Meeting Minutes: Committee on History
Minutes
Academic Advisory Committee on History
Armstrong Atlantic State University
April 16, 1999
William Mugleston, chair of the History Advisory Committee, called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. Nancy White, department chair at Armstrong Atlantic State University, introduced Robert Burnett, the President of Armstrong Atlantic State University. Dr. Burnett welcomed the committee to his campus and, as a fellow historian, offered some insights into the pursuit to history.
The minutes of the previous meeting were approved as distributed, and the roll was taken. Those attending included:
| Georgia State University | Diane Willen |
| University of Georgia | John Inscoe |
| Georgia Southern University | Jerome Steffen |
| Armstrong Atlantic State University | Nancy White |
| Clayton College & State University | Granger Ricks |
| Columbus State University | John Lupold |
| Fort Valley State University | John Rhodes |
| Georgia College & State University | John Fair |
| Georgia Southwestern State University | James Bagwell |
| Kennesaw State University | Ann Pullen |
| Savannah State University | John Simpson |
| Southern Polytechnic State University | Charlie Weeks |
| State University of West Georgia | Steve Taylor |
| Macon State College | Joan Huffman |
| Atlanta Metropolitan College | Grady Culpepper |
| Coastal Georgia Community College | Ronald Ridgley |
| Georgia Perimeter College | Francine King |
| Floyd College | Bill Mugleston |
| Gordon College | Hutch Johnson |
| South Georgia College | Richard Reiman |
| Waycross College | Corry Lesseig |
Diane Willen was selected as Chair-Elect for 1999-2000.
Joe Szutz, the committee's liaison from the Chancellor's Office, was unable to attend the meeting, so the committee did not receive greetings from the central office.
Steve Taylor, The State University of West Georgia, raised a concern that those students who receive a score of 2 on the History Advanced Placement Exam were being exempted from an American history course. A general discussion relating to AP scores then ensued. Several members noted that the committee had gone on record as establishing 3 as an acceptable grade. The committee then agreed to establish the following standards for applying AP history credit.
| Score | Course Exemption | Course Credit |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | 1. | 1 |
| 5 | 2 | 2 |
The Academic Committee on History instructed the chair to notify all the registrars in the System of these changes. The chair will also ask Dr. Szutz if there are numbers available on how many students take the History AP Exam at each institution.
The committee had an extended, wide-ranging discussion about the transition to the semester system. All of the comments were negative, and no one praised the conversion to semesters. Some members complained about the reduction of class-time under the semester system. A major concern, expressed in various ways by numerous committee members, involved the inability of students to carry a full 15-hour load under the semester system. This problem is seen in the increased number of students dropping courses. Students are also complaining that too much work is being expected of them in classes. A couple of committee members admitted that they might have assigned students additional work, especially in courses that were collapsed from three quarters to two semesters or from two quarters to one semester. But those problems have been addressed and corrected. In general, the history committee does not perceive the workload being assigned to students as being too heavy or as having increased as a result of the transition. Students simply cannot take five substantial courses under the semester system, and they probably cannot expect to graduate in eight semesters. While faculty members perceive that students are struggling because they are trying to take too many courses, administrators are encouraging students to take 15 hours so that EFTs will not be reduced.
The central problem with student-load vis-á-vis the semester system is that faculty members are being asked by both students and administrators to reduce standards. Students argue that they must maintain a full load, often because of non-academic issues. They need full-time status in order to maintain their financial aid or to stay on their parents' insurance policy, even though they are also working full time and/or caring for a family. This problem existed under the quarter system; it has simply been magnified by the need to take more classes under the semester structure. Students are also demanding better grades so they can maintain their Hope Scholarships, and Hope Scholars too need to maintain a full load.
While students are pressuring faculty to reduce their standards, administrators are also telling faculty to lower their standards. Many administrators fanned student discontentment with the semester system by seeming to agree and, therefore, give credence to student complaints about increased class work under the new system. Some faculty members were told by deans to reduce their course content by 10% when they converted to semesters. The chancellor speaking at System institutions has even suggested that some faculties within the System were grading too rigorously. Attempts to lower academic standards contradict all the recent findings about the state of education. Every measure of the quality of education within the state and the nation indicates a need to increase academic standards or academic rigor at every level. Faculty members feel very isolated in their attempt to maintain acceptable academic standards and need to be supported by administrators at the institutional and System levels.
A discussion of faculty overloads revealed variances from campus to campus in how the load for faculty who teach ITDS (interdisciplinary) courses is determined. Some institutions force faculty to teach ITDS courses as an overload (especially if they are team-taught), while other institutions count ITDS as part of the faculty load.
Committee members criticized the extensive use of part time faculty, ranging up to 60% on some campuses. The exploitation of these instructors in terms of their pay was noted by all. Concerns were also raised about the need to recruit majors from survey courses, and how part time faculty, who see teaching as a secondary concern, cannot be expected to recruit majors.
The committee did not raise any concerns relating to Area F of the history major curriculum.
The use of double sections was raised, and again there was no consensus over the use of this device for rewarding faculty for teaching large classes. No uniformity exists throughout the System to determine the size of a class that can count as two courses on a faculty member's load.
The chair announced the following schedule for future meetings: 2000 in Albany, 2001 in Augusta, and 2002 at Jekyll Island.
Chairman Mugleston adjourned the meeting at 12:05.
John S. Lupold
Chair-Elect / Secretary