PACUP Minutes – October 28, 2025

Provost’s Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Programs
October 28, 2025, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m., via Zoom
Minutes
 

Members Attending

Brian Batell (Dietrich – Natural Sciences), Mary Besterfield-Sacre (SSOE), Betty Braxter (SON), Jonathan Chitiyo (UPB/UPT), Dawn Drahnak (UPJ), Ryan Felesky (UPJ – student), William Garrison (SCI), Deborah Good (CBA), Brandon Grace (Pittsburgh SGB – student), Adriana Helbig (Dietrich School – CGS), Jonathan Helm (Office of the University Registrar), David Hornyak (Frederick Honors College),  Paula Janikowski (OTP – Staff), Logan Johnson (UPG), Kathy Kelly (SHRS), Adam Lee (OTP – PACUP Chair), Michelle Sobolak (SOE), Sybil Streeter (SEPC), Belkys Torres (OTP), Liann Tsoukas (Dietrich – Social Sciences), Kelly Wagner (DenMed), Ada Youk (SPH)

Members Absent
 

Luke Condra (SPIA), Lorraine Denman (Dietrich – Humanities), Kylie Engdahl (UPB/UPT), Toya Jones (SSW), Matthew Miscio (UPG – student), Denise Schiff (Pharm)

Guests

Dr. Na-Rae Han (Dietrich – Linguistics), Dr. Lorraine Li (SCI – Computer Science)

Announcements/Discussion Points/Updates

September 2, 2025, Meeting Minutes – Review/Approval – no concerns were raised

Introduction – Two new members since September 2nd - Ryan Felesky (UPJ – student representative), and Sybil Streeter (SEPC representative)

Academic Planning Proposal Review

Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and School of Computing and Information: Undergraduate Certificate in Computational Linguistics with two tracks (the Linguistics Track and the Computer Science Track)

Dr. Na-Rae Han (Dietrich, Linguistics) and Dr. Lorraine Li (SCI, Computer Science) attended to give a brief overview of the proposal and answer questions from PACUP.

Dr. Han noted:

• The certificate will provide students with interdisciplinary study in computational linguistics, language technologies, and natural language processing, with shared foundational knowledge in Linguistics and Computer Science
• Students will keep their home major and add the certificate as an additional credential
• Learning goals are shared between core courses and the two tracks within the certificate will separate the certificate for Linguistics and Language majors (Dietrich) and Computer Science and other majors (SCI)
• Certificate requires 17-18 credits (17 credits for Linguistics Track, 18 credits for Computer Science Track) focused on computational linguistics – gateway course is LING 1330 Intro to Linguistics
• 27 credits of prerequisite courses – PACUP questioned this, but it was noted that these courses are foundational courses in both Linguistics and CS, most of which are core courses for Linguistics/CS majors and would be taken as part of their major and double counted towards their major. This certificate is only aimed at students in these student groups.
• Students in the Linguistics Track will gain proficiency in computational methods and data skills for linguistic problem solving
• Students in the Computer Science track will gain technical proficiency in natural language engineering
               

PACUP Questions/Concerns/Key Takeaways

• It was noted in the Potential Students section within the proposal had been in Curriculog for a while. There is a notation about an 8-credit overlap between a minor and a certificate for Dietrich students. A question was raised with the updated overlap credential regulation – does this still apply?
  • The Credential Overlap Regulation prevents these sorts of limitations in the general case.However, Dietrich students pursuing the linguistics track of the certificate and are a linguistics major would not be able to also achieve a minor in linguistics since a student cannot complete a minor within the same major they are pursuing.
• Do linguistics students typically take Statistics 1000?
  • No; however, they must take the course to understand machine learning.
• Will the tracks print to the transcript?
  • No
• Is there a sense of the eligible student population for the certificate?
  • Approximately 60 linguistics majors. Additionally, many CS students are taking Into to Linguistics.
• Adrianna noted that the biggest question from Dietrich Council was why this is not a major?
  • Incompatible policies between SCI and Dietrich and very large course load.

PACUP was supportive.

Academic Policy Review

As part of the rollout of the revised academic regulations, VP Lee and VP Godley engaged widely with constituencies including Department Chairs, Program Directors, Associate Deans, Regional Campus VPAAs, Directors of Advising, and Student Records staff to answer questions and address issues that have arisen within these communities. 

Academic Regulations in Effect for AY 2025-26

• Advanced Standing Credits
• Course Repeat
• Credential Overlap
• Definitions Related to Distance Education

Academic Regulations in Effect for AY 2026-27

• Academic Standing for Undergraduate Students
• Academic Standing for Graduate and Professional Students
• Incomplete Grade 

Adam Lee provided a brief overview of the new/updated academic regulations and offered members the opportunity to ask any questions they may have.

Regarding the Advance Standing Credits Regulation

• A PACUP member asked for clarification on the statement that “The University will not refuse to consider transfer credit based on the accreditation of the sending institution.” It was noted that this is not a new statement in the regulation.

Regarding the Course Repeat Regulation

• Associate deans are thinking about how to handle appeals. Appeals will go through deans’ offices – this will only come into play when a student has exceeded the repeat cap.
• The Office of the University Registrar is working in the enrollment system and enforcement of repeat limits, so no exceptions or appeals will be needed in the future.

PACUP Minutes – October 28, 2025 (PDF)