University
of Rhode Island
Faculty
Senate
December
14, 2004
Faculty Senate Curricular Affairs Committee
Four Hundred Twenty-Eighth Report
Proposal for a Freshman Option for Direct Matriculation on the
Providence Campus
At its meeting of December 6, 2004, The Curricular Affairs Committee
approved the following proposal for a Freshman Option for Direct
Matriculation on the Providence Campus and recommends confirmation by
the Faculty Senate.
Freshman Option
for Direct
Matriculation on the Providence Campus
SECTION I
PROPOSAL
A. Summary
This proposed plan adjusts the
University of Rhode Island’s matriculation procedures to formalize and
make explicit the option for the direct matriculation of freshmen into
selected undergraduate programs on the Providence Campus. Policies and
procedures will be put into place in keeping with changes to the
UNIVERSITY MANUAL that will formalize this process. Current policies do
not prevent matriculated freshmen directly out of high school from
taking all their courses at the Providence Campus, but the steps
described here will formalize the process, establish limits, and ensure
quality.
While it is not evident that
changes to URI’s matriculation procedures are required, the potential
consequences of admitting freshmen were significant enough that the
Faculty Senate felt there was a compelling need to address issues of
quality, staffing, and
resource allocation for daytime programs serving “traditional” students
in Providence.
Therefore, in cooperation with the
Faculty Senate Executive Committee, the University-wide Curricular
Affairs Committee, and the Faculty Senate, we propose a procedure for
the review and approval process for individual majors and other
academic programs that wish to allow freshmen to matriculate on the
Providence campus is recommended. The purpose of these proposed
additions to the UNIVERSITY MANUAL is to specify the conditions
necessary to endorse specific majors that wish to allow freshmen to
matriculate directly on the Providence campus. Under the proposed
procedures,
undergraduate programs seeking this Providence Campus option must be
approved
programs of the University. Approval of offering a program at the
Providence campus is dependent on the following conditions:
1. Is there a plan to insure faculty resources
in keeping with University standards that will deliver the curriculum
to traditional aged students?
2. Is there sufficient access to general
education and elective offerings to meet University, as well as college
and departmental requirements within a four to six year time frame?
3. Are there academic and non-academic support
services available to meet the needs of full time traditional aged
students?
4. Are the terms and conditions of a student’s
matriculation on the Providence Campus clear, understandable and
available at the time of application?
Answering these questions is
critical to approving the overall option for traditional high school
students to
matriculate in specified programs on the Providence Campus and requires
approval from the following governance bodies in the following
sequence:
1) Departments, 2) Vice Provost for Urban Programs, 3) College
Curricular Affairs Committee of the sponsoring department, 4) Faculty
Senate Curricular Affairs Committee, 5) Faculty Senate and 6) President
of the University.
Individual program approval is outlined in proposed section 8.88.10 of
the UNIVERSITY MANUAL (see Section II.)
B.
Description of the Proposed Program
This plan and the attached
amendments to the UNIVERSITY MANUAL detail how initially between 80 to
100 nonresidential students to matriculate directly into the
University’s Providence campus
each year and to major in one of three approved programs. Applicants
would
elect to attend the Providence campus on their application form but
will
be considered part of the overall admissions cohort. Freshmen and
sophomores
would attend courses in 2-3 meetings per week formats, in a Learning
Community
model, in order to enhance a sense of connection among nonresidential
students.
Juniors and seniors would be integrated into existing advanced courses
available
in a variety of formats at the Providence Campus. University
regulations
currently permit students to take up to 6 credits per semester in
Kingston
without additional fees and provide procedures for students changing
major
and/or campus.
The target programs are already
active on the URI Providence Campus and are near or above capacity in
Kingston.
These programs are:
1. Communication Studies (COM): Currently offers courses and will
apply to offer the B.A.
2. Human Development and Family Studies (HDF): Offers the B.S.
3. Psychology (PSY): Offers the B.A.
The University will offer General
Education and elective courses to meet the needs of new students
admitted to attend the University in Providence, as well as additional
elective courses (over and above those currently available). New
sections of courses fulfilling
the seven categories of General Education requirements will be added at
the
Providence campus. These would be in addition to those new courses
offered
in the three target majors and in addition to General Education courses
currently
offered for nontraditional students through the College of Continuing
Education.
Academic advising is a currently
available at the Providence Campus during the day and evenings; this
plan includes
funds for increased advising services through University College and
additional faculty members to act as advisors for the designated
majors. The URI Providence campus already provides student services,
including peer counseling; an
Academic Skills Center, which includes a Writing Center, tutoring, and
Disability
Services; and an active arts program with ongoing exhibits and
shows.
URI Providence has a Student Government Board with active programming,
a
modern Library, computing facilities, and food services. Since most
activity
at the Providence Campus currently occurs in the evening, these
resources
are underutilized during the daytime and can accommodate additional
students.
In addition, as part of this plan the URI Providence campus intends to
develop
a “consortium card” in cooperation with other Providence institutions
of
higher education. The card will offer discounts in local restaurants,
gym
facilities, museums, and businesses such as the Providence Place Mall.
The Providence Campus of the
University of Rhode Island is a new educational facility with many
connections to the local community. The Urban Field Center, Family
Resources Partnership, Early Intervention Training Center, Community
Research and Services Team, and
Child Development Center offer opportunities for students to engage in
applied
practice and research. URI programs based in Providence have developed
relationships with Providence-area agencies and businesses, allowing
undergraduates to
participate in applied research and practice in a community context.
Current
placements include the RI State House, RI Department of Health, Head
Start
(Providence), Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction
Studies,
Sexual Assault and Trauma Treatment & Resource Center, Convention
Center,
law firms, Butler Hospital, and Hasbro Children’s Hospital. New faculty
hires
will enhance these relationships and Opportunities, providing students
with
additional service-learning opportunities.
A quality curriculum will be
delivered according to University policies and procedures. Courses in
the three target majors will be taught by a combination of new
full-time faculty, existing faculty teaching overload or in load (by
mutual agreement of the faculty
members, their department chairs, and deans), lecturers, and part-time
instructors. New faculty members will join one of the sponsoring
departments, and these home departments will be responsible for
monitoring the quality of their
offerings. They will mentor full-time faculty and lecturers, including
new
hires, who deliver the program, thereby insuring that faculty members
have
the appropriate academic credentials. Criteria for admissions to the
University
will be the uniform and independent of site. All other University
policies
and procedures will apply as well.
General Education offerings will
cover as wide a selection as the learning communities in Kingston and
will be
taught by instructors appointed by home departments. The composition of
the teaching faculty in Providence will approximate that in Kingston in
terms of permanent and part-time appointments, distribution in rank,
etc.
For the purpose of evaluation and
oversight, a Providence Campus Oversight Committee shall be established
to oversee
programs offered on the Providence Campus and to review the overall
program
every 4 years. Specific degree programs will be reviewed every three
years
on a staggered basis in accordance with the University’s current review
policies.
The Faculty Senate will appoint persons to the Providence Campus
Oversight
Committee in consultation with the Provost and Vice President for
Academic
Affairs.
C.
Process
Recognizing the unique
opportunities in Providence for a program able to offer access to the
university for different student populations, including students
interested in urban related issues, the Faculty Senate in consultation
with the Provost, convened a committee to address issues of quality,
staffing, and resource allocation for daytime programs serving
“traditional” students at the Providence Campus.
The Committee was comprised of:
Professor Marshall Feldman, Department of Community Planning and
Landscape Architecture), Chairperson
Will Dvorak, Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Ed Ferszt, Associate Dean, ASF/CCE
Cliff Katz, Assistant Provost
Professor Barbara Newman, Chair Human Development and Family
Studies, College of Human Sciences and Services
Professor Kat Quina, Psychology Department, College of Arts and
Sciences
Jayne Richmond, Dean University College
Professor Deborah Rosen, College of Business
David Taggart, Dean of Admissions
Mr. Vince Petronio from the Providence campus served as a consultant to
the Ad Hoc Committee.
The committee was to consult all
units affected by a change in matriculation procedures. Consequently
the committee:
o Worked with departmental representatives to develop plans for
each of three majors
o Met with departments to obtain support and feedback from
department and tune plans accordingly
o Developed plans for support services in consultation with
University College
o Developed plans for General Education courses using UC Learning
o Communities as a basis for breadth and depth.
o Determined costs based on needs as stated by departments,
projecting needed staffing for each program.
o Developed financial models using both a “snapshot” approach,
based on 2003-2004 figures, and a dynamic model incorporating projected
tuition or salary increases, promotions.
o Developed a model projecting overall enrollment and revenues,
as well
as costs, including staffing and advising, from 2005-2020.
o Surveyed high-school guidance counselors to discuss these
changes and to elicit feedback
D.
