CLAS Undergraduate Curricular and Policy Updates

To: Departmental Executive Officers
From: Helena Dettmer, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Curriculum and the Humanities, and Chair, Undergraduate Educational Policy and Curriculum Committee (UEPCC)
RE: CLAS Undergraduate Curricular and Policy Updates

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Below is a brief summary of the work completed by Undergraduate Educational Policy and Curriculum Committee (UEPCC) during the 2017-2018 academic year.

All curricular changes will be implemented for Fall 2018 unless otherwise noted in this memo. Additional changes are still awaiting approval; an updated memo will be sent in August.

UEPCC minutes related to these updates are available on this page.

The General Catalog for the academic year of 2018-2019, published on or around June 1 and again in August, will list the specific requirements for any new program of study. The degree audit is based solely on the Catalog and both represent the official requirements for programs of study.

Make sure your websites list only the official Catalog requirements as approved by the College so that these sites remain aligned with the degree audit. Discrepancies between a departmental website and the Catalog/degree audit cause confusion for students, advisors, faculty, and many others.

  • If you are considering the addition of a new major, minor, or certificate in the next several years, please let me know as soon as possible so that we can create a reasonable timeline for the project. New majors must be approved by the Regents and must be added to UI and Regents’ planning list for at least 6 months before the official approval process begins. Closure of any major or degree program must also be approved by the Regents.

New Undergraduate Programs of Study
A Jazz performance track within the Bachelor of Music was approved as a performance option within the major. As the proposal for the new track notes, “The role of jazz has had a long history at the University of Iowa, with the legacy of jazz luminaries from UI well known and including such artists as Al Jarreau, David Sanborn, Patricia Barber, Dale Oehler, and Paul Smoker.” Students interested in the performance of jazz will now find an official home in the School of Music. For more information, contact Alan Huckleberry, Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies, School of Music.

The Certificate in Public Digital Arts was approved as part of the Public Digital Arts initiative, with a cluster hire in the public digital arts supported by the Office of the Provost. The first courses in the area have been taught, with an enthusiastic reception by students. The certificate builds on these foundational courses, preparing students from many disciplines, including Engineering, to create art using new technologies.  For more information, contact Daniel Fine, Assistant Professor, Theatre Arts, the certificate coordinator.

A Certificate in Resilience and Trauma Informed Perspectives, to be administered by the School of Social Work, grew out of work done by Education, Public Health, Nursing, and CLAS through an interdisciplinary initiative to help students prepare for professional studies in the helping professions. Courses offered through the certificate will also educate undergraduates about resources on campus and avenues of help related to resilience and trauma. Please contact Yvonne Farley, the certificate coordinator, Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, for more information.

Closed Undergraduate Programs of Study
As announced last year, the BS program in Athletic Training is now closed to new students. In the future, Athletic Training will be offered as a MS degree, with the first MS cohort to be admitted in Spring 2019. An Undergraduate to Graduate Program will also be offered, see below.

The Engaged Social Innovation track within the Interdepartmental Studies major will be closed since very few students have enrolled in the program of study that was designed especially for students interested in projects related to community engagement. The Interdepartmental Studies major offers an individualized plan of study option, allowing undergraduates to design their own major. For more information, contact Andrew Tinkham, Senior Professional Advisor and Coordinator for the major.

Hindu-Urdu will no longer be offered as a choice within the Asian Languages and Literature major or minor or as a General Education offering. Students interested in advanced coursework in Hindu-Urdu should contact the Department of Asian Languages and Literatures for more information.

The American Science Language and Deaf Studies Certificate will be closed; the ASL minor will continued to be offered. Please contact Robert Vizzini, ASL Program coordinator, for more information.

Other Changes to Note
Starting with Fall 2018 declarations, four subprograms will be offered for students within the Biology BS rather than six. The Comprehensive Biology track has been renamed as the Integrative Biology track. Questions may be directed to the Director of Undergraduate Studies, Erin Irish, Associate Professor, Biology.

