A-Senate Notebook: Senators delete Speech Major concentrations, FaCIT director resigns

The Academic Senate deleted two concentrations Tuesday in the speech program to create a single speech major.

The TAI emphasis and IPC emphasis of the speech major have been removed after recommendation from the Professional Education Curricular Committee.

"The department is consolidating the three emphases of the Speech Major into a simple Speech Major," read the minutes from the PECC meeting on Feb. 6. "Consolidating will let us look in a more holistic way at student learning."

The changes will only affect eight credit hours in each program and will not affect any current students in the programs.

"This will have no effect on time to graduation, save that the student's wider choices might mean he or she won't be held back because a certain class isn't available," the committee meeting minutes read.

Therrell resigns, search for new director pending

Jim Therrell, director of the Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching, sent in his resignation in October. Provost Michael Gealt is now starting the search for a committee to decide the replacement for the director of five years.

"We need to find any additional things FaCIT will cover," Gealt said. "We hope to get it done in six to eight weeks."

Some senators were confused about the delay in starting the search for Therrell's replacement.

Senator Jim Hill, a political science faculty member, said he is worried there will be a long turnaround.

Gealt said he chose to delay the search for a new director for FaCIT because other committees needed to take priority.

"I made the decision to delay this," he said. "Dr. Claudia Douglass will name an interim director. We will obviously consult the FaCIT advisory council, too."

There is no set date for when a replacement for Therrell or an interim director will be named.