COMMITTEE:                      Calendar

 

MEETING DATE:                January 30, 2008

 

PERSON PRESIDING:         John Crammer

 

ATTENDEES:       Shanan Gibson, Punam Madhok, Johna Faulconer, John Crammer, Linda Teel, Donna Kain, Kathleen Row

 

EX-OFFICIO:        Angela Anderson, Mary Farwell, Ira Lawson

 

VISITORS:            

 

The meeting was called to order at 12:00 noon in Rawl 132 by John Crammer.  Mary Farwell moved (Shanan Gibson seconded) approval of the November 14 as modified.  Motion passed.

 

The committee reviewed the new scheduling practices document.  Angela Anderson said that she had been asked to get concerns about the document from the Calendar Committee and forward the concerns to the Provost this afternoon.  Mary Farwell said that Friday afternoon classes are poorly attended; improvement in attendance would need changes in culture.  Ira Lawson asked whether it is true that there is a UNC system school that does not have Friday classes.  Shanan Gibson said that the graduate Business School at one of the UNC schools does not have Friday classes.  Anderson said that there are problems with classroom space and large classrooms; some large classrooms have classes with 40 students and cannot be bumped.  Farwell is in a department that needs large classrooms which allow combining sections of BIOL 1100.  Kathleen Row expressed concerns about partitioning classrooms.  Anderson stated that authority is needed to control space.  Row liked the idea of having large classrooms assigned to the Provost; departments may have control for some times during the day.  Farwell said that some of the large classes are four hours of lecture with either one hour on four days or two hours on two days.  Lawson has a four hour biology class and the second hour is sometimes a problem.  Row replied that evening classes are three hours long.  Gibson added that business has three hours one night a week classes.  Farwell said the longer classes work for older students.  Lawson asked why BIOL 1100 was four semester hours.  Farwell replied that this was because of the Foundations curriculum requirements.  Lawson asked whether this was from the Board of Governors.  Anderson pointed out that four semester hour classes occupy two time slots.  Row added that breakout session needs multiple classrooms.   Gibson asked about multiple classrooms with different setups for different classrooms.  She also asked about partitioning classrooms.  Anderson said that Bate is in the business partition.  Donna Kain said that computer classrooms are needed for certain classes and film has three or four rooms.  Farwell repeated that she was concerned about Friday afternoons.  She had heard of a class where students don’t show up on Fridays.  Anderson said that the General Administration will require better utilization before they will fund a new building.  Kain said that during her first year here she had 2-3 and 3-4 MWF classes and had trouble with attendance on Fridays (she ended up having to do Fridays on Blackboard).  Kain, Row, and Gibson said they had tests and projects due on Fridays.  Kain said she has colleagues who will teach only on T/Th.  Lawson suggested that Friday is an attendance problem then use technology on Friday; HLTH 1000 meets one day in lecture and one day by technology.  Anderson said that hybrid classes could make rooms available.  Linda Teel and others notes that the real world requires work on Friday.  Lawson said that faculty makes rules that turn off students.  Kain replied that faculty is required to provide a certain amount of time for instruction; when you come to college you make a commitment to do the work.  Row said we need to take into account what types of classes to schedule on Fridays and the instructors to teach them.  Kain said that some service classes have so many sections that they need all possible times; she had talked with Wendy about exam schedules.  Lawson suggested that there be a limit on how late Friday classes can meet.  Anderson pointed out that Distance Ed students are high maintenance on e-mails and others agreed that this is true.

 

The committee next turned to working on the new calendar for 2009-2010 and comparing key dates for other UNC schools.  Anderson asked about changes to the dates for commencement for fall and spring beginning with fall 2008.  Consideration of a Monday start for fall semester was abandoned because faculty convocation must be on Monday.  Classes for fall 2009 will start on Tuesday.  Gibson (who will represent the committee when the proposals are sent to the Faculty Senate) said that she needed a reason to tell the Faculty Senate why we are not proposing an entire week break for Thanksgiving.  Row mentioned that Thanksgiving is too late in the semester for a week off (there are relatively few classes after Thanksgiving).  Kain said the University of Iowa has a week off.  Gibson suggested that parents would prefer the entire week.  Johna Faulconer said that if the week off eliminated the fall break then it is too long until Thanksgiving.  Lawson said some of his friends are for a week off and some are against a week off.  Kain suggested that we look at our peer schools.  At 12:52 the committee agreed to recess until next Wednesday at noon in order to decide whether to approve the proposed calendar in time to make the agenda for the March Faculty Senate meeting.

 

The meeting was resumed in Rawl 132 on Wednesday, February 6, 2008.  The attendees decided to have the entire committee vote by e-mail on the proposed calendar for 2009-2010 (six positive votes required) and send it to the Faculty Senate meeting on March 18.  Gibson conducted the e-mail vote and later reported that the proposal was approved with some editorial changes suggested by Punam Madhok.  Shanan Gibson will represent the committee.  A file with key dates at other UNC schools was distributed.

 

The committee will next meet in April for the report on the results of the Faculty Senate meeting, work on the committee’s annual report, and approval of the minutes of this meeting.  Meeting adjourned at 12:15 pm.