The Program in American Indian and Native Studies will be called the Program in Native American and Indigenous Studies. The undergraduate and graduate certificates and the minor will be known by this new title. At the same time, a new course acronym of NAIS is now in use for Fall 2018.

The Russian Program is using the course acronym of RUSS rather than SLAV, effective for Fall 2018. Slavic language courses such as is Polish, Czech, or Uzbek are no longer offered by the department. Please contact Irina Kostina, Associate Professor of Instruction, Coordinator of the Russian Program.

New Undergraduate to Graduate Programs
A BA in Health and Human Physiology (Exercise Science track) and the MS in Athletic Training has been approved as an undergraduate to graduate opportunity  to encourage UI undergraduates to earn the MS in AT through the University of Iowa. Please contact Clayton Peterson, Associate Professor of Instruction, Department of Health and Human Physiology.

An Undergraduate to Graduate combined program in Geography (Geographic Information Science track BA/BS; Environmental Studies track BS; and Health and Society track BS) and Informatics MS (Geoinformatics subprogram) has been approved for undergraduate students wishing this professional specialization in Geoinformatics. Please contact David Bennett, Professor and Chair, Department of Geographical and Sustainability Sciences.

Policy Updates and Related Discussions
UEPCC began the semester by discussing double-counting rules that limit the number of times undergraduates may apply a non-general education course to both a certificate and a second program of study. UEPCC recommended that the 6 s.h. policy continue as now stated. That is, a maximum of 6 s.h. of courses from any other program of study earned by the student may overlap with a completed certificate. GE CLAS Core courses do not count in this 6 s.h. limit and may be counted by the student multiple times for any major, minor, or certificate. The committee next recommended that any proposed certificate offer a unique course of study not yet available at UI, also helping to solve issues of duplication. See the General Catalog for specific double-counting rules that apply to each certificate.

UEPCC reviewed the revised language of the required CLAS syllabus insert, with the goal of removing excess language so that the insert would be one page. The insert has been growing in length over the last few years; too much information may lead students to ignore it. Any requests for additional additions to the insert will need to be considered very carefully; perhaps other information could be removed if additions are made in order to keep the insert at one page. The revised insert, for example, deleted the procedure on how to handle severe weather. The shorter version of the insert was available for faculty starting with Spring 2018.

For a number of years, CLAS has had a policy that undergraduates must declare a major by the time the student has earned 72 semester hours. (Majors exclude advising designations such as pre-business.) Effective with the Spring 2019 registration for Summer and Fall 2019, all CLAS students must have a major declared by the time the student has earned 60 semester hours. In other words, a student who has earned 60 s.h. but does not have a major declared will not be allowed to register for Summer or Fall 2019 until a major is declared. Transfer students will continue to be able to register without a declared major for their first semester in CLAS.

A policy related to the use of undergraduate teaching assistants in the classroom was created and approved. The policy must be followed by any department or program using undergraduate teaching assistants:

The policy for the use of the  Nursing interest declaration has changed and is effective for students who enter UI during or after Summer 2018; the new policy also applies to continuing students who declare the advising designation of Nursing Interest during or after Summer 2018. If after two semesters of course work (including summer but excluding winter) and regardless of total earned hours, the student’s cumulative GPA is below 3.00, the Nursing Interest designation will automatically change to Open (if a primary designation) or will automatically be removed (if a non-primary designation) once grades are run for the related session or semester. A transfer student with 24 or more earned semester hours may declare the Nursing Interest if the transfer GPA is at least 3.00.

