Minutes of the Academic Policies Committee
for January 28, 2008

Minutes of January 28, 2008, as approved Feb. 4, 2008

January 28, 2008 - Advising Center Conference Room The meeting was
called to order at 12:05.

Present: Laura Gellott, chair; Stuart Hansen, Doug DeVinny, Jo-Ann
Goodyear, Rhonda Kimmel, James Kinchen, John Longeway, Ron Otto,
Carley Ravnikar, Carmel Ruffolo, Joy Wolf (in other words, all
present!)

Guest: Charlotte Short

1. Laura Gellott began by reviewing the summary/minutes of the
November
26 meeting which she had sent out earlier today to the members of APC.
She also noted that two items acted upon last semester: new catalog
language regarding the Foreign Language requirement, and new language
regarding the Dean's and Provost's List, had been forwarded to the
Senate for action at the February 5, 2008 meeting.

She also noted that a number of members of APC had attended a meeting
called by the chancellor on December 10, 2007, to discuss concerns
about student conduct which in some cases rose to the level of
intimidation of faculty and staff. A task force is being put together
to look at this issue further. Gellott will press for APC
representation on this task force.

2. Charlotte Short presented the recommendations of the "Chancellor's
Group on Enrollment", i.e. the use of SAT sub-scores for placement
into math, English, and skills courses. We have for the last two
years used ACT scores for this purpose. The "Group: recommends using
SAT scorest for this same purpose for students coming from areas of
the country where the SAT is used instead of the ACT. Charlotte
distribued a memo showing which SAT scores had been established as the
equivalent of the ACT scores and the old Wisconsin Placement Test scores.

In the rare cases where a student had taken both tests, the ACT scores
would have precedence.

APC unanimously approved the recommendation to allow use of SAT scores
fro placement purposes, and will forward this to the Senate.

3. Establishing a "Degree GPA."

This would establish a notation on the transcript indicating what the
cumulative GPA is at the time of graduation/receipt of the degree.

Numbers of students take courses at UW-Parkside AFTER they have graduated.
They do this for a variety of reasons: getting a second major, a
second degree, seeking certification, trying to raise their gpa for
graduate school.

Rhonda Kimmel explained that now the software automatically
recalculates the cumulative GPA, both on a semester by semester basis,
as well as at the bottom of the transcript. Thus, there is no fixed
and fast record of what the cum. GPA was at the time the degree was
awarded. Not only does this situation erase a piece of the historical
record, it gives rise to confusion. Some students have asked to be
granted honors designations retroactively as they have raised their
GPAs. In some rare cases it goes the other way: a 3.5 cum laude
designation remains on the transcript, even as subsequent, post-graduation course work lowers the final GPA shown.

The Registrar's Office is proposing to add a notation to the transcript:
where it shows the date of degree conferral, along with the degree and
major, a note will also indicate, fixed and fast, what the the GPA was
at the time of the conferral of that degree.

Students should be assured that they still have the ability to raise
their GPAs, as they have done in the past, by taking additional
coursework, but there will be this "fixed and fast/frozen" notation of
where the GPA stood at the time of graduation.

Recommendation: "The Registrar's Office should add a notation to the
transcipt indicating the "Degree GPA" -- i.e. the cumulative GPA at
the time of conferral of degree. This notation should be included
with all transcripts of graduates, effective May 2008."

Approved: 7-0-1 abstention.

4. Stuart Hansen suggested that we use the Computer Science
conference
room: MOLN 248-B, in the future: it is roomier than the one in the Advising Center.
[That room is available: we shall meet there from now on.]

Next Meeting: Monday, February 4, 2008.

Agenda: Discussion of Late Drop/Late Add -- difference between, who
authorizes, etc.

Meeting was adjourned at 12:55.

Submitted by:

Laura Gellott