OFF-CAMPUS STUDIES PANEL

AMENDED MINUTES

November 16, 2007

WPH 201

I.  	Minutes of October meeting, including report on items approved by chair
•	APPROVED.

II.  	INFORMATION ITEMS:  

A. Change in name and charge of panel
•	REPORT: UCOC approved recommendation by CAPP that the reviews of new, revised and terminated exchange programs be conducted by a panel of the UCOC, rather than by CAPP, as the questions that have been considered most recently have been curricular in nature.  There are two such programs active at the present time: the Washington D.C. George Washington University exchange program coordinated by the School of Policy, Planning and Development, and the Howard University exchange program.  This panel was recommended by UCOC as the appropriate panel.  The change in the charge prompts a change in the name of the panel to Off-campus Studies Panel.

B.  Progress on student evaluations
•	REPORT:  Stephen Bucher is coordinating with participating schools to help with this project.

C.	Legal office reviews of overseas programs
•	REPORT: Steve Bucher met with Laura La Corte, from the office of Compliance and Howard Levy, from Audit Services, who are investigating issues about possible improprieties in the Overseas Studies programs.  They have also interviewed overseas studies offices in the schools that offer programs, and will meet with the articulation officer.

II.  	DISCUSSION ITEMS:

1)	Adam Clayton Powell III, Vice Provost for globalization:  USC’s global initiatives
•	DISCUSSION: Susan Heitman of Public Relations and Ilee Rhimes of Information Technology Services are planning changes to the website describing the globalization efforts that are underway; the plans include adding links to everything faculty, staff and students need to know about university-sponsored teaching and research opportunities in other countries, including overseas studies programs facilitated through this panel.  They want to run the global scholars program electronically as much as possible.  Global Scholars are to be recognized at graduation.  The award will  require 10 weeks of study, research, or public service outside the United States.  
•	 The office of globalization is charged with encouraging and enabling overseas study, service, research, and internships. .  It could be a dream for the future that all USC students be required to have some overseas experience.  Many other opportunities are forthcoming, such as USC’s plans to open a new overseas office in China, joining our current four offices in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Mexico City.  In another few years, another one could open in Asia, Latin America, or India. A great number of students come from India, China and Korea.  
•	Another of Powell’s charges is to “connect the dots.”  Many USC faculty are doing research about Latin America and Africa, but they don’t know about each other’s activities.  Powell’s office is organizing a lunch December 6 for faculty whose work is related to Africa, and so far have 60 attendees.  Panel members encouraged by Powell to spread the word about this meeting.  The student representative reported that there is a great deal of student  interest in Africa.  We don’t have any overseas programs in India and not many in Africa, presumably in part because of a lack of departments and majors or minors focused on those areas..  
•	Powell says he expects the provost to announce a new Latin America initiative which he expects will yield more overseas studies programs. Also, the provost’s distinguished visitor program provides funding for faculty and researchers from other institutions to visit USC.
•	Units on campus wanting to develop overseas programs should be able to more easily find any pre-existing organizations already in place in the countries they are interested in.  All existing overseas studies programs that come through this panel are required to provide departure information booklets, which could be linked to the globalization website.  The website should have links for students with information about academic credit, financial assistance and information.   It would be helpful for units on campus to get help sorting out which programs to respond to when they receive email from unknown institutions saying they want to do exchange programs.  Michael Quick from the College says 6 or 7 departments are exploring offering clusters of undergraduate USC courses in one overseas location..  
•	Some of the impediments to overseas studies were discussed:  (1)  Language requirement:  Some schools with unit-dense programs such as Engineering resist the language requirement.  However, students cannot be as immersed in a culture if they don’t speak the local language.  (2)  Cost:  overseas study is expensive and  financial aid is a problem in the summer (Powell’s office is looking into ways of providing some form of financial assistance for overseas travel); (3) It can be hard to find classes that fulfill requirements so graduation is not delayed; and (4) Participation in activities on campus is interrupted by studying abroad.  

III.  New International Summer Program

A.  ISP in Beijing	Requested by Audrey Li, East Asian Languages and Cultures, The College
Program was approved for an 8-week (8 units) session by OSP chair and one other member.  Department also asked to be able to offer a 4-week (4 units) session.	

