FALL 2009 CURRICULUM REPORT

 

The body of this report consists of two major sections: Course Proposals reviewed Fall 2009 and Other Curricular Matters. Policies and definitions governing group and multicultural general-education requirements are under Other Curricular Matters.

 

Course proposals approved by both the University of Oregon Committee on Courses (UOCC) and the University Senate are effective Fall term 2010, unless a specific term is requested by an academic department and stated otherwise in this report.

 

The UOCC will consider new proposals during winter term and will submit a winter quarterly report to the University Senate in March 2010.

 

Routing of Minor Changes: The UOCC has confirmed that the following minor course changes may be made without review by the full committee: minor edits of course description, pre- or corequisites, grading option, and conditions of repeatability. Changes may be submitted in writing directly to the Office of the Registrar and Design and Editing Services, in care of Mike Jefferis (jefferis@uoregon.edu) and Scott Skelton (sskelton@uoregon.edu). The memorandum should indicate the effective term for the change(s). Note: extensive changes may be referred to the UOCC for review.

 

Courses Not Taught Report: The UOCC has changed the policy of dropping courses not taught within the past three years from the fall curriculum report to the spring curriculum report. This allows the correct listing of courses in the catalog for the following curricular year. The intention for this change is to allow departments a chance to reply earlier and provide a more thoughtful response while still involved in curricular planning and staffing for the next academic year and can best determine which courses they are able to offer.

 

Multicultural Courses Policy: As part of general education, offerings of multicultural courses at the 100, 200, and 300 levels need to be available to a wide spectrum of students from all across the university. Departments wishing to offer courses to satisfy the multicultural requirement should make these courses available at the more general 100, 200, or 300 levels whenever possible, rather than at the more specialized 400 level.

 

Extended Course Descriptions for Group-Satisfying Courses: All proposals for courses that would satisfy a group requirement for general education must include a suitable extended course description, for use with the course, as specified in senate legislation:

 

“For all group-satisfying courses to be offered during a particular term, faculty members or departments are asked to post electronically, in the Schedule of Classes, course descriptions that are substantially expanded over those provided in the catalog. The posted course information should be understandable to someone unfamiliar with the field and should emphasize the questions or issues that reveal, by their breadth and significance, why the course has earned group-satisfying status.” (US03/04-8, May 12, 2004)

 

 

Academic Year 2009–2010

December 2, 2009:       University Senate considers Fall 2009 preliminary report of the University of Oregon Committee on Courses.

December 16, 2009:     Curricular proposals for consideration in the winter 2009 round must be submitted to the provost’s office.

March 10, 2010:          University Senate considers Winter 2010 preliminary report of the University of Oregon Committee on Courses.

March 17, 2010:          Curricular proposals for consideration in the Spring 2010 round must be submitted to the provost’s office.

May 12, 2010:             University Senate considers Spring 2010 preliminary report of the University of Oregon Committee on Courses.

 

 

 

Members, University of Oregon Committee on Courses

 

Voting:       Paul Engelking, Chair                        Ex officio:        Sue Eveland

                  Jack Boss                                                               John Crosiar

                  Paul Peppis                                                             Marian Friestad

                  Frances White                                                          Scott Skelton

                  Shlomo Libeskind                                                    Andrew Wahlstrom

                  Jens Noeckel (absent for fall round)

 

 

Student:      Alex McCafferty                                Staff:               Tami Oar

                  Elizabeth Aldrich                                                     Mike Jefferis

 

The University of Oregon Committee on Courses moves that the following course proposals and other curricular matters be approved.

 

Unless indicated otherwise, courses may be taken either pass/no pass or for letter grades. “P/N only” or “graded only” indicates that all students must take the course as specified in the bold print. Separate grading options for majors are bracketed in this report and appear in UO class schedule notes; they are not printed in the UO Catalog. R after course credits means that the course number may be repeated for credit. “Sequence” after the description means the courses must be taken in numerical order.

 

 

NEW COURSES

 

BI 485/585 Techniques in Computational Neuroscience (4) Introduction to numerical techniques for modeling the nervous system from single neurons to neutral networks. Prereq: BI 360 or 461; MATH 241, 242 or higher.

