THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE FACULTY SENATE Senate Document Number 3196S Date of Senate Approval 2/8/96 Statement of Faculty Senate Action: APC Document 29: Catalog Changes in Biology 499 Effective Date: Fall, 1996 Delete: 499 Laboratory Assistantship in Biology (2) (pg 85) Add: (changes are underlined) 499 Laboratory Assistantship in Biology (2) Guided teaching experience in a laboratory setting. Under the direct supervision of a faculty member the student will assist other students in a biology laboratory. Students will present explanatory material to the class and will assist in preparation and operation of laboratory material, lab quizzes and practical examinations. Open to junior and senior biology majors who have a GPA of 3.0 or better. Will not count toward biology electives. May be repeated once, in conjunction with a different course. Departmental approval is required. (Grading: S/U) Offered every semester. Impact statement: Students will have more options for courses in which they may assist. They can no longer use this course to fulfill elective requirements. Faculty will continue to have the additional duty of supervising students under 499, but will receive no contact hours credited to teaching load, as is current practice. Rationale: The proposed changes extend the range of courses in which students can gain useful teaching experience and oral competency, depending on their interest and qualifications. A "one repeat" provision was added, since a student may be interested in the additional experience provided by assisting in a different course. Students interested in more "in-depth" study of a topic, or more teaching experience, can benefit. In compensation, 499 will no longer count toward "elective" requirements in Biology. Thus the choice of 499 will be in addition to, and not instead of other electives. Students must still choose a sufficient number of elective credit hours from regular departmental offerings. Senior Competency in Biology Effective Date: Fall, 1996 Delete: 451 Research in Biology I (pg. 85) 452 Research in Biology II (pg. 85) Add: 480 Senior Seminar (3) Students will apply biology theory and knowledge during the presentation and discussion of diverse topics chosen by the instructor. Demonstration of oral competency is a strong component of the course. Open to Biology majors of senior standing, or by permission of the instructor. 490 Research in Biology (2-3) Individual research project for students of senior standing. Includes literature, laboratory preparation and completion of a research project. Students with ongoing research projects nearing completion, after consultation with their instructor, may opt to submit their work to the faculty as a demonstration of senior competency. A written research paper and oral presentation are required. Prerequisites: senior standing and permission of the instructor. (An IP grade may be awarded at the discretion of the instructor.) Course offered every semester. Delete: under "Biology", pg 80-81: Sect. I, V, VI Add: (changes are underlined) I. Required courses in the major - 15-16 hours, including: BIOL 105, 210, 211 and demonstration of Senior Competency via either BIOL 480 or BIOL 490. IV. Required courses outside the major - 18-19 hours ... Math 163 or Math 167; ... V. Special departmental requirements - Senior demonstration of competency met by completion of BIOL 480 with a grade of C or better or 490. Oral competency is an integral requirement of many biology courses. The Departmental requirement for demonstration of Oral Competency will be met by successful completion of either BIOL 480 or 490. VI. It is strongly recommended that Biology majors take BIOL 443 (Genetics). Students planning on graduate careers should check for specific requirements at their schools of choice. Additional math (calculus), chemistry (organic) and physics are often required, and strongly recommended. Delete: under "Biology with Teacher Certification", pg 81: Sect. I, IIa, IIb, III, IV Add: (changes are underlined) I. Required courses in the major - 23-24 hours, including: BIOL 105, 210, 211, 443, 444 and either 480 or 490. II. a) Phylogenetic Biology - BIOL 332, 333, 334, 335, 337, 350, 351, 356 b) Organismal Biology - 338, 345, 346, 455 III. Required courses outside the major - 34-35 hours: ASTR 105; CHEM 141, 142, 231; CSCI 126 or 141; ENVR 105; MATH 164, 167 or 191; SOC 240; STAT 185; and those requirements indicated under the Education section of the catalog. IV. Special departmental requirements - Senior demonstration of competency met by completion of BIOL 480 with a grade of C or better or 490. Oral competency is an integral requirement of many biology courses. The Departmental requirement for demonstration of Oral Competency will be met by successful completion of either BIOL 480 or 490. Impact statement: Students will have two options for demonstration of senior competency: senior seminar or senior research. Faculty will receive contact hour credit for teaching BIOL 480. This course addition (2 per year) can be met with the additional faculty member biology is currently recruiting. Rationale: A senior research project formerly was required of all biology majors as a demonstration of competency. First, the substantial increase in the number of biology majors, as well as other increased teaching demands on the department made this requirement untenable. Second, not all biology majors, especially those that do not plan on going to graduate school, derive maximum benefit from this requirement as it is currently practiced. Third, the department must incorporate an oral competency component, for all majors, in its requirements. 1) Senior Seminar 480 represents another venue for demonstration of senior competency. This capstone course will be of a varied topical nature, offered every semester, where students will research, discuss, write and orally present material related to the topic. All performance, including oral, will be evaluated. This course will likely be taken by about half of biology majors. 2) Credit for senior research is retained under BIOL 490 - Research in Biology. Students may still establish independent research projects, or become involved in ongoing research projects with faculty members. Components of both BIOL 451 and 452 will be combined here. If, in the judgement of a faculty member, the student has demonstrated significant research accomplishment, the student will sign up for BIOL 490. Only students who have essentially completed research requirements will sign up for BIOL 490, to avoid the potential problems associated with late withdrawal, since completion of a project may take several years. Satisfactory completion of BIOL 490 requires a written research paper, and a presentation for demonstration of oral competency. Students may meet this last requirement by presentation at a student conference (NCUR or other) or public presentation, similar to a defense of thesis, on campus. 3) Satisfactory demonstration of oral competency at the department level can be met with either BIOL 480 or 490. 4) Faculty will still have the additional duty of supervising students under 490, but will receive no contact hours credited to teaching load, as is the current practice. The numbers of students performing independent research projects will likely decrease from the current level of 40 to 50 per year (5-6 per faculty member) to 20-25 (3 per faculty member). 5) The math requirement change is associated with the additional option of MATH 167 offered by the Math Department. 6) Recommendations under VI. result from student experiences with application to graduate programs. Many programs have specific requirements which students should recognize and plan for accordingly. 7) Additions under II. and III. for Teacher Certification reflect changes made previously to major requirements and will allow additional course options for distributional requirements.