The Council on Academic Affairs will be voting today on a proposal to establish a Speaking Across the Curriculum Committee.

The proposal includes clarification of how speaking will be assessed in the general curriculum and recommends establishing a Speaking across the Curriculum Committee, according to the proposal.

The proposal comes form the Committee for the Assessment of Student Learning (CASL), whose most recent initiative has been the establishment of the Writing Across the Curriculum program.

The proposal outlines six recommendations from CASL that the speech department has endorsed–providing that sufficient resources will be available for them.

As part of CASL’s recommendation, a Speaking across the Curriculum Committee under the jurisdiction of CAA, would be established to identify criteria to be used in deciding what “speaking components” are.

The definition of “speaking components” must be determined because another one of the recommendations states that at least three courses in a major should include “speaking components”.

The proposal also states workshops on evaluation of speaking competence should be made available to related faculty.

Also, in senior seminars and SPC 1310/1390 speaking competency will be assessed. As part of that determination, the ability to speak effectively would be one consideration in determining grades.

The proposal was pulled from last week’s agenda causing the cancellation of the meeting because the financial impact on the university needed to be assessed.

“Obviously, the recommendation will impact the resources of the College of Arts and Humanities in a significant way,” said Jeffrey Lynch, associate dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, in a e-mail to CAA requesting the postponement of action.

Funds may be needed to reassign faculty, provide for summer grants and to provide assistance to students, according to the proposal.