The L&S Curriculum Committee advises the Dean on the integrity of the undergraduate degree requirements, major requirements, and special programs. Tthe committee also reviews proposals to add, change, or delete courses from the L&S Timetable subject listings; beyond L&S, the committee considers requests to allow non-L&S courses to count toward the L&S degree requirements. (The committee's work is described in greater detail below.) All of this work is conducted with an emphasis on safeguarding the principles of a liberal arts and science degree program.

Meetings and Membership

The committee meets regularly on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month at 3:30 p.m. Professor Diana Frantzen (Spanish & Portuguese) will chair the committee in 2007-2008. Faculty and academic staff committee members serve three year terms and are chosen to represent the various academic areas of the College; a departmental undergraduate adviser and two student representatives also serve as members of the committee. The