. All presentations should receive evaluation by the
instructor on oral communication competency (including
responsiveness to audience questions), as well as on
subject mastery.
e. Students must receive, as part of the course structure,
information/instruction on effective speaking, on
organization of material for effective presentation, and
on development and use of media and visual aids.
3. Specific Guidelines for "O" Designated Courses Emphasizing
Oral Communication in Group Contexts:
a. Each student must be involved in at least one ongoing
group project or team of 5 to 8 members, with the group
spanning 4 to 7 weeks duration. Group projects must be a
coordinated, integrated effort by the group members, not
simply 5 to 8 individual projects put together.
b. Each student must present both an intermediate and a
final presentation on an aspect of the group's work
during the span of the project or team.
c. Both presentations must be at least 5 minutes in length,
must be given to an audience (e.g., the rest of the class),
must be integrated with the presentation of the other
group members, and must include additional time for a
question and answer period.
d. Each presentation should receive evaluation by the
instructor on oral communication competency, as well as
on subject mastery. In addition, the instructor should
evaluate the degree of coherence in the overall
presentation of the entire group. Students should receive
both an individual and group grade for the presentation.
e. Students must receive, as part of the course structure,
information/instruction on how groups function most
effectively, on organization of material for effective
presentation, and on development and use of media and
visual aids.
4. Specific Guidelines for "O" Designated courses Emphasizing
Oral Communication in Technical Presentation Contexts:
a. Each student must be involved in the preparation and
delivery either of 2 or more course related presentations
of at least 20 minutes duration each or of 3 or more
presentations of at least 10 minutes duration each. It is
highly desirable and strongly encouraged for the benefit
of the student that one of the presentations be to an
audience of 12 or more. The remaining presentations need
to be to an audience of 5 or more. It is also desirable
that the presentation to the larger group be given in a
large auditorium and involve the use of a public address
system.
b. All presentations must involve question and answer
interaction with at least one assigned respondent, with
questions by other audience members encouraged.
c. In a course with 3 presentations, it is highly desirable
that one of the three presentations be video-taped,
either in or outside of class. Such video taped
presentations need to involve at least the presenter and
the respondent, and must be viewed by these individuals
with the instructor present to provide feedback on oral
communication effectiveness in the presentation and
response.
d. For individual presentations that relate to a common
theme or project, it is highly desirable that the
presentations be organized in a panel format, with a
student moderator.
e. All presentations must have a clear introduction-body-
conclusion organization, appropriate to the discipline.
f. At least one presentation must involve the development
and use of appropriate visual aids, and it is desirable
that all presentations do so.
g. All presentations should receive evaluation by the
instructor on oral communication competency (including
responsiveness to audience questions), as well as on
subject mastery .
h. Students must receive, as part of the course structure,
information/instruction on effective speaking, effective
responding, organization of material for effective
presentation, and on development and use of media and
visual aids. If thematic panels are used, students should
also receive instruction on panel/symposium and
moderator techniques.
**Research in Speech Communication, as well as in Social
Psychology, shows that in interaction with groups smaller than 10-
11 persons, communicators are able to keep track of others as
individual persons and to adjust their communication efforts
accordingly, much as they do when interacting with only one or two
others. In groups of 10-11 or more individuals, this ability rapidly
diminishes, so that 12 persons is a recognized minimum audience for
developing the competencies needed in public communication
contexts, as opposed to those required in small group communication
contexts.
AMENDED GUIDELINES:
-------------------
GUIDELINES FOR CORE ORAL COMMUNICATION INTENSIVE DESIGNATOR:
1 . General Guidelines:
a. A minimum of 15% of the final course grade should be
based on effectiveness of oral communication. This
minimum is proposed so that a student's failure to attend
to the oral communication aspects of his or her work in
an "O" designated course will have an important effect on
his or her final grade for the course, while at the same
time not overshadowing the importance of subject
matter mastery.
b. Attention to oral communication in "O" designated
courses must be developmental, in that students need the
opportunity (i) to receive intermediate instructor
assistance in developing presentational competency, (ii)
to utilize their communication competency across the
span of the semester, not just in a final project, and (iii)
to receive instructor feedback on the success of their
efforts at each stage.
