THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE FACULTY SENATE Senate Document Number 2095S Date of Senate Approval 3/9/95 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Statement of Faculty Senate Action: APC Document #21: Change in Political Science Curriculum Effective Date: Fall, 1995 a) Delete: Begin with the line immediately after the listing of departmental faculty on p. 181 ("The Department of Political Science provides...) and continue onto p. 182 up to the heading "Program in Political Economy". b) Add: (after the faculty listing) The Political Science department offers a diverse and flexible program designed to help students prepare for meaningful careers in government and international public service, law, journalism, teaching, and other related areas. In the liberal arts tradition, programs and courses are fashioned to help students develop the skills and background necessary to interpret the political world and understand how politics shapes contemporary life. Students are encouraged to work closely with their advisors to plan their study and to sample widely from a variety of course offerings. Students must also participate in either community service and/or research activities appropriate to their career goals and interests. General Program I. Required courses in the major--34 hours, including: POLS 220, 281, 400, 450, and 460. (POLS 120 and 180 may not be counted in these hours.) II. Required Course outside the major--4 hours: STAT 185. III. Senior Demonstration of Competency met by satisfactory completion of POLS 400, 450, and 460. Research Program I. Required courses in the major--34 hours including: POLS 220, 281, 390, 490, 450, and 460. (POLS 120 and 180 may not be counted in these hours.) II. Required course outside the major-- 4 hours: STAT 185. In addition either STAT 325 or ECON 365 are highly recommended. III. Senior Demonstration of Competency met by satisfactory completion of POLS 450, 460, and 490. c) Delete: The title and description of POLS 400 d) Add: 400 Internship (3) A semester long internship program with participating organizations, firms, public agencies, or community service organizations. Background readings and field research as well as practical experience. Prerequisite 15 hours of Political Science. May be repeated once for credit. Students are required to present the results of their work in the Senior Colloquium. e) Add: 450 Classic Political Studies and the Contemporary World (3) Major works of political analysis are examined in light of current political trends. Prerequisite POLS 400 or 490. Corequisite POLS 460. Course offered every spring semester. f) Add: 460 Senior Colloquium (1) Presentation and discussion of research projects and field experiences by both students and faculty. Prerequisite POLS 400 or 490. Corequisite POLS 450. Course offered every spring semester. g) Delete: Title and course descriptions of POLS 491 "Senior Research Seminar in American Politics" and POLS 492 "Senior Research Seminar in International Politics". h) Add: 490 Senior Research Seminar (3) A research seminar in which students conduct a supervised investigation of a political phenomenon. The research is presented to the Senior Colloquium. Prerequisite POLS 390. An IP grade may be awarded. Course offered in the fall semester. i) Change: Replace on p. 182 under the program labeled "Program in Political Economy" the last line of part I which reads "ECON 490 or POLS 491" with "ECON 490 or POLS 490". Replace on p. 182 the second line of part III which reads "fully completing either ECON 490 or POLS 491." with "fully completing either ECON 490 or POLS 490." j) Delete: Delete on p. 127 (History) the title and description of the program labeled "A Joint Major in History and Political Science". k) Change: Replace on p. 99 (Economics), under the program labeled "Program in Political Economy", the last line of part I which reads "or POLS 491" with "or POLS 490". Replace on p. 100 the second line of part III which reads "completion of ECON 490 or POLS 491 with a grade of C or higher." with "completion of ECON 490 or POLS 490 with a grade of C or higher." Impact Statement: The changes overhaul the requirements for all students majoring in Political Science. The new programs each require 38 hours. This is one more required hour than the current Program in Political Behavior, but one hour less than the present Program in International Relations. It is also ten hours less than the current Politics and Law and History and Political Science Programs require. The reductions may conceivably be greater because students may use the STAT 185 course to satisfy their All- University mathematics requirement. Based on enrollment patterns over the last four years and anticipated student demand, it likely will result in an annual increase of from 6 to 10 students enrolled in STAT 185 and a possible increase of from 2 to 3 students enrolled annually in either STAT 325 or ECON 365. There may also be a slight decrease in the enrollment in the correlate courses required by the deleted Politics and Law program, although we anticipate students continuing to select those courses as electives. There might be a slight decline too, in some courses which served as correlates for the deleted International Relations Program. The changes can be handled by the department's current six member faculty. The changes are in part motivated by a desire to consolidate activities and use department personnel more efficiently. A slight decline (one a semester) in the number of three-hundred level courses offered is anticipated as faculty are needed to teach the new four-hundred level required courses. Rationale: The change eliminates four programs and replaces them with two new ones. The deleted programs were organized along subdiscipline fields which the Department no longer considers wise. The new additions are similar although, their focus diverges in the sixth and seventh semesters. Each option is geared to a dominant trend within the University. The General Program is oriented toward community involvement and career planning through internship experiences and community service. The Research Program is designed to complement the university's emphasis on Undergraduate Research. Students in the two programs are drawn together in the senior seminar (POLS 450) and the senior colloquium (POLS 460). The course changes on page 2 are necessary to implement the new programs and the changes in catalog copy listed on page 3 are necessary to standardize catalog copy.