Academic Program Committee

Academic Program Committee 2023-2024

Mission: 

The Academic Program Committee will concern itself with the University's long-term plans and strategic initiatives, as well as any major changes or issues requiring particularly extensive study or deliberations related to the academic mission.

Corresponding Administrators:  

1. Provost Wayne Jones
2. Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Kate Ziemer and
3. the Dean’s/Provost Council

Related Committees:  Student Success Steering Committee

Membership 2023-2024

Chair, Mary Stampone, COLA
Lisa MacFarlane, COLA
Maria Basterra, CEPS
Erin Bell, CEPS
Pamela Kallmerten, CHHS
Jeremiah Johnson, CPS, Manchester; Maeve Dion, Fall Proxy
Sarah Batterson, CPS, Online
Kevin McLaughlin, PAUL

Student Senate representative, TBD
Graduate Student Senate Representative, TBD

Standing Charges
Charges for Academic Year 2023-2024

1. Monitor the impact of GSC merger especially with respect to (1) impact on course offerings and enrollments within and across each college, (2) restrictions for Durham campus students to take courses within CPS (current Durham students can petition to take courses within CPS), and (3) creation of the School of Education & School of Nursing. See Faculty Senate policy on forming new schools. Work with associate deans, Academic Strategy Group, or ASAC+ to identify the impact of merger on each college.
2. Explore feasibility of using a syllabus template and/or a centralized resource with required and recommended elements to support NECHE accreditation.  Develop recommended best practices for syllabi and other communication (including a centralized location of policies) related to credit hours and minimum hours expected in courses. 
3. Monitor the status of the Honors College Development and Implementation Committee. Work with the committee co-chairs, Semra Aytur and Kate Ziemer to review recommendations developed by the committee.
4. Work with UNH’s Chief Diversity Officer and the Administration to monitor and contribute to UNH’s roadmap for working on issues of racism, diversity, equality, and inclusion. 
5. Monitor status of and review student learning outcomes recommendations developed by an hoc diversity requirement for general education (Chair: Eugenia Opuda)
6. Monitor status of review recommendations developed by the 2023 Ad hoc Committee on Discovery (Chair: TBD) 
7. Follow up on communication/implementation of Motion XXIV-M5 on allowing first-term students to change up to 4 credits to Pass/Fail. 

Academic Program Committee 2022-2023

Mission: 

The Academic Program Committee will concern itself with the University's long-term plans and strategic initiatives, as well as any major changes or issues requiring particularly extensive study or deliberations related to the academic mission.

Corresponding Administrators:  

1. Provost Wayne Jones
2. Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Kate Ziemer and
3. the Dean’s/Provost Council

Related Committees:  Student Success Steering Committee

Membership 2022-2023

Chair, Amy Ramage, CHHS
Ileana Chirila, COLA
Nicholas Kirsch, CEPS
Stuart Grandy,  COLSA 
Jennifer Spindel, COLA
Jeremiah Johnson, UNHM (Fall Proxy Bill Troy)
Kevin McLaughlin, PAUL
Chris LeBlanc, PAUL
Laure Barillas, COLA
Student Senate representative (TBD)
Graduate Student Senate Representative, Griffin Kmon

Charges: 2022-2023

Academic Program Committee

Mission: The Academic Program Committee will concern itself with the University's long-term plans and strategic initiatives, as well as any major changes or issues requiring particularly extensive study or deliberations related to the academic mission. 

Standing Charges  

1. (carryover) Consult with the agenda committee regarding the status of the Granite State College merger as announced by President Dean in July 2021. Report on the status of this merger and its implications for the university as necessary and appropriate. Work with the co-chairs of the integration committee as necessary. The co-chairs are Scott Stanley (Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, GSC) and Mike Decelle (Dean of UNH Manchester, UNH).  
2. Provide feedback and identify potential areas of concern for policy proposals and recommendations generated by the UNH-Manchester / Granite State College merger working groups.  Specific issues shall be brought to the Agenda Committee after discussion with relevant working GSC Merger working groups and administrators. Discussion at senate meetings may be warranted for some issues.  
3. Monitor the status of Honors college development and implementation of program review recommendations with specific attention to the issues related to allowing honors discovery courses to fulfill two discovery categories. It is recommended that you consult with The Associate Deans (e.g., Erin Sharp) who has raised some concerns about this. 
4. (carryover) Follow up on communication/implementation of Motion XXIV-M5 on allowing first-term students to change up to 4 credits to Pass/Fail.