 

(Course previously taught as 410/510 in fall 2008)

BI 490/590 Theoretical Ecology (4) Provides a novel and fun way of learning how to use simple mathematical methods to understand complex ecological systems. Prereq: BI 212, 213, 214; or BI 251, 252, 253.

 

 

NEW COURSE

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

EALL 510 Experimental Course: [Topic] (1-5R) Effective winter 2010

 

 

NEW COURSES

 

(Course previously taught as 410/510 in winter 2010)

EC 422/522 Economic Forecasting (4) Basic techniques of economic forecasting that are typically used in a business environment. Prereq: EC 420 Coreq: EC 421

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGES

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

ENG 360: African American Writers (4) Examines the origins and development of African American writing in relevant cultural, social, and historical contexts.

(Change Course Description)

ENG 360: African American Writers (4) Examines the origins and development of African American literature and culture in relevant intellectual, social, and historical contexts. Effective fall 2009.

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

ENG 361: Native American Writers (4) Examines the origins and development of Native American writing in relevant cultural, social, and historical contexts.

(Change Course Description)

ENG 361: Native American Writers (4) Examines the origins and development of Native American literature and culture in relevant intellectual, social, and historical contexts. Effective fall 2009.

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

ENG 362: Asian American Writers (4) Examines the origins and development of Asian American writing in relevant cultural, social and historical contexts.

(Change Course Description)

ENG 362: Asian American Writers (4) Examines the origins and development of Asian American literature and culture in relevant intellectual, social, and historical contexts. Effective fall 2009.

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

ENG 363: Chicano and Latino Writers (4) Examines the origins and development of Chicano and Latino writing in relevant cultural, social, and historical contexts.

(Change Course Description)

ENG 363: Chicano and Latino Writers (4) Examines the origins and development of Chicano and Latino literature and culture in relevant intellectual, social, and historical contexts. Effective fall 2009.

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

(Add Course Prerequisite)

ENG 222: Introduction to the English Major (4) Prereq: ENG 220 or 221. Effective 2010.

 

 

NEW COURSES

 

(Course previously taught as ENVS 399 in (winter 2009)

ENVS 335 Allocating Scarce Environmental Resources (4) [Graded only for majors] Considerations for the design of environmental and natural resources policies and regulations: balancing society’s preferences and the costs of environmental protection and resource conservation Prereq: MATH 105 or higher.

Requesting that this course satisfy Social Science group requirement.

 

 

REINSTATED COURSE

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

GEOG 204: Geography of Russia and Neighbors (4) Natural regions, major population groups, and the economic development of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Satisfies the social science group requirement and international cultures multicultural requirement. Effective spring 2010.

 

 

NEW COURSE

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

GEOL 399: Special Studies [Topic] (1-5R)

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGE

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

HIST 409 Supervised Tutoring (1-2R)

(Change Credits)

HIST 409 Supervised Tutoring (1-4R) Effective Fall 2009

 

 

NEW COURSE

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

AEIS 610 Experimental Course: [Topic] (1-5R) Effective fall 2009

 

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGE

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

PS 470 Constitutional Law

(Drop the prerequisite PS 275)

 

NEW COURSE

 

PS 378 Games in Politics (4) Politics viewed as strategic interactions among politicians, voters, and countries; focuses on how to model these interactions using tools of game theory.

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGES

 

PSY 302 Statistical Methods in Psychology (4) Prereq: MATH 111, PSY 201, 202, WR 121, 122.

(changed pre-requisite)

PSY 302 Statistical Methods in Psychology (4) Prereq: MATH 111 or 243; WR 121.  Sophomore standing required. Effective winter 2010.

 

PSY 303 Research Methods in Psychology (4) Prereq: PSY 302, WR 121, 122.

(changed pre-requisite)

PSY 303 Research Methods in Psychology (4) Prereq: PSY 201 or 202; PSY 302; WR 122 or 123.  Effective winter 2010. 

 

PSY 412 through 480 Prereq: WR 121 and 122 or 123; PSY 303.

