February 18, 2013

1.     Pilot of new AP credential

Ben Withers, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education, and Randolph Hollingsworth, Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education, presented information on the pilot of a new AP credential.  UK is being asked to sign a statement of support for this program, and the UKCEC is being asked to advise on whether or not this seems like a worthwhile program.  This credential would be a score from a two-year capstone program that includes three components:

-        Three subject-based AP classes

-        A seminar class during junior year of high school (including a written paper and test)

-        A research-based course during senior year of high school (with a 4,500 word paper)

The AP research capstone credential is earned with achievement of a certain score on all three components.  UK’s challenge is determining how we treat this credential.  Currently with subject-based AP scores, department faculty decide how they are used.  However, this is a multi-disciplinary credential and cannot be decided at the departmental level.  A Paducah high school is currently participating in the pilot program for this, so there’s a chance we may have some of those students coming to UK Fall 2014 with this credential.  A few suggestions have been made for how to handle this credential:

-        Identify a particular course at UK that these students would be given credit for

-        Equate it to a freshman or sophomore research class

-        Use it as a credential for earning scholarships or acceptance into the Honors program, etc.

There is pressure at the state-wide level to equate this to a particular course, with a suggestion that it fits the C&C learning outcomes.  However, communication skills are just one aspect of the senior level research-based course.  We could possibly equate it to DSP 200, or a similar discipline-neutral course.

For students coming in with this credential, the Registrar’s office would receive a separate score for each of the three components, and then an aggregate score for the overall credential.  It’s not clear, however, what the weight of each individual score will be in determining the aggregate score.  For example, would it be possible for a student to score a 5 on each of the AP exams and do poorly in the other two areas, and still earn this credential?  That situation doesn’t seem to fulfill the intention of the program.  Also, who will be scoring the research papers?  Cambridge AP has a system for scoring, but the details are unclear.  UK is being asked to accept this aggregate score without really seeing the methodology behind determining the score.   

After this discussion, the UKCEC advised that the statement of support be signed and that the questions raised during the meeting be passed on.

2.     Meeting adjourned at 3:10 pm.

Prepared by Joanie Ett-Mims on February 19, 2013.