Anuual Report 2004-05. CLAS Committee on Curricula & Courses

(2) Revision of majors in CLAS. As part of the new general education system, students will be required to take a W course in the major, and to satisfy exit requirements in computer literacy and information technology as specified by each major. The catalog copy for every major needed to be revised to include appropriate text advising students how they would be able to meet these requirements. Proposals to change each major also included three separate GEOC forms which needed approval by our committee prior to review by GEOC.

(3) Revision of skill codes for CLAS courses. All courses with W or Q skill codes needed to be resubmitted to GEOC for approval as part of the transition to a new general education system. In our meeting of Sept. 21, 2004, we passed a motion allowing departments to drop skill code designations without requiring approval by our committee, to facilitate departmental revision of courses in preparation for the new general education system.

(4) Revision of the Bachelor of Science degree. A proposal was submitted to the Committee on October 2004 from David Knecht, MCB. This proposal would modify B. S. degree requirements by requiring all students to take at least one biology course (chosen from BIOL 107 Principles of Biology I or BIOL 108 Principles of Biology II), replacing the current requirement that students take one of MATH 210Q Multivariable Calculus, MATH 211Q Elementary Differential Equations, MATH 220Q Enhanced Multivariable Calculus, MATH 221Q Enhanced Differential Equations, BIOL 107 Principles of Biology I, or BIOL 108 Principles of Biology II. Consideration of this proposal was delayed until spring due to huge volume of proposals related to general education.

This proposal was reviewed by a subcommittee consisting of Robert Michel (CHEM), Annelie Skoog (MARN), Tom Terry (MCB and Chair), David Miller (PSYC), Gerald Leibowitz (MATH), George Rawischer (PHYS). The committee broadened its scope to examine how the B. S. degree might best serve the needs of a sizable number of programs. A sizeable number of departments and programs now offer a B. S. degree, including: Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Cognitive Sciences, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Environmental Sciences, Geology & Geophysics, Marine Sciences, Molecular & Cell Biology, Physiology & Neurobiology, Physics, Mathematics, Psychology, Structural Biology & Biophysics. Representatives from Chemistry and Physics did not want to add additional science requirements in biology to those already required, whereas other disciplines represented thought Biology was too central to science to be left out as a core requirement for students taking a B. S. degree. Our subcommittee came up with a compromise motion that would require all B. S. students to take a minimum of two two-semester course sequences out of three: Chemistry, Biology, and Physics, with the proviso that departments could add additional restrictions as they determined appropriate.

Motion: The B.S. degree in CLAS should be changed as follows. If approved, this change would not be effective until the day after Commencement, 2006.

Current requirements (as formulated for the 2005-06 catalog)

Bachelor of Science Only:
All of the following:

One of the Chemistry sequences:
CHEM 124Q, 125Q, 126Q Fundamentals of General Chemistry I, II, III
CHEM 127Q, 128Q General Chemistry I, II
CHEM 129Q, 130Q Honors General Chemistry I, II
CHEM 137Q, 138Q Enhanced General Chemistry I, II

One of the Mathematics sequences:
MATH 112Q, 113Q, 114Q Introductory Calculus 1, 2, 3
MATH 115Q, 116Q Calculus I, II

One of the following:
MATH 210Q Multivariable Calculus
MATH 211Q Elementary Differential Equations
MATH 220Q Enhanced Multivariable Calculus
MATH 221Q Enhanced Differential Equations
BIOL 107 Principles of Biology I
BIOL 108 Principles of Biology II

One of the Physics sequences:
PHYS 121Q, 122Q General Physics I, II; and PHYS 123Q General Physics Problems
PHYS 131Q, 132Q General Physics with Calculus I, II
PHYS 141Q, 142Q Fundamentals of Physics I, II
PHYS 151Q, 152Q Physics for Engineers I, II

Proposed requirements (for 2007-08 catalog)

Bachelor of Science Only

One of the Mathematics sequences:
MATH 112Q, 113Q, 114Q or 116Q Introductory Calculus 1, 2, 3
MATH 115Q, 116Q Calculus I, II
MATH 120Q, 121Q

At least four laboratory courses, including two completed sequences from two of the following groups:

One of the Chemistry sequences:
CHEM 124Q, 125Q, 126Q Fundamentals of General Chemistry I, II, III (NOTE: this 3 course sequence counts as two of the four required laboratory courses towards the B.S. degree)
CHEM 127Q, 128Q General Chemistry I, II
CHEM 129Q, 130Q Honors General Chemistry I, II
CHEM 137Q, 138Q Enhanced General Chemistry I, II

Biology courses (can be taken in either order)
BIOL 107 Principles of Biology I
BIOL 108 Principles of Biology II or BIOL 110 Introduction to Botany

One of the Physics sequences:
PHYS 121Q, 122Q General Physics I, II
PHYS 131Q, 132Q General Physics with Calculus I, II
PHYS 141Q, 142Q Fundamentals of Physics I, II
PHYS 151Q, 152Q Physics for Engineers I, II

Each major or program offering a B.S. degree may have additional requirements, which are stated in catalog copy for the major.

Action: The motion was tabled until the fall semester to allow for further discussion. A meeting will be held on Friday, May 6 in May 6, 3-5 pm, in Chemistry A304 to allow further discussion among those departments offering B.S. degrees.

(5) New policy on cross listing courses. Several new programs were created during this academic year, including Human Rights (HRTS), Indiand Studies (INDS), and African American Studies (IAAS). Both HRTS and IAAS requested an extensive list of courses to be cross listed. Some of the courses proposed for cross listing seemed of questionable appropriateness to some members of the committee, so we formed a subcommittee (Anne Hiskes, CLAS; Lanse Minkler, ECON; Nancy Shoemaker, HIST and Chair) to develop a policy regarding cross listing. The following policy was adopted at our meeting of March 15, 2005:

(1) All changes in course catalog copy except editorial changes must go through each department's standard process for reviewing new courses.

(2) The title or course description of cross-listed courses should support the decision why the cross listing is justified. E.g. AASI/SOCI 221 "Sociological Perspectives on Asian American Women": the title of the course clearly indicates that the course will cover topics within the subject fields of Sociology and Asian American Studies.

(6) Moratorium on third W course. There is a serious shortage of W courses for the coming year relative to student demand, and there are insufficient resources to add additional W sections. In order to deal with this problem, our W subcommittee (Anne Hiskes, CLAS and Chair; Robert Henning, PSYC; Robert Michel, CHEM; Jeremy Pressman, POLS) formulated a motion for a one year moratorium, as follows:

Motion:

1. That the CLAS requirement of a third W-course at the 200-level be waived for all CLAS students graduating August 2005 through August 2006. The requirement of two W-courses with at least one at the 200-level stands.

2. Beginning Spring 2005 the College, under the direction of the CLAS C&C Committee, will undertake a review of existing W courses, writing assigned in nonW courses, and alternatives to a standard third W-course for writing instruction and/or assessment. The CLAS C&C committee will present a motion based on this review to the College for approval no later than February 1, 2006.

3. The CLAS-C&C Committee expresses its concern that for lack of resources it is forced to lower its academic standards by granting a temporary waver for the third W-course.

The motion as thus amended was approved with one dissenting vote at our meeting of March 15, 2005.