Academic Program Committee 2021-2022

Mission: 

The Academic Program Committee will concern itself with the University's long-term plans and strategic initiatives, as well as any major changes or issues requiring particularly extensive study or deliberations related to the academic mission.

Corresponding Administrators:  

1. Provost Wayne Jones
2. Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Kate Ziemer and
3. the Dean’s/Provost Council

Related Committees:  Student Success Steering Committee

Membership 2021-2022

Chair, Charles Vannette (COLA)
Ileana Chirila, COLA
Cathleen Colleran, CHHS
Susan Drisko Zago, UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law
Dan Innis , Paul College
Joan Glutting , COLA
Stuart Grandy,  COLSA 
Nicholas Kirsch, CEPS
James Ramsay,  UNH Manchester 
Student Senate representative (TBD)
Graduate Student Senate Representative, Griffin Kmon

Charges: 2021-2022

Academic Program Committee 

Mission: The Academic Program Committee will concern itself with the University's long-term plans and strategic initiatives, as well as any major changes or issues requiring particularly extensive study or deliberations related to the academic mission. 

Charges to consider:  

1. (carryover) Consult with agenda committee regarding the status of the Granite State College merger as announced by President Dean in July 2021. Report on the status of this merger and its implications for the university as necessary and appropriate. Work with the co-chairs of the integration committee as necessary. The co-chairs are Scott Stanley (Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, GSC) and Mike Decelle (Dean of UNH Manchester, UNH).  
2. (carryover) Follow up on communication/implementation of Motion XXIV-M5 on allowing first term students to change up to 4 credits to Pass/Fail. 
3. (carryover) Monitor status of Honors college development and implementation of program review recommendations. Coordinate with Catherine Peebles on the committee’s progress. Note that as of 8/5/21, Catherine Peebles expects to work with the Honors committee through fall semester 21, with the goal of presenting a comprehensive update to APC in January 2022.   
4. Report on the university’s Student Success Steering Committee.  What is it?  Who is on this committee?  What is their charge?
5. Review recent Student Senate motions about advising issues and work with Kate Ziemer and Student Senate to develop a framework for addressing these issues, recognizing the limits of what the Senate can do in this area.  
6. Evaluate if any additional motions are needed in connection with Student Evaluations of Teaching as the Senate awaits the results of the Student Evaluations of Teaching Ad Hoc Task Force.  
7. Follow up on the 2021 Motion # XXV-M18 to continue suspension of restrictions for online courses through the COVID-19 pandemic.  The current suspension of restrictions for online courses only applied until UNH returns to Green conditions.  This motion requires reports from Discovery, Honors, and Writing Programs about the efficacy of online courses by the end of September 2021.    
8. Review policy proposals and recommendations generated by the UNH-Manchester / Granite State College merger working groups. Create a list with the following 3 sections:  

(1) Yes/Accept. i.e., the policy makes sense as long as UNHM and GSC agree. (2) Maybe/Need clarification. i.e. the committee wants to talk with the UNHM / GSC committee leaders to understand the discussion. (3) Stop/Red flag. i.e. the policy seems like a big change that should be looked at in more depth regardless of what the UNHM / GSC committee leaders say. 

Send the sorted list to the Agenda Committee. To expedite the review process, a two-week turnaround period should be assumed.  

Academic Program Committee  2020-21

Mission: 

The Academic Program Committee will concern itself with the University's long-term plans and strategic initiatives, as well as any major changes or issues requiring particularly extensive study or deliberations related to the academic mission.

