THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE FACULTY SENATE Senate Document Number 1592S Date of Senate Approval 3/5/92 Signature of Senate Chair __________________________ Date________ Action of Vice Chancellor: Approval _______________________________ Date________________ Denied _______________________________ Date________________ Reasons for denial and suggested modifications: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Statement of Faculty Senate Action: APC DOCUMENT #14: Changes in Mass Communication I. Requirements for declaration of major DELETE page 137: Under Mass Communication, the section titled "Mass Communication Major," that begins "Declaring a major in..." ADD page 137, following the section "Mass Communication Major Requirements," a new section as follows: Declaration of Major Students interested in the Mass Communication major should meet with a member of the Mass Communication faculty to learn about the program. A major in Mass Communication may be formally declared by students who have completed Lang 102 and either LR 101 or 102, and who also have completed, with a grade of C or better, each of the following courses: MCOM 190, 201 and 203. Students meeting these criteria must obtain a signed Declaration of Major form from the department chair. RATIONALE Our examination of student academic performance in the major over the past six years indicates that success in the major is closely predicted by satisfactory performance in these three introductory courses. IMPACT The overall number of Mass Communication majors will decline by perhaps as much as one-third. Our current number of majors is inflated by the existence, as majors, of students who have not yet completed the 190, 201 and 203 courses, and who will drop out of the major at some point in the sequence. However, we expect no drop in the number of students graduating from the program. No impact on other programs. II. Changes in prerequisites #1 DELETE page 137, in the section titled "Mass Communication Major Requirements," Part III. CHANGE page 137, section titled "Mass Communication Major Requirements," Part IV. Make the IV. a III. RATIONALE Students and faculty from other departments don't seem to notice this item when looking up individual courses. Prerequisites need to be seen to be obeyed. #2 ADD page 137, to the course description for MCOM 201, the following prerequisite: Prerequisites: Completion of the General Education English Language Requirement and MCOM 190. DELETE page 138, prerequisite for MCOM 203. ADD page 138, to the course description for MCOM 203, the following prerequisite: Prerequisites: Completion of the General Education English Language Requirement and MCOM 190. RATIONALE MCOM 190 provides an introduction to the mass communication process at a conceptual level, which we believe is essential in giving students an understanding of the rationale for the specific writing formats taught in MCOM 201 and 203. Historically, students taking 190, freshman writing and 201 or 203 out of sequence have not performed well in the latter classes. However, completion of 201 is not essential to success in 203. IMPACT The only Department affected is Education, which requires 201 for its English Language Certification track. This change adds 3 credit hours to their program. The overall number of students affected is relatively small. The Mass Communication Department realizes the credit hour pressures that exist for the Education Department, and has asked the Education Chair to comment on this change to the APC. #3 CHANGE and ADD The prerequisites for each of the courses listed below as indicated. RATIONALE The general rationale for the ADDITIONS is that the prerequisite is no longer listed in III on page 137 due to change #1 above. Further, because the minor requires students to take either 201 or 203, contradicting the current policy requiring both courses as prerequisite to all upper level offerings. The changes listed below match the two writing courses to the appropriate upper-level classes. MCOM 201 is the basic print media writing course, MCOM 203 is the basic electronic media writing course. IMPACT None outside the department. COURSE PREREQUISITE ADDED 301 Prerequisite: MCOM 201 or permission of instructor. 303 Prerequisite: MCOM 203 or permission of instructor. 321 Prerequisite: MCOM 201 or permission of instructor. 323 Prerequisite: MCOM 201 or permission of instructor. 325 Prerequisite: MCOM 201 or permission of instructor. 331 Prerequisite: MCOM 203 or permission of instructor. 335 Prerequisites: MCOM 303, or permission of instructor. 343 Prerequisites: Mass Communication Majors: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. Management Majors: MGMT 200 and 350, or permission of instructor. 345 Prerequisites: Mass Communication Majors: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. Management Majors: MGMT 200 and 350, or permission of instructor. 362 Prerequisites: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. 364 Prerequisites: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. 382 Prerequisites: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. 384 Prerequisites: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. 386 Prerequisites: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. 390 Prerequisites: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. 421 Prerequisites: MCOM 301, or permission of instructor. 433 Prerequisites: MCOM 303, or permission of instructor. 435 Prerequisites: MCOM 335, or permission of instructor. 482 Prerequisites: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. 484 Prerequisites: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. 490 Prerequisites: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. 492 Prerequisites: MCOM 201 or 203, or permission of instructor. 451 Prerequisites: Students must obtain department approval for internship credit, and should meet with the instructor to obtain internship criteria and application forms. NOTE: THE PREREQUISITE FOR MANAGEMENT MAJORS FOR MCOM 343 AND 345 DOES NOT REPRESENT A CHANGE. III. Course description change DELETE Course description for MCOM 321, Editing, page 138. ADD New Course description, as follows: Copy reading and headline writing; publication layout and design using desktop publishing computer software. Prerequisite: MCOM 201 or permission of instructor. RATIONALE New description more closely follows course content. IMPACT None