(changed pre-requisite)

PSY 412 through 480 Prereq: PSY 201, PSY 202, PSY 302; WR 122 or 123.  Effective winter 2010. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REINSTATED COURSE

 

ITAL 461/561: Vico and Settecento (4) Prereq: ITAL 317, 318, and 319. Effective spring 2010.

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGE

 

(Add Course Prerequisite)

FR 399: Special Studies (1-5R) Prereq: FR 301, 303

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGES

 

SOC 425/525 Issues in Family Sociology (4)

(Changed Course Title, Repeatability)

SOC 425/525 Issues in Sociology of Family: [Topic]

Repeatable

Repeatable 2 times.

Repeatable for a maximum of 12 credits.

Repeatable under the following conditions: when topic changes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGES

 

ART 115 Basic Design: Fundamentals (4) Intermedia laboratory for fundamentals of communication design.

Development of visual vocabularies.

(Changed Course Description, Course Title, Grading Options)

ART 115 Surface, Space, and Time (4) Graded only.

Introduces interdisciplinary media processes, critical theory, formal communication design, color theory, skills in objective evaluation and critique, and how materials, processes, and context establish meaning.

 

ART 116 Basic Design: 3D (4) Visual communication and critique. Development of visual vocabularies through investigation of space and structure.

(Changed Course Description, Course Title)

ART 116 Core Interdisciplinary Laboratory (4)

Rigorous studio projects in the core studio sequence stressing interdisciplinary media transitions and the interrelatedness of conceptual and formal concerns.

Pre- or coreq: ART 115.

 

ART 233 Drawing (4R)

(Changed Course Description, Course Title) Beginning course in observation, selection, and recording of significant elements in various drawing media.

ART 233 Drawing I (4R)

Introduction to basic drawing concepts and practices. 

 

NEW COURSES

 

ARTD 256 Introduction to Production (4) Graded only. Traditional camera, sound, and lighting techniques in production; nonlinear editing; and key theoretical, historical, and aesthetic approaches to video art.

 

ARTF 268 Introduction to Fibers: Structures (4) Skills and conceptual concerns in structural textile construction. Introduces historical and contemporary work through slides and lectures. Prereq: ART 115, 116, 233

 

ARTF 269 Introduction to Fibers: Surfaces (4) Skills and conceptual concerns in the embellished or manipulated surfaces of textile forms. Introduces historical and contemporary work through slides and lectures. Prereq: ART 115, 116, 233

 

ARTF 368 Textile Printing (4R) Introduction to screen-printing process for fabric and alternative substrates. Textile history, the relevance of printing, and related ideas of decoration, repetition, and appropriation are explored. Prereq: ARTF 253 or 268 or 269. R until mastery of subject is achieved.

 

ARTF 369 Woven Structures (4R) Introduction to floor-loom hand weaving. Traditional and experimental use of materials, techniques, and structures are used to understand weaving as a cross-disciplinary practice. Prereq: ARTF 253 or 268 or 269. R until mastery of subject is achieved.

 

(Course previously taught as 410 in winter 2009)           

ARTP 481 Advanced Painting Practice (4R) Pursuit of individual creative practice and forming the critical intelligence necessary to develop as an artist. Sequence: ARTP 281, 381, 390. Prereq: two terms ARTP 390. R until mastery of subject is achieved.

 

 

NEW COURSES

 

(Course previously taught as LA 4/508 in spring 2008)

LA 446/546 Landscape Urbanism (4) Landscape theory and practice as the foundation of urban design, synthesizing architecture, infrastructure, microclimate, and ecology across multiple scales and time frames.

 

(Course previously taught as 610 in fall 2007)

LA 617 Introduction to Landscape Architecture Theory (4) P/NP only. Survey and critique of the theoretical frameworks, prevalent ways of knowing, ways of expanding understanding, and argument in landscape architecture

 

 

OLD COURSES DROPPED

 

PPPM 683 Professional Practice in Nonprofit Organizations (1)

Topic area covered in other nonprofit courses. Substituting the philanthropy seminar for this required course.

