Faculty Senate UM Home UM A to Z Index UM Search

ASCRC Policies

Adding New Courses (5/12/87) and (10/9/97) (Syllabus is required) (revised 2/5/08)
A department proposes a new course when it wishes to revise the curriculum and to reflect new areas of study within the discipline.  Criteria for evaluating a new course are:
 

  1. Does the course fit well with the existing curriculum?
  2. Does the course represent a net increase in departmental credits?  Does the department explain course deletions, combinations, credit reductions and/or increased teaching resources that accompany the proposal?
  3. Does the course have internal coherence and clear focus?
  4. Does the course duplicate courses in other departments? If so, have conflicts been resolved?
  5. Is the course proposed by a tenured or tenure-track faculty member?  If not, does the department chair or director make the proposal and stipulate that the course will be taught with existing resources at least once every three years?
  6. Has the course been taught experimentally? An X95 course taught twice must be reviewed and approved by ASCRC or Graduate Council and the Faculty Senate prior to inclusion in the catalog.
  7. Has the course been assigned a number that is not already in use or has not been used for the past 10 years?  If the course is cross-listed, does the course have a consistent number across departments?
  8. If the course is UG, has it been assigned a 400 number?

Although course content should be appropriate to its proposed level, it is not the role of ASCRC or Graduate Council to judge the instructor's choice of texts, assignments, or grading methods.

AP/CLEP Credit (Approved 4/13/00; Revised 11/14/02)
The University will award elective credit to students presenting test scores in accordance with the recommendations of the American Council on Education (ACE) for Advanced Placement Tests (AP) and/or tests from the college level examination program (CLEP) of the college entrance examination board. The applicability of any and all AP and CLEP University credits to specific programs will be left to departmental discretion.


Computer Courses, Policy on (Approved by ASCRC 3/10/87)
ASCRC wants to discourage the proliferation of computer courses across campus. It feels courses should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. The content of such courses should be principally academic, and computer applications should only be supportive of the academic content.


Course Cross-Listing Policy (Revised by ASCRC 11/26/85; revised by ASCRC 2/9/93)

Drop Policy (Autumn, 1999)
Dropping a course taken in a previous term is not allowed. The only exceptions are for students who have received a grade of NF (never attended) or have ceased attendance before the sixteenth day of instruction and can provide to the Registrar's Office instructor verification of non-attendance.

Course Number Reuse (Approved by ASCRC 9/24/96)
Changed courses may retain the same course number if, in the judgment of the unit, the subject matter remains substantially the same. If the same course number is retained, it is assumed that the old and new courses are equivalent. If, in the judgment of the unit, the subject matter is substantially different and/or old and new courses cannot be considered equivalent, a new number must be assigned.
Course numbers once used cannot be used again for different subject matter for a period of at least ten (10) years.

Declaration of major (Approved by Faculty Senate 3/9/06)
Students must declare a major prior to completion of 45 credits or after three semesters, whichever occurs first.

Dormant Courses (Approved by ASCRC 12/1/75)
Courses in the catalog that have not been taught for three years will be deleted.
A course not offered for three years will be deleted from the catalog unless the unit provides a written statement that the course will be offered the fourth year (revised ASCRC 2/19/80).
If a unit wants to retain a course that will not be offered the fourth year, it must send a memo justifying why the course must stay. ASCRC will appoint a committee to review requests on a case-by-case basis (revised ASCRC 2/23/99).


General Education, Justification, and Criteria for Course Inclusion in: (Approved 1984; Revised by ASCRC January 1989)

General Education Criteria and Student Learning Outcomes

General Education Perspective and Competency Courses, Guidelines for Review of (Approved 1984; Revised 10/18/87, Revised 9/30/03)
General Education Subcommittees are charged with the following responsibilities:

  1. a. Review all general education courses every three years to determine if they still meet and conform to the criteria (two perspectives and one competency per year). Each course should be considered as if it were being proposed for the first time.
    b. All criteria and learning outcomes will be evaluated in terms of the goals as outlined in the assessment plan.

  2. At the beginning of the year ASCRC will determine which perspectives are to be reviewed and establish the appropriate subcommittees and timelines.
    Subcommittees are to be chaired by member of ASCRC with members from the appropriate disciplines. Subcommittees shall consist of 5-7 members.

  3. Communicate with each unit, giving a list of courses to be reviewed, and ask for a syllabus for each course and a brief justification of the general education criteria (one paper copy and a digital file). Ask each unit if it wishes to withdraw any courses from general education.

  4. Check with the Registrar to see how often courses have been offered, and what the enrollments have been in writing courses. Any course not offered within the last three years may be stricken from the list in consultation with the Registrar's Office and the department. Ordinarily, a course for general education ought to be offered at least twice in four years.

