Office of the University Secretary

Academic Programs Committee Reports

Items for Action

New programs and program revisions

1. Double Honours in Geography
The Recommendation and documentation on this proposed Double Honours program is attached. The Academic Programs Committee recommends approval of the following motion:

That Council approve the Double Honours in Geography as described in Appendix One.

2. Deletion of minors in Agriculture
The Recommendation and related documentation on this proposal is attached. The Academic Programs Committee recommends approval of the following motion:

That Council approve deletion of the minors in Agricultural Extension, Environmental Science, Fruit and Vegetable Production, and Ornamental Horticulture, as described in Appendix Two.

Items for Information

Consultation policy
The Committee frequently receives proposals which list consultation with other departments and colleges but do not include memos or other documentation of response, perhaps because the other department had no concerns about the proposal or perhaps because the other department was not given enough time to review the proposal. The Committee agreed to adopt the following policy as an operating procedure:

A reasonable period of time for the proposing department to wait for responses from other departments regarding a program proposal is one month (or three months in the summer). This should allow the responding department to discuss the proposal at a departmental meeting. After one month, the proposing department can presume that the response is favourable and can proceed accordingly.

Other items
At the request of the College of Education, the Committee is reviewing College policies on retaking of courses. A questionnaire has been circulated to colleges asking whether colleges would prefer to have a university-wide policy on retaking of classes for credit. The Committee hopes to be able to report on this issue to the February or March meeting of Council.
The Committee is also doing its annual review of courses which have not been taught for the last five years. Under Council policy such courses are to be deleted, but the Committee has adopted the practice of asking departments and colleges whether there is a reason to retain the course. The Committee expects to report on this to the January meeting of Council.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Committee,
_____________________
Bob Lucas, Chair
Academic Programs Committee of Council

Committee members:
L. Brown, Extension
L. Currie, Library
R. Kushwaha, Agricultural and Bioresource Engineering
G. Hughes, Plant Science
L. Proctor, Curriculum Studies
D. Pennock, Soil Science
S. Reid, Chemistry
N. Senior, Languages and Linguistics
H. Wagg, Sessional Lecturers
S. Shukla, USSU
M. Acharya, GSA
K. Smith, Registrar
P. Melis, Office of the Vice-President (Academic)
M. Evered, Acting Associate Vice-President (Academic)
M. Atkinson, Vice-President (Academic)
P. MacKinnon, President
C. Fornssler, Committee Coordinator (Secretary)