 

NEW COURSES

 

PPPM 623 Professional Development in Public Administration (1) P/NP Articulating preliminary career goals and mapping the necessary steps to accomplish these goals.

 

 

OLD COURSE DROPPED

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

AAA 409 Supervised Tutoring (1-12R)Effective winter 2010.

 

NEW COURSES

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

AAA 404 Internship [Topic] (1-12R) Effective winter 2010.

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

AAA 409 Practicum [Topic] (1-5R) Effective winter 2010.

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

AAA 604 Internship [Topic} (1-12R) Effective winter 2010.

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

AAA 609 Practicum [Topic] (1-12R) Effective winter 2010.

 

 

NEW COURSES

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

PD 198 Workshop: [Topic] (1-12R) Effective fall 2009.

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

PD 199 Special Studies: [Topic] (1-5R) Effective fall 2009.

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

PD 399 Special Studies [Topic] (1-5R) Effective fall 2009.

 

 

 

NEW COURSE

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

FIN 609 Practicum [Topic]: (1-9R) Effective fall 2009.

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGE

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

MGMT 609 Practicum [Topic] (1-16R) Pass/No Pass

(change grading option)

MGMT 609 Practicum [Topic] (1-16R) Optional Grading. Effective fall 2009.

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGE

 

(UOCC Administrative Action)

SBUS 609 Practicum: [Topic] (1-4R)

(variable credit change)

SBUS 609 Practicum: [Topic] (1-9R) Effective winter 2010.

 

 

 

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGES

 

FHS 491 Junior Professional Practices and Issues I (3) Effective fall 2009.

(Changed Grading Options)

UO grading option: Graded Only

Majors grading option: Graded Only

 

FHS 492 Junior Professional Practices and Issues II (3) Effective fall 2009.

(Changed Grading Options)

UO grading option: Graded Only

Majors grading option: Graded Only

 

FHS 493 Junior Professional Practices and Issues III (3) Effective fall 2009.

(Changed Grading Options)

UO grading option: Graded Only

Majors grading option: Graded Only

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGES

 

SPED 488/588 Professional Practices (3)

(Changed Course Title)

SPED 488/588 Professional Practices: [Topic]

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGE

 

CDS 609 Practicum: Speech-Language-Hearing

(Change from optional grading to pass/no pass only)

 

 

 

UOCC REINSTATED COURSES

 

Law 670 Public Land Law (3R) Effective fall semester 2009

 

Law 658 Local Government Law (3) Effective fall semester 2009

 

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGE

 

PEL 409 Practicum: [Topic] (1-3R)

(Change credits)

PEL 409 Practicum: [Topic] (1-4R)

Effective summer 2009

 

 

 

EXISTING COURSE CHANGE

 

(change prerequisite)
J 464/564 Newspaper Design (4) Prereq: J 361

J 464/564 Newspaper Design (4) Prereq: J 202, J 203, J 204; or J 205, J 206, J 207. Effective winter 2010.

 

 

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

 

State Board’s approved the Bachelors of Arts in Cinema Studies on September 17, 2009.Effective date of Winter 2010. (State Board has delegated of final approval of the new program to its Academic Strategies Committee).

 

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

 

In 1993, the M.Ed. and D.Ed. degrees in Communication Disorders and Sciences were listed as inactivated in the UO catalog, and were no longer offered by the department.  The seven-year sunset period has expired and no students are enrolled in either of those degree programs.  Communication Disorders and Sciences offer the M.A., M.S., and Ph.D. only.

 

COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND COMMUNICATION

 

Effective fall term 2009 these majors will be dropped: Journalism: Electronic Media (J&C) B.A., B.S., Journalism: Magazine (J&C) B.A., B.S., and Journalism: News-Editorial (J&C) B.A., B.S.

 

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND ALLIED ARTS

 

(Moved to the Winter term, request for new syllabus)

ARTF 456/556 Advanced Fibers (3-5R) 

(Changed Course Description, Course Title)

ARTF 456/556 Adv Fibers: Craft and Textile Construction

(Moved to the Winter term request for additional information)

 

ART 333 Drawing II (4) Building on previous drawing skills, course emphasizes synthesis of ideas and approaches, complex subjects, investigation and expression. Sequence: ART 233 Prereq: ART 233

Course emphasizes development of individual studio practice through an exploration of contemporary issues in textile-based processes and an expansion of the rhetoric of craft.

