THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE

                         FACULTY SENATE 


                                 Senate Document Number  2492S 

                                 Date of Senate Approval 4/9/92


 
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 #23:  General Education Credit for Science 200
                      (Summer, 1992)


Effective Date:   For Summer, 1992 Only

PROPOSAL:

That students completing Science 200 (described below) in the
Summer, 1992 be said to have fulfilled the integrated science
portion of the general education requirement for a total of three
credit hours.  

SCI 200   SOUTHWESTERN DESERT STUDIES (3)

     The study of a specific geographic region from an
     interdisciplinary perspective, with significant science
     components.  Emphasis will include contrasting surveys of
     the zoology, botany, and geology of the Chihuahuan and
     Sonoran Deserts.  Course is taught during the summer, with a
     period of preliminary classroom instruction followed by
     field study in the region of interest.  Field expenses paid
     by students.  Prerequisite:  completion of lab science
     requirement and permission of instructors.


IMPACT STATEMENT:  
The approval of this course will not adversely affect any major,
minor, department, or program, because the course will be offered
in the Summer, 1992 only.  This course will provide students with
an additional option for the integrated science portion of the
general education requirement.  With the inclusion of zoology,
botany, and geology, the science portion of the course will be
interdisciplinary, as required by the general education document
SD 3684.


RATIONALE:
A group of non natural science majors will be taken to the
Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona
to study the ecology of plants and animals under these extremely
harsh conditions.  Each desert represents a different botanical
and zoological assemblage of organisms determined to a large
extent by regional geologic processes.  Adaptations to heat and
lack of water are clearly demonstrable and easier to understand
than here in the eastern United States.  The reduction of ground
cover allows the demonstration of many geological processes in a
dramatic and straightforward manner.  One particularly unique
aspect of our studies would be that we will be able to integrate
into our field studies the combined techniques of observation and
experimentation since we have been invited by the Endangered
Species Division of the State of New Mexico Wildlife Department
to participate in our choice of four ongoing survey projects. 
Students will work in small groups to conduct survey projects
using plants, animals and rocks to define the differences between
two distinct desert habitats.  The multi-disciplinary nature of
this course makes it a natural addition to UNCA's concept of
integrating different scientific disciplines into a dynamic
whole.