Curriculum requirements
general education
President Anderson strongly believes that general education should be considered a separate part of a student’s bachelor’s degree and an opportunity for inquiry. If the program requires certain courses that are also general education, those courses must count toward the major’s credit total. (Students are still encouraged to plan their courses of study to “double” the requirements wherever possible, but students who complete a significant portion of their general education courses before enrolling at SUU The number continues to grow.)
Questions to consider:
- Are there any required general education courses in the program? How many required GE courses are in the program? What if a student enters SUU in another course in these GE categories? and are there other options that can be completed without compromising your professional goals?
- Some programs have “recommended general education subjects”. Why choose that particular course? Will taking a non-recommended GE course adversely affect a student’s educational or professional goals? Include these recommendations in catalog entries is still appropriate?
Total credits/program duration
USHE policy R401 stipulates that a bachelor’s program requires a minimum of 120 credits and a maximum of 126 credits. Policy R470 requires a general education program of 30-39 credits. Academic majors must be a minimum of 30 credits, ideally small enough to allow the student to complete an additional minor or certificate (16 credits or more) without exceeding her 120 credits . (For example, 120 credits – 30 general education credits – 51 core credits = 39 “free elective” credits that students can complete outside of the core requirement).
Questions to consider:
- How many credits are there in the program? A student must have a How many ‘Free Choice’ credits are left in the ?
- What is the minimum number of semesters (semesters or sessions) a student must be enrolled at SUU to complete the program requirements? Will the program (if applicable) be considered “transferable”?
- Are there any SUU-unique lower-level and/or prerequisite courses within the program that may impede the transfer student’s progress? If yes, what is unique? If I have to complete these courses before, how much time will be added to my graduation?
- Does this program have special certification or licensing requirements that require a large credit total? If so, are there creative ways to meet certification/licensing requirements while reducing the amount of credits required? What resources would you need to do that?
- If the accreditation requirements do not allow the credit total to be reduced, can departments create a more “generalized” version of the program for later enrolled students in the program/SUU that does not meet the accreditation requirements? , could we develop a graduate-level program that would allow students to graduate with 150 credits with bachelor’s and master’s degrees?
- How are the major electives structured within the program? Can students take any electives (or specific prefixes) within the department or is there a list of specific/accepted electives? In other words, will the program have to be updated every time a new elective is proposed, or can students automatically use the new elective within the program?
Sequencing of program courses
Ideally, in order to meet USHE expectations and better serve transfer students from two-year colleges, courses in the advanced department should not be required during the first two years of the major. USHE also expects all general education to be completed in the first two years of an undergraduate degree (within the first two years/60 credits, the 30-35 credits GE program requirement is It can be mixed with other courses containing departmental core requirements). . Within USHE, he generally GE is expected to complete his December 2018. first two years.
For some majors and some students, the major’s mathematics requirements can be a barrier to progressing through the program. Other courses may not provide enough seats per semester or have a high enough DFW rate to create “bottlenecks” that impede progress, such as course repetition taking up time and seats. There is a nature.
Questions to consider:
- Do the current plans for the program include 3000-level or 4000-level courses in the first two years? Can I transfer to a second or fourth year? If not, are the course learning outcomes appropriate for my current level according to USHE guidelines?
- Do these courses follow the “common course numbering” discussed at the statewide conference of majors? Can these advanced courses be switched to lower courses without giving?
- Are all general education courses completed within the first two years of the course map? If not, why? Can I move to the first two years?
- Does the program require a specific mathematics course? If so, what level of mathematics readiness do you expect students to have when they enter SUU? What is the average mathematics readiness of students participating in the program? (See your institution’s Research and Assessment and/or Student Success Advisor for this question.) may be able to answer.)
- Are the mathematics requirements suitable for the major? Do they match the requirements of the specialization and what is needed for further graduate study?
- Are the mathematical requirements consistent with other USHE programs?
- What, if any, are the “bottlenecks” of the program course? What changes can be made to alleviate these bottlenecks? What resources will be required?
- Will USHE’s Equity Lens Framework provide insight into program requirements and potential changes?
course level
In general, undergraduate programs require undergraduate courses, and postgraduate programs require postgraduate courses. However, there are some rules and exceptions that place additional restrictions and opportunities on the program.
associate program
- Associate degree courses must be level 1000 or level 2000. Per USHE policy, advanced division coursework (3000-4999) is not permitted.
Bachelor’s degree
- Students must earn at least 40 upper division (3000-4999) credits to earn a bachelor’s degree. However, at least her 10 of these 40 credits must be included within the student’s major requirements.
- There is no minimum number of advanced department credits required for Baccalaureate minors, but it is generally recommended that minors require at least 1/3 of the program in advanced department courses.
graduate program
- At least 2/3 of the master’s programs must be above the 6000 level. Example: For a 36 credit degree, you can take up to 12 credits at the undergraduate or continuing education level, depending on your needs. Please note that this applies to both program-wide requirements and individual students. In other words, if a 36 credit program already lists 9 credits of Sub 6000 level courses as a requirement, only the additional 3 credits of Sub 6000 level credits can replace the individual student’s other requirements. increase.
Questions to consider:
- If advanced department coursework is originally identified as being used for an associate’s degree, is it absolutely necessary to include those courses? Can you change subdivisions (with corresponding changes in learning outcomes and expectations)? Alternatively, instead of recommending specific courses to students, can you require a block of electives in your program?
- How many pedagogically appropriate subdivision and superdivision credits are there for a Bachelor’s degree major or minor? Why?
- Is it appropriate or necessary to include non-postgraduate studies in the master’s programme? If so, what types, levels and number of courses would this include? Is it a temporary measure until further notice, or is this inclusion a strategy for recruiting specific student populations?
