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Office of General Education Student Academic Engagement & Success

Common Curriculum Course Search updated along with WIM to W course-tag conversions

On September 9, 2022, the Council on General Education approved a proposal to change how the Common Curriculum’s Writing in the Major (WIM) Proficiency and Experience is tracked on the Degree Progress Report (DPR) and replace it with program-level Writing in the Major student learning outcome.

This means that the Writing in the Major Proficiency and Experience has been removed from the Degree Progress Report, and courses that conveyed the WIM tag have been removed from the undergraduate catalog.

In concert with the Writing Board, the Office of General Education has evaluated the 69 WIM-tagged courses that previously were approved for the Writing (W) Proficiency and Experience tag on the Common Curriculum before WIM. Academic departments were contacted about their willingness to convert from a WIM to a W tag.

Following an administrative evaluation based on the W criteria, 20 of the 69 courses were identified, approved by the academic department, and changed from WIM to W in the undergraduate catalog.

In addition to the above changes, the Office of General Education updated the Common Curriculum course search with approved courses approved by the Council on General Education to meet graduation or general education requirements. We also processed the removal of tags requested by academic departments.

The July 17, 2023, update reflects the following tag additions and removals.

Added:

ADV 3305- Writing (W) ANTH 3301- Writing (W) ANTH 3370 – Exploring Science (ES)
ARHS 1305- Creativity & Aesthetics (CA) ARHS 3321 – Creativity & Aesthetics (CA) ARHS 3347 – Creativity & Aesthetics (CA)
ARHS 3390- Creativity & Aesthetics (CA) ASCE 3330- Writing (W) CEE 3302- Writing (W)
DANC 3363- Exploring Science (ES) ENGL 1362 – Literary Analysis & Interpretation (LAI) ENGL 2315- Literary Analysis & Interpretation (LAI)
FILM 3305 – Oral Communication (OC); Quantitative Applications (QA) FILM 3353- Historical Contexts (HC) GERM 3311- Writing (W)
JOUR 3313- Community Engagement (CE) JOUR 3313- Writing (W) JOUR 3362- Community Engagement (CE)
JOUR 3362- Writing (W) JOUR 3382- Community Engagement (CE) JOUR 3382- Writing (W)
MATH 1340- Quantitative Reasoning (QR) MATH 3311 – Writing (W) MUHI 1305- Historical Contexts (HC)
MUTH 3350- Writing (W) OREM 2375- Technological Advances and Society (TAS); Civics and Individual Ethics (CIE) PLSC 3330- Writing (W)
PLSC 3334- Writing (W) PLSC 3340- Writing (W) PLSC 3342- Writing (W)
PLSC 3352- Writing (W) PLSC 3358- Writing (W) PLSC 3360- Writing (W)
PSYC 3301- Writing (W) RELI 3386 – Literary Analysis & Interpretation (LAI) RUSS 3341- Civics and Individual Ethics (CIE); Human Diversity (HD)
SOCI 3301- Writing (W) WL 3311- Technological Advances and Society (TAS); Human Diversity (HD) WL 3319- Human Diversity (HD)
WL 3323 – Human Diversity (HD)

Removed:

ADV 3305- Writing in the Major (WIM) ANTH 3301- Writing in the Major (WIM) APSM 4305- Writing in the Major (WIM)
APSM 4315- Writing in the Major (WIM) ARHS 4310- Writing in the Major (WIM) ARHS 4399- Writing in the Major (WIM)
ASAG 3380- Writing in the Major (WIM) ASCE 3330- Writing in the Major (WIM) BIOL 3170 – Writing in the Major (WIM)
BIOL 4110- Writing in the Major (WIM) BIOL 4306- Writing in the Major (WIM) BIOL 4364- Writing in the Major (WIM)
BIOL 4380-Writing in the Major (WIM) CCPA 3328- Writing in the Major (WIM) CCPA 3355- Writing in the Major (WIM)
CCPA 3365- Writing in the Major (WIM) CEE 3302- Writing in the Major (WIM) CHEM 4110- Writing in the Major (WIM)
CHEM 4397- Writing in the Major (WIM) CISB 4397- Writing in the Major (WIM) DANC  4375- Writing in the Major (WIM)
DANC 4373- Writing in the Major (WIM) ECO 4330- Writing in the Major (WIM) ECO 4342- Writing in the Major (WIM)
ECO 4360- Writing in the Major (WIM) ECO 4365- Writing in the Major (WIM) ECO 4376- Writing in the Major (WIM)
EDU 5327- Writing in the Major (WIM) ENGL 2314- Oral Communication (OC) ENGL 2315- Creativity & Aesthetics (CA)
ENGL 3310- Writing in the Major (WIM) FILM 1304- Creativity & Aesthetics (CA) FILM 2301- Writing in the Major (WIM)
FREN 4375- Writing in the Major (WIM) GEOL 3330- Writing in the Major (WIM) GEOL 4320- Writing in the Major (WIM)
GERM 3311- Writing in the Major (WIM) HIST 3309- Writing (W) HIST 4300- Writing in the Major (WIM)
JOUR 3313- Writing in the Major (WIM) JOUR 3362- Writing in the Major (WIM) JOUR 3382- Writing in the Major (WIM)
MATH 3311- Writing in the Major (WIM) ME 4152- Writing in the Major (WIM) MUHI 4302- Writing in the Major (WIM)
MUHI 4345- Writing in the Major (WIM) MUHI 4347- Writing in the Major (WIM) MUTH 3350- Writing in the Major (WIM)
PHYS 4311- Writing in the Major (WIM) PLSC 3327- Writing in the Major (WIM) PLSC 3330- Writing in the Major (WIM)
PLSC 3334- Writing in the Major (WIM) PLSC 3340- Writing in the Major (WIM) PLSC 3342- Writing in the Major (WIM)
PLSC 3352- Writing in the Major (WIM) PLSC 3358- Writing in the Major (WIM) PLSC 3360- Writing in the Major (WIM)
PLSC 4333- Writing in the Major (WIM) PLSC 4344- Writing in the Major (WIM) PLSC 4370- Writing in the Major (WIM)
PLSC 4381- Writing in the Major (WIM) PSYC 3301- Writing in the Major (WIM) SOCI 3301- Writing in the Major (WIM)
SOCI 4313- Writing in the Major (WIM) SOCI 4314- Writing in the Major (WIM) SOCI 4376- Writing in the Major (WIM)
SOCI 4377- Writing in the Major (WIM) SOCI 4384- Writing in the Major (WIM) SPAN 4302- Writing in the Major (WIM)
STAT 3341- Writing in the Major (WIM) STAT 4385- Writing in the Major (WIM) STRA 4370- Writing in the Major (WIM)
THEA 3382- Writing in the Major (WIM) WL 3383- Oral Communication (OC)

Questions or concerns about the course search update can be directed to theccmail@smu.edu.

 

Categories
Office of General Education

General Education recap and Graduation Requirement exemptions

February 15, 2023

Dear Faculty and Staff –

The Office of General Education would like to inform the campus community of updates and important reminders relating to the Common Curriculum, our solid foundation of a liberal arts education. Today’s reminders and updates fall into five categories: COVID-19 graduation requirement exemption, revised Common Curriculum rules, next steps related to Writing in the Major, AP credit automation, and Common Curriculum course proposal deadlines.

A one-time exception to two Common Curriculum Proficiencies & Experiences for COVID-19 cohorts

The Council on General Education reviewed a report on undergraduate student progress by admit cohort related to each Common Curriculum requirement. The report showed students are progressing well through general education requirements (Foundations and Breadths); however, the Council identified progress concerns within the Proficiency & Experience Graduation requirements.

Students who meet these requirements via course or individual activity by the conclusion of Spring 2023 will be documented as having satisfied the condition on their Degree Progress Report. If either CE or CIE is incomplete by the end of Spring 2023, it will appear waived for graduation. Learn more about this one-time exception.

The Council on General Education does not intend to make additional exceptions to the graduation requirements for future cohorts.

Revised Common Curriculum AP, IB, and Transfer Credit Policies for Fall 2023 Catalog

The concern was that current rules privilege high-credit transfer students to the disadvantage of first year and first-year transfer students. Modifications will be made in the Fall 2023 Catalog to regulations related to (a) Quantitative Reasoning, (b) Second Language, and (c) the ability to fulfill up to three Breadth requirements using external credit. Read more about the specific CC rule changes to the Fall 2023 Catalog.