Guest Speakers
Cornelia Lang, Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy, Co-Chair, Student Success Path Forward Work Group and member of UEPCC updated the committee on the progress of the Path Forward Student Success Work Group. Please see these pages for a description of the Path Forward goals and its relation to the UI Strategic Plan: https://pathforward.uiowa.edu/   Strategic Plan for 2016 to 2021 

Wayne Jacobson, Director of Assessment; Jean Florman, Director of the Center for Teaching, and Annette Beck, IT Director of Enterprise Instructional Technology, met with the committee to update them on current problems with ACE evaluations and strategies for creating solutions. The guests noted that evaluations function in many roles, some perhaps not appropriate. Teaching, for example, is a complex activity and students are not necessarily experts in teaching standards and strategies and may not always be qualified to give useful feedback. Other strategies for evaluating instructors should be considered. Annette Beck noted that one of the problems has been the low rate of return for the evaluations in part because of the growing proliferation of questions used on the forms, with some courses having more than 40 questions. A campus-wide committee will begin meeting in May to formulate solutions to these issues and strategies to achieve them.

Tristan Schmidt, UI Student Government (UISG), spoke with the committee about the importance of considering Open Educational Resources (OERs) and e-books for students to use in place of textbooks because of high prices of printed books. Some students do without books because of this affordability issue, which can result in a serious obstacle for academic success.

Mirra Anson, Director, Academic Support and Retention, and Stephanie Preschel, Assistant Director, Academic Support and Retention updated the committee on campus-wide student success initiatives, including the Academic Resource Center (ARC) which offers supplemental instruction for a number of undergraduate courses.

Hira Mustafa, UI Student Government (UISG), Executive Team and Health and Safety Liaison, reviewed the role of illness in students’ academic life and the problems with reasonable accommodations related to short-term issues. UEPCC will discuss this next fall in more detail.

Dr. Mark Harris, Director, Student Disability Services (SDS); Michael Venzon, Assistant Director for Accessibility Services, SDS; and Kimberly Beitz, Exam Services Coordinator, SDS, discussed the current role of Student Disability Services (SDS). Enrollment in SDS has recently grown by 117%, and this has modified the range of services that the office can offer. SDS still offers exam proctoring for students needing 100% additional exam time or very specialized services but does not have the room to offer exam services for all SDS students. Instead, the Division for Continuing Education is offering proctored services for these students; arrangements may be made with that office by filling out the online form and sending the materials by the appropriate time. SDS now must focus most of its resources on meeting with students needing accommodations; screening medical and other documentation for eligibility of services; reviewing accommodation decisions with students; and helping students navigate the UI, the related SDS policies, faculty concerns, and/or compliance issues.

Erin Herting, Director, Business & Financial Administration, reviewed the new UI budget model with the committee. The new model will take time to implement and to understand thoroughly, with more information forthcoming.

Jean Florman, Director, Center for Teaching, encouraged faculty to apply for the Learning Design Collaboratory. Faculty fellows meet to discuss ideas, work within course design teams to enhance a specific course, and learn more about assessment and data-informed decisions related to instruction.

Program of Study Review
UEPCC reviews any new programs of study three to five years after its approval.

Daniel Matheson, Director, Sport and Recreation Management Program, Department of Health and Human Physiology and Anna Jensen, Director, Office of Field Experience, Department of Health and Human Physiology, met with UEPCC to discuss the Certificate for Interscholastic Athletic/Activities Administration, which is offered both on-campus and online.  The certificate was implemented in Fall 2016 and offers coursework required to meet the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners standards for certification in the area of athletic or activity administration within Iowa schools. Students have responded favorably, with around 50 students enrolled, which is very good since the certificate has only been in existence for one year.  Of those 50 students, around 30 have completed or are now completing the required field experience for the certificate. Students to date have been placed in 30 different schools in Iowa. Field supervisors report students are well prepared for a first career in athletic or activity management, with the program thus seen very positively by schools in Iowa.

Tracy Hufford, Lecturer, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, updated the committee on the Event Planning Certificate, which was implemented in Fall 2015. (Health Spangler, the program coordinator, was unable to attend as well because of teaching responsibilities.) This last spring and summer, the Event Planning Certificate graduated its first 30 students, with around 216 students currently enrolled from a range of majors, but especially in Communication Studies, Business, Journalism, and Sport and Recreation Management. At the core of the program of study is the required internship, which requires a minimum of 135 “clock” hours under the supervision of a professional. Certificate workshops are also important and emphasize hands-on team projects and real world clients.