1980-81

                                SENATE DOCUMENT #25



                                 APC DOCUMENT #25

                              Special Topics Courses





        The Academic Policies Committee recommends to the Faculty Senate

        approval of the following policy statement with regard to Special

        Topics courses:  





        Special Topics courses are those planned to meet a specific

        academic need at a particular time.  They provide flexibility

        beyond the catalog offerings to take advantage of available

        teaching talent and to assess new areas for program development.  



        The course description and syllabus must be approved by the

        chairman in consultation with department members.  This course

        description should be attached to the approval form that is signed

        by the Chairman.  The department should assure itself that the

        proposed instructor has had specialized and documented training or

        experience in the subject matter of the course.  



        Ordinarily a Special Topics course must be approved as a regular

        course if it is offered for more than two consecutive years.  



        A Special topics course can be allowed only for programmatic

        reasons and will not be approved as an individual course designed

        to help a student meet some catalog requirement.  



        Interdisciplinary Special Topics courses are governed by the above

        guidelines but require approval by the Academic Policies Committee

        after discussion with the department chairmen involved.  





        Catalog Copy:  



             DELETE entire statement under Special Topics Courses, pages

        176-177 of 1980-81 Catalog.  ADD above policy statement.  



        Rationale:  



             Special Topics courses over the last several semesters have

        made up from 9% to 19% of our schedule.  This is a significant

        portion of our offerings, yet the present policy seems too casual.

        A new policy statement seems necessary because of the following

        problems with present policy:  



        1.  Although a Special Topics course is a departmental offering,

        only the chairman need give approval.  



        2.  The Vice Chancellor is given a faculty prerogative--to approve

        a course if there is uncertainty about its belonging to a

        traditional academic discipline.  



        3.  There is no effective control of the qualifications of a

        faculty member to teach the course.  


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        4.  There is no statement about how often it can be offered.  



        5.  In practice, a Special Topics course is often given as an

        individual course only to meet one student's need for one hour to

        graduate or to meet some catalog requirement.  





        Effective Date:  Fall, 1981, for schedule planning Spring 

                         Semester, 1982.





                         (Passed by Faculty Senate 3/5/81)