Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Curriculum and Student Affairs Committee

	Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Curriculum and Student Affairs Committee

Present: Banning, Boissonnault, Crouse, Gilchrist, Noack, Rosa, Spear (Chair), Thompson, and Zahner; Guests: Nancy Sugden, Mariamne Whatley and Virginia Sapiro

Approval of Minutes: The February 21, 2003, meeting minutes were approved with the addition of noting Karin Kirchoff as present.

Judy Thompson and Scott Spear will meet with the timetable group next Wednesday in order to look at specific time slots (i.e. day and time) to be made available for the Interdisciplinary curriculum. Will also discuss during what portion of student training should the courses/classes be made available.

Virginia Sapiro, Associate Vice Chancellor, and Mariamne Whatley, Associate Dean of Education, joined the committee in a discussion centered on their experiences regarding development of interdisciplinary teaching models in the social sciences. The various comments included:

--The Provost’s office is committed to reducing barriers and challenges and making interdisciplinary learning a success on campus. There has been a lot of work put into several “cluster hires” as an example. In addition, it has been decided that the credits for interdisciplinary courses will follow the actual instructor(s) in the non-health science fields.

--Committee members stressed that the goal is to achieve interdisciplinary training for every health science student in an effort to prepare him or her to work in a diverse professional environment, no matter his or her degree.

--Difficult to obtain funding at this point. Important to engage with other disciplines as a collaborative effort. Campus budget will have some affect on these courses. Have to become more efficient with the funds that are available now. Enormous costs associated with initial preparation time.

--Acknowledge the different models within interdisciplinary courses along with the different ways of learning and provide sufficient faculty development opportunities. Address issues of conflict as they arise.

--Have different activities for the learners such as assignments where they are going to have to integrate with others, have the option to do some teamwork, or have the instructor pair different work groups together.

--Time is always an issue for students. “Spend time in order to save time” would be a good motto to have. Learn to do it now and receive the benefits later. Need to understand limitations. Current content is already crammed and students feel overwhelmed so have to be patient and stay focused on the community in order to see the entire picture.

--Success ultimately rests with the student. Faculty responsible for assignments that break down some commonly formed barriers (i.e. learn an area that you don’t know, learn an area other than your “specialty” and teach openness to other ideas and values). Help the students to see the value in the course and in the other disciplines’ perspectives.

--Look at some existing courses that could be reworked as interdisciplinary courses: End of Life Issues, Healthcare Ethics, Informatics, Prevention of Clinical Errors, Human Sexuality and Enhancing Critical Thinking.

Miscellaneous:
--Look into possibility of bringing faculty to UW-Madison who are successfully dealing with Interdisciplinary health sciences modules on other campuses.
--Have a “Brown Bag” type discussion (with Peter Spear, Provost and Virginia Shapiro, Associate Vice Chancellor) in early summer for faculty that are currently or would like to be involved with interdisciplinary teaching.

Agenda for March IHSC Committee Meeting
Rennebohm Hall, Room 1042
8-9:30AM, Friday, April 18, 2003

1. Approval of minutes from 3/14/03 meeting
2. Report of timetable group meeting
3. Presentation from Nancy Sugden regarding available resources from AHEC for interdisciplinary teaching
4. Report on meetings regarding the Medical School and Oversight and Advisory Committee five year expenditure plan for the Blue Cross/Blue Shield proceeds
5. Introduction of Terry Burton—new director of Health Sciences Libraries
6. Continue discussion on developing specific criteria to review interdisciplinary course submissions

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