Course will be taught Once or more per academic year

Pre/corequisite(s): ARTF 368; and 267 or 369

(Moved to Winter term, request for revised syllabus)

(Course previously taught as 510 in 2006WI)

 

LA 619 Contemporary Landscape Architecture Theory (3) Critical survey of important landscape design ideas and examples from the last thirty years by examination of articles, texts, dialogues, sites, built works and personalities Prereq: ArH 578 Offered alternate years.

 

 

HONORS COLLEGE

 

(Moved to Winter term, waiting for revised syllabus).

HC 377 Thesis Orientation (1) Sophomore/junior year preparation for thesis project. Prereq: HC 223 or HC 233

 

 

 

The Committee on Courses offers the following reminders:

 

ü      Proposals to the Committee on Courses must be submitted on electronic forms, available on the CAS website, http://uocurriculum.uoregon.edu/. Arrangements for access may be made by contacting the appropriate college curriculum coordinator for each individual professional school or college. Proposals submitted on old forms will be returned, without review, to academic departments, schools, or colleges. Proposals must be submitted to the Committee on Courses prior to the beginning of the term in which they are to be considered. Proposals received after the beginning of the term will be deferred to the following term. All departments should consult their college curriculum coordinator for deadline dates or go to http://uocurriculum.uoregon.edu/ and click the “Important Dates” link.

ü     The following minor course changes may be made without review by the full committee: minor edits of course description, pre- or co-requisites, grading option, and conditions of repeatability. Changes may be submitted in writing directly to the Office of the Registrar and to Design and Editing Services, in care of Mike Jefferis (jefferis@uoregon.edu) and Scott Skelton (sskelton@darkwing.uoregon.edu), respectively. The memorandum should indicate the effective term for the change(s). Note: extensive changes may be referred to the UOCC for review.

ü     If there is any question that a proposed new or changed course might duplicate coverage in an existing course from another department or school, the proposing department must gain written confirmation that the other department has been consulted and does not object to the new or changed course.

ü     Proposals for new courses must be accompanied by full syllabi.

ü     For 4XX/5XX level courses, both proposal forms and syllabi must state explicitly the substantive and measurable differences in type and amount of work for the two levels.

ü     The minimal requirements for general-education status of a course are regarded as necessary, but not always sufficient, for inclusion of a course as part of a comprehensive general-education program at the university.

Group satisfying courses are intended to provide students with a cohesive general-education program. Proposals for group-satisfying status of a course should explain how the course enhances general-education at the university, explicitly stating how the course would complement other group-satisfying courses, and which other courses would be especially suitable for students to take in accompaniment. Approved March 10, 2004.

According to University Senate legislation, courses submitted for group-satisfying status must be submitted to the Intercollege General-Education Review Committee.

Proposals for undergraduate group-satisfying and multicultural courses must include written justification, regardless of whether they are new or existing courses.

ü     The minimal requirements for multicultural status of a course are regarded as sufficient for inclusion of a course as part of the multicultural course requirements.

Any course that might appear to satisfy the university multicultural requirements, either by title, description, or content, is carefully examined to see if it should be listed as a multicultural course. If a course might appear on its face eligible for multicultural status, the committee needs clear explanation of why the course does—or does not—satisfy multicultural course guidelines. Arbitrary exclusion of courses from the list of multicultural satisfying courses can engender student confusion or cynicism. Approved on March 10, 2004.

ü     The UO Committee on Courses has established the policy that the phrase “or instructor’s consent” will not be stated along with any other course prerequisites. The prerequisites of any course may be overridden by instructor’s consent, and need not be stated explicitly for individual courses. Academic departments are able to override any prerequisite requirements in Banner should a student qualify to enroll.

