Approval Process and Requirements for First-Year Seminar Course Proposals
Learning Objectives for all First-Year Seminar Courses can be found here. These courses will be assessed by GEPAC on SLOs 5 and 7.
- All proposals must include the new UCC cover sheet with the FYS box checked.
- All proposals must be signed by the college dean (COB, COE, VPA, or CLAS) before being considered by the GEPAC.
- A sample template for the Summary of Request/proposal in Word can be downloaded here.
Required Submission COMPONENTS
1. Title
Provide the class title that will be used in all university literature and on websites where the class is listed
2. Description
Course descriptions should be available in MYKU and on the General Education Website. Each description should be brief (75 words max) and clearly outline a class focused on a single, easily understood topic. The description should be engaging, similar to an “infomercial,” to appeal to student interest. Proposals will have considerable flexibility in how the description is crafted.
3. Assessment Agreement
Each proposal must include the following phrase with the appropriate section checked:
"Do you agree to provide the General Education Assessment committee appropriate student work product for assessment? Criteria for each SLO assessment are available on the GEAC website. ______ yes ______no"
4. Rationale
Since the primary purpose of the description is to attract students to the class, the rationale should provide detailed information on the academic content and its development from research, faculty interest, and student interest. Remember, FYS classes are open to all students, so the course should not target a specific major or student group. Additionally, the rationale should include a separate section detailing how the professor plans to achieve the official course learning objectives (including the two required SLOs), if these are not specified in the anticipated weekly schedule.
5. Assessment
Please provide specific examples of assessment items (such as ungraded writing/class assignments, papers, critical essays, projects, etc.) that will be used in this course to meet the two SLOs assessed by GEAC. (Criteria for the SLOs can be found on the GEAC website). The assessment materials should be clearly linked to the two SLOs. Additionally, the SLO should be clearly stated before the assignment (e.g., SLO 5: Demonstrate the ability to retrieve, interpret, and evaluate information).
6. Anticipated Weekly Topics
Please provide a brief schedule for the academic content over 14 weeks. If the schedule does not detail how the course will satisfy the required course objectives, please provide this information in the course rationale. Faculty members are not required to include quizzes, exams, or due dates for assignments (papers, essays, etc.) in this section.