2012 - April 18 Forum on Curriculum
Faculty Forum on the Future of the Curriculum
AUDIO RECORDING HERE - right click and save as to download to your computer
Low quality AUDIO RECORDING HERE (smaller size - lower quality)
Wednesday, April 18
3:00 - 5:00
Stevenson Event Center
(refreshments served 3:00 - 3:30)
The Senate Executive Committee is sponsoring this forum, intended to be the first in a series of campus-wide conversations about the curriculum.
We hope to start to address the following broad questions:
How effectively are our development, planning and implementation of the curriculum, both undergraduate and graduate, being served by campus practices, policies and structure?
How are research and curricular needs aligned with and served by those structures?
This forum is in lieu of the previously scheduled Senate meeting.
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Dear colleagues,
I write to remind you of the upcoming Senate forum on the future of the curriculum (April 18, 3-5 PM Stevenson Event Center). Refreshments will be served 3-3:30, with a panel and open discussion 3:30-5 PM. The forum replaces the scheduled Senate meeting and is intended to be the first of a series of campus-wide conversations about the curriculum that will address the following broad questions:
How effectively are our development, planning and implementation of the curriculum, both undergraduate and graduate, being served by campus practices, policies and structures? How are research and curricular needs aligned with and served by those structures?
We’ve assembled a panel of faculty each of whom was asked to speak for 5-7 minutes on challenges, strategies, successes and failures in their departmental and disciplinary experience, considering how these may be used by other faculty in other departments or interdisciplines.
Barry Bowman (MCD Biology): your department represents one of the largest majors on campus. What strategies have you used successfully to get your students through the major? What planning tools have helped or would help (major maps, degree audit, etc.)?
Ben Carson (Music): your department undertook a curricular review in the last five years. What were the goals, and how has it worked? What do you think are the elements other departments might find most useful from your experience?
Brent Haddad (Environmental Studies): you have experience with developing a thriving and innovative department in Environmental Studies. What strategies have you successfully used to build an interdisciplinary program with both undergraduate and graduate components?
Jorge Hankamer (Linguistics): your department successfully grew what had been a small undergraduate program into two robust undergraduate majors that successfully coordinate with the graduate program. What strategies did you use to create connectivity between the curricular components? How do you use combined graduate/undergrad courses within the curriculum?
Jim Whitehead (Computer Science): your department developed a new interdisciplinary and interdivisional major in Computer Game Design that attracted over 400 students. What were the strategies you used in leading that development, and how are you getting the unexpectedly large number of students through the major?
Alice Yang (History, Provost of Stevenson College): your experience in coordinating with faculty and students from a variety of different departments and divisions has been critical in the advance planning for an interdisciplinary program in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies. What strategies have you used successfully in planning for CRES? How has your provost role also contributed to the early stages of CRES planning? What advice can you offer to other programs wanting to reach across disciplinary and divisional boundaries?
We have invited EVC Alison Galloway and Interim Dean of Physical and Biological Sciences Paul Koch to sit with the panelists and participate in the open discussion.
The goal is to have the kind of collaborative, campus-wide discussions that are not possible in either the departmental or divisional context. We are working to get a bigger and broader audience of faculty (beyond those who generally attend Senate meetings), as well as other interested parties (e.g., college and departmental advisors). Your collective participation will be critical to the success of this event and beyond.
I look forward to seeing you on April 18, 3-5 PM, Stevenson Event Center.
Sincerely,
Susan Gillman, Chair
Academic Senate
Santa Cruz Division