“Instructor’s consent” is reserved for use alone as a sole prerequisite to allow departments to monitor suitability of enrollment in courses for individual students, preventing enrollment without prior approval. Academic departments should be aware they must code the courses correctly and assume enrollment management responsibilities, preauthorizing each student individually, with this option. Approved March 10, 2004.

 

As the primary, commonly available summary of a course, the syllabus serves several purposes. It outlines the course, it denotes what students may expect from the course, and it locates the course in the curriculum. The syllabus is the best, most concise description of a course by its teacher available to both prospective students and colleagues. The Committee on Courses uses syllabuses in its review of courses. To maximize the usefulness of a syllabus to students and faculty, it should contain the following contents:

 

1. Course Number

2. Title

3. Credits

4. Term, place, time, instructor

(For a new course proposal, indicate when it is likely to be offered, and how frequently)

(For a new course proposal, indicate who is likely to teach the course)

 

5. Position in the curriculum

• Satisfies group requirement? Explain why

• Satisfies multicultural requirement? Explain why

• Satisfies other general-education requirement?

• Satisfies other major or program requirement?

• Preparatory for other courses?

• List prerequisites or other suggested preparation

 

6. Format (lecture, discussion, and laboratory)

 

7. Outline of subject and topics explored

 

8. Course materials (texts, books, readings)

 

9. Instructor expectations of students

• Be explicit (by pages assigned, lengths of assignments)

• Level of student engagement expected (see suggested Student Engagement Inventory on following page)

• Readings

• Problems

• Attendance

• Project

• Writing

• Laboratory

• Field work

• Work with electronic media, network, online

• Performance

• Presentation

• Exams

• Differential expected for graduate work for joint 4xx/5xx-level courses

 

10. Assessment

• Methods (testing, homework)

• Times or frequency

• Grading policy

• Incomplete policy

 

[See Faculty Handbook for other recommendations regarding university policies.]

 

To aid in assigning student credit hours uniformly to courses in the curriculum, the committee inventories the amount of student engagement in a course. The committee has found the following tool to be useful. Departments preparing course proposals are invited to use this form when deciding how many SCH units to request for a proposed course. Departments are encouraged to report to the committee how this tool may be improved for their use.

 

Please identify the number of hours a typical or average student would expect to spend in each of the following activities. The general guideline is that each undergraduate credit should reflect thirty hours of student engagement. Therefore, a 3-credit course would engage students for ninety hours total among the activities listed below, whereas a 4-credit course would list 120 hours of activities in which students are engaged over the course of the term. (Graduate students are expected to perform work of higher quality and quantity, typically with an additional 20–25 percent effort expected.)

 

Educational activity	Hours student engaged	Explanatory comments (if any):
Course attendance
Assigned readings
Project
Writing assignments
Lab or workshop
Field work, experience
Online interaction
Performances, creative activities
Total hours:

 

Definition of terms:

Course attendance	Actual time student spends in class with instructor or GTF
Assigned readings	Estimated time it takes for a student with average reading ability to read all assigned readings
Writing assignments	Estimated time it takes for a student with average writing ability to produce a final, acceptable written product as required by the assignment
Project	Estimated time a student would be expected to spend creating or contributing to a project that meets course requirements (includes individual and group projects)
Lab or workshop	Actual time scheduled for any lab or workshop activities that are required but are scheduled outside of class hours
Field work, experience	Actual or estimated time a student would spend or be expected to spend engaged in required field work or other field-based activities
Online activities	Actual or estimated time a student would spend or be expected to spend engaged in online activities directly related to the course, separate from online research required for projects or writing assignments
Performance, creative activities	Actual or estimated time a student would spend or be expected to spend outside of class hours engaged in preparing for required performance or creative activity

 

 

The following criteria were proposed by the Undergraduate Council and the College of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee. The University Senate approved them in May 2001 by Motion US0001-3 Replacement Motion governing the approval of courses meeting general-education requirements and the distribution of courses student must complete within each group.