In all cases where petitioning is required, no petition will be necessary if a direct equivalency has been established at SMU through the transfer process. The Council will monitor what percentage of undergraduate students use dual credit to satisfy requirements and what percentage of students satisfy requirements at SMU.

Reminder and next steps regarding Writing in the Major

Last semester, we shared that the Council on General Education changed how the Common Curriculum’s Writing in the Major (WiM) Proficiency and Experience was tracked on the Degree Progress Report (DPR) and replaced it with program-level Writing in the Major student learning outcome.

Instead of DPR level-tracking, each academic program will be required, via the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness program evaluation process, to write and assess one learning outcome that best represents the conventions of writing in their discipline.  If an academic department already has, as part of its annual program assessment, an undergraduate learning outcome for writing, no additional actions are needed. If your department does not have an undergraduate learning outcome for writing for your current undergraduate major(s), the department will need to develop one and report it as part of annual program assessment, starting in Summer 2023.  Departments may deliver the instructional content to support the Writing in the Major learning outcome in a single course, or the content may be delivered across multiple courses.  Departments may assess writing in their major through course-based assessment, or through end-of-program assessment at the end of the degree.  More information about learning outcomes and assessment for Writing in the Major will be given during faculty training on Planning, the new system we will use to report program assessment results.  This training will take place in March.  More information will be coming soon.

In addition to developing a learning outcome for writing in the major, departments must develop their own, major-specific rubrics that reflect the learning goals for writing in their major or discipline. There is no standard WiM rubric for program-level assessment, but departments are asked to develop their own discipline-based writing outcome. Departments may consider using the former WiM rubric as a starting point when developing these rubrics.

If you need assistance as you work to develop Writing in the Major outcomes for your program, please reach out to Dayna Oscherwitz, Associate Provost for Institutional Planning and Effectiveness.

Automation of AP credit to satisfy specific graduation requirements

Thanks to the Registrar’s Office, the Office of General Education has now automated AP credit (of scores 4 or 5) to satisfy particular Proficiency and Experience graduation requirements. Therefore, students admitted after fall 2020 need not complete individual petitions to meet applicable graduation requirements. Retroactive updates will be made to affected students; future students admitted for Fall 2023 beyond will receive this credit automatically. Read more about which AP credit satisfies particular Proficiencies and Experiences.

Common Curriculum course and activity proposal deadlines

The Council on General Education invites course and approved activity proposals for Common Curriculum general education and graduation requirements. Submissions are accepted twice a semester. The remaining spring 2023 deadline is March 22, 2023 (for review on March 31). Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI) and Civics & Individual Ethics (CIE) are particularly interesting. Accepted proposals will be tagged at the course level and go into effect for summer 2023. Don’t hesitate to contact the Office of General Education for questions or proposal development support.

Thank you all for your investment and commitment to this shared responsibility of general education.

Sincerely,

Peter Kupfer

Chair, Council on General Education

 

Dustin Grabsch

Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education & Academic Success

Categories
Office of General Education

Student communication shared concerning changes to Writing in the Major Proficiency and Experience

The following communication was sent to all undergraduate students on the Common Curriculum from the Office of General Education.

Subject: Changes to your Writing in the Major Proficiency and Experience

November 10, 2022

Dear SMU Common Curriculum Students:

We are writing to you with important information about changes to the Writing in the Major (WiM) Proficiency of the Common Curriculum (CC) that were made to make it easier to administer and fulfill.

  1. We will be tracking student completion of the WiM Proficiency through program assessment, rather than through Degree Progress Report (DPR) tracking.
  2. This change will go into effect tomorrow, November 11.
  3. This change will make it easier for departments to administer and assess this Proficiency and for you (students) to fulfill it.

On September 9, 2022, the Council on General Education approved a proposal to change how the Common Curriculum’s  Writing in the Major Proficiency and Experience is tracked on your Degree Progress Report and replace it with program-level Writing in the Major student learning outcome.

What does this mean for you? Ultimately, this Common Curriculum change merely moves tracking from the student level (e.g., on the DPR) to the program level (e.g., program evaluation process). Therefore, you will notice the WiM Proficiency and Experience will no longer appear on your DPR.

