[Plsfaculty] [CATMAIL] Ad hoc Curriculum Re-Imagined Committee

[Mark A Beilstein]

Hi Judy,

Thanks for the response. I guess I'm still confused as to the need for an
ad hoc committee when existing committees already are tasked with
addressing our curriculum at the undergraduate and graduate levels - a fact
you noted in your response. There is also an Undergraduate Recruitment
Committee tasked with increasing enrollment in our courses and majors. It
would be good to understand more about how you envision this committee
contributing and coordinating with existing committees. You've listed a
number of urgent issues in your email and these sound like the basis of a
much more involved discussion among our faculty. I again request more
information beyond a simple introduction of the new ad hoc committee at our
faculty meeting. My GSPC update will be brief and since Matt Jenks cannot
attend I assume there will be time for a robust discussion and
brainstorming which should involve our entire faculty.

Since the entire faculty are copied here, I will let others indicate
whether they agree and would like to hear more about the topics you
outlined in your email, as well as ways in which you expect the new ad hoc
committee to address them.

Thanks,
Mark

On Wed, Mar 20, 2024 at 2:23 PM Brown, Judith K - (jkbrown) <
JBrown at ag.arizona.edu> wrote:

> Hi Mark
>
>
>
> I’m pleased to know you’re reading the emails. To economize on time at
> faculty meeting this week, i planned on introducing the topic briefly
> during announcements, and and ask Barry who is Chairing/Matt-co-chairing
> for a very brief update,  given the ad hoc committee has only initiated
> their study.  When completed, the committee will present a summary and
> recommendations for further brainstorming and discussion at our meeting in
> May, which is as noted, is on the agenda for the May faculty meeting. If
> there is sufficient interest to meet in greater detail before summer break
> (coming quickly), a half day or more could be devoted to the topic to set
> the stage for an action plan to be taken up by the Grad Program-Curriculum
> and Undergrad Curriculum Committee. I discussed this possibility briefly
> with Ramin and Shelley who both have been involved in past discussions and
> revamping, as does Samantha, somewhat more recently.
>
>
>
> I’ll provide a preview. Based on UA and national concerns among
> universities, enrollment is expected to decline soon and in the future. We
> have been asked to begin strategic review of our curriculum and align for
> present and future needs.  One immediate need is to envision which courses
> are the highest priorities – core/required courses and faculty resources
> available to teach those courses. Goals are to make our courses more
> appealing to students, increase enrollment as is possible, and brand/market
> our degree programs to highlight our unique positioning in arid crops and
> abiotic/biotic stresses, as well as fundamentals of plant sciences and
> plant pathology.  This is in line with urgent students’ requests to offer
> required courses annually, among others. This is in line with an analogous
> mandate from Dean Burgess to increase overall course enrollment and Mike
> Staten’s request to either top teaching low enrollment courses or arrive at
> a strategic-creative solutions to retain w/ greater enrollment numbers.
> Likewise, we are asked to remove caps on courses because this can restrict
> enrollment. Increased enrollment could lead to resources such as TA’s or
> graders for example, also to be considered as we re-imagine our grad and
> undergrad curriculum.
>
>
>
> We’ve heard most of this already based on memos and zoom/live meetings.
> The urgency also presents itself given the loss of at least 14% of our
> faculty FTE because of the current and near-future budget shortfalls. We do
> not anticipate these latter positions to be filled.  As retirements ensue,
> the understanding now is that those positions likewise will not be filled.
> It has therefore become our responsibility of the SPLS faculty to
> review/develop/revise and execute a viable curriculum for our current
> students and one that will appeal to future students recruited into our
> majors and considering shared majors enrollment as well. This is my take on
> it.
>
>
>
> The discussion planned for our May meeting is intended to pave the way to
> next steps in brainstorming and discussion and to guide the curriculum
> committees/Undergrad and Grad to fully develop the curriculum, sequencing,
> re-branding and complete this task before fall 2024 deadlines for revising
> or creating new course syllabi. Potentially viable strategies (similar)
> have been developed in the past when faced with budget cuts or to address
> other strategic modifications, but most have apparently not made it out of
> the gate.  Ramin reminded me of such discussions and has offered to assist
> when the time comes. He is  attempting to locate those documents or PPT
> presentations that could save time and potentially avoid completely
> re-inventing the wheel.
>
>
>
> When i planned the Agenda for Friday, i was aware you’d be occupied with
> recruitment activities-follow up so initially did not include you for an
> update this week, but both because it is timely, and Matt Jenks has a
> conflict, you’ll have a slot on the agenda this week.  This will offer an
> opportunity to apprise on the status of grad recruitment and any other
> relevant items from committee activities (please see the revised agenda).
> Gentle reminder to place updated Guidance documents for Grad Program
> Committee and Grad Curriculum. Also, when was the Grad Curriculum last
> reviewed/discussed, and who might know the whereabouts of the outcomes and
> recommendations, also useful as we move forward.
>
>
>
> I attach the revised Agenda for Friday and the SPLS 2024 strategic plan
> for everyone’s consideration as documents are revised and we plan for the
> near-present and future success of SPLS graduate and undergraduate academic
> programs.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
>
>
> Judy
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From: *Mark A Beilstein <mbeilstein at arizona.edu>
> *Date: *Wednesday, March 20, 2024 at 12:11 PM
> *To: *"Brown, Judith K - (jkbrown)" <JBrown at ag.arizona.edu>
> *Cc: *"Arnold, Betsy - (fungi)" <Arnold at ag.arizona.edu>, "Baltrus, David
> A - (baltrus)" <baltrus at arizona.edu>, "Schumaker, Karen S - (schumake)" <
> schumake at arizona.edu>, "Bucksch, Alexander - (bucksch)" <
> bucksch at arizona.edu>, "Woodson, Jesse D - (jessewoodson)" <
> jessewoodson at arizona.edu>, "Mcmahon, Michelle M - (mcmahonm)" <
> mcmahonm at arizona.edu>, "Palanivelu, Ravishankar - (rpalaniv)" <
> rpalaniv at arizona.edu>, "Yadegari, Ramin - (yadegari)" <
> yadegari at arizona.edu>, "Orchard, Samantha - (orchard)" <
> orchard at arizona.edu>, "Pauli, William Duke - (dukepauli)" <
> dukepauli at arizona.edu>, "Jenks, Matthew - (jenksm)" <jenksm at arizona.edu>,
> "Wickramage, Amritha S - (amritha)" <amritha at arizona.edu>, "Mclain, Jean
> - (mclainj)" <mclainj at arizona.edu>
> *Subject: *[CATMAIL] Ad hoc Curriculum Re-Imagined Committee
>
>
>
> Hi Judy,
>
>
>
> Ravi and I noticed on the proposed agenda for the May 17th faculty meeting
> that an ad hoc Curriculum Re-Imagined Committee will present findings. This
> is the first we've heard of this committee and we would like to hear more
> about the committee's charge and responsibilities. I request that you add
> an agenda item at the faculty meeting on Friday, March 22 to update the
> faculty. In particular, members of our committees would like to know more
> about how the responsibilities for this ad hoc committee are distinct from
> the existing GSP and Curriculum Committees.
>
>
>
> Members of these committees are copied here.
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Mark and Ravi
>
> Committee Chairs of GSP and Curriculum
>
> ___________________
> Mark Beilstein, Ph.D.
> Associate Professor
>
> Director of Graduate Studies
>
> Bart Cardon Fellow
>
> School of Plant Sciences
>
> P.O. Box 210036
> Forbes Building, Room 303
> Tucson, AZ 85721-0036
>
> ____________________
>
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