Present: Beth Basista, Jeanne Fraker, Jeff Gardner, Myrna Gifford, Carol Holdcraft, Joe Law, Jan Maxwell, Anne Runyan, Tom Sav, Joe Slater, Donald Swanson.

Approved Minutes of January 7, 1998 UCAPC meeting.

Reconsideration of Proposed Minor in Air Force Studies

Captain Frank McVay, Department of Air Force Studies and Dr. Lillie Howard, Associate Provost, attending at the invitation of the committee, provided an overview of the proposed minor and the ROTC program and addressed issues raised by committee members. After much discussion, the committee approved the proposed minor subject to revision. The current course options listed as satisfying 14 hours of electives are to be revised so as to include courses that address diversity. The committee also suggests that the department consider requiring students to complete one diversity course. Several committee members continued to have concern with the proposed minor, including the relationship between the academic status of the department and a newly created academic program.

Modification of Existing Course Drop Policy

The committee continued its discussion of the course drop policy in relation to the course add/registration policy, class attendance, course add waiting lists, and the improvement of the teaching and learning environment. It was recommended and approved that the course drop policy be modified as follows:

Recommended Addition to Policy:

At the discretion of the instructor,

For classes that meet two or more times a week, a student who is absent from the first class may be dropped from a course unless the student notifies the instructor or department of her or his intention to continue with enrollment in the course at least 12 hours in advance of the second class meeting.

For classes that meet once a week, a student who is absent from the first class may be dropped from a course unless the student notifies the instructor or department of her or his intention to continue with enrollment in the class prior to the first class meeting.

For differently scheduled classes, the student should contact the registrar for specific drop policies due to absence from classes.

Non-Standard Sessions:

For quarters, sessions, and classes that span a period of time different from the standard ten week quarter, the Registrar will prorate the Drop Policy.

Implementation: Fall quarter 1998.

Course Modification and Inventory Requests

Military Science -- Approved:

COLA -- Approved:

COSM -- Approved:

* approved subject to verification of catalog inconsistency

Proposal On Courses Repeated for Credit

The committee reviewed the proposal submitted by Bill Rickert to systematically identify and designate courses in the inventory and catalog that can be repeated for credit. The proposal was approved. Departments, colleges, and units should not have to submit course inventory or modification requests in carrying out this task. Rather, a list of courses along with a repeat status designation can be generated for each department and submitted to the registrar.

Implementation of a Plus/Minus Grade Policy

The committee continued its review and consideration of implementing a plus/minus grading policy. It was reported that registrar offices generally anticipate a high volume of grade changes under a plus/minus system. In reviewing Ohio universities that have implemented a plus/minus system, it was noted that Miami University recently (approximately 1995) converted to a plus/minus system. Individuals at the Miami U Registrar Office were contacted. It was reported that they did anticipate a high volume of grade changes following the faculty's vote to convert to plus/minus grades. However, while grade changes did increase, the anticipated volume never materialized. At its next meeting the committee will further consider the possibility of a plus/minus grading system and continue its review of other Ohio universities grading policies as follows:

Grade Policy
Ohio Universities*




No Plus/Minus Grades Bowling Green State University Central State University Cleveland State University** Kent State University University of Cincinnati Wright State University Youngstown State University

Plus/Minus Grading System Miami University Ohio State University Ohio University University of Akron University of Toledo


Typical Plus/Minus System***

Grade	A	A-	B+	B	B-	C+	C	C-	D+	D	D-	F
Points	4.00	3.67	3.33	3.00	2.67	2.33	2.00	1.67	1.33	1.00	0.67	0.00


--------------------------------------------

* Information based on available university WWW sites and catalogs - not verified for accuracy.

** Additional grades of B+, C+, D+ for 8 credit hour courses in the First College Program in the College of Arts and Sciences.

*** Miami University grade policy includes A+, 4.0 points. In addition, plus and minus grades carry a 0.3 and a 0.7 instead of a 0.33 and 0.67, respectively.

Note: Course grading policy is the prerogative of the individual instructor. Policies obviously vary widely. An example of a plus/minus grading policy using the 10 point scale is:

Grade	A	A-	B+	B	B-	C+	C	C-	D+	D	D-	F
Range	93-100	90-92	87-89	83-86	80-82	77-79	73-76	70-72	67-69	63-66	60-62	0-59

Next UCAPC Meeting

The committee scheduled its next meeting for Wednesday, February 11, 1998 in 032 Rike Hall.