LIBERAL STUDIES PROGRAM COMMITTEE
I. PURPOSE AND COMPOSITION
The purpose of the Liberal Studies Program Committee is to recommend to the UCC those courses that are appropriate to be included in the Liberal Studies Program and to monitor the continuous development and revision of the Liberal Studies Program in an effort to meet the Liberal Studies Six Critical Goals and the University Outcomes for Student Learning and Development.
A. Six Critical Goals
1. BASIC REQUIREMENTS
2. THE ARTS
3. GLOBAL COMMUNITY
4. HUMAN INSTITUTIONS AND INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
5. SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND MATHEMATICS
6. CHALLENGES OF THE MODERN AGE
B. University Outcomes
1. COMMUNICATIONS
2. CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
3. VALUES AND ETHICS
4. SOCIAL AWARENESS AND CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY
5. GLOBAL INTERDEPENDENCE
6. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
7. AESTHETIC PERCEPTION AND ABILITY
8. PROFESSIONAL PROFICIENCY
C. The Liberal Studies Program is designed to help students develop common intellectual foundations through goal courses and to broaden their understanding of those areas through enrichment courses and supporting experiences. The committee considers requests to add or delete courses in accordance with this vision of a Liberal Studies Program.
II. LIBERAL STUDIES PROGRAM COMMITTEE BASIC CRITERIA FOR RECOMMENDATION OF COURSES
A. GOAL COURSES
Basic criteria for a course to be recommended for approval as a Liberal Studies goal course are:
1. Conformity with the overall goals and outcomes of the Liberal Studies Program. Goal courses are intended to be few in number in order to provide a core of common experiences for undergraduate students. Courses that duplicate already existing courses stand less chance of being recommended for approval as goal courses.
2. Conformity with the stated goals and outcomes of a specific area of the Liberal Studies Program. Goal courses not demonstrably compatible with specific Liberal Studies areas will not be included in the Liberal Studies Program.
3. Explicit relevance to one or more of the University Outcomes should be demonstrated.
4. Accessibility: Goal courses in Liberal Studies are entry-level except courses in Challenges of the Modern Age, which are intended for upper-division students. Goal Courses must not have prerequisites (with the exceptions of courses listed under Challenges of the Modern Age and Mathematics courses).
5. Availability: Goal courses, except for courses listed under Challenges of the Modern Age, should be taught at least once a semester and should have multiple sections, with exceptions approved by the Liberal Studies Program Committee, in order to achieve the goal of serving a large number of students while limiting the number of approved goal courses.
B. ENRICHMENT COURSES
Enrichment courses appear more appropriate for the Liberal Studies if they meet the following criteria:
1. Conformity with the overall goals and outcomes of the Liberal Studies Program. Enrichment courses are designed for a wide range of students as opposed to more specialized major courses.
2. Conformity with the goals and outcomes of specific areas in the Liberal Studies Program. Enrichment courses must be generally compatible with the goals of specific areas of Liberal Studies. Explicit relevance to one or more of the University Outcomes must be demonstrated.
3. Accessibility: Enrichment courses are meant to further the entry-level goal courses. Enrichment courses may have some prerequisites, given sufficient justification. Enrichment courses must include a range of interests wider than any single major and be open to students in the lower division of undergraduate studies.
4. Availability: Enrichment courses must be taught at least every two years, with exceptions approved by the Liberal Studies Program Committee.
C. MAJOR COURSES
1. Courses in one’s first major department may not be counted as goal courses or as enrichment courses in the Liberal Studies Program. However, courses in a second and/or minor will count in the Liberal Studies Program.
2. Courses required for the major in departments other than the major department may be counted in the Liberal Studies Program.
3. Applied Science majors must follow the approved policies prescribed by that program regarding Liberal Studies.
D. TRANSFERRING CREDITS INTO LIBERAL STUDIES
No upper division transfer student or associate degree recipient may be required to have more than 40% of the total number of required credits in his/her major program in any combination of equivalent goal and enrichment courses toward an undergraduate degree.
III. LIBERAL STUDIES PROGRAM COMMITTEE PROCEDURES
A. The original and 32 copies of the request form for either a new course or an existing course requesting Liberal Studies approval will be forwarded to the Liberal Studies Program Committee (hereafter LSPC) by the appropriate School Curriculum Committee with a recommendation for approval or non-approval. Incomplete or inaccurate requests or those submitted without the designated number of copies will be returned to the School Committee. (Note: 22 copies of the 32 copies will be forwarded to the University Curriculum Committee).
B. The LSPC will schedule regular bi-weekly meetings to consider requests. A schedule of the meetings will be published and sent to all department chairpersons, school curriculum committee chairpersons, and the chairperson of the UCC within two weeks of the beginning of the academic year. Proposals must be received from the School Curriculum Committee chairs five working days prior to the LSPC meeting. Additionally, the LSPC will engage in other tasks decided upon by the committee, including but not limited to, assessment and curriculum development.
C. An agenda of each meeting will be sent to all LSPC members, department chairs, committee chairs, Deans, Directors of academic programs, Provost, DARS coordinator, and APSCUF.
D. Upon receipt of the agenda, department chairpersons or representatives should contact the LSPC Chair and ask to appear before the committee. The committee will hear all presentations that have been scheduled. Departments must send a representative to the committee meeting when items from the department are on the agenda.
E. The LSPC will discuss the requests and vote in public session to recommend approval or non-approval to the UCC. A majority of the committee members shall constitute a quorum necessary for committee actions. Only members present at meetings may vote.
F. The LSPC will forward request forms and a summary of actions to the UCC within fifteen days of when action is taken. The LSPC will distribute minutes to the following: LSPC members, department chairs, committee chairs, Deans, Directors of academic programs, Provost, DARS coordinator, and APSCUF. Requests shall go for renumbering and retitling of Liberal Studies courses to the LSPC as information only.
G. The LSPC will review all courses in the program. When goal courses or enrichment courses are identified that do not meet the criteria for inclusion in the LS Program (see “Basic Criteria for Recommendation of Courses”), the LSPC will notify the department. The department must respond in writing and/or meet with the committee within three meetings (or 45 days).
1) If the department provides adequate justification for continued inclusion of the course(s) into the LS Program, no action will be taken.
2)If the department agrees to the deletion of the course(s) for Liberal Studies credit, the department will be provided with, and encouraged to, complete the necessary forms
3)If the department does not agree, does not respond, or does not provide adequate justification for the requests for deletion for Liberal Studies credit, the LSPC will initiate deletion of the LSP designation and then recommend to the UCC deletion of the LSP designation.
H. Requests for experimental courses are information only. Please note: Information-only items as well as all other LS curricular requests must be reviewed by the LSPC before they are forwarded to the UCC.
IV. MEMBERSHIP
The LSPC is composed of 11 members and 2 ex-officio members.
--Student representative to be appointed annually by the Student Government Association (SGA).
--One elected representative from each college, for a two-year term
College of Business, Information, and Behavioral Sciences
College of Education
College of Health, Environment, and Science
College of Humanities, Performing, and Fine Arts
--One elected representative from each LSP area, for a two-year term.
The Arts
Global Community
Human Institution and Interpersonal Relationships
Science, Technology, and Mathematics
Allied Areas
--UCC Chair (or a designee of the UCC), as ex-officio
--APSCUF President (or a designee of APSCUF), as ex-officio
Elections for college representatives and LSP representatives will be held in alternate years in order to maintain continuity. There will be no more than two people from the same department on the committee.
