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New Course Proposal

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Proposals need to be submitted for Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Council (A&S-UC) approval by November 1 for the subsequent summer and fall term and by March 15 for the subsequent spring term. Submit 18 copies of the proposal. Along with your new course proposal submission, please include one copy of the PeopleSoft Course Catalog Update form and a typed abstract (all caps, limited to 10 lines with 64 characters per line, including spaces). If you have any questions, contact Elizabeth Taylor at 624-2036 or taylor@as.pitt.edu.

Guidelines for submission of a new or existing course to fulfill one of the Arts and Sciences requirements are available here.

Please include the following information for each new course proposal.

I. Cover sheet

  1. Course
  2. Instructor
  3. Departmental approval (chair's signature and date)

Note to chairs: Your signature indicates that you and the appropriate faculty or committee in your department believe that there is a demonstrated need for this course in your department's curriculum and that you have adequate resources, including TA support when appropriate, to offer this course on a regular basis.

  1. Rationale for new course: Indicate the intended audience for the course (primarily freshmen and sophomores or juniors and seniors); how the course fits into departmental and the A&S-UC curriculum and complements present departmental offerings; required or elective course for majors and nonmajors in related area; general education requirement(s); service course for other programs; etc.
  2. Rationale for General Education Requirement: If you are submitting this course for General Education Requirement review, please include:
    • a detailed explanation on why the course should satisfy the specific requirement(s) for which it is being submitted, and
    • an assessment plan to evaluate how effectively the course satisfies the chosen General Education Requirement(s).

    You should also provide any additional information about the content, goals, or methods of the course that may be relevant. For the criteria of each requirement, refer to the guidelines Proposal for New or Existing Course to Fulfill a General Education Requirement.

II. Course description: Please attach to cover sheet.

  1. Describe the general content, purposes, and methods of this course.
  2. List specific course prerequisites as well as other general expectations about students' preparation. For an upper-division course, please provide an explanation if no prerequisites are required.
  3. If the course has recitation sections, include who will lead the recitation sections, maximum size of the sections, and method of evaluation.
  4. Indicate the expected size of the course.
  5. List the term(s) in which this course will be regularly offered.

III. Course syllabus

  1. Course objective
  2. Organization of course content (thematic, topic, chronologic, etc.)
  3. Course requirements
    1. Required texts and other readings
    2. Weekly assignments
    3. Papers/projects (number, type, length, and deadlines)
    4. Exams (number, type, and dates)
    5. Approximate time spent outside of class

    Please note: Students need to be evaluated in a substantial fashion before the deadline for monitored withdraw, usually by the end of the ninth week of the term.

  4. Grading policy:
    1. Relative weight of each requirement
    2. Policy on late work and make-ups
    3. Other
  5. The following statement from Disability Resources and Services needs to be incorporated into the syllabus: "If you have a disability for which you are or may be requesting an accommodation, you are encouraged to contact both your instructor and the Office of Disability Resources and Services, 216 William Pitt Union, 412-648-7890/412-383-7355 (TTY), as early as possible in the term. Disability Resources and Services will verify your disability and determine reasonable accommodations for this course."
  6. The Academic Integrity Policy on cheating/plagiarism must be in the syllabus. "Cheating/plagiarism will not be tolerated. Students suspected of violating the University of Pittsburgh Policy on Academic Integrity, noted below, will be required to participate in the outlined procedural process as initiated by the instructor. A minimum sanction of a zero score for the quiz, exam or paper will be imposed."
  7. Office hours: The posting of office hours on the office door is University policy and the responsibility of the faculty member as a courtesy and convenience to students. (Source: www.pitt.edu/~provost/ch3_off_hrs.htm). Most administrative offices are open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. A few offices, such as the College of General Studies, have extended hours. In addition, according to the Academic Integrity Guidelines, under I. Faculty Obligations, Point 2, faculty are "To be available at reasonable times for appointments with students, and to keep such appointments." (Source: www.as.pitt.edu/faculty/policy/integrity.html).

The integrity of the academic process requires fair and impartial evaluation on the part of faculty and honest academic conduct on the part of students. To this end, students are expected to conduct themselves at a high level of responsibility in the fulfillment of the course of their study. It is the corresponding responsibility of faculty to make clear to students those standards by which students will be evaluated, and the resources permissible for use by students during the course of their study and evaluation. The educational process is perceived as a joint faculty-student enterprise which will perforce involve professional judgment by faculty and may involve—without penalty—reasoned exception by students to the data or views offered by faculty. (Senate Committee on Tenure and Academic Freedom, February 1974)