Provost’s Advisory Committee on Undergraduate Programs
March 18, 2025, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m., 817 Cathedral of Learning
Minutes
Members Attending
Brian Batell (Dietrich – Natural Sciences), Betty Braxter (SON), Mary Besterfield-Sacre (SSOE), Nicole Cecchini (SEPC), Luke Condra (GSPIA), Lorraine Denman (Dietrich – Humanities), Dawn Drahnak (UPJ), Deborah Good (CBA), Adriana Helbig (Dietrich School – CGS), Jonathan Helm (Office of the University Registrar), Paula Janikowski (OTP – Staff), Toya Jones (SSW), Kathy Kelly (SHRS), Adam Lee (OTP – Chair), Camren Price (UPB/UPT – Student), Denise Schiff (Pharm), Michelle Sobolak (SOE), Belkys Torres (OTP), Tessa Twyman (UPJ – Student), Liann Tsoukas (Dietrich – Social Sciences), Don Ulin (UPB/UPT), Kelly Wagner (DenMed), Ada Youk (SPH)
Members Absent
Mercy Akanmu (Pittsburgh Campus – SGB – Student), Nicola Foote (Frederick Honors College), William Garrison (SCI), Martha Koehler (UPG), Matthew Miscio (UPG – Student)
Substitutes
David Hornyak (for Nicola Foote – Frederick Honors College)
Presenter
Dawn Drahnak, Division Chair, Nursing & Health Sciences at Pitt-Johnstown and PACUP member
Announcements/Discussion Points/Updates
January 21, 2025, Minutes Review/Approval
Update on PACUP Actions from Academic Year (2024-2025)
- The proposal from the January 21, 2025, meeting from the Dietrich School to terminate the major in Political Science leading to the Bachelor of Science degree was sent to Provost McCarthy for review and approval.
- The proposal from the November 19, 2024, meeting from Pitt-Bradford to modify the major in History-Political Science leading to the Bachelor of Arts degree was approved by Provost McCarthy.
Academic Planning Proposal Review
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown: modify the major in Respiratory Care leading to the Associate of Science degree
Dawn Drahnak, Division Chair, Nursing & Health Sciences at Pitt-Johnstown and PACUP member gave an overview of the proposal.
Reduction in the number of credits for their RESCA 1030 Clinical Practicum 1 from 6 credits to 4 credits – following the Traditional Prelicensure module for clinical hours, 1 clinical credit = 45 hours.
- This will ultimately reduce the overall credits for the major by 2 credits.
- Four credits better reflect the time respiratory students spend in clinical in the summer semester of 9 weeks.
- UPJ researched with other respiratory care programs in the area to make sure they would be still delivering a similar number of credits and decreasing the credits from 6 to 4 credits was equal with all programs.
- The program followed through with the accrediting body – CoARC and CoARC did not deem this as a major change and approved moving forward with standardizing the equivalent credits to equal 45 hours per credit, without requiring a substantive change form.
Questions/Comments
For students currently enrolled in the major will they be able to take advantage of the reduction in summer credits if they have not yet taken that clinical practicum.
Yes. If approved for Summer 2025
Will a substantive change need to be submitted with the accreditor?
The Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care (CoARC) was consulted and did not deem this change to require a substantive change form as it does not reflect:
- a 10% or higher change in the number of clock or credit hours required for successful program completion
- a change of at least one academic term in the length of the program
- a change in the use of distance learning technologies or other unique methodologies to deliver 25% or more of the curriculum
Additionally, the Respiratory Care Advisory Committee was consulted and voted in favor of the change to curriculum.
Academic Policy Review
Advanced Standing
- Current policy
- DRAFT – Advanced Standing 2025-02-20.docx (email attachment)
- Memo – Policies 2025-03-04.docx (email attachment)
Changes to the policy include:
- Advanced Standing policy did not previously define advanced standing.
- Language was added to include by what mechanisms students can receive credit at Pitt without earning the credit at Pitt (AP courses, IB courses, CLEP, transfer credits, etc.)
- Removed parts of the policy that had nothing to do with advanced placement (undergraduate students taking graduate courses, and graduate students taking undergraduate courses – covered in other policies and not advanced standing).
- Restrictions are broken out by:
- Credit limits
- Time limits
- What happens post-matriculation
- Grade requirements
- Parallel structure for Graduate and Undergraduate sections of policy
- Course equivalency decisions – schools/departments who own courses
- Advanced standing credit posting and reposting
Questions/Comments
Key discussion points include how study abroad credits play into these requirements, the mechanics of credit by course examination, and associates degree transfer.
PACUP members were positive regarding the revisions made in the regulation.
Course Repeat Policy
- DRAFT – Course Repeat-2025-03-18 – PACUP.docx (email attachment)
This edit simplifies the academic improvement plan requirements in the policy, leaving more room for interpretation in individual unit guidelines to address concerns that had been raised about potential implementation barriers.
Adam asked for feedback on that change.
Comments/Questions
- It was noted that a signed agreement would help students succeed in a course when repeating. There was discussion of managing awareness of course repeats via reporting/dashboards to help manage this.
- Adam noted that the Registrar’s Office said there is functionality to block exceeding the repeat limit automatically, which can be rolled out when the new regulation goes into effect. On the 4th attempt a student will need to get a permission code.
PACUP members were positive regarding the revisions made in the regulation.