  5. Course syllabi should be compared with the current criteria for inclusion in perspectives. Most courses can be reviewed adequately from the syllabi, but in some cases, a subcommittee may wish to ask for additional materials.
    The subcommittee should note any inconsistencies between the course and the criteria. The subcommittee will communicate any necessary adjustments to the department. The instructor and/or chair have the options of requesting reconsideration by ASCRC or of modifying the course to fit the current criteria.

  6. The subcommittee should determine whether the criteria themselves may require review.


Internships (Approved Faculty Senate 3/9/06)
Students may count toward university graduation requirements up to 6 total credits of internship credit in 198, 298, 398, and 498 courses. 

All 198, 298, 398, and 498 courses will be titled “Internship.”

Minors, Policy on (Approved by ASCRC 10/21/80, revised 10/21/03, 2/17/04, approved by Faculty Senate 2/26/04)
A minor is a coherent program of study as defined by a department or program. Minors are earned by students who successfully complete this prescribed and approved group of courses in a field of study outside their major.

students are required to pass at least 18 semester hours but no more than 30 semester hours of credit to earn a minor, one-third of which must be at the upper-division level.

Majors: (Revised by ASCRC, February 1998; approved by Faculty Senate 3/12/98)
[In the College of Arts and Sciences] Departments can require a maximum of 45 credits in the major. Students may take up to 60 credits in the major. The honors thesis will be included in the 60-credit maximum.
[Board of Regents policy effective 9/24/99 . . . . Majors may range from 30 to 48 semester hours, half of which must be at the upper-division level. Study in the major will conclude with a capstone, integrating experience in which the knowledge and skills learned in the major are applied or demonstrated . . . . The extended major may require up to 80 hours.]


Online Courses - Principles of Quality
Overview
This document articulates the core principles governing the design and delivery of online courses at The University of Montana. The specific implementations of these principles will certainly vary as technology changes and teaching and learning methodologies evolve, but the principles themselves should persist.

Ultimately, a single principle governing all of this is that all course elements (objectives, learning activities, interactions, instructional materials, technologies, and assessments) work together to ensure that students achieve the desired learning outcomes and that an online course is equivalent in quality and academic rigor as a well-executed face-to-face course.

 Core Principles
1.  Course Overview and Introduction: The overall design of the course, navigational information, as well as course, instructor, and student information are made clear to the student at the beginning of the course.
2.  Learning Outcomes: Learning outcomes are clearly defined and help the student focus on learning activities.
3.  Assessment: Assessment strategies measure and promote learning, are aligned to the learning outcomes, and are designed as essential to the learning process.
4.  Resources and Materials: Instructional materials are sufficiently comprehensive to achieve course objectives and learning outcomes.
5.  Learner Interaction: The effective incorporation of instructor-student interaction, meaningful student cooperation, and student-content interaction is essential to student motivation, intellectual commitment, and personal development.
6.  Course Technology: Technology used in the course should enrich instruction and foster learning.
7.  Learner Support: The learner is effectively supported through fully accessible modes of delivery, resources, and student support services.
8.  Accessibility: The course materials, interactions, and policies are intended to accommodate all students.

 


One-time Only Courses for General Education (Approved 11/22/85, Revised 9/30/03)
In order to accommodate the possibility that a special course taught once only might be well suited for general education, ASCRC can consider proposals that meet the following requirements:

Reserved Course Numbers: (Approved by the Provost in 1988; Issued by Semester Transition Committee, January 1989)

X90 is supervised internship (departmental internships)
X91 is practicum
X93 is omnibus
X94 is seminar
X95 is special topics
X96 is independent study
X97 is research
X98 is cooperative education internship (Work-Based Learning internships)
099, 199, 399 transfer articulation
599 Professional Paper
699 thesis/dissertation
X92 is reserved for future bag numbers

Special Topics Courses: (revised 2/23/99) After the department offers a course three times, the Registrar will send a notice and require the curriculum change forms or require a letter indicating why an exception should be made to offer it a fourth time. The letter would be received during the third offering and the Registrar will not accept the course if it comes in again.

Study Skills/Career Skills Courses (Approved by the Faculty Senate October 9, 1997.)
Study Skills courses:  Two credits may be applied toward the 120-credits required for graduation.
Career Skills Courses:  No credit may be applied toward the 120-credits required for graduation

Summer (Continuing Education Courses)
These courses are reviewed by ASCRC only if a General Education designation is requested. The only issue ASCRC takes action on is the Gen Ed designation, as the course has not yet been approved by Continuing Education. Therefore the courses are not included on the consent agenda for approval by the Faculty Senate.

Upper-Division Writing Expectations: (Approved by ASCRC and Faculty Senate October 1999)

Writing Courses, Proposals for any general education competency course or upper-division writing expectation course or group of courses are reviewed by the Writing Committee, a subcommittee of ASCRC. The department muxt complete and submit a Writing Form.