C. THESE GUIDELINES DISTINGUISH BETWEEN COURSES
EMPHASIZING GROUP PROJECTS AND THOSE EMPHASIZING
PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS. THE GUIDELINES FOR COURSES
EMPHASIZING PUBLIC COMMUNICATION ARE FURTHER
DIVIDED ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS
REGULARLY ENROLLING IN A GIVEN COURSE, I.E., SMALL
CLASS (LESS THAN 12 STUDENTS), MEDIUM OR LARGE
CLASS (AT LEAST 12 STUDENTS), AND LARGE CLASS (AT
LEAST 20 STUDENTS). **NOTE SPECIFICALLY THAT UNDER
GUIDELINE 5 FOR A LARGE CLASS, A GIVEN COURSE
FULFILLS ONLY HALF OF THE "O" INTENSIVE REQUIREMENT,
SO THAT A STUDENT MUST TAKE TWO SUCH COURSES
(HENCE THE DESIGNATION "0/2"). UNDER EACH OF THE
OTHER SETS OF GUIDELINES, A SINGLE COURSE WOULD
FULFILL THE "O" REQUIREMENT.
D. Exceptions to these guidelines may be made by the Core
Review Subcommittee because of unique circumstances
in individual departments.
2. SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR "O" DESIGNATED COURSES
EMPHASIZING GROUP COMMUNICATION IN MEDIUM OR LARGE
CLASS CONTEXTS:
a. Each student must be involved in at least one ongoing
group project or team of 5 to 8 members, with the group
spanning 4 to 7 weeks duration. Group projects must be a
coordinated, integrated effort by the group members, not
simply 5 to 8 individual projects put together.
b. Each student must present both an intermediate and a
final presentation on an aspect of the group's work
during the span of the project or team.
c. Both presentations must be at least 5 minutes in length,
must be given to an audience (e.g., the rest of the class),
must be integrated with the presentation of the other
group members, and must include additional time for a
question and answer period.
d. Each presentation should receive evaluation by the
instructor on oral communication competency, as well as
on subject mastery. In addition, the instructor should
evaluate the degree of coherence in the overall
presentation of the entire group. Students should receive
both an individual and group grade for the presentation.
e. Students must receive, as part of the course structure,
information/instruction on how groups function most
effectively, on organization of material for effective
presentation, and on development and use of media and
visual aids.
3. SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR "O" DESIGNATED COURSES
EMPHASIZING PUBLIC COMMUNICATION IN MEDIUM OR LARGE
CLASS CONTEXTS (REGULARLY ENROLLING AT LEAST 12
STUDENTS):**
a. Each student must be involved in the individual
preparation and delivery of at least 3 course related
presentations of at least 5 minutes duration each, to an
audience of at least 12 persons.**
b. At least one presentation must involve questions from
the audience and responses by the presenter.
c. All presentations must have a clear introduction-body-
conclusion organization, appropriate to the discipline.
d. All presentations should receive evaluation by the
instructor on oral communication competency (including
responsiveness to audience questions), as well as on
subject mastery .
e. Students must receive, as part of the course structure,
information/instruction on effective speaking, on
organization of material for effective presentation, and
on development and use of media and visual aids.
4. SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR "O" DESIGNATED COURSES
EMPHASIZING PUBLIC COMMUNICATION IN SMALL CLASS
CONTEXTS (REGULARLY ENROLLING LESS THAN 12 STUDENTS):
a. Each student must be involved in the preparation and
delivery either of 2 or more course related presentations
of at least 20 minutes duration each or of 3 or more
presentations of at least 10 minutes duration each. It is
highly desirable and strongly encouraged for the benefit
of the student that one of the presentations be to an
audience of 12 or more. The remaining presentations need
to be to an audience of 5 or more. It is also desirable
that the presentation to the larger group be given in a
large auditorium and involve the use of a public address
system.
b. All presentations must involve question and answer
interaction. AS APPROPRIATE FOR THE DISCIPLINE, IT IS
HIGHLY DESIRABLE THAT THERE BE at least one assigned
respondent, with questions by other audience members
encouraged.
