27 September - clarification of Community Time

To: Faculty

From: Joan Kopperud

The September 29 Community Time set aside for advising is to be planned by individual advisors. Advisees have not been notified about this advising opportunity, so advisors are to initiate the contact. If a classroom space is needed to accommodate a large group advisee meeting, go to < http://student.cord.edu/dept/info/scheduling/checklist.shtml > to make a room reservation.

The Four-Year Plan for Academic Advising at Concordia College offers suggestions for the kinds of discussions faculty may want to begin with their advisees, but faculty should plan Community Time in a way that best serves their advisor-advisee relationships. For example, some faculty plan to meet their advisees as a large group, while others plan to meet with groups of freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior advisees. Some faculty are inviting individual advisees to make appointments over the next few days, including during the September 29 Community Time.

Thank you for your ongoing efforts to continue to develop a strong advisor-advisee relationship with your advisees.

22 September - Academic Affairs Administrative Assistants

To the Concordia Community,

This is for your information regarding the location and duties of the administrative assistants in Academic Affairs. Deb Mund decided to apply for and was offered an opening in the Student Affairs office and I wish Deb the best as she serves Concordia students in this new area. Rather than hiring a replacement, I asked the administrative assistants, Nonnie Tangen, Shanda Schmidt & Pat Bastion, to discuss how we might meet our needs without hiring another person. It was decided that Pat and Shanda would re-locate into the Academic Affairs office in Lorentzsen Hall. This will meet the needs of having more than one administrative assistant in the office, will bring the Division Chairs into the Academic Affairs office on a regular basis which will improve communication, and will allow for the three administrative assistants to more easily communicate.

Duties are roughly the same according to the plan developed last year. Nonnie Tangen will be my administrative assistant and will be responsible for my scheduling as well as continue to be responsible for contracts. Pat Bastion will continue to be the administrative assistant for Mark Covey and Marilyn Guy as well as work on her duties related to academic events. She will be located at the front desk. Shanda Schmidt will work with Jim Aageson, Jim Coomber, and Gregg Muilenburg as well as work on adjunct contracts and faculty development funds. She will be located back by Kay Schneider’s office.

I want to publicly thank Pat and Shanda for making the move into Academic Affairs. This will help in communication and functioning in Academic Affairs.

Mark Krejci

21 September - Faculty Opportunities for International Education Leadership

Concordia faculty are invited to submit applications for the second round of 2006-07 International Program Grants (IPGs). Sixteen $2,5000 grants are available for use between January 1 and May 31, 2007. For application information, please contact Stacy Rodlund at OIE (rodlund@cord.edu). Applications should be submitted to Off Campus Committee by November 22, 2006. Please send IPG proposals in electronic form to Eduardo Gargurevich ( gargurev@cord.edu ) and Per Anderson (anderson@cord.edu). Applicants are invited to consult with OIE staff as needed (Per Anderson, Stacy Rodlund, Kirsten Buchholz, Christina Larson).

Concordia faculty are invited to submit applications for leadership of two semester study abroad programs: Credo in Crete (winter/spring semester 2008) and Social Justice, Peace, and Development: A Semester in India (fall semester 2008). Please contact Stacy Rodlund for application forms. Applications should be submitted to Off Campus Committee by October 20, 2006. Please contact Heidi Manning with questions concerning leadership of Credo in Crete ( manning@cord.edu ). Please contact Per Anderson with questions concerning leadership of SJPD (anderson@cord.edu). Please send application narratives in electronic form to Eduardo Gargurevich ( gargurev@cord.edu ) and Per Anderson. Applicants for Credo in Crete are requested to send application narratives to Heidi Manning as well.

Per Anderson

5 September - Policy Proposal for First Year Experience Courses

Colleagues:

An ad hoc committee (composed of Don Rice, David Sprunger, Jim Coomber, Carol Stalheim, Rebecca Amundsen and Gregg Muilenburg) recently met to consider some contingencies concerning the First Year Experience courses and proposes the following policies. Much as we hope these issues do not arise, we thought it prudent to plan for them. We have consulted with Senate Coordinating Committee and devised the following procedures:

1. If a student desires to drop a linked course in the First Year Experience (an Inquiry Seminar, Inquiry Written Communication or Inquiry Oral Communication course) both that course and its link must be dropped and retaken in the seceding semester.

Rationale: The ad hoc committee reasoned that the linkage between these courses is integral to their quality and to their proper teaching. Failure to maintain this linkage is detrimental both to the student and the classes.

2. If a student fails one course in a linked course pair, he or she may pass the other course of the pair. The failed course will have to be retaken as a stand alone course.

