October 6, 2015 – UNDER DISCUSSION
Recommendation 4. The Implementation Committee recommends that the Senate
endorse the following General Principles and Flexibility Statement for the Linked
Courses Pathway:
A. General Principles for Linked Courses
1. Linked courses demonstrate how the various disciplines within the
Gen Ed Knowledge Domains speak to one another and how knowledge
in one area relates to knowledge in another.
2. The 6-credit Linked Courses Pathway will usually be fulfilled by two 3credit courses; that is the expected norm. However, this Pathway may
also be fulfilled by 1- or 2-credit courses used towards the total of 6
Integrative Studies credits.
3. Flexibility is essential if Linked Courses and Inter-Domain Courses are
to be feasible and attractive Pathways for students at all locations and
through all delivery modes. Exceptions and substitutions are inevitable
and will be made by the Associate Deans or the DAAs. Articulation
agreements will be honored.
4. Other possible special situations relating to flexibility may include: (a)
While it is anticipated that most students will complete the Integrative
Studies requirement by taking these 6 credit Penn State courses, the
special needs of transfer or advanced standing students will receive
careful consideration; (b) Education Abroad credits may be approved for
the Integrative Studies requirement through the normal petition process of
the student’s college of graduation.
5. A single course alone does not count for the Integrative Studies
requirement, even if that course has been approved to be part of a
linkage. The student must complete two courses that are linked
together, each in a different Knowledge Domain, for the linked set to
count towards the Integrative Studies requirement. For example, a
student might complete three 1-credit courses linked together, as part
of the Integrative Studies requirement, but if the student completes
only one of these courses, that single course, if not linked to any other,
does not count towards Integrative Studies. (It may count in other
ways.)
6. Linkages must include courses from different Knowledge Domains.
Each Linked Course is approved for a single Knowledge Domain and is
taught by an instructor with appropriate qualifications in that domain.
7. More than two courses may participate in a linkage, and where
applicable, linking more than two courses together will provide
flexibility and may facilitate students’ abilities to complete the
package.
8. Courses are usually linked by subject matter, but they may be linked by
some other common interest, such as a methodology, an engaged
scholarship project, etc.
9. Linkages are proposed by faculty in each domain, who reach an
agreement and receive approval from their departments (or programs
or divisions where the basic academic unit is not designated a
department) and then approval from their colleges. Proposals then go
through the regular Curricular Affairs approval procedures, including
SCCA, to receive the “Integrative Studies: Linked Courses” designation
for a particular linkage (how exactly this will be represented in
scheduling or on transcripts can be determined later). That
designation allows the courses to count as a set that counts for the
Integrative Studies requirement.
10. Each Linked Course, because it is a course in its particular knowledge
Domain, satisfies a Domain requirement. For that reason, each course
must be approved for its Domain or it will not be eligible for Linked
Course status.
11. Because each Linked Course satisfies a Domain requirement, the
student can use it within that Domain whether or not the linkage is
completed. Like other Domain courses, it might also be used elsewhere
within General Education or other parts of the student’s program.
12. Some courses will always be linked; others may be linked for only
certain semesters (or summers). Similarly, it is possible for only some
sections of a multi-section course to be linked. (The current use of H
for Honors, and W for Writing sections, provides precedent.)
13. Both existing courses and new courses may be approved for Linked
status. A list of approved Linked Courses will be compiled and
publicized to students, advisors, etc.
14. Linked courses may be taken at any time in a student’s course of study.
They do not have to be taken in the same or in adjacent semesters. The
goal is curricular coherence and exploration of multiple intellectual
frameworks; that goal may be achieved in a variety of ways.
V. Integrative Studies: Towards a definition of the Inter-domain Pathway
Recommendation 5. The Implementation Committee recommends that the
Senate endorse the following General Principles and Flexibility Statement for the
Inter-Domain Pathway:
A. General Principles for Inter-Domain Courses
1. An Inter-Domain course integrates perspectives, concepts, information, and
knowledge from two of the following Breadth Across Knowledge Domains: GA,
GH, GHW, GN, GS. It meets the criteria for each of the two Breadth of
Knowledge Domains and provides opportunities for students to practice
integrative thinking across those two Domains. Each such course is taught by an
instructor, or team of instructors, with appropriate qualifications in each
Knowledge Domain for which the course is approved.
2. Both existing courses and new courses can be approved for the Inter-Domain
designation.
