THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE FACULTY SENATE Senate Document Number 0197F Date of Senate Approval 10/09/97 Statement of Faculty Senate Action: APC Document 1: Interdisciplinary Studies: Redefinition of IST listings, recataloging of non-departmental-based programs, and establishing criteria for IST course selection Effective Date: Fall 1997 or as soon thereafter as possible 1. Delete: Current Entry Title for Interdisciplinary Studies - page 141 1996 - 97 catalog Add: The following entry for Interdisciplinary Studies - page 141 1996-97 Catalog INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES (IST) Professor: Coordinator of Interdisciplinary Studies Through UNCA's interdisciplinary programs and courses students are able to study topics which transcend traditional disciplines. These programs and courses formally recognize the importance of incorporating different disciplinary approaches and contributions in order to understand the challenging questions people face today. Interdisciplinary courses offer students the opportunity to develop the ability to synthesize and integrate ideas, perspectives and theories related to these questions. This encourages students to question conventional explanations and to search out and make explicit the assumptions of disciplinary theories. Most interdisciplinary courses at UNCA are structured around formal programs of study. These include Africana Studies, Arts Courses, Humanities, International Studies, Multimedia Arts and Sciences, Religious Studies, Women's Studies, and UNCA's single graduate program leading to the Masters of Liberal Arts. Each of these programs and its requirements is listed below. In selected cases, specific interdisciplinary courses have been created which are not part of a formal program or major. These courses are generally considered electives. However, students must receive approval from their program or major advisor, as well as their Department Chair and/or Program Director in order to receive major or minor credit. NOTE: IST courses would be listed after this entry Impact: The Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs should identify a member of the UNCA faculty to serve as Coordinator for Interdisciplinary Studies. This position would not be sufficiently demanding to justify reassigned time similar to Department Chairs unless additional or similar responsibilities were assigned. This proposal clarifies academic curriculum purpose as well as identifies a person responsible and accountable for Interdisciplinary Studies at UNCA. Rationale: UNCA considers interdisciplinary teaching and learning one of its unique characteristics as a public undergraduate liberal arts university. The current entry for Interdisciplinary Studies has no description or statement of purpose. No one is identified as responsible for IST entries in the catalog nor is there any centralized emphasis on those programs characterized as interdisciplinary in nature. It is appropriate for UNCA to clearly describe and promote its unique interdisciplinary emphasis and to highlight those programs which are primarily interdisciplinary in curriculum structure, pedagogy, and emphasis. Someone should be identified as responsible for IST course listing and scheduling. 2. Move: Move the headings and titles of the following programs from their current location(s) in the 1996 - 97 catalog to and in alphabetical sequence following the IST course entries in the catalog. (various pages) There would be no change in wording of any title, description, program requirements, or course prefixes and listings. Programs to be moved include: Africana Studies (AFST) - pp 62 - 63 ; Arts Courses (ARTS) - p-73; Humanities (HUM) - pp 140 - 141; International Studies (INTS) - pp 142 - 143; Master of Liberal Arts Program (MLA) - pp 168 - 172; Multimedia Arts and Sciences (MMAS) - p 178; Religious Studies (RELS) - pp to be determined; Women's Studies (WMST) - pp 214 - 215 (all page references are to the 1996 - 97 catalog) Impact: No resource impact. This facilitates the emphasis on UNCA's Interdisciplinary Programs noted in (1) above and allows students to review the various interdisciplinary opportunities in one centralized location in the catalog. Rationale: See Rationale for (1) above; plus this structure allows all interdisciplinary programs to be clustered in one location for ease in access by students considering these unique opportunities within the overall UNCA Curriculum. 3. Insert: In the current location for all programs listed above insert their title; and add the following: See Interdisciplinary Studies pp _____(as appropriate in the catalog) Impact: No resource impact. This allows individuals seeking these programs two options; one the traditional alphabetical listing sequence (see current catalog entry for Accounting(p 62) and Business(p 83) as examples); and the concentrated listing of all programs described in (2) above. Rationale: To follow existing practice in the 1996 - 97 catalog; and to allow two methods for locating interdisciplinary programs in the catalog. 4. This recommendation is not for entry into the catalog but a request for approval of an operating policy appropriate for IST offerings Proposed Course Criteria for IST courses: The following course criteria are recommended for a course to be listed in either the UNCA catalog or academic schedule as an IST course or IST Special Topic. NOTE: These criteria would not be written in the catalog but would be used by the IST Coordinator in scheduling or proposing courses. APC would require any IST course proposal to meet these criteria before approval for inclusion in the UNCA catalog. CRITERIA FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES COURSES (applies only to IST prefix courses) 1. Course will be "topic driven" and focus on a topic, or topics, of sufficient breadth and complexity that no single discipline can fully explore and synthesize them. The course must have as one of its objectives a synthesis of perspectives on the topic from at least two distinct disciplines. 2. The course will be structured so that distinct disciplines are recognizable. Primary resource material, pedagogy, and epistemology from those disciplines will be formally integrated into the course. 3. The course should encourage an interdisciplinary approach to thinking and facilitate the development of the student's ability to synthesize alternative disciplinary points of view. 4. When appropriate the course should recognize the context of diverse cultural settings. 5. Because of their interdisciplinary content and emphasis on critical thinking and analysis, IST courses encourage participatory, and interactive student learning. 6. The course may be from a particular "disciplinary domain", e.g., Social Sciences, Humanities, or the Natural Sciences; however priority and encouragement will be given to courses that focus on topics which transcend traditional disciplinary groupings. 7. The course may be either team taught or presented by a single instructor who structures the course in keeping with the criteria listed above. Impact: IST coordinator and APC would be responsible for application of these criteria to courses proposed for inclusion in the UNCA Catalog as IST courses. These criteria allow accountability and curricular integrity for IST offerings at UNCA. Courses could not be added to the IST section of the catalog without approval by APC, the Faculty Senate and the Chief Academic Officer. The IST Coordinator must approve IST courses or IST Special Topics before they may be listed in the Academic Schedule of course offerings. Rationale: Currently there is no effective system of evaluating which courses are listed as IST courses in the catalog or the academic schedule. These criteria provide a basis for those identified as responsible and accountable for IST offerings to render professional academic judgments about potential curricular offerings within the IST classification. 5. Recommendation for Removing IST 100, 150, 300: The committee reviewed syllabi for IST 100 College and Career Exploration(1); IST 150 Leadership: Theory and Application (2); and IST 300 Career Planning and Placement (1). The committee recommends these courses no longer be listed as IST offerings unless they are modified to meet the course criteria listed in (4) above. The committee recommends that the instructors for these courses be directed to either modify their course offerings to meet the IST criteria or submit an appropriate proposal re-locating these courses in the UNCA curriculum. NOTE: Instructors for these courses may provide appropriate material to cause this recommendation to be re-considered. Impact: Resource impact will be the time devoted to altering the courses and review of resulting proposals. The results will be a more appropriate identification of course content and pedagogy, and the resulting learning experience for students. Rationale: These courses currently do not appear to meet the criteria for IST offerings at UNCA. New and/or non-traditional courses should be sufficiently refined and articulated to allow them to appropriately "fit" into an existing set of curricular offerings, or justify the addition of a new category of curricular offerings. The committee felt the instructors of these courses, working in cooperation with appropriate departments, could most appropriately: (a) modify the courses to meet IST course criteria; (b) modify the courses to fit into an alternative set of curricular offerings; or (c) articulate a rationale for the creation of a new course classification for these courses.