COMMITTEE: Calendar
MEETING DATE: October 1, 2003
PERSON PRESIDING: John Crammer
ATTENDEES: Stephen Dock, Ginger Woodard, Brenda Eastman, Jeff Phipps, John Crammer, Punam Madhok
EX-OFFICIO: Amy Bissette (for Angela Anderson), Mary Farwell, Nancy House, Shannon O’Donnell
VISITORS: Rick Niswander
Meeting was called to order at 3:30 pm in Rawl 106 by John Crammer. The purpose of this special meeting is to discuss and decide making up missed days and minutes for classes that were missed due to hurricane Isabel.
Crammer said that Rick Niswander planned to be at the meeting. Members of the committee asked whether we have to make up the days. Crammer responded that Niswander had told him that Wilmington is making up their missed days by canceling Reading Day and adding minutes to some classes. We also need to get back to the 750 minutes per credit hour mandated by the university system. After discussing the situation with Niswander, the response is that “yes, we should make up the missed days”. Crammer has also been told that Pitt Community College is making up the days by canceling Fall Break. Niswander and Crammer had considered the wisdom of canceling Fall Break or using the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and decided against both of those actions.
Rick Niswander joined the meeting. He told the committee that whatever the committee decides is what will be done subject to approval by the Faculty Senate. Niswander told the committee that its recommendation will say things about East Carolina University as follows: Wilmington is attempting to make up the missed classes. Our response will be a partial answer as to whether the university values education. Do we want to make a reasonable accommodation to the 750-minute requirement. If we don’t do anything when two and a half days are missed, when do we do something?
We can make up the missed Friday. Thursday night classes could be made up at night on the make up day. Mary Farwell said that a colleague had asked whether we are making up the missed time. Crammer suggested that the committee develop a policy for making up missed days. Niswander asked if we miss only one day do we make it up. Part of the proposed revision to the Fall 2003 calendar is to move the last day to drop a class from Monday, October 6 to Wednesday, October 8 since two days of classes were missed before the last day for dropping classes. Niswander pointed out that the Faculty Senate has to approve any changes. The committee considered a proposal that had been studied by Crammer and Niswander to make up the missed Friday on Thursday, December 11 and move the exams on that day to either the next Friday (December 19) or Saturday, December 13 which is commencement. The Registrar’s office had checked the system and found that only 26 students who are graduating would have exams on that day (10, 1, or 4 TTh classes). The proposal had the missed Thursday class made up by extending 75-minute TTh classes by 5 minutes starting after fall break; Thursday night classes would meet 20 minutes longer (170 minutes rather than 150 minutes), and MTWTh classes could make up the missed 50 minutes by meeting on a Friday or meeting slightly longer on some days. A suggested modification was to make up the missed Friday on a Saturday as was done in making up a class day after Hurricane Floyd in 1999. After some discussion, by a show of hands the committee preferred the Saturday choice over the Thursday choice by 7 to 2. The committee settled on the Saturday of the last full week of classes (December 6) as the make up day for the missed Friday. Jeff Phipps moved, Ginger Woodard seconded, approval of the modified proposal to adjust the drop date, the method of making up minutes for Thursday classes, and using Saturday, December 6 as the make up day for Friday classes. Motion passed. Jeff Phipps agreed to present the committee’s proposal to the Faculty Senate next Tuesday.
The next regular committee meeting will be Wednesday, October 8, 2002 at 3:30 as already scheduled.
Meeting adjourned at 4:30 pm.
