The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #121 on March 1, 2004:

MOTION:
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The UAF Faculty Senate moves to approve a BA in Child Development & Family Studies.

EFFECTIVE: Fall 2004 and/or Upon Board of Regents' Approval.

RATIONALE: See new course requests #64-71 and full program proposal #72 from the Fall 2003 review cycle
on file in the Governance Office, 312 Signers’ Hall. ECE major requirement of 33 credits and three specialized
concentrations of 15 credits in Administration, Curriculum and Teaching, and Family Support for a total of 126
credits; requires seven new courses.

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Brief Statement of the Proposed Program
Bachelor of Arts in Child Development & Family Studies

Mission: The mission of the CDFS program is to provide necessary preparation for early childhood educators who wish to advance their professional knowledge and career opportunities with specialized study in curriculum, administration or family support.

Delivery Method: The program will be offered through flexible course delivery methods to early childhood educators, living in both rural and urban Alaska outside of Anchorage bowl.

Intent: The intent of this degree is to qualify persons interested in upper level, higher paying employment in the early childhood career field.

Background: In the Headstart Reauthorization Act, 50% of Headstart Teachers are required to have a Bachelors degree by 2008, with the intent that eventually all Headstart teachers will be so qualified. In addition, qualifications beyond an Associate degree are required or recommended for all preschool teachers and many other positions in the field including: family advocates, home visitors, curriculum coordinators and administrators. Employers for all of these positions regularly seek applicants with baccalaureate degrees. Recently employers have been hiring candidates from out of state in order to find qualified applicants.

Furthermore, many of the current graduates of the ECE AAS degree want greater knowledge in this field, even if it is not required for their jobs. Since there is no relevant degree available here, they go out of state, seek a less satisfying degree through the complex interdisciplinary process, change careers completely, or leave the university with unfulfilled career aspirations, unprepared for the more challenging positions in the early childhood profession.

According to multiple sources there are approximately 5000 early childhood jobs in Alaska. The new BA in ECE at the UA campus is trying to prepare people for approximately 50% of those jobs, plus K-3 teachers in the Anchorage bowl. The UAF program is intended to serve the rest of the state, focusing on Child Development and Family Studies, rather than Education. Most early childhood professionals are mature women, with growing families and strong family values. Many work in small villages and cannot leave their families and communities to move to the city and obtain the UAA degree. The BA CDFS, with distance delivery, is designed for them.

 

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The UAF Faculty Senate passed the following at its Meeting #121 on March 1, 2004:

MOTION:
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The UAF Faculty Senate moves to amend Section 3, (Article V, Committees, Permanent) of the Bylaws to establish a permanent "Committee on the Status of Women."

CAPS - Addition
[[ ]] - Deletion

PERMANENT

7. THE COMMITTEE ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN. MEMBERSHIP WILL CONSIST OF EIGHT PEOPLE, ONE OF WHOM WILL BE A SENATOR, THE OTHERS TO BE ELECTED AT LARGE FROM AMONG UAF FACULTY.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS COMMITTEE IS TO MONITOR THE STATUS OF WOMEN FACULTY AT UAF AND TO WORK PROACTIVELY FOR GENDER EQUITY.

SUCH ACTIONS WILL INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

MAINTAINING LISTS OF WOMEN FACULTY WITH HIRE, TENURE AND PROMOTION DATES.

ORGANIZING AND SUPERVISING SURVEYS ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN AND ASSESSING THE CULTURAL CLIMATE OF THE UNIVERSITY AS IT PERTAINS TO WOMEN.

RECOMMENDING POLICY TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF WOMEN FACULTY.

SUPPORTING MENTORING OF WOMEN, BOTH NEW AND MID-CAREER FACULTY, INCLUDING RUNNING WORKSHOPS ON MENTORING, PROMOTION & TENURE, NEGOTIATING TECHNIQUES AND OTHER FORMS OF FACULTY DEVELOPMENT IDENTIFIED AS NECESSARY.

ADDRESSING FAMILY-WORK ISSUES, SUCH AS CHILD CARE, PARENTAL LEAVE, SPOUSAL/PARTNER HIRE.
COORDINATING WITH OTHER CAMPUS AND UNIVERSITY GROUPS WHICH DEAL WITH WOMEN'S AND GENDER ISSUES.

AND ANY OTHER ISSUES WHICH WOULD HELP WOMEN TO ACHIEVE EQUITY AT UAF.

EFFECTIVE: Immediately

RATIONALE: Women faculty at UAF have not achieved a level of equity congruent with their numbers either at the University or in the academic profession. This is apparent through several miscellaneous data, any one of which might be explained away, but which together make up a picture of inequity. For example:

 

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