Corresponding Administrators:  

1. Provost Wayne Jones
2. Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Kate Ziemer and
3. the Dean’s/Provost Council

Related Committees:  Student Success Steering Committee, chaired by Nicky Gullace 

Membership 2020-2021:

Chair,  Lisa MacFarlane English, COLA 
Cathleen Colleran, Nursing, HHS
Jennifer Davis, UNH School of Law 
Thomas Haines, English, COLA
Alex Holznienkemper, Languages, Literatures & Cultures, COLA
Nicholas Kirsch, Electrical Engineering, CEPS 
Kevin Pietro (Spring proxy, Katherine Lockwood), Agriculture, Nutrition, and Food Systems, COLSA
James Ramsay, UNH Manchester
Peter Zaimes, Decision Sciences, PAUL
Michelle Grenier (Spring proxy, Daniel Sedory), Kinesiology, HHS
Christian Zepeda-Lipovsky, Student Senate representative 
Sanchari Kundu, Graduate Student Senate representative 

Charges 2020-2021

COVID-related charges: 

1. Consider changes to academic policy due to global pandemic: e.g., timing for students to drop a course
2. Make recommendations related to student evaluations of teaching due to COVID response for Fall 2020

Other charges: 

1. Develop roadmap for addressing long term changes to student evaluations of teaching.
2. Report on the work of the New U committee that is being chaired by UMHM Dean Decelle.
3. Follow up on communication/implementation of Motion XXIV-M5 on allowing first term students to change up to 4 credits to Pass/Fail.
4. Follow up on status of Early Assessment Pilot (see Motion XXIV-M1) and the work of the Student Success Steering Committee. Consider request to modify the mid-semester progress report process. What were the outcomes of the 2019-2020 pilot program?
5. Review the recommendations that will be submitted in September from the Discovery Review Committee for clarity and identifying any critical areas where more details or information is needed before wider distribution of these recommendations.
6. Monitor status of honors college development and implementation of program review recommendations.

Academic Program Committee  2019-2020

Mission: 

The Academic Program Committee will concern itself with the University's long-term plans and strategic initiatives, as well as any major changes or issues requiring particularly extensive study or deliberations related to the academic mission.

Membership 2019-2020

Chair, Lisa MacFarlane English, COLA 
Thomas Haines, English   COLA
Kevin Healey, Communication  COLA
Marko Knezevic (proxy John McHugh), Mechanical Engineering   CEPS
Kevin Pietro,  AgNut&FoodSystems COLSA
James Ramsay,  UNH Manchester     
Andrew Seal, Economics  PAUL
Allison Wilder,  Recreation Management & Policy  HHS
Peter Zaimes,  Decision Sciences   PAUL

Corresponding Administrators:  

1. Provost and
2. the Dean’s/Provost Council

Charges 2019-2020

1. Research and, if deemed appropriate, make recommendations regarding options for extending the date in which freshmen (and perhaps all recently matriculated students) can drop a course. Report requested by end of October.
Rationale: requested by CEPS faculty and administration, this charge reflects a concern that early career students are reluctant to drop a course, even when they are struggling, before the drop deadline. This may negatively impact their college career and hamper retention efforts on campus. 

2. Working from the advanced, but preliminary report, from AY18–19, continue to define “Student Success” from an academic point of view, and offer guidance how the university as a whole can contribute to academic success of its students. Initial Report in November, Final Report in December (or January).
Rationale: “Student Success” is a term of art among university administrators and is, in essence, an index of retention and graduation rates. It does not include measures of academic learning, student well-being, or any other educational goals that faculty regard as markers of student success. This is our attempt to establish what faculty regard as “Student Success.”  The APC from 2018–19 produced two preliminary documents, which may serve as a useful starting point for this year’s deliberations. 

(The Agenda Committee has removed this charge - 02/10/2020)  - 3. Consider the potential benefits and challenges to moving from a 4 (# of classes) x 4 (credit hour) model to a 5 x 3-credit system. In cooperation with administrative leadership, analyze the academic and financial impact of such a move. Interview or solicit feedback from key stakeholders, including deans, associate deans, department chairs, the Provost's office (Vasu), the Registrar's office, and the Discovery office; work with the new CFO or other budget officers to determine plausibility of such a move. Report in March.

Rationale: In addition to potential NECHE (New England Commission of Higher Education) concerns (since credit hours do not match number of class hours per week), such a move may allow highly circumscribed majors to fulfill general education requirements more easily and offer students more variety in their college careers.

4.  (Added on 02/14/2020) Develop recommended best practices for syllabi and other communication related to credit hours and minimum hours expected in courses.   See February 2, 2020 email from Barbara White for context. 

From: White, Barbara (OT) <barbara.white@unh.edu>
Sent: Sunday, February 2, 2020 1:59 PM
To: Bachrach, David <David.Bachrach@unh.edu>; Sharp, Erin <Erin.Sharp@unh.edu>
Cc: MacFarlane, Lisa <Lisa.MacFarlane@unh.edu>
Subject: Credit hour

Hi David and Erin. As we have previously discussed, transparency in meeting federal credit hour definition will be an important element in our 2023 NECHE site visit.