Attachments:

1.	Minutes of October meeting, including report of items approved by chair (or chair plus one member)
2.	Email from Audrey Li re 4-week Beijing ISP, Nov. 14

DEFERRED TO CHAIR.  Concern was expressed by some members that four weeks won’t provide for a true immersion experience unless the students participating are limited to those who already have completed at least Chinese I. The department is encouraged to resubmit the request for the chair to review, identifying some level of Chinese as a prerequisite for the four-week program so students’ learning can be more effective.  It also might be helpful to have some better articulated additional activities outside of class to help students use Chinese.  Note that these students could only take one course, so it may not be feasible to offer a number of different courses.
APPROVED. For one year.   EALC proposed offering only EALC 204 and higher for the 4-week program.  With this revision, the 4-week program was also approved by the chair.  
The program (8- and 4-week programs) should be reviewed by the OSP chair plus one additional member after one year (not just by the OSP chair, as is usually the case for an ISP).
Students will live and attend classes in the International Exchange Building at Capital Normal 
University.  A resident director, a lecturer in  EALC, will supervise the instructors, either from USC or locally hired.  
	 
Members present			Members absent		

Stephen Bucher (chair)			Yehuda Ben-Zion
Amanda Custer (student)		Laurie Brand
Frances M. Fitzgerald (support staff)	Giuseppe Caire
Stacy Geck				Annalisa Enrile	
Noosha Malek (ex-officio)		Elizabeth Garrett (ex officio)	
Adam Powell (ex-officio)			David Glasgow (ex-officio)
Erin Quinn (by email)			Steven Lamy (ex-officio) 
Edwenna Werner (for Kenneth		Gunnar Nielsson
Servis)					Joan R. Piggott
					Kenneth L. Servis (ex-officio)
Gordon Stables

PROPOSALS APPROVED BY THE CHAIR, OR CHAIR PLUS ONE MEMBER

I.  NEW INTERNATIONAL SUMMER PROGRAM
A.  SCHOOL OF MUSIC	Performance (Guitar)
			Eff. Term:	Summer 2008
	ICMP  London (2 units)
Comments:	Approved for one year.  The reviewers commented that they would have preferred more details about day-to-day 	activities in the syllabus, since the program's course lasts only 10 days. 
 Students will study in London at the ICMP (Institute for Contemporary Music Performance).  They will take MPGU-499, a 2-unit USC course titled “Contemporary Popular Music,” taught by a USC faculty member.   Co-curricular support will be provided by ACCENT. Note:  After the December UCOC meeting the approval period changed from the originally proposed three-year span to one year, because the special topics course warrants an earlier review..
II.  REVIEW AND RENEWAL OF SEMESTER/YEAR PROGRAMS
A.  ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION (Communication)
			Eff. Term:	Spring 2008
Semester program at Chinese University, Hong Kong	(15 units)
Approved for 5 years.  The student evaluations are low, so the reviewers hope that some of the student suggestions are considered.
Students study for a semester at Chinese University, Hong Kong.  Students (mostly Communication majors, though others are accepted) take five courses, mostly from the School of Journalism and Communication, but potentially also in other fields.
B.  SCHOOL OF LAW
	Exchange semester with Hong Kong University (HKU) School of Law. (12-15 units)   Eff Term:  Spring 2008
Approved for 5 years.
Law students take law courses at the University of Hong Kong.	
III.  REVIEW AND RENEWAL OF INTERNATIONAL SUMMER PROGRAMS
A.  COLLEGE OF LETTERS  ARTS & SCIENCES
Cambridge University, England (4 units)	Eff. Term:  Summer 2008
Approved for 3 years.  Undergraduate students take two 2-unit courses at Cambridge University.  After many years of being run by Dean Joan Schaefer, the program has been undergoing a change of leadership.
IV.  REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL SUMMER PROGRAMS—CHAIR ONLY REVIEWS
Interim review of ISPs by chair only in between the standard three-year review by OSP.  All approved for one year effective Summer 2008.

A.  MARSHALL SCHOOL OF BUSINESS     Graduate School of Business 
1.  Copenhagen Business School, Denmark (3-7.5)
MBA students take courses at Copenhagen Business School.

2.  Sao Paolo, Brazil, FGV-EAESP (3 units)
Comments:  Student evaluations were low regarding both academics and housing.  Marshall Associate Dean Scricca acknowledged that improvements are needed, and communication with FGV-EAESP and Marshall students needs to be clear.  If students do not have a positive experience the next time, Marshall will probably discontinue the program.  MBA students take courses at Fundação Getulio Vargas, Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo.

3.  WHU-Koblenz, Koblenz, Germany (3 units)
MBA students take courses at Wissenschaftliche Hochschule für Unternehmensführung – Otto Beisheim Graduate School of Management
B.  COLLEGE OF LETTERS ARTS & SCIENCES

Buenos Aires, Argentina (8 units)
USC courses taken, mostly by undergraduates.