c. In a course with 3 presentations, it is highly desirable
that one of the three presentations be video-taped,
either in or outside of class. Such video taped
presentations need to involve at least the presenter and
the respondent, and must be viewed by these individuals
with the instructor present to provide feedback on oral
communication effectiveness in the presentation and
response.
d. For individual presentations that relate to a common
theme or project, it is highly desirable that the
presentations be organized in a panel format, with a
student moderator.
e. All presentations must have a clear introduction-body-
conclusion organization, appropriate to the discipline.
f. At least one presentation must involve the development
and use of appropriate visual aids, and it is desirable
that all presentations do so.
g. All presentations should receive evaluation by the
instructor on oral communication competency (including
responsiveness to audience questions), as well as on
subject mastery .
h. Students must receive, as part of the course structure,
information/instruction on effective speaking, effective
responding, organization of material for effective
presentation, and on development and use of media and
visual aids. If thematic panels are used, students should
also receive instruction on panel/symposium and
moderator techniques.
5. SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR "0/2" DESIGNATED COURSES
EMPHASIZING PUBLIC COMMUNICATION IN LARGE CLASS
CONTEXTS (REGULARLY ENROLLING 20 OR MORE STUDENTS):
A. EACH STUDENT MUST TAKE AT LEAST TWO "0/2"
DESIGNATED COURSES TO MEET THE CORE CURRICULUM
REQUIREMENT FOR ORAL INTENSIVE COURSEWORK.
B. EACH STUDENT MUST BE INVOLVED IN THE INDIVIDUAL
PREPARATION AND DELIVERY OF AT LEAST 2 COURSE
RELATED PRESENTATIONS ONE OF AT LEAST 5 MINUTES
DURATION AND ONE OF AT LEAST 8-10 MINUTES
DURATION, TO AN AUDIENCE OF ABOUT 20 PERSONS.
C. THE 8-10 MINUTE PRESENTATION, MUST BE A FORMAL
INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION, AND MUST INVOLVE
QUESTIONS FROM THE AUDIENCE AND RESPONSES BY THE
PRESENTER.
D. ALL PRESENTATIONS MUST HAVE A CLEAR INTRODUCTION-
BODY-CONCLUSION ORGANIZATION, APPROPRIATE TO THE
DISCIPLINE.
E. ALL PRESENTATIONS SHOULD RECEIVE EVALUATION BY
THE INSTRUCTOR ON ORAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCY
(INCLUDING RESPONSIVENESS TO AUDIENCE QUESTIONS),
AS WELL AS ON SUBJECT MASTERY.
F. STUDENTS MUST RECEIVE, AS PART OF THE COURSE
STRUCTURE, INFORMATION/INSTRUCTION ON EFFECTIVE
SPEAKING, ON ORGANIZATION OF MATERIAL FOR
EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION, AND ON DEVELOPMENT AND USE
OF MEDIA AND VISUAL AIDS.
**Research in Speech Communication, as well as in Social
Psychology, shows that in interaction with groups smaller than 10-
11 persons, communicators are able to keep track of others as
individual persons and to adjust their communication efforts
accordingly, much as they do when interacting with only one or two
others. In groups of 10-11 or more individuals, this ability rapidly
diminishes, so that 12 persons is a recognized minimum audience for
developing the competencies needed in public communication
contexts, as opposed to those required in small group communication
contexts.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
PROPOSED CLARIFICATION OF CATALOG DESCRIPTION OF "O" AND "W":
The description of the Oral Intensive requirement on page 24 of the
1993-94 Catalog needs to be modified to make students aware of
the distinction between courses designated as "O" and "0/2."
Current Language:
Two designated writing intensive courses (w) and one oral
communication intensive course (o) at the upper division level
(see degree and/or major requirements).......O additional credits
Proposed Language:
Two writing intensive courses designated (w), and either one
oral communication intensive course designated (o) or two oral
communication intensive courses designated (o/2), at the
upper division level (see degree and/or major requirements)
.............O additional credits
UA