ACES proposal furthers discussion across campus

Various faculty members have been concerned about the strength of the academic focus of the current ACES program. A proposal has been continually discussed over the past two weeks to look at possible solutions.

During last week’s Academic Affairs meeting, the newly-presented ACES proposal was further analyzed. The five key components to the proposal were as follows: possible name changes to help clearly identify events, reducing the number of required events from eight to six, no longer allowing credit for student performances, no longer requiring a Dean’s signature on an ACES proposal form, and removing the ACES requirement for students who already have a bachelor’s degree.

Dr. Mary Gill first introduced the proposal, but extensive research had been completed by former ACES director Lisa Wagner. This proposal has been looked at for three years.

It is hoped that by bringing forward ideas about making adjustments to the ACES program, more active ownership of the program and more faculty involvement will be apparent.

Many schools at the Academic Affairs meeting were in favor of doing away with the ACES requirements for students who already hold a Bachelor of Arts degree and agreed with the adjustments made to the internal paperwork regarding ACES. Due to this, options four and five were removed from the proposal to be voted on separately.

The Schools of Science, Communications and Arts, Social Sciences, and Education voted to approve options four and five of the proposal. These two pieces of the ACES proposal can now be moved to Faculty Senate. Professional and Online and the School of Business abstained from voting.
The Academic Affairs committee then returned the three remaining pieces of the proposal back to the SAPO committee. The proposal was sent back to the SAPO committee because that is where it originated from and that is where those who know most about the program are.

“We were hoping that the author might be willing to reconsider some of the proposal. The hope was that this proposal can still be saved,” Professor of History and Academic Affairs committee member, Dixee Bartholomew-Feis said.

The following week, the SAPO committee met to discuss the proposal again. The Chair of Faculty Senate, Tim McDaniel, spoke at this meeting to explain that since SAPO deals with the oversight of academic programs, they technically did not have to work through the proposal again if they chose not to.

“The academic Affairs Committee is now in charge. It’s their time to be proactive and take the action that they deem appropriate,” McDaniel said.
ACES Director, Tom Musel thinks that the process of the ACES proposal is going as it should.

“I believe that it has to go through the governing body,” Musel said. “It’s very evident that the deans and the faculty/staff regard it as a valuable part of the academic area of the university.”

After discussion in the SAPO meeting, it was decided to eliminate parts two and three from the proposal, leaving only part one to decide.

The main issue and focus now will look at clarifying the sections of the ACES program to better classify the events. There is some discrepancy concerning how to classify certain events. Questions arise while planning ACES events, including what makes an academic event an academic event, and why is a concert not a cultural event.

“This is an issue that has occurred in the past and the new proposal would hopefully help organize the program better and make the categories match up more clearly,” SAPO Chair, Laura Bernhardt said.

The ACES proposal was sent back to the Academic Affairs committee with a recommendation to discuss the first piece of the original proposal. Musel and Gill will maintain in contact with the Academic Affairs committee if their assistance is needed during the decision process.