Rationale: The committee reasoned that for purposes of grading linked courses should be treated as separate entities. Even though these courses might share some of their assignments, they are linked not identical. Poor work in one should not nullify satisfactory work in the other.

3. In order for a student to register as a sophomore, he or she must have completed the First Year Experience (Inquiry Seminar, Inquiry Written Communication, and Inquiry Oral Communication) or be currently enrolled in it.

Rationale: The First Year Experience is designed to be a foundation for the core curriculum. It is also designed to enable new students to adapt to the rigors of college academic life. Those purposes are compromised by postponing the First Year Experience beyond the first year.

Gregg Muilenburg Division Chair Core and Integrative Studies

4 September - September 8th Community Time

Colleagues

On behalf of the U.S. Cultural Diversity Task Force and the Global Perspectives Task Force, I am inviting you to a discussion session on the learning outcomes identified by these groups during this past summer. Below you will find the Faculty Senate legislation regarding the perspectives courses and the draft outcomes from each working group.

The Faculty Senate, during the January 9th, 2006 meeting, passed legislation on the implementation of the Perspectives Requirements. Two working groups were to be elected and they were to draft learning outcomes for the perspectives courses. One group dealt with Perspectives in U.S. Cultural Diversity (Rick Chapman, Nick Ellig, Monica Mori, Lisa Sethre-Hofstad, and Mark Krejci) while the other group developed outcomes for the International and Global Perspectives requirement (Maddy Burchill, Peter Hovde, Jeff Meyer, Xueqi Zeng and Mark Krejci). After giving faculty an opportunity for reflection and feedback, these groups are to send the course expectations to the Core and Curriculum Committees for their approval. The two groups sent out an initial draft this summer and received some helpful reactions and this community time discussion session will allow for faculty and task force members to have further discussion.

The Task Force on U.S. Cultural Diversity will meet in Frida Nielson Lounge and the Task Force on International and Global Perspectives will host their discussion in Park Region Lounge. The sessions will be this Friday, September 8th, and run from 9:25 - 10:15.

Motion #5: That the Faculty Senate approves the Perspectives Course requirements.

Perspectives Requirements:

Explanation: Our students will be moving into a global and increasingly interdependent world where they will need to understand the perspectives of other peoples and cultures. The Concordia College curriculum can prepare them for this by providing opportunity to reflect on these perspectives within the academic program. The perspectives expectation will be met by students taking existing courses in the core, in the majors, or through electives. A major focus of these courses will be the perspectives topic. Specific criteria will be developed to describe how the courses should address the perspectives topic. Students must satisfy the two perspectives areas in two different courses for graduation. These requirements can be fulfilled by any Concordia College course as determined by the Core Committee. It is expected that a number of courses taught as part of the Exploration Core will be approved for these requirements.

(A) Perspectives in U. S. Cultural Diversity: Courses that fulfill this requirement will allow students to consider social and political forces that shape people’s experiences in the U.S., and to understand the condition of individuals and groups separated from a dominant culture by race/ethnicity and gender, and other social issues such as social class, religion or sexual orientation. Domestic May Seminars, semester off campus experiences, and Exploration Seminars are eligible, with Core Committee approval, to satisfy this expectation.

(B) International and Global Perspectives: Courses that fulfill this requirement will allow students to reflect on issues of international and global significance in order that they might understand more fully their role as thoughtful and informed persons engaged in the affairs of the world. International May Seminars, semester off-campus programs, and courses with international Exploration Seminars are eligible, with Core Committee approval, to satisfy this expectation.

Draft Learning Outcomes

Global Perspectives Courses

Summer 2006

1. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the international/global dimensions of at least one topic.

2. Students will demonstrate an understanding of at least one non-U.S. perspective related to this topic.

3. Students will demonstrate engagement with a broader community through interaction with individuals, groups, or cultures relative to the topic.

Draft learning Outcomes

US Cultural Diversity Courses

Summer 2006

1. Students recognize that the human experience, including life opportunities, is shaped by race, ethnicity and gender and other social issues (e.g., related to class, religion, sexual orientation).

2. Students demonstrate an understanding of the processes through which the human experience, including life opportunities, is shaped by race, ethnicity and gender and other social issues (e.g., related to class, religion, sexual orientation).

3. Students can engage in informed dialogue on current issues related to race, ethnicity and gender and other social issues (e.g., related to class, religion, sexual orientation).

If you are unable to be at a session and wish to provide either working group with reactions, please e-mail me and I will share your e-mail with the appropriate group.

Mark J. Krejci, Ph.D. Dean of the College & Vice President for Academic Affairs

To: Faculty and Administrative Staff