Since part of the approval process takes place during the summer, we strongly recommend that all departments and programs name a go-to person that can be contacted by the Senate office during the summer in case there are any questions, suggestions, or recommendations during the review/approval process. Please let the Senate Office know who this/these person/s will be. Since we do not know how speedy the process will proceed, make sure you have someone for each of the summer months.

If you have any questions, please contact Lara Miranda at the Senate Office (lmiran@hunter.cuny.edu)

Timeline:

The Undergraduate Course of Study Committee (UCSC) will use an expedited procedure during an initial two-year period (April 1, 2012 -March 31 2014). In this period, classes that are currently part of the General Education Requirement (GER) Stages 1 and 2 can be submitted to the UCSC directly and do not have to undergo prior review by a Divisional curriculum committee. These courses have already been reviewed and approved for General Education by the Senate and it is just a question of approval for migrating them into the new categories for the special Common Core approval. Please submit courses for migration as soon as possible, especially those courses which you plan to offer in the Fall of 2012. We can guarantee that courses submitted before July 1, 2012 will be reviewed internally and forwarded for Common Core approval for teaching in the Fall of 2013. Proposals that are less urgent will be handled as they are received. Remember that you have two years in which to migrate current GER courses that will not be taught right away.

For one year, the UCSC will only consider courses that are now part of the GER Stages 1 and 2 for inclusion in the Common Core except for introductory science or foreign language courses that have to be reduced in the number of class and credit hours. New courses for submission to the Common Core may be proposed through the regular channels for course proposals not before the beginning of March 2013. This date may be modified depending on the workloads of UCSC or the Divisional curriculum committees.

Course proposals that are not meant to enter the Common Core are not affected by this policy; they will follow the usual Senate procedures and deadlines for curriculum change.

Placement of Courses into Categories (“Buckets”):

The migration of the current GER into the Common Core partially has the purpose of retaining some structure in the educational experience of Hunter students. The UCSC, following guidance of the GER-Committee, will severely restrict the classes proposed for the "Required Core“ as well as the classes proposed for the “US Experience” category of the Flexible Core. This decision is irrespective of the fact that non-included courses might meet the requirements of the Common Core descriptors.

All departments and programs received suggestions where their GER Stages 1 and 2 courses might migrate. These were only suggestions. Departments are free to determine the Category into which their courses fit best. In cooperation with the GER Committee, we will try to balance the number of courses that are proposed for the various Flexible Core categories to ensure that students get the courses they need. All courses currently in GER Stages 1 and 2 will be given a place in our Common Core submission if they fulfill the proper criteria, but we may request that departments consider a different category if an imbalance should occur. We will not prevent departments from making their own decisions regarding current GER Stage 1 and 2 courses, but may ask them to reconsider the placement of courses that could also be in a different Category.

Departments or programs that plan to develop new courses or modify existing courses specifically for inclusion into a Common Core category are strongly encouraged to seek advice from the GER or UCS Committees (and remember that this will only be possible a year from now, after March 1, 2013).

If you have any questions, please contact Lara Miranda at the Senate office (lmiran@hunter.cuny.edu)

Structure of the new Hunter Common Core:

Required Core:

(These three categories are highly restricted; do not propose courses for this group unless authorized.)

1. English Composition - abbeviated as ECo

2. Mathematical and Quantitative Reasoning- abbeviated as MaQ

3. Life and Physical Sciences- abbeviated as LiPS

Flexible Core:

1. World Cultures and Global Issues- WoC

2. US Experience in its Diversity- USE (This category is highly restricted, do not propose here unless authorized)

3. Creative Expressions- CrE

4. Individual and Society- InS

5. Scientific World- SWo

When Preparing the Syllabus:

Remember that the stated Common Core learning outcomes do not replace your disciplinary learning outcomes on the syllabus. The Common Core outcomes will often be outcomes which you have always assumed for your class, but did not state explicitly. In most cases, the Common Core learning outcomes will lead to an expansion of your stated goals/learning outcomes for the class.

For the “Required Core”, please include reference to all stated Common Core learning outcomes for your category on your syllabus.

For the “Flexible Core”, please include reference to six Common Core learning outcomes in your course objectives / learning outcomes statement on your syllabus. You will find links to templates for learning outcomes for the various ‘Flexible Core’ categories (“buckets”) below. We strongly suggest that you simply paste these into your syllabi and fill them out as appropriate so that we can guarantee a smooth review process for your documents (links are below).

Using the templates will help you to make sure that your syllabus addresses the learning outcomes as stated. Of course, there should be some evidence in the syllabus itself that the outcomes are addressed (e.g., readings, labs, homework, papers).

Suggested Wording for Syllabi:

A- World Cultures and Global Issues

B- U.S. Experience in its Diversity

C- Creative Expression

D- Individual and Society

E- Scientific World

When Preparing the new Common Core Form:

The Common Core form already specifies learning outcomes relevant for the Common Core. The blank column to be filled in should provide information about how the proposed class meets and assesses those outcomes. Remember: You need to speak to all of the three universal outcomes, but you have a choice on the discipline-related outcomes, where you need to address 3 out of the 5 or 6 options. The total number must be at least six; we do not encourage you to go beyond that number (for practical reasons). The entries on the form should be brief (no more than 10 lines in the form) and may simply be shorter versions of what you have in your syllabus.

It is important that your statements regarding learning outcomes on the Common Core form not only state what these anticipated outcomes will be, but also, how such outcomes are addressed in the class. The syllabus should provide some evidence, which you may refer to, e.g. by pointing out that critical comparison of various sources is assessed by asking the students to produce a research paper and practiced by giving students an opportunity to revise their papers.

Technical Matters:

Decide what Category/ies (“Buckets”) your departmental courses fit into and download the form for the appropriate Category/ies from the links below. We will show only those pages of the forms that are relevant for that category. You will need a different form with different outcomes for another category.

The Categories are the following:

REQUIRED CORE: (These three categories are highly restricted, do not propose here unless authorized.)

1. English Composition- ECo Form

2. Mathematical and Quantitative Reasoning- MaQ Form

3. Life and Physical Sciences- LiPS Form

FLEXIBLE CORE:

1. World Cultures and Global Issues- WoC Form

2. US Experience in Its Diversity- USEForm (This category is highly restricted, do not propose here unless authorized)

3. Creative Expression- CrE Form

4. Individual and Society- InS Form

5. Scientific World- SWo Form

Please submit your syllabus for each course as either a PDF file or as a “Word” file. Please make sure your syllabi conform to the Hunter standard (e.g., academic honesty statement). The syllabi must not be over 5 pages (You may have to crop the “Suggested Readings” or choose a different font size).

• Recommended Syllabus Format

Submit all forms electronically to Lara Miranda at lmiran@hunter.cuny.edu

When submitting your courses, it would greatly help the Senate office if you could use the following format for file names: Abbreviation for the category, followed by Department/Program abbreviation and course number plus “Form” or “Syll”.

Example: You want to register “Botany 252 = BOTA252” for the “Scientific World” Category. Your e-mail to the Senate should have two attachments named: “SWoBOTA252Form” and “SWoBOTA252Syll”

3 Sample Forms and Syllabi:

Biology 100:  SWoBIOL100Form and SWoBIOL100Syll

German 101:  WoCGERMN101Form and WoCGERMN101Syll

Political Science 110:  USEPOLSC110Form and USEPOLSC110Syll

Thank you very much in advance for your anticipated cooperation.

Printable PDF Copy

A Message from the Chair of the CUNY Pathways Course Review Committee:

Memo- Guidelines

Course Submissions Example:

• US Experience in its Diversity
• World Cultures and Global Issues