Academic Senate passes bachelor of arts restructure in 52-48 percent difference
The Academic Senate meets on April 24 in Pearce Hall.
Academic Senate passed the Main Motion for Bachelor of the Arts (B.A.) protocol in a tight vote of 52-48 percent.
Academic Senate met for the final time of Spring 2018 April 24 in Pearce Hall. The focus of the discussion was on B.A. requirement reform and restructuring.
The original Substitute Motion in discussion featured two new amendments requiring prospective B.A. undergraduates to take more foreign language and/or American Sign Language courses.
The motion would require students to attain 18 credit hours in 100 to 500 leveled courses in the fields of liberal and fine arts. The disciplines consist of programs such as ASL, Arabic, broadcast and cinematic arts, dance, religion and others.
The foreign language requirement would have demanded the completion of any 102 course or higher in the field.
This motion was introduced by Jonathon Russell, chair of Art and Design at Central Michigan University.
Russell said after receiving no support from his department, he was instructed to withdrawal his motion and remove his narrative.
Russell said he hoped this would leave a new substitute up for discussion by other departments until present time.
Student Government Association Senator Morgan Clark suggested a new Substitute Motion to be reviewed.
Clark said it will be essentially the same motion but with the addition of the following courses to the Liberal and Fine Art designations:
- Anthropology
- Communications
- Cultural and Global Studies
- Political Science
- Portuguese
- Psychology
- Sociology
- Women and Gender Studies
"There was a lot of debate over what we wanted included in all of this," Clark said, regarding discussion in the Student Government Association. "Although we've taken a lot of these classes, none of us are experts in these fields."
She said the initial debate in creating these motions is on what is the distinctive definitions of an art and a science.
"(There) is no pure answer to that," she said.
Senator Mary Senter, of sociology, anthropology and social work, said although she appreciates student input, she emphasizes focusing on the expertise of the departments that will be most affected by a B.A. motion.
"I think we need to honor and we need to respect (the) expertise of the faculty who are closest to these fields," Senter said, referencing her colleagues in the Department of English Language and Literature, Department of History and Department of Philosophy and Religion.
Senter said the Academic Senate is a collection of central, curricular bodies responsible for maintaining quality and rigor throughout the university. She said this mission is only possibly by listening to colleagues and emphasizing with the faculty that make up the departments affected by reform.
"I’m not going to vote against departments who know what’s best for their students who are supporting rigor," Senter said. "Which means that I’m opposed to this substitute portion."
Senator Tracy Davis of the English Language and Literature department said that the Main Motion is better supported due to being more rigorous and demanding of students.
In order to attain a B.A. degree under the Main Motion, students must complete a minimum of 120 credit hours, consisting of at least 40 courses in the 300 level or higher.
Share:
