Minutes, annual meeting of the USG BOR AAC on Criminal Justice
November 10, 2006The meeting was convened by the Chair, Leo Downing, at 2:00 PM at the Mulberry Inn, Savannah.
Members in attendance:Leo Downing, North Georgia
Hil Harper, Valdosta State
Christine Ludowise, Georgia Southern
Charles Ochie, Albany State
Walter Robitzsch, Macon State
Charles Ubah, Georgia College
John Fuller, West Georgia
Elaine Weeks, UGA
Mamin Shabazz, Clayton State
Leroy Baldwin, Atlanta Metro
W. Clifton Wilkinson, Georgia College
Michael Qualls, Fort Valley State
Sutham Cheurprakobkit, Kennesaw State
Kerry Stewart, Gainesville State
Dan Guerrant, Middle GA College
Bridget Downs, Columbus State
Rhonda Morgan, Gordon College
Heather Perfetti, Darton College
Anthony Simones, Dalton State
Old Business:
Heather Perfetti, chair of the by-laws committee, issued a report on the development of by laws for the ACC on CRJU. She distributed a draft proposal to the committee for review. The committee offered a few editorial changes. Heather will incorporate the editorial changes and distribute a final proposal to the committee via the CJAG list serv for a vote.
Leo Downing reported that he had received assurances from all institutions in the USG not currently in compliance with usage of the proper course prefix (CRJU) or Introduction to Criminal Justice course number (11XX) that they will be in compliance as soon as possible.The representative from Georgia State University was unable to attend for personal reasons. The standing of the PhD program at GSU is unknown. Over the last 20 years, the BOR AAC on CJ has sent a number of resolutions supporting and urging the development of said program. The Chair, Leo Downing, contacted our BOR representative and was informed that the proposal has not been given to the BOR. After a brief discussion it was suggested that it might be better to send a letter of support for the degree to the local (GSU) level. Hil Harper agreed to draft the communication, in conjunction with the Executive Committee, and forward it to the proper administrators at GSU.
BOR Information:
Our BOR representative was unable to attend due to budget restrictions. The chair sent several queries to her regarding pending budget issues. Her response indicated that it will be another lean year for USG budgets and that no specific salary increase has been proposed at this time. The BOR had no specific charges for the committee to address.
New Business
The issue of transferability of credits was discussed at length. Problems associated with transfers from Technical Schools seemed to be the most common. Policies developed at each institution centered on the issue of SACS accreditation. Many of the tech schools do not meet current SACS standards and acceptance of credit from these institutions poses serious SACS compliance issues. It was decided that the burden regarding student notification of these problems should rest with the technical schools.
The issue of "Program Assessment" was discussed. Each member discussed their specific methods for assessment. These methods included; student surveys, alumni surveys, employer surveys, internship agency placement surveys, academic portfolios, pretest-posttests, internship experiences, exit exams, common exam questions, student journals and others. Each institution is guiding their assessment under their individual institutional missions.The issue of the appropriateness of Introduction to Criminal Justice as a core course (Area E under the current system) was brought up. This issue has been discussed several times over the last 20 years with several attempts made for inclusion. The last attempt was 6-7 years ago and was met with resistance from other disciplines. There is a new BOR procedure in place for reviewing proposed new core courses. This new procedure may look more favorably on a proposal from an institution. It was decided to examine the last proposal before going further. Members of the executive committee will contact the past proponents to review their proposal. It was also acknowledged that there would be little value in proceeding with the proposal unless specific institutions were willing to add the course to their core. A short discussion followed regarding GSU's core "justice" course. This is not a general Into to CRJU class but a broad based ethics type course.
CJAG Information
The committee was reminded that the annual meeting of the Criminal Justice Association of Georgia was being held at the Mulberry over the next two days. The CJAG business meeting would be held at 9:40 AM on Saturday, November 12.
Next BOR Meeting
The 2006 meeting of the BORAAC on CRJU will be held on Thursday, November 16. Some concerns were expressed that the meeting might conflict with the ASC meeting. The ASC meeting, however, is scheduled for November 1-4, 2006 in Los Angeles.
Elections:
At the conclusion of this meeting Christine Ludowise, Georgia Southern University, will assume the Chair position.
Elections were held to fill the positions of Chair-elect and secretary.The results were:
Chair Elect: John Fuller, University of West Georgia
Secretary: Hamin Shabazz, Clayton State University
The three current officers and the past president will serve as the executive committee of the committee.