AP&P Committee FY2022 Final Report


The AP&P Committee had 5 committee meetings and held 14 hearings for program discontinuance during FY22.

Specific Charges

Specific Charge 1

As of June 3, 2021, there are five programs that will require academic program discontinuance hearings.  (as of 9/9/21 there are 14)

Actions

The committee held 14 hearings for active academic program discontinuance and reviewed 6 inactive degrees or certificates.  The hearings took place over a 3 week time period from September 29 – to October 14, 2021.  The following recommendations were sent to University Senate on November 5, 2021.

Recommendations for Discontinuance
  • Inactive Programs
    • Elder Law Certificate Program, School of Law
    • BA in Design, School of Architecture and Design
    • BSE in Sports Science, School of Education and Human Sciences
    • Graduate Certificate in Sports Management and Media, School of Journalism and Mass Communication
    • Undergraduate Certificate in World Literature, Humanities Department
    • Dual-title P.h.D in Gerontology and Communication Studies
  • Active Certificates
    • Graduate Certificate in Pillars of Business
    • Graduate Certificate in Marketing
    • Graduate Certificate in Finance
    • Graduate Certificate in Human Resource Management
    • Graduate Certificate in Management and Leadership
    • Graduate Certificate in Foundations of Business
    • Foundations for Graduate Study in US Institutions Graduate Certificate
    • Research Experience Program: Undergraduate Certificate awarded through Academic Success
    • Science management Graduate Certificate (Edwards Campus)
    • World Business Culture Undergraduate Certificate
  • Active Degrees
    • BA/BGS in Classical Antiquity, BA/BGS in Classical Languages, Minor in Classics (plan is to considated the majors into one major with 5 concentrations)
    • BA, MA, and Co-Major in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (plan is to merge degrees with the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Languages and Literatures (SELL)
    • Co-Major in European Studies (plan is to be a concentration in the BA degree within GIST)
    • BS Biology (replaced with two new BS degrees BS in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and BS in Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology)
    • BA, MA, PhD in German Studies (plan is to merge German students with SELL and be renamed to Slavic, German and Eurasian Studies (SGES)).  They will offer German as a concentration.
Recommendations for the Continuance of Active Degrees
  • BA in Humanities, Minor in Humanities, Minor in Peace and Conflict Studies
  • MA in East Asian Studies
  • BA, MA, BGS and Graduate Certificate in Latin American and Caribbean Studies
  • BA and MA in Visual Art Education
  • Dual-title Ph.D. in Gerontology & Sociology and  Dual-title PhD in Gerontology & Psychology, with The continued suspension of applicants to the PhD in Gerontology until the program can hire faculty to support the program

University Senate Meet on December 2, 2021, and accepted all recommendations of AP&P and forwarded recommendations to the provost. 

The Provost accepted all discontinuance recommendations but recommended discontinuing all programs that were recommended for continuance.

Specific Charge 2

Evaluate including religious observations as an excused absence to USRR on final examinations.

Actions

  • The committee met on 2/11/2022 to discuss this charge.
  • The committee recommended the following addition to University Senate Rules and Regulation Article I. Section 3. Final Examination Schedules: "1.3.12 Students shall be excused from being present for the final examination in the event of a mandated religious observance.  In order to ascertain if the final examination conflicts with a mandated religious observance, the instructor shall ask students who may be affected to identify themselves privately so that a make-up examination may be scheduled at a mutually acceptable time. It is the responsibility of the student to initiate discussion with the instructor prior to the examination.  The instructor and student shall come to a mutually agreeable method of making up the missed examination."
  • Rationale: The USRR identifies mandated religious observances that conflict with an examination and tests other than final examinations, students should be allowed to make-up the examination.  The amendment also gives the same allowance to final examinations. 
  • This prosed amendment was forward to Senex and approved by University Senate on April 28, 2022.  Will enter public comment phase into the Fall 2022

Specific Charge 3

Evaluate a permanent change to policies and procedures disallowing students to withdraw or change their grading scale to credit/no credit for a course due to a finding of academic misconduct with the sanction of “reduction of grade for the course.

Actions

  • The committee met on 2/11/2022 to discuss this charge.
  • The committee recommended the following addition to University Senate Rules 2.6.5: "Reduction of grade for the Course: Reduction of grade may include the assignment of an F in the course. If the charged student dropped or withdrew from the course prior to the outcome of the adjudication, the course will be reinstated and assigned the grade as determined by the outcome of the hearing.  No student is allowed to change their grade to credit/no credit if found responsible of academic misconduct with the sanction of a reduction of grade for the course."
  • This prosed amendment was forward to Senex and approved by University Senate on April 28, 2022.  Will enter public comment phase into the Fall 2022

Standing Charges

Standing Charge 1

Be prepared to respond to SenEx requests for reviews of academic policy issues.

Actions

  • The committee received a charge in December 2022 toevaluate the new KBOR credit cap and FSRR 2.5
    • Background: The KBOR voted to redefine a Baccalaureate Degree at their November 2021 meeting.  The amendment gives universities permission to accept community college credits for all lower-division courses (or up to 75 credits for a 120-credit-hour Baccalaureate Degree), but only if the university and community college enter into a transfer agreement in accordance with (d). 
    • The committee meet on 2/11/2022 and 3/11/2022 to discuss the charge.  At the 3/11/2022, Shannon Portillo, Associate dean of academic affairs for the KU- Edwards Campus came to discuss the success of the pilot program with JCCC and the Edwards Campus.  Other invited guests attended the meeting from admissions, enrollment management and student information services.  Below are key points from the discussion
      • Previously KBOR had a cap that limited transfers of Community/Junior colleges credits (CC) to 60 hours.  This cap does not exist for transfers from other 4-year colleges.  Example - Students can take the exact same class at a 4 Year college or CC, if they already have 60 credit hours complete, they would be able to transfer the course from a 4-year college but not CC
      • Concern that this policy created some unintentional equity issues as students at CCs are more likely to be first-generation and students of color.
    • The committee voted on 3/11/22 to amend FSRR 2.5.4 to the following:
      • 2.5.4 No more than sixty-four semester hours may be transferred as credit from a community or junior college unless the University of Kansas enters into a transfer agreement in accordance with the definition of a baccalaureate degree in KBOR policy Ch. 3, Section 9b part ii (2).
    • The amendment was discussed and voted on April 21, 2022, at the Faculty Senate meeting. The motion passed.

Suggested Charge for Next Year

Evaluate our Academic Forgiveness policies and compare to other peer institutions.  Consider policy similar to Witchita state Transition Semester, Academic Forgiveness < CourseLeaf (wichita.edu)

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

Karen Moeller, PharmD., BCPP

Chair Academic Policy and Procedure Committee

Clinical Professor, Pharmacy Practice