Rationale
URI has a long-standing commitment
to serve the urban centers of Rhode Island and fulfill the Urban Grant
component of it mission. Traditional aged students living in the
greater Providence area (including northwestern RI and southeastern MA)
are increasingly unable to attend the University in Kingston because of
social, demographic, geographic, or economic reasons. The University
seeks to address these issues and meet the needs of these students in
more visible and tangible ways.
Current University regulations and
policies technically do not prohibit “traditional” students from
matriculating in
the University and taking all their courses in Providence, and a few
clever
students have managed to do so by devising their programs of study in
an
ad-hoc manner. However, the University does not have explicit policies
to
ensure the quality and cohesiveness of such ad-hoc programs of study.
Moreover,
the University does not recognize such programs in any formal way and
therefore
under serves the pool of students who would potentially benefit from
four-year
undergraduate degree programs at the Providence Campus.
The current demands and need for
affordable public higher education in Rhode Island exceeds the state’s
capacity to
provide it. This is particularly true at the university level.
URI’s
Providence Campus can offer more opportunities for students who are
otherwise
limited by their economic status, family obligations, and other
constraints,
to attend the University at reduced fees. Demographic changes have
created
a growing pool of students in Providence and in the state’s
northwestern
region) who find it increasingly difficult to make the commute to
Kingston
and/or cannot afford on-campus residency. While some of these students
may
be well served by the Community College of Rhode Island or Rhode Island
College, others who desire a university atmosphere do not have this
option.
Rhode Island has a commitment to
the development and maintenance of the Providence Campus. The most
effective
way to use this investment efficiently is to use this facility during
currently slack periods to expand access to programs needed by the
residents of the state as noted above. Additionally, the fact that CCRI
students are already on the Providence Campus and that some
cross-curricular coordination is
beginning to take place suggests that the development of this option
for
university freshmen will also increase opportunities for
inter-institutional
cooperation.
URI is an Urban Grant institution.
This plan will better enable the University to fulfill this aspect of
its mission. In addition, URI’s mission is to provide affordable
education to all Rhode Islanders, particularly those seeking education
at a research university
or who would benefit from studying at one. This includes students
planning
to go on for advanced graduate degrees in professional and academic
disciplines. This plan will greatly enhance URI’s ability to live up to
its responsibility to provide university education for all Rhode
Islanders. Finally, by more efficiently using the Providence Campus
facility, URI will expand its capacity to meet the demand for its
program.
E.
Program Objective
The objective of this option is to
allow students in Providence and the surrounding region increased
access to a
“university” education, which has the same fundamental characteristics
and
quality as what they would currently receive in Kingston, at reduced
cost
and at a more convenient location. These characteristics include;
a
common curriculum, a mix of continuing, highly qualified full-time and
part-time
faculty consistent with the mix across the University, a commitment to
teaching,
research, and outreach, and a style of undergraduate education
consistent
with a major research university. In addition, offerings at the
Providence
Campus will take advantage of its location by emphasizing community
service
and applied outreach.
A second objective is to use the
Providence Campus facility more fully and in a way commensurate with
the mission of
the University as it seeks to serve an increasingly diverse and urban
population.
All major degree programs
currently
contemplated for the Providence Campus are expansions of major degree
programs
already offered in Kingston. This plan will change the admissions
process,
which will bring younger students to the campus, support services; and
the
format of courses, which will be shifted to 2-3 class meetings per
week.
The Psychology and Human Development and Family Studies majors are
already
offered during the day at the Providence campus. Communication Studies
is
not currently offered in Providence and will go through the normal
review
process. All three programs currently have insufficient capacity to
meet
student demand in Kingston, so this plan will make these programs
available
to more students.
SECTION II
PROPOSED MANUAL SECTIONS
Additional Manual language defines how programs become “specified” for
the Providence Campus.
8.11.12 As part of the
application process, applicants shall specify a primary campus.
Students may take up
to six credits per semester without a fee adjustment at University of
Rhode
Island locations other than their primary campus. Applicants may choose
a
campus other than Kingston as their primary campus only if that campus
offers
their preferred major.
8.88.10 Degree Programs on the
Providence Campus. Departments planning to offer existing
degree programs at
the Providence Campus must develop and approve a plan for offering and
staffing courses and advising students. Once approved by the
academic department, this plan should be forwarded simultaneously to
the appropriate college
curriculum committee and to the Vice Provost for Urban Programs for
review
and approval and then undergraduate programs shall be forwarded the
Curricular
Affairs Committee and graduate programs to the Graduate Council for
approval.
Actions taken by the Curricular Affairs Committee and Graduate Council
shall be reported to the Faculty Senate for information.
APPENDICES