4 Each Inter-Domain course can satisfy a Domain requirement for both of the
Domains for which it is approved. However, the number of credits it contributes
towards the total of 30 credits required in the Breadth Across Knowledge
Domains is not doubled. (For example, a 3-credit course approved as both
Natural Science and Social Science will satisfy 3 credits of the Domain
requirement in both of those categories; this course will contribute 3 credits, not
6, to the total of 30 needed).
B. Criteria for Determining Whether a Course Meets the Requirements for an
Inter-Domain Course.
Inter-domain courses (1-6 credits) integrate perspectives, concepts, information,
and knowledge from two of the following Breadth Across Knowledge Domains:
GA, GH, GN, GS, GHW.
Proposals for inter-domain courses will:
1. Identify the objectives in each domain that will be targeted and explain the
connections between these objectives and course topics, assignments used for
student assessment, and/or other course components.
2. Demonstrate that each of the two domains will receive approximately equal
attention, providing evidence from course topics, assignments, or other course
components.
3. Explain how the intellectual frameworks and methodologies of both domains
will be explicitly addressed in the course and practiced by the students.
4. Indicate how student attainment of the specified domain objectives will be
assessed.
5. Include evidence of unit-level and College-level administrative approval in the
two domain areas, and evidence of substantive consultation among faculty
teaching in the two domain areas.
C. Proposed Process for New or Existing Courses to Receive the Inter-Domain
Designation
1. Department/program level first steps. All course proposals will come from
faculty with approval by unit-level administrators in the academic departments,
programs, or the divisions at campus locations (as proposals do now). A faculty
member’s first step will be to consult with his/her colleagues and the
appropriate unit-level dept/program/campus division administrator. The unit
administrator’s buy-in will be crucial to ensure that the course, if approved, will
be seen as a valuable addition to the teaching roster and will indeed be
scheduled and taught.
2. Second-domain approval. For inter-domain courses, although the initiative
may begin with faculty in one dept/program/campus division, faculty
consultation and administrative approval from a dept/program/campus division
in the second domain will also be needed. In some cases the impetus for an interdomain course may come from a committee or other group, formal or informal,
that already includes representation from the second domain. Whether the
second domain’s participation is sought at the start, or else while the proposal is
in development, can be left flexible, though earlier is probably better. Evidence of
approval from the dept/program in the second domain will need to accompany
the proposal at the time when it is formally submitted to the College/Campus and
Senate approval processes.
3. Curricular Affairs approval. For new courses, the usual approvals through
the College and Senate processes will be needed. Curricular Affairs forms will be
modified to add a section for requesting Inter-Domain approval. For existing
courses being submitted for the Inter-Domain designation, a fast-track pathway
is stated below.
4. . Informal consultations and inclusiveness. To facilitate making contacts
across domains, and to ensure openness and inclusiveness in the development of
Inter-domain course opportunities, the ___________ [the new Gen Ed support
structure? Does it have a name yet?] will maintain a website where Inter-domain
ideas at any stage of development (preferably early) will be posted and their
status will be updated. Proactive means of reaching potentially interested
faculty, such as a newswire to be distributed by ACUE members, can also be
considered.
5. Fast-track approvals. For new course proposals, as noted above, the full
course-approval process (dept/program, College, SCCA, consultation, etc.) will be
needed, as for other new courses. However, a fast-track process will be
established for proposals to add the “Inter-Domain” designation (I-D?) to existing
courses, including for one-time approvals to attach the designation to particular
sections of existing courses (the way particular sections can now be marked W
for Writing or H for Honors).
In this fast-track process, after approval at the level of the College(s), proposals
will be evaluated by a subcommittee of SCCA that is committed to one-month
turnaround, year-round. Rejections can be revised and resubmitted, and
outcomes can be appealed to the full SCCA. Furthermore, for one-time approvals,
two renewals can be granted by the Curricular Affairs committee at the College
level (both Colleges where relevant); after two such renewals the course must be
submitted to the SCCA subcommittee again, or else ongoing rather than one-time
approval can be requested.
6. Timetable for proposals. Recognizing that different Penn State locations and
delivery
systems can have somewhat different timetables, and that late changes are
sometimes unavoidable, proposals for the Inter-Domain designation will be
considered year-round on a rolling basis.
However, because students and advisors need as much advance information
about course availability as possible, it is strongly advised that academic units
submit proposals to the College level no later than a year prior to the planned
time of offering . [ -- recommended timing to be adjusted once we know how much leadtime will be needed, to get courses posted on the new LionPath scheduling system]