 

1. Group satisfying courses in Arts and Letters, Social Science, and Science must meet the following general criteria:

1.1. Group satisfying courses in arts and letters must create meaningful opportunities for students to engage actively in the modes of inquiry that define a discipline. Proposed courses must be broad in scope and demonstrably liberal in nature (that is, courses that promote open inquiry from a variety of perspectives). Though some courses may focus on specialized subjects or approaches, there must be a substantial course content locating that subject in the broader context of the major issues of the discipline. Qualifying courses will not focus on teaching basic skills but will require the application or engagement of those skills through analysis and interpretation.

1.2. Group satisfying courses in the social sciences must be liberal in nature rather than being professionally oriented or limited to the performance of professional skills. They must cover a representative cross-section of key issues, perspectives, and modes of analysis employed by scholars working on the subject matter addressed by the course. The subject matter of the course will be relatively broad, e.g. involving more than one issue, place, or time. Courses with an emphasis on methods and skills will satisfy the requirement only if there is also a substantial and coherent theoretical component.

1.3. Group satisfying courses in the sciences should introduce students to the foundations of one or more scientific disciplines, or should provide an introduction to fundamental methods (such as mathematics) that are widely used in scientific disciplines. Courses should introduce students to the process of scientific reasoning.

 

2. Specific Criteria:

2.1. Group satisfying courses must be numbered at the 100, 200, and 300 levels.

2.2. Lower division courses must be offered annually, and upper division courses at least every other year.

2.3. Approved courses must be at least 4 credits each.

2.4. Upper division group satisfying courses must provide depth and rigor beyond that of typical lower-division general-education courses. Departments must justify, in terms of content, workload, and method of instruction, the assignment of a course to the upper level.

2.5. Courses that are offered for majors only are excluded from group status, but courses that are designed for both majors and other students may qualify.

2.6. Although laboratory courses are not automatically excluded from group status in the sciences, to acquire this status, the courses must not focus primarily on techniques or data collection.

 

3. Procedures governing the approval of all courses designed to meet General-education requirements.:

3.1. Before submission to the Senate, such courses proposed by departments must be reviewed at several levels:

3.1.1. By the curricular committees of the various colleges and schools

3.1.2. By an inter-college committee including the members of the CAS Curricular Committee and two representatives appointed by the deans of the others schools and colleges. This second committee is also charged to review such courses as do not meet the standards set in paragraph (2.) and to negotiate a solution with the sponsoring department.

3.1.3. By the University Committee on Courses.

3.2. The inter college committee is authorized to establish procedures governing the review process.

4. Completion of group requirements (student progress):

4.1. Within the full set of courses that fulfills all of the requirements, students may not count

4.1.1. more than one course that has the subject code of the major, or

4.1.2. more than three courses that have the same subject code.

4.2. Within the smaller set of courses that fulfills the requirements of each group, students must complete at least two courses that have the same subject code.

 

The 2000–2001 academic years was the first year that the Committee on Courses systematically deleted from the university catalog courses that have not been taught for three years or more.

 

In several cases, departments had not offered a specialized course under a course number and title specified in the catalog. Yet similar courses had been taught regularly in the department in various formats, under experimental numbers (410, 510, 610), or under the general designations for special topics seminars, workshops, or practicums (the 406/407/408/409, 506/507/508/509, 606/607/608/609 series). With time, departments had discovered that a course description in the catalog was too specialized to apply to any of their courses as actually being taught.

 

Unfortunately, removal of an overly specialized course, although untaught, still might have consequences for departments. Often that course had been the sole representative in the catalog of subjects that are taught by a department and are part of the regular curriculum. Dropping that course could make it appear that a department offered no courses in that course’s subject area.

 

The committee has noted another, companion problem. Over the years, the committee has observed that new courses tailored to the particular research interests and instructional style of an individual faculty member are likely to fall into disuse within a few years as the person’s teaching assignments and interests change, or if the instructor becomes unavailable for teaching that particular course.

 

The Committee on Courses recommends that departments and programs develop more sustainable course descriptions. A sustainable course description would identify a subject area and general approach, but would not be so restrictive as to exclude different perspectives or specializations also representative of that subject area.

 

The committee also recommends that departments and programs be selective when proposing permanent course status for specialized courses that can only be taught by one particular instructor.