My suggestion is to address this in two ways:

1. Place language in all syllabi dated 2020 and going forward, that explains to students how credits are conferred. This is suggested language but faculty can riff off this however they wish so long as the core message is the same: “Federal regulation defines a credit hour as an amount of work represented in the course learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is equivalent to 3 hours of work per credit per week over a 14 week semester. This means that you should anticipate about 12 hours of time spent weekly on this course in class, labs, relevant readings, meetings, writing, quizzes, and participation in course-related experiences, etc. (4 credits x 3 hours = 12 hours)”. This is backed by https://www.neche.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Affirmation-of-Compliance.pdf
2. Faculty should include in the syllabus a schedule of topics and assignments/activities that could be judged by anyone outside of their field as a reasonable amount of content to meet the above. For example, slim assignment expectations without a schedule reflective of 14 weeks of content would likely be inferred as not meeting the standard. This reflects what each Academic Review or Policies Committee within colleges as well as the Discovery program does anyway.

Vasu would like to send a message to all faculty but we wished to have your acknowledgment before doing so. Please email me back with any comments or concerns? And always feel free to call.

Best, Barb

Barbara Prudhomme White, PhD, OTR/L
Assoc. Professor, CHHS
Faculty Fellow, Provost’s office
UNH Accreditation Liaison Officer, NECHE
University of New Hampshire, Durham NH 03824

2018-2019 Charges 

1. Define “Student Success” from an academic point of view, and compare it to the definition set forth by administrative leadership. Initial Report in October, follow-up as needed.

2. Define UNH’s academic identity now, and survey faculty about what they want to university to be as an academic institution. Working with university leadership and other key stakeholders, craft a long-term strategy to implement that vision and to increase the centrality of the academic mission of the university. Among possible outcomes are:
      a. Establish a mechanism(s) for promoting collaboration, mutual understanding, and shared decision-making across key stakeholders in shaping the future academic direction for the University.

      b. Identify areas that can improve the academic climate on campus (including better use of classroom space in mornings and Fridays, attention to the problem of alcohol on campus, rigor of classes [see self-reported number of hours in classes], and so on).

      c. Analyze grade inflation and/or plot grade distributions among units on campus.
      d. Examine Discovery as the economic driver of curriculum—is it accomplishing its goals? Should professional colleges (e.g., PAUL, HHS) be delivering Discovery, or ought that reside in COLA and hard sciences?

      e. Consider moving from 4 x 4-credit classes a semester to a 5 x 3-credit system.

      f. Identify, and make recommendations if appropriate and possible, other issues that pertain to increasing the academic rigor on campus.

3.   (Assigned on 02/06/2019) - Research and make recommendations if deemed appropriate regarding options for extending the date in which a recently matriculated student (i.e., freshman) is able to drop a course. As you research this issue, consider fall and spring semester as well as j-term and summer sessions.  Background: When CEPS senators met with the CEPS Dean in late 2018 the faculty discussed concerns that UNH’s early semester deadline for dropping a course negatively impacts students who are early in their studies at UNH. Faculty believe that freshman students are less likely to drop a course, even with evidence that they are struggling, because they either don’t know the process or they fear dropping a course will have a negative impact on their college career. The faculty suggested that extending the drop deadline (possibly even to the last week of classes) for students who are early in their academic careers (first 2 semesters at UNH) could improve student retention and success.

Initial reports as deemed necessary, penultimate report at the first meeting in April.

Academic Program Committee Members 2018-2019

• Allison Wilder, Recreational Management & Policy, CHHSNiva Gupta, Chemical Engineering, CEPS
• Cristy Beemer, English, COLA
• Xiaowei Teng (Fall 2018 proxy for Niva Gupta) Chemical Engineering, CEPS
• Chris Neefus, Biological Sciences, COLSA
• Joe Onosko, Education, COLA
• James Ramsay, Security Studies, UNH-Manchester
• Chris Reardon, Political Science, COLA
• Lucy Salyer, History, COLA
• Andrew Seal, Economics, PCBE
• Regina Smick-Attisano, TSAS, COLSA