Tips for the Course Proposal Form 

  • Cross-listing: Cross-listing requires the course to carry the prefix and number from another department or program. Indicate any department or program in which the course is to be cross-listed, and specify the cross-listed department/program and number. Please provide a rationale for cross-listing the course. Courses are very rarely cross-listed.
  • Scheduling: Indicate the frequency with which the department anticipates that the course will be offered, and identify courses intended only for summer or otherwise planned for special scheduling. If a course is to be offered only once, please indicate the term.
  • Prerequisites: If “permission of the instructor” is required for students to enroll, enter this requirement as a prerequisite, and state specifically what academically germane criteria will be used to permit enrollment.
  • Course Number: The course number should reflect the level of students for whom the course has primarily been designed. This does not prevent either more advanced students or qualified lower-level students from enrolling.
  • Grading: It is assumed that the standard grading pattern will be employed in the course proposed: letter grade or Pass/Fail at the student’s option. If a mandatory Pass/Fail system will be used, full justification must be provided. In general, only such activities as clinical experience or student teaching, where letter grades are impractical, should employ mandatory Pass/Fail grading. If In-Progress (IP) is to be used, a full explanation must be provided. IP grading should be used only where completion of the course requirements is designed to extend beyond the end of the semester. It should not be used interchangeably with the Incomplete grade.

 

About the Cover Letter

Submit a 2-page (approx.) cover letter that explains how the course fulfills the rubric of the KNOW graduation requirement. Where there is apparent overlap in content with courses in other departments, explain the distinctiveness of and the need for the proposed course.

  • The cover letter needs to address how the course fulfills the rubric of the Core category and/or KNOW requirement. 
  • The KNOW rubric consists of “Learning Objectives” and “Guidelines.” As highlighted below in the excerpt from Section IV of the Curriculum Statement, the Curriculum Committee evaluates and approves Core courses based on their adherence to the Guidelines, not the Learning Objectives. The Curriculum Committee’s review of the proposed course is greatly facilitated if each Guideline from the relevant rubric is systematically addressed in the cover letter.

    From Section IV of the Curriculum Statement:
    Each core rubric consists of two sections, "Guidelines" and "Learning Objectives." Faculty have developed the Guidelines section to achieve the particular Learning Objectives of the core rubric and, more broadly, the educational goals of the University. The Guidelines are intended to be used by faculty to develop core courses and by the Curriculum Committee to review core courses. The Learning Objectives are intended to provide a clear statement to students of what they can expect to learn from any given core area. Although the Learning Objectives will assist the faculty in developing Core courses and in meeting the spirit of the Core area, the Curriculum Committee will evaluate and approve Core courses based on their adherence to the Guidelines, not the Learning Objectives.

  • A course can fulfill the KNOW requirement and be in the core, and it is the proposer’s prerogative to determine. If a course fulfills the KNOW requirement and is in the core, the cover letter and the syllabus need to explain how the course fulfills both rubrics.

  • When an existing core course is proposed as a KNOW course, the proposer does not need to get approval for the previously approved core category.

  • The approval of KNOW courses is sometimes delayed because syllabi reflect how the course content speaks to the KNOW rubric, but not the methods of the course. Proposers should make sure to address the “what” and also the “how."

 

About the Syllabus

Submit a syllabus for the course that includes:

  • Clear enumeration of student learning outcomes
  • Statement that the course counts towards the KNOW graduation requirement
  • Outline of content and schedule of coursework
  • Student requirements (reading, assignments, written work, projects, etc.), including brief descriptions of major assignments and projects
  • Evaluation criteria and grading structure (as appropriate)
  • Bibliography
  • Required course material
  • Statement of policies regarding Academic Integrity (this statement is developed by the course proposer)
  • Required Syllabus Inserts

An incomplete syllabus may delay the course proposal review.  If a syllabus does not contain all of the items listed above, please provide a brief explanation in the cover letter.

 

EXCERPT FROM SECTION IV OF THE CURRICULUM STATEMENT

KNOW REQUIREMENT RUBRIC

Learning Objectives

Courses in Knowledge, Identity and Power (KNOW) provide a distinct site for students to develop their understanding of the dynamics and consequences of power differentials, inequalities and divisions among social groups, and the relationship of these issues to the representation and production of knowledge. In these courses, students also develop their capacity to communicate meaningfully about issues of power, disparity, and diversity of experiences and identities.

Guidelines

  1. These courses promote critical engagement with the causes, nature, and consequences of individual, institutional, cultural, and/or structural dynamics of disparity, power, and privilege.
  2. These courses provide opportunities for students to:
    • engage in dialogue about issues of knowledge, identity, and power, and
    • consider linkages between their social positions and course themes related to these issues.
  3. Courses may also fulfill other program or graduation requirements.

 

CORE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE BACHELOR'S DEGREE

The faculty of the University of Puget Sound have designed the core curriculum to give undergraduates an integrated and demanding introduction to the life of the mind and to established methods of intellectual inquiry. The Puget Sound undergraduate's core experience begins with two first-year seminars that guide the student through an in-depth exploration of a focused area of interest and that sharpen the student's skills in constructing persuasive arguments. In the first three years of their Puget Sound college career, students also study five "Approaches to Knowing" - Fine Arts, Humanities, Mathematics, Natural Science, and Social Science. These core areas develop the student's understanding of different disciplinary perspectives on society, culture, and the physical world, and explore both the strengths of those disciplinary approaches and their limitations. Connections, an upper-level integrative course, challenges the traditional boundaries of disciplines and examines the benefits and limits of interdisciplinary approaches to knowledge.

Further, in accordance with the stated educational goals of the University of Puget Sound, core curriculum requirements have been established: (a) to improve each student's grasp of the intellectual tools necessary for the understanding and communication of ideas; (b) to enable each student to understand herself or himself as a thinking person capable of making ethical and aesthetic choices; (c) to help each student comprehend the diversity of intellectual approaches to understanding human society and the physical world; and (d) to increase each student's awareness of his or her place in those broader contexts. Specific objectives of the core areas are described below.