Guidelines for further studies classes to go to faculty

By Amy Geiszler-Jones

The Faculty Senate approved a request by the general education committee to present proposed guidelines for further studies classes to the faculty.

The guidelines will go before the general faculty during a 3 p.m. March 12 meeting in 208 Hubbard Hall.

The general education committee wants to have some sort of policy on the further studies component. The current policy of allowing departments to list any course as such has led to a proliferation of further studies courses listed in the catalog.

“We need some tools for cleaning up our act with regards to further studies courses,” said general education committee chair Delores Craig-Moreland. A report from the North Central Accreditation Agency, faculty retreats and student evaluations all pointed to that weakness in the program.

Among the proposed guidelines, which are available online, www.twsu.edu/~senate under the Faculty Senate Feb. 8 agenda: Departments must specify the introductory or preceding courses, further studies courses must be offered at least once every three years and the schedule of courses should indicate the next semester a further studies course will be offered in order to assist students and advisers in planning.

In other business:

^• The senate has asked Sens. Diane Huntley and Will Klunder, and other faculty if necessary, to meet with President Beggs over continued concerns about the proposed parking plan. Huntley and Klunder had been the faculty representatives on a parking task force that concluded its meetings Feb. 5. Concerns include a survey of students, alleged to be invalid, that may have played a part in the task force’s tie vote on whether to save the Heskett Center playing fields.

^• An invitation has been extended to Board of Regents member Harry Craig to visit Faculty Senate at its next meeting at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 22.