Curriculum Guide

The purpose of this Curriculum Guide is to assist in the development, review, and refinement of the various programs offered by the University of Alaska Southeast. It provides faculty members, administrators, and Faculty Senate members with the overall guidelines for review and design of degree programs and courses. It also provides a description of the review processes and procedures for obtaining approval of proposals. These guidelines suggest a format that faculty and curricular review bodies use in their deliberations on programmatic proposals.

Thoughtful application of these definitions, processes, and procedures will enhance the overall effort of the institution to bring coherence to its curriculum.

UAS Curricular Development

More than a decade ago in its commentary on the mission of the college curriculum, a report from the Carnegie Foundation emphasized that “The curriculum is the major statement any institution [of higher education] makes about itself, about what it can contribute to the intellectual development of students, about what it thinks is important in its teaching service to society.” The Foundation went on to say that the curriculum deserved more attention than it had received in the previous decade. Although colleges and universities were reacting to enormous internal and external pressures on their curricula, they were not developing coherent educational policies. Such policies need to have a higher priority, argued the Foundation, so that the curriculum could become more the result of sustained thought and less the consequence of responding to outside pressure. Higher education should demonstrate that it can think about what the curriculum needs as well as respond to what is demanded of it.

The Curriculum Committee has periodically added or deleted courses from the general education requirements (GERs) for the purpose of keeping content current and relevant to the 21st Century. The GERs are sequenced along with all courses to ensure that face-to-face and distance students have adequate choices for completion of GERs in a timely manner.

The definitions serve as guidelines for designing and revising courses and programs. As programs and courses continue to be refined and developed, UAS needs to make its degree programs cohesive by utilizing definitions for the various components of the curriculum. The University continues to define the bachelors, and masters degree programs as well as other curricular components, such as programmatic options and areas of specialization, majors, and emphasis areas. The general parameters for Associate of Arts and Associate of Applied Science degrees are contained in BOR policy. In addition to defining the structural components of the curriculum, clear distinctions need to be maintained among lower division, upper division, and graduate courses as well as coordination of course numbering within UAS and UA Banner Student Information. Those with access to Banner may consult it directly. An alternate source of this information includes the UAA and UAFacademic catalogs. Consultation may also be undertaken with the Registrar. The results of this effort to ensure coherence and continuity in the curriculum of the University are presented in this chapter. The first part is devoted to the definitions of the curricular components. This is followed by a description of the curricular process, including procedures for the planning, development, and approval of new courses and programs. In addition, there is a brief discussion of institutional review of academic programs followed by the steps for obtaining approval of new programs from the University of Alaska Board of Regents (BOR).

CURRICULAR DEFINITIONS

While the primary responsibility for course and curricular development and review rests with the academic units, the collegial process in the University ensures open discussion of instructional issues. Beyond the academic unit(s), the Faculty Senate and its sub-committee, the Curriculum Committee, recommend all undergraduate curricula and policies. The Graduate Committee, through the Faculty Senate’s Curriculum and Graduate Committee recommends all graduate policy and curricula to the Provost for approval of all curricular matters. The faculty representation for the Senate is set forth in its Constitution and Bylaws. The curriculum of the University is composed of numerous courses of study. Each program contains several elements that provide order and direction. To ensure clarity in the connections among the various curricular parts, it is necessary to define each of them. These definitions provide an overall framework for University programmatic action. Exceptions to these definitions are considered in the established curricular review process.

Degree Type: a designation within a degree level, such as Associate of Arts, Associate of Applied Science, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, Master of Science. Associate of Arts degrees are oriented toward transfer to baccalaureate programs, and Occupational Endorsements are potentially transferable to associate programs. Associate of Applied Science degrees are not oriented toward transfer to baccalaureate programs but are terminal vocational programs.

Level: a type of award such as Occupational Endorsement, Certificate, Associate, Baccalaureate, Master, certification programs, Graduate or Post-baccalaureate Certificate programs. Graduate Certificate and Post-baccalaureate Certificate programs relate to state requirements for certification of public school administrators and to graduate studies for public school teachers and supervisors; these programs should be limited to the field of education.

Program: a prescribed course of study that leads to the formal award of an endorsement, certificate or degree.

Academic Unit: groups of faculty who offer programs in the academic disciplines. Currently there are seven academic units at UAS: Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, Career Education, Management, Information Systems, and Education.

Schools: academic discipline in a school under a dean. There are four schools at UAS: Arts & Sciences, Management, Career Education and Education.

Course Outline: a document that outlines the structure of a course developed for catalog or special topics course approval. The course outline includes a course description, credit hours, number, title and other required information. Course outlines of catalog courses will be reviewed and updated at least every three years. Special topics course outlines are valid for one academic year, including summer sessions.