 

For example, a department with several experts qualified to teach ceramics, but having only one instructor who specializes in Ming porcelain per se, might currently have a specialized course titled Ming Dynasty Porcelains in the catalog. A more sustainable course title could be Chinese Porcelains or even Porcelains, depending upon the range of expertise available to teach the course. Another approach would use the topics course Ceramics, possibly repeatable as the exact subject material—and transcript title—changes.

 

Departments following these recommendations could then represent the full range of their curricular offerings and could maintain a sustainable list of courses in the catalog.

 

 

Category A: American Cultures. The goal is to focus on race and ethnicity in the United States by considering racial and ethnic groups from historical and comparative perspectives. Five racial or ethnic groups are identified: African American, Chicano or Latino, Native American, Asian American, European American. Approved courses deal with at least two of these groups in a comparative manner. They do not necessarily deal specifically with discrimination or prejudice, although many do.

 

Category B: Identity, Pluralism, and Tolerance. The goal is to gain scholarly insight into the construction of collective identities, the emergence of representative voices from varying social and cultural standpoints, and the effects of prejudice, intolerance, and discrimination. The identities at issue may include ethnicities as in the American Cultures category, as well as classes, genders, religions, sexual orientations, or other groups whose experiences contribute to cultural pluralism. This category includes courses that analyze the general principles underlying tolerance, or the lack of it.

 

Category C: International Cultures. The goal is to study world cultures in critical perspective. Approved courses either treat an international culture in view of the issues raised in Categories A and B (namely, race and ethnicity, pluralism and monoculturalism, prejudice and tolerance) or explicitly describe and analyze a worldview (i.e., a system of knowledge, feeling, and belief) that is substantially different from those prevalent in the twentieth-century United States.

 

 

The Committee on Courses has discussed the criteria for adding an “H” suffix to a course number and recommends the following:

 

The “H” suffix is intended to advise students that a course provides honors content of significant difficulty and requires honors effort from students. The Committee on Courses will be looking for evidence of the following in determining whether a course should hold an “H” suffix designation:

 

1.   Students enrolling should have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30 in their major.

 

2. The content of the class, and the level of analysis, should be significantly deeper than for nonhonors classes.

 

3. Class size should be small enough to promote intensive student participation.

 

4. The faculty member(s) teaching the course should be available for close advising outside of class.

 

MAJOR

 

Definition

Courses in designated primary subject areas or disciplines in which a student commits to gaining in-depth knowledge, skills, competence, and attitudes through a coherent pattern of courses. A footnote accompanies the major definition: Divisional major programs emphasize a general and integrated approach to learning, with the student’s major program broadly inclusive of work in several of the discipline or subject areas within the specific division within which the student’s degree program lies (i.e., humanities, social science, science). For instance, a divisional major program in the social sciences would call for the student to include within his or her major work from several of the disciplines or subject areas in the social sciences (such as sociology, political science, or economics). Because of the breadth of disciplines or subjects included in the major, the student has less opportunity to delve in depth into a single subject area such as sociology, political science, or economics, than they would be able to do were they in a “departmental major” program in a single one of these disciplines or subject areas.

 

Minimal Requirements

36 credits, of which a minimum of 24 must be upper division. Departments should consider setting minimum residency requirements.

 

MINOR

Definition

Courses in a designated secondary subject area or discipline distinct from and usually outside the student’s degree major in which knowledge is gained in a coherent pattern of courses.

 

Minimal Requirements

24 credits, of which a minimum of 12 must be upper division. Should be within a discipline that already has a preexisting major or is sponsored by a department.

 

CERTIFICATE

 

Definition

An approved academic award given in conjunction with the satisfactory completion of a program of instruction requiring one year or more, but less than four years, of full-time equivalent, postsecondary-level work. The conditions and conferral of the award are governed by the faculty and ratified by the governing board of the institution granting the certificate.

 

Minimal Requirements

36 credits—24 upper division with 12 minimum at 400 level. The sponsoring department must provide guidance—a template or check list and the name of an adviser, with notice that the student must consult an adviser to apply for the certificate at least two terms prior to graduation.