THE
FACULTY
SENATE
Senate
Document Number 3306S
Date of
Senate Approval 03/02/06
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Statement
of Faculty Senate Action:
APC Document 19: Changes to the Individual Degree Concentration Narrative
Changes
to the IDC major requirements
Effective Date: Fall 2006
1. Delete: On pg.
145-146, the first paragraph and items I-VI.
Add: On pg. 145, in place of deleted
entry:
The Individual Degree Concentration offers students the
opportunity to develop an individual degree program that integrates academic
disciplines. It allows the academically strong, self-motivated student to
design her or his own major with the help of faculty members from different
departments. The program exists to help a student pursue an interdisciplinary
major that is not offered at UNCA while making use of existing university
resources.
An
individual degree concentration requires the student to assemble a committee
consisting of at least two faculty members from two different departments who
will help design a course of study. At least one member must be a tenured
member of the faculty. The student and faculty will design a rationale for the
proposed program of study, indicating how this particular program will meet the
educational goals of the Interdisciplinary Studies Program, and how the program
differs from existing programs at UNCA.
Students
should meet with the IST director to pick up complete application guidelines
and for guidance in creating a successful proposal. Proposals must be submitted and approved
before a student completes 75 hours. Deadlines for submission of proposals are
set each semester, normally occurring midway through the semester.
Requirements for an
Individual Degree Concentration:
1. There must be a
persuasive rationale for the individual program.
This must include an explanation of the need for an
individual concentration. A persuasive
rationale must include the reasoning behind the focus of the proposal and what
the course of study is intended to accomplish. It is important this is not simply a listing
of courses, but a real course of study that is academically sound and
intellectually defensible.
The following types of proposals are not appropriate for an Individual
Degree Concentration:
·
Proposals for majors that the university does not have the
resources to provide.
·
Proposals that are based on the specific requirements of a
professional program or are narrowly tailored for a specific career.
·
Proposals
that modify or substantially reproduce an existing degree program.
·
Proposals
that combine existing majors with an existing minor.
2. A
specific statement of the learning objectives of the proposed Individual Degree
Concentration and how the learning objectives of
the IST program are met.
This statement should include references to
course work as well as to individual work. A proposal that relies heavily on
special topics or research with one professor is unlikely to be approved. The
learning objectives of the IST program are included in the application packet
available from the Director of IST.
3. A specific
statement of how the objectives will be assessed.
The IST program requires all Individual Degree Concentration
majors to develop a portfolio to be used in assessing program learning
objectives. Summary statements from faculty committee members are required at
least once a year indicating progress towards and achievement of concentration
goals.
4. Description of
capstone project or coursework.
The capstone experience should synthesize and summarize the
major, and demonstrate major, oral and computer competency.
5. Listing of courses
required for the major.
A specific list of required courses
must be submitted, placed into appropriate subcategories.
·
The
major must total 36-45 credit hours.
·
Courses
must be from at least three different disciplines available at UNC Asheville.
·
No
more than one-half of the required credit hours may come from any one
department.
·
At
least 21 of the required hours must be at the 300-level or above.
·
Students
must have completed or be enrolled in IST 290 to apply for an individual
concentration.
·
IST
495 must be included in the list.
·
At
least two-thirds of the major must be taken while a student at UNC Asheville.
·
Students
seeking an Individual Degree Concentration cannot seek a double major.
·
None
of the hours used to fulfill requirements for a declared minor may be used for
the Individual Degree Concentration[AS1].
6. Timetable for
completion of degree.
The timetable should be based on reasonable expectations of
course offerings and should demonstrate that the degree can be completed in a
reasonable amount of time. It may be necessary to consult with department
chairs about recent patterns of course offerings. Individual
Degree Concentrations often take more than four years simply because of
course scheduling. Curricular substitutions can be made after degree approval,
but are not always appropriate or possible. Students who are not enrolled for
two consecutive semesters must have their Individual Degree Concentration
reviewed when they return. Students who are not enrolled for three or more
consecutive semesters must reapply for an Individual Degree Concentration.
7. Statement of
Faculty Support
Each faculty member on the student's committee should write
a statement of feasibility and support of the concentration and its objectives.
It is expected that faculty will work with the student to develop all parts of
the proposal, but a separate statement of support is required. Faculty members
agree to fulfill the function of an academic department for the student, which
includes not only establishing and assessing learning objectives, but also
supervising the student’s capstone experience. Faculty who are unsure of the
requirements should contact the Director of Interdisciplinary Studies.
Impact: Clarification of the requirements
for an Individual Degree Concentration has already reduced the time the
Director of IST spends with students looking for a quick and easy way to
graduate. This is a substantial time saving.
Rationale: The changes made to this section
are, in general, not new policy. The catalog copy is not complete and has
misled students, faculty and prospective students about the Individual Degree.
With rare exception, all of the catalog changes proposed are from the original
document creating the BA in IST (Senate Document
Number 0200F). This catalog statement makes clear the original
intent of the planning committee and ensures that Individual Degree
Concentrations will be of high quality.
The changes from the original
document are:
At least one faculty
member must be a tenured member of the faculty.
One problem that emerged in the first three years of the
program was that untenured faculty or lecturers who signed as faculty mentors
left the university or lost interest in the project. This created a huge
problem for the student who had no mentor to guide his or her degree. Requiring
one tenured faculty member helps prevent that problem.
Untenured faculty and lecturers demonstrated a tendency to
sign-on to projects that they did not have time to finish—it is regrettable but
some untenured faculty were hesitant to say no to student requests. A process
with substantive faculty input in developing the degree, and a requirement for
a tenured faculty member should help.
Students seeking an
Individual Degree Concentration cannot double major.
The original restriction was that a student could not use more
that 6 hours for both majors. Students who attempted to double major found that
they had to constantly change the requirements for the Individual Degree
Concentration in order to graduate in a timely fashion. This is simply not a
good idea and leads to a weak degree.
Requiring IST 290
The addition of IST 290 is necessary to provide a core
course for IST Individual Degree Concentration students. In the assessment of
student learning, it was observed that graduating seniors were unclear about
the meaning of interdisciplinary and could not define it. An Intro course will
provide an overview of interdisciplinary methodology. This course will also
explain the portfolio approach and how the program will use it to assess
student learning.
Time Limit
Students who leave the university and then return expect to
be able to complete their Individual Degree
Concentration. This can be quite difficult since faculty leave and courses
change. This makes clear to the student that the agreement to pursue an Individual
Degree Concentration is a time-limited agreement. We cannot guarantee that it will be possible
to finish the degree after a lengthy absence.
[AS1] Should we distinguish this from the ESI and INTS concentrations?