Writing in your academic discipline remains important to your undergraduate education at SMU. The knowledge, skills, and abilities SMU expects of our graduates will remain the same, without students having to worry about finding a particular course tagged for the WiM graduation requirement. These learning outcomes will be achieved across one or several of your major-required courses.

Questions related to this change can be directed to your academic advisor, faculty advisor, or the Office of General Education at theccmail@smu.edu.

Sincerely,

Dustin Grabsch 

Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education & Academic Success

Categories
Office of General Education

Common Curriculum changes to WiM Proficiency and Experience

 

 

November 7, 2022

Dear Members of the SMU Community:

We are writing to you with important information about changes to the Writing in the Major (WiM) Proficiency of the Common Curriculum (CC) that were made to make it easier to administer and fulfill.

  1. We will be tracking student completion of the WiM Proficiency through program assessment, rather than through DPR tracking.
  2. DPR change will go into effect on November 11 with program assessment change effective Fall 2023.
  3. This change will make it easier for departments to administer and assess this Proficiency and for students to fulfill it.

On September 9, 2022, the Council on General Education approved a proposal to change how the Common Curriculum’s Writing in the Major Proficiency and Experience is tracked on the Degree Progress Report and replace it with program-level Writing in the Major student learning outcome. Below we share the rationale for this forthcoming change, how it will impact CC students and academic programs moving forward, and support that will be offered through this process.

SMU faculty have consistently expressed concern about the challenges of isolating the teaching of Writing in the Major to a single course, since many programs distribute the teaching and practice of writing across a program. For the same reason, students on the Common Curriculum have struggled to find sufficient opportunities to satisfy the Writing in the Major requirement, even when they have spent several courses learning to write in accordance with the parameters of their discipline.  For this reason, effective Fall 2023, we will replace individual tracking of the Writing in the Major Proficiency through course-level tags, and we will instead track it through program learning outcomes and program-level assessment.

On October 21, 2022 the Council approved an implementation plan for this assessment and tracking change, and as a result of this plan, effective Fall 2023, the Writing in the Major Proficiency and Experience graduation requirement be removed from the Degree Progress Report for student-level tracking.

In lieu of DPR level-tracking each academic program will be required, via the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness program evaluation process, to write and assess one learning outcome that best represents the conventions of writing in their discipline. This will require each program to develop assessments and measures appropriate to their disciplines – many of which can be used from WiM-tagged courses. In this way, students will receive the instruction they need regarding discipline-specific writing, and departments will be able to deliver discipline-specific writing instruction without having to confine that instruction to a single course.  Academic programs that distribute the teaching of writing across the program sequence (which is best practice) would no longer need to place the proficiency tag on every course that delivers writing instruction to ensure students receive the tag.   Instead, they can concentrate on developing student proficiency in discipline-specific writing in the way that makes the most sense for their program.

This approved change and implementation plan honors the true intent of the Writing in the Major Proficiency and values the tremendous work done by faculty to develop WiM-tagged courses, learning outcomes, and assessments. During the transition to this new method of tracking and assessing Writing in the Major, the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness will work closely with faculty and programs to write discipline-specific learning outcomes for Writing in the Major and to develop appropriate measures to assess this writing.

Questions related to this change can be directed to the Office of General Education at theccmail@smu.edu.

Sincerely,

Sheri Kunovich 

Associate Provost for Student Academic Engagement & Success

Dayna Oscherwitz 

Associate Provost for Institutional Planning and Effectiveness

Dustin Grabsch 

Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Education & Academic Success

Categories
Office of General Education

Common Curriculum course search updated with new tags

The Office of General Education updated the Common Curriculum course search with added breadth and graduation requirement tags to the catalog.

The August 29, 2022 update reflects the following tag additions by course:

  • ADV 3305- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • ANTH 3361- Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS)
  • ARHS 3363- Creativity and Aesthetics (CA)
  • BIOL 3170- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • BIOL 4110- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • BIOL 4380- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • CHEM 4110- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • CHEM 4398- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • ENGL 2313- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI); Writing (W)
  • ENGL 3340- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • ENGL 3355- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI); Writing (W)
  • ENGL 3362- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • ENGL 3364- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • ENGL 3367- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • ENGL 3379-Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • ENGL 3385- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • WGST 3370- Historical Contexts (HC); Oral Communication (OC)

Questions or concerns related to the course search update can be directed to theccmail@smu.edu.