THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE FACULTY SENATE Senate Document Number 1395S Date of Senate Approval 2/9/95 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Statement of Faculty Senate Action: APC Document #13: Curriculum Proposal - Economics A. Deletion of Econ 415 Comparative Economic Systems Effective Date: Fall Semester 1995 Delete: Econ 415 Comparative Economic systems (p 103 current catalog) and page 50 of the current catalog. Impact statement: None for the economics major other than reduce the range of formally listed but non-enrolled electives in Economics. For other majors this course has often been cited as one students from Honors, Sociology, International Studies and Political Science would take. Except for one offering as an Honors class four (4) years ago the course has failed to attract enrollment. While listed as a social science general education course no student has ever enrolled in Econ 415 for such purpose. Rationale: Students do not enroll. Advisors apparently do not recommend the course. While it offers an opportunity for internationalization of the curriculum it is inappropriate to require the course. Since neither students or faculty appear interested in the course it should be removed from the formal list of courses in the curriculum. B. Deletion of Econ 302, History of Economic Thought Effective date: Fall 1995 Delete: Econ 302, Page 101 1994 - 95 catalog (Economics Listing) and page 50 1994 - 95 catalog (general education social science listing) Impact statement: Elimination of the course from the curriculum should have virtually no impact, since it is a pure elective. It will, however, slightly reduce the number of courses which students may take in order to satisfy the social science general education requirement. Rationale: This course, in various forms, has been taught infrequently over the last eleven years, with course enrollments generally averaging about eight students. Elimination of the course from the curriculum will reduce instructor uncertainty and allow the application of the freed teaching resources to be applied to areas where student interests and needs are greater. In addition it should be noted that the course was originally designed to build upon Humanities 224 (which was a prerequisite for the course). Since the courses in the Humanities sequence are currently being revised, this seems to be a particularly appropriate time to delete the course. C. Deletion of Econ 315, Urban and Regional Economics Effective date: Fall 1995 Delete: Econ 315 Urban and Regional Economics Page 101 of the 1994 - 95 catalog Impact Statement: Econ 315 is an elective which has been offered very infrequently with small (less than 10 students) enrollments. Deletion of 315 and addition of 325 (see below) will more efficiently utilize faculty expertise and bring greater focus to the course. Rationale: See impact statement. Low student enrollment and better utilization of faculty expertise and teaching resources. D. Add: Econ 325 Regional Economics (3) Course description: Examination and study of regional economic models. Special attention is given to location theory, measures to stimulate regional economic growth, analysis of inter industry linkages and resources for growth. Prerequisite: Econ 200 or instructor's permission Effective date: Fall 1995 Impact statement: Instructional resources are available without any redistribution from other courses since Econ 315 is being dropped from the curriculum. Econ 325 more accurately reflects both relative professional expertise of the instructor and student interests. The course will be an elective for economics majors and other students who elect to enroll. Rationale: See impact statement and comments under 3 above. Econ 325 will be a more focused course than Econ 315; more efficiently utilize instructional resources and expertise, and respond to perceived and anticipated student interests. E. Deletion of Econ 320 Industrial Organization Effective date: Fall 1995 Delete: Econ 320 Industrial Organization pp. 102(Economics Department listing), pp. 99(Program in Political Economy required courses, Economics Department listing), and pp. 182(Program in Political Economy required courses, Political Science Department Listing), 1994 - 95 catalog. Impact statement: Elimination of this course from the catalog should have virtually no impact since it will be replaced with a substitute, ECON 312. Rationale: This course has been offered three times in the past six years and taught twice. Pre-(and final) enrollment was the same each offering: four. Elimination of the course from the curriculum will free teaching resources for the creation of a substitute course with wider appeal. Faculty expertise exists to teach the proposed course(see below). F. Add: Econ 312 Government, Industry and The Law (3) Effective Date: Fall 1995 Course description: This course uses economic principles and methodology to consider opposing views on government regulation. Topics include business, environmental and consumer protection regulation. Prerequisite: Econ 200 or 201. Course offered fall semester, odd years. Impact statement: Addition of this course should have virtually no impact since it replaces Econ 320 Rationale: The course Econ 312 replaces has been offered three times in the past six years and taught twice. Pre-(and final) enrollment was the same each offering: four. Though covering some of the same material, Econ 312 is designed to appeal to students from a broader range of majors, thus serving student needs and interests better. With the projected increase in enrollment will come a better allocation of teaching resources. G. Eliminate Cross listing of the following courses: a) Econ 337 Environmental Economics and Policy (cross listed as Envr 337); b) Econ 341 Cost-Benefit Analysis (cross listed as Envr 342) c) Econ 345 Economics of Natural Resources (cross listed as Envr 345) Effective date: Fall semester 1995 On pages 113 - 118 delete all references to Econ 337, Econ 341, Econ 345, and Envr 337, Envr 342, Envr 345. Specifically Delete: pp. 113 I - Delete Envr 337, and in section II add Econ 337. Adjust the hours in section I to 19 from 22; and in Section II adjust to 20 - 22 from 17 - 19. pp. 116 delete Envr 337 and all associated dialog pp. 117 delete Envr 342 and all associated dialog pp. 117 delete Envr 345 and all associated dialog pp102 delete references to Envr 337, Envr 342, Envr 345. Impact: No instructional impact. No financial or physical resource impact. This will clarify the academic base of the courses in question, and clarify how a student's academic courses are recorded as progress toward completion of a major in environmental studies. Rationale: In recent years students have indicated that the registrar's office will not count Econ 337 the same as Envr 337 (and similarly for Econ 341 (Envr 342) and Econ 345 (Envr 345) as credit toward completion of the environmental studies major. This is because if the course is listed in the catalog with an Envr prefix the same course listed with an Econ prefix shifts the course from satisfying a major requirement into an elective status. It appears this is connected to computer record keeping. This situation has caused students great concern as Econ 337 is currently required of all environmental studies majors. However the course and Econ 341 and Econ 345 are all Economics Courses taught by Economics Faculty. The courses in question are traditionally taught in economics departments, are formally recognized within the profession and as subjects particular to the discipline of economics. The original intent in cross listing the courses was to simplify things for environmental studies students. However current record keeping technology has taken this effort and created confusion and complication for those students. This proposal is to correct that confusion. All three courses are primarily service courses to environmental studies students and as such should be treated like our other service courses to other majors, e.g., Econ 200, 201, 210, 305, 306 which serve a heavy service role to Management and are not cross listed; and Econ 130, 201, and 261 which serve as general education service courses and except for Econ 130 also serve our own majors as either requirements or electives. Coordination: Those concurrences without comment are in the permanent APC file. Only those concurrences with comment are attached.