Course Syllabus:a document that is the detailed outline developed by each instructor of an approved course that is distributed to students at the start of the course. The syllabus sets the course structure, objectives, assignments, exams, and grading criteria. Prior to Fall 2007, course syllabi must be on file with each faculty unit office. Beginning Fall 2007, all syllabi must be posted on UAS Online. Syllabi and course outlines are kept in these locations for a variety of purposes, including accreditation review and articulation among the three campuses. Responsibility for updating outlines for courses listed in the catalog rests with the faculty units. Discipline-related faculty members in each unit should conduct a yearly review (in the fall) of all outlines and update them as needed.

Undergraduate Program Definitions

Workforce Credentials are non-credit credentials with no minimum or maximum number of continuing education units or contact hours. These credentials do not need Board of Regents approval and can be enacted quickly in response to workforce demands.

Approval Process: Department approves and forwards to the School Dean for approval. The Provost and UA President give final approval.

Occupational Endorsements are designed to give students occupational training in a specific field. Occupational Endorsements require a skill and knowledge base according to business or industry occupational standards. These endorsements are under 30 credit hours and will be posted to student transcripts upon completion as approved by the academic department. The credit hours may be applied (where applicable) to degree programs. Resident credit requirement for Occupational Endorsement Certificates is 30% of the program.

Approval Process: Department approves and forwards to the School Dean for approval. The proposal is forwarded to Faculty Senate for approval after which it must be submitted to the Curriculum Committee for review. The Provost and UA President give final approval.

Certificate Programs usually require two-semesters or equivalent and a minimum of 30 credit hours of 100 and 200 level courses. Certificates are usually derived from a parent degree at a higher level. Certificates are designed to provide intensive training in specific occupational areas. Certificates must contain a recognizable body of instruction in program-related areas of 1) communication, 2) computation, and 3) human relations. Instruction in these areas may be either embedded within the program curriculum or taught as specialized or discrete classes. Additional topics that should be covered, as appropriate, include safety, and environmental awareness. Certificate programs of 30 credit hours or more must be approved by the Board of Regents. A one-year certificate not associated with an approved parent degree program must be submitted as a new program.

Approval Process: Department approves and forwards to the School Dean for approval. It is then forwarded to Faculty Senate for approval followed by submission to the Curriculum Committee for review. The proposal is then submitted to the Provost for approval, after which it is submitted to the Board of Regents.

Associate of Arts Degree (A.A.): This two-year degree program requires a minimum of 60 credit hours including the student’s lower division general education requirement of at least 35 credit hours in appropriate areas. It is also a specific transfer degree for entry into the general range of baccalaureate degree programs offered by a four-year college or University. The receiving institution is not obligated to accept transfer credit that exceeds the minimum number of credits the sending institution has established for awarding the associate level degree. This degree is not normally awarded in a program area. A minimum of 60 semester credits at the 100 level or above, including 20 credits at the 200 level, and a minimum 34 credits of general education requirement course work must be earned to complete the A.A. degree.

Associate of Applied Science Degree (A.A.S.): This two-year degree is designed to prepare students for entry into particular occupations. It is not intended to encompass the first two years of a four-year program. Thus it may contain courses that are not primarily designed for transfer. Students should expect a receiving institution to evaluate course credits in terms of the applicability of each course to the requirements of the student’s major field of baccalaureate study. For the A.A.S. degree, the General Education Requirements are defined by BOR policy as 15 credit hours: 6 credits of written communications, 3 credits of oral communications, and 6 credits from the humanities, social sciences, or natural sciences or mathematics. The degree requires a minimum of 20 semester credits at the 200 level or above. Courses at the 300- and 400-level should not be required. Exceptions must be fully justified and approved through the review process.

Bachelor’s Degree (B.A., B.S., B.B.A., B.L.A.): The bachelor’s degree is usually the academic title or rank conferred on a student by the University for satisfactory completion of a prescribed four-year course of study. Its purpose is to enable a student to acquire a foundation in liberal study and to become proficient in a particular academic discipline. The primary sources of liberal education in the curriculum of the bachelor’s degree are the general education core and electives. For most programs, those studies leading to proficiency in a branch of learning are a major supported or complemented by one or more of the following: a professional core or an emphasis area.

The curricular structure of the bachelor’s degree at UAS includes a minimum of 34 credit hours of general education course work, a minimum of 12 credit hours of electives, and a maximum of 64 credit hours combining the major or emphasis and its attendant studies for a minimum of 120 credit hours. Within the structure, the content of programs determines the type of bachelor’s degree. For example, bachelor of arts degree programs usually aim at liberal learning; they tend to teach qualitative methods of scholarship and they ordinarily have a focused major or emphasis area. These components make the degree flexible.

Bachelor of science programs generally are oriented toward preparation for graduate study in a specialized field; they tend to teach quantitative methods of scholarship for purposes of prediction, and they usually have an intensive required major field of study, which limits the flexibility of the degree.

Academic Major: The most important feature of a major area of study is depth. A major introduces students to a discipline or field of study through a foundation of theory and method, which serves as a basis for further study. It exposes students to the topics and the analytical methods applied in the study of the subject. It contains a series of courses that presume advancing levels of knowledge and understanding. At its completion, it has a means of assessing students’ mastery of the subject such as a project, an internship, a capstone course, or a comprehensive examination. In depth study provides students with an understanding of the fundamental problems and arguments of a discipline or field of study. It affords them practice with the tools of the subject, introduces them to its historical and philosophical foundations, and gives them a clear sense of its boundaries and its effectiveness as a means for understanding or serving society.

The number of credit hours in a major and its organizational structure will vary depending on whether it aims at disciplinary or professional preparation. A disciplinary major normally ranges from thirty to forty-two credit hours. Due to the demands of accrediting agencies, certification requirements, and professional competence, a professional major normally ranges from thirty to fifty-five credit hours. In both cases, a major includes a logically ordered core of required courses that provide general direction for the student’s study and a series of electives that give a degree of flexibility to the program. At least forty percent of the course work in a major is at the upper division level (300 or above).

The unit(s) in which appropriate discipline-related faculty members reside have the responsibility for administering all majors within their discipline areas and for approving particular programs of study and appropriate course substitutions for students. Courses taken to fulfill other academic requirements, e.g., minors and areas of specialization, may ordinarily also be used in the major without reducing the minimum number of hours required for a degree. However, no student may declare a major and an emphasis area in the same discipline or field of study.

Emphasis Area: The integrity of an emphasis area is measured by the degree to which the structure and content meet a degree’s objectives and, thereby, serve the student. It is also determined by its relationship to the curricular goals and objectives of the discipline. The true significance of a disciplinary area is demonstrated by the extent to which it leads the student to some understanding of that discipline or field of study and to a certain degree of competence with its methods of inquiry. The quality of an interdisciplinary or thematic emphasis is determined by its ability to suggest answers to the questions upon which it is focused. In either case, an emphasis area should provide basic insight into a subject that helps further the student’s educational goals.

An emphasis area consists of 12 to 18 credit hours, with at least 6 credit hours, preferably 9 or more, at the level (300 or above). This core provides general direction for the student’s study while maintaining a degree of flexibility. Flexibility is achieved by offering the student a choice from among a group of courses to complete the credits. The unit(s) in which appropriate discipline-related faculty members reside have the responsibility to administer all emphasis areas within their discipline areas and to approve appropriate substitutions for students.

Minor: A minor is a program of study that revolves around a unifying principal or theme and consists of at least 15 credits. The same discipline may not be used to satisfy the major and the minor (i.e. English major and English minor does not make a degree.) If a course is a requirement of both the major and the minor, a student may use the course to meet both requirements but will not receive double credit.

Graduate Program Definitions

Graduate Certificatesare integrated groups of courses designed to have a clear and focused academic topic or competency as their subject area. Often, Graduate Certificates meet a clearly defined educational need of a constituency group, such as continuing education or accreditation for a particular profession. Certificates are not degree programs (programs range from 12 to 29 credits), but do provide the student formal recognition of the mastery of a clearly defined academic topic.

Approval Process: Department approves and forwards to the School Dean for approval. It is then forwarded to Faculty Senate for approval followed by submission to the Graduate Committee via the Curriculum Committee for review. The proposal is then submitted to the Provost for approval, after which it is submitted to the Board of Regents.

Master’s Degree (M.A.T., M.Ed, M.P.A., M.B.A.) In broad terms, the master’s degree indicates that the recipient has mastered a program in a particular field of study to a level that prepares the candidate to pursue original work in the specialty. Normally, degree titles indicate one of two categories. The Master of Arts and Master of Science are generally designated as academic degrees designed to provide an introduction to scholarly activities and research. These degrees often serve the needs of individuals as preparation for further postgraduate study. The second category is comprised of professional master’s degrees such as the M.A.T., M.Ed., M.P.A., and M.B.A. programs. While similar to the M.A. and M.S., these programs tend to emphasize professional practice.

Despite differences in title and objective, all masters’ degrees share common characteristics. The degree normally requires one to two years of full-time study (or equivalent) and the completion of a minimum of thirty semester hours of credit. The degree is awarded upon completion of a coherent program that is designed to assure mastery of specified knowledge and skills rather than a random accumulation of credits beyond the baccalaureate degree. The basic components of the degree may vary in emphasis but generally include a common core in the discipline; a concentration in a sub field of study; cognate courses outside the academic discipline as a means of broadening the curriculum or to provide needed skills; an integrative experience to synthesize the program’s content and/or to translate theory into practice, a summative experience to measure achievement and intellectual growth through such work as afforded by a research project, capstone course, and/or comprehensive examination.

Academic credit applicable to the degree should be awarded for only those courses designed to expand and strengthen skills beyond the level of the baccalaureate degree. Degree credit is not awarded for courses that are remedial or designed to fulfill prerequisites for admission. All courses must be post baccalaureate credits, and all but 6 semester credits must be at the 600 level.

09/07

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