What's NEW
| Dates to Note | |
|---|---|
03/12/12 |
Proposals due for course inclusion in Cluster themes |
For Faculty
USAC Statement on Implementation and Review
The University Studies Advisory Committee is implementing a new general education curriculum, approved by the Faculty Senate, the purpose of which is to provide students with both breadth of knowledge and the abilities to understand the world through a multiplicity of approaches and perspectives. Courses are eligible for potential inclusion in a US component if the student learning outcomes (SLOs) for the component are met. In its review of proposals, the USAC considers how accurately and effectively course-specific SLOs align with component SLOs. The USAC’s review of proposals is also mindful of SACS requirements, which state that “credit hours are to be drawn from and include at least one course from each of the following: humanities/fine arts; social/behavioral sciences; and natural science/mathematics” (2.7.3).
Course Proposal Submission and Review Process
(Note: These documents are PDF files.)
1) Complete a Course Proposal Cover Form and corresponding Component form(s) for each course and include a model syllabus. Thematic Transdisciplinary Clusters themes should be submitted with a Theme Proposal Cover Form instead of a Course Proposal Cover Form.
2) The complete course proposal must be approved by your department and then emailed to your department chair.
3) The chair must then approve the proposal and email all forms to the University Studies Advisory Committee (universitystudies@uncw.edu).
4) Ensure all proposals approved by your department, whether new or revised courses (with US and UCC forms) or existing courses (with US forms only), are submitted by your chair as soon as possible.
5) All new courses or courses with catalogue revisions must also be approved by the college's or school's Curriculum Committee. Such proposals should be marked appropriately on the Cover Form, school or college Course Action forms should be included, and all forms should be sent to the University Studies email address.
6) The University Studies Advisory Committee (USAC) will forward new and revised course submissions to the appropriate curriculum committee as part of its own review process.
7) USAC will score proposals with a rubric. Courses with scores of 3 or 4 in all categories will be eligible for inclusion in the new US curriculum. (The committee will finalize the curriculum after having reviewed all submissions.)
8) Incomplete proposals or those that have insufficient information and/or fail to meet these criteria will be returned to the submitting department chair. In the case of a proposal that is returned to the department, we recommend that you check our Tips for Proposals page for help.
9) The USAC encourages re-submission of proposals that do not score a 3 or 4 in all categories during the initial review process. The re-population of University Studies will be an ongoing process.
University Studies Course Proposal Forms
NOTE: For saving entries in the following forms, it is recommended that you use Internet Explorer web browser to access them. Alternatively, you may save them to your computer (by right-clicking the hyperlink) and then use Adobe Reader or Acrobat to access them.
Foundations |
Approaches and Perspectives |
Common Requirements |
|---|---|---|
Course Inclusion Forms for Transdisciplinary Clusters
- Ancient Thought and Culture
- Climate Change and Society
- Evolution
- Foundations for Systems Thinking
- Global Diversity
- Immigration
- Judaism and the Jewish People
- South Asia
- Modeling
Sample Proposals
The following samples are "successful" proposals in that they all received scores of 3 or 4 on the rubric.
Aesthetic, Interpretive, & Literary: ARH 206
Scientific Approaches to the Natural World: BIO 201
Model proposals for Explorations Beyond the Classroom:
Approved Model Syllabi
- For the purposes of proposal review, the USAC requires the submission of a model syllabus that includes all the SLOs, properly designated,for the components the course satisfies.
- The USAC does not mandate the wholesale adoption of the model syllabus; such a decision is clearly the province of each department.
- The USAC does, however, strongly encourage the inclusion of these SLOs on the syllabi, aligned to component SLOs (e.g. [AIP1]),that do get used in each iteration of the course. SLO inclusion is clearly a best practice, signaling to the students what they will achieve by taking the course and underlining for the faculty the course's place in the larger US curriculum. At the least, the USAC recommends that instructors and departments make the SLOs for their US courses prominent and accessible to students in some form.
Steps to Accessing the Approved Model Syllabi
You can access the model syllabi for approved University Studies courses on the UNCW SAMMY file server (on-campus or via VPN only):
For Windows XP, click on "Start" and then "Run".
Copy and paste \\Sammy\departments\UNCW SHARE\University Studies Committee into the "Open" text box.
Click "OK".
A window with the approved syllabi (organized by department) will open.
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