Items discussed in the Bachelor of Arts degree included changing the total required credit hours from 124 to 120, and removal of "Area Requirements," which require 18 hours in Humanities, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences.

Proposed changes to the Bachelor of Science degree included the same lowering of total hour requirements to 120 and deletion of Area Requirements as the proposed Bachelor of Arts degree modifications.

Notably, the Natural & Social Science Requirements would increase to 36 hours, whereas only zero to nine hours are currently required. Courses taken to satisfy University Program, Competencies or Specialized Studies requirements would be allowed to "double-count" toward fulfilling this requirement. This main motion was brought forth by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

Deliberation on degree changes hoped to give sufficient time for senators to take the proposed modifications back to their departments and discuss with faculty members.

The Academic Senate will not be set to vote until its next meeting.

Academic Senator Michael Mamp, a faculty member in Human Environmental Studies, voiced concerns on the proposed total credit hour changes, stating his concern that four-year graduation is not an accurate measure of student success.

"Students are making choices about study abroad, going part time, signing majors later (and) taking courses online," Mamp said. "I'm glad that we're making steps towards reducing the number of required credit hours for students under these degrees. I just want to caution us because it seems like this 120 credits is almost becoming like a bumper sticker."

Senator George Ronan, a faculty member in the Department of Psychology, said a "four-year-degree concept doesn't fit our students." He argued the indicator for student success should be number of full-time semesters completed.

Mamp added he believes students will not receive a foundational study of the liberal arts under the proposed Bachelor of Arts degree.

"If we take away all of the Area Requirements, there will still be area requirements on the newly proposed Bachelor of Science, and I don't see why the only requirement on the Bachelor of Arts should be foreign language," Mamp said. "A Bachelor of Arts degree is not just an indication of foreign language."

Senator Mary Senter, a faculty member in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Social Work, found that the proposed changes did not bring any parallelism between the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees.

"I just think it’s odd that the proposal for the B.A. is very general, with lots of choice, but the proposal for the B.A. is not general and very restrictive," Senter said.

An additional "Substitute Motion" was brought forth for the Bachelor of Science degree, which further specified that nine credits of the Natural & Social Science Requirements must be at the 300-level.

In reaction to this very specified motion for the Bachelor of Science degree, Senter voiced concerns that these changes will diminish the value of a Bachelor of Arts degree.

"The B.A. basically only requires four fairly-intense courses in foreign language," Senter said. "But the arts include more than just foreign language. Why not four courses in art, design, music or creative writing? My concern is that (these changes) will even further diminish the Bachelor of Arts degrees."

Additional Business

President George Ross was not available to give his report. Provost Michael Gealt received questioning from senators about the Academic Organizational Review in response to the facilitated feedback sessions that took place with Carol Cartwright, former president of both Kent State University and Bowling Green State University.
The Academic Senate approved a request from the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee to update the language in the Master Course Syllabi section of the Curricular Authority Document (CAD). Rationale stated that the current language in the CAD required updating due to the advancements in online learning and technology.
The Academic Senate approved changes of minimal total hours for graduation from 124 to 120 for the Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training and Bachelor of Individualized Studies degrees. These changes are set to be implemented in Fall 2018.
Senator Mary Lou Schilling, a faculty member in the Department of Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services, motioned to postpone the vote to a degree change in the Bachelor of Applied Arts degree so senators may further discuss the changes at faculty meetings.