COLLEGE OF LETTERS & SCIENCES
CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

AGENDA

The Committee will meet THURSDAY, September 6,  2007
at 2:15 PM in Upham 322

       
       
  1. Approval of the April 26, 2007 Minutes.
  2. Approval of the 2007-08 Curriculum Committee Guidelines
  3. Election of a representative on the College Budget and Planning Committee
  4. Announcements
  5. Sociology
    1. New Course SOCIOLGY 342, "Sociology of Family and Work" (This course reviews the relationship between the social institutions of family and workplace.  It examines how they interact with each other, and how key social factors such as gender, class, job type and culture affect that interaction).
  6. Philosophy and Religous Studies
    1. New Minor "World Religions Minor".  (Religion in the 21st century continues to exert an enormous influence over the lives of individuals, communities, nations, and the world, yet it is often poorly understood. The World Religions minor gives students a basic understanding of the world’s major religions: their historical origins, organization, and contemporary beliefs and practices. The World Religions minor will deepen students’ awareness of the sacred, heighten self-awareness of their own religious tradition, and enable them to deal more effectively with religious diversity in the workplace and in their own lives).
    2. Change in the Liberal Studies Minor. (The rationale for these changes is: first, to bring the course lists up-to-date; second, to make the Liberal Studies minor more accessible online; third, we to alter the names of requirement categories 4, 7, and 8, in order to more accurately describe them while differentiating them from the General Education core courses; and, fourth, to make the minor better for transfer students).
  7. Biological Sciences
    1. Course revision, description change and contact hour and/or credit change for BIOLOGY 254 "Biotechnology Laboratory Methods I" 
    2. Course revision, description change and contact hour and/or credit change for BIOLOGY 364 "Biotechnology Laboratory Methods II  (The Dept wishes to exchange basic nucleic acid (DNA & RNA) methodology presently taught at the junior-level Biotechnology Lab Methods II with cell culture and advanced microscopy methods now taught in the sophomore-level Biotechnology Lab Methods I. This change is requested because BLM I is required for the great majority of Biology majors while BLM II is an elective. Also the credit change from 1 to 2 credits is requested because of the unusually heavy outside-of-class workload associated with this course).
  8. Informational Items
    1. Repeatability change for the History course, HISTRY 110, "History Through Film".  (Changes the repeatability of this course by allowing a one time repeat for the degree and eliminates the repeatability in the major).
    2. Requsite changes for the following Physics courses:
      1. PHYSCS 130, "Physics Foundations"
      2. PHYSCS 240, "Physics of Sound and Music"
      3. PHYSCS 305, "Mechanics - Statics"
      4. PHYSCS 310, "Mechanics - Dynamics"  (Requisite changes reflect the changes previously made  in Physics courses)
    3. Requisite change for COMPSCI 433 "Theory of Algorithms:" (The current prerequisites are met by only a small number of students greatly reducing the audience for the course.  The relaxed prerequisites will be sufficient for the course at the level that it is currently taught).
    4. Deletion of the Physics Course, PHYSCS 282, "Engineering Mechanics: Dynamics."  (This course has been replaced with PHYSCS 310, "Mechanics - Dynamics"
    5. Changes to the following Political Science Majors and Minors:
      1. Political Science Major (BA/BS)
      2. Political Science Major (BSE)
      3. Political Science Minor
      4. Legal Studies Minor
      5. Political Science Education Minor  (Adds POLISCI 416 "Constitution and Civil Rights" to the American Government section of the above majors and minors).
    6. Changes to the Women's Studies Major and Women's Studies Minor (Adds new courses, deletes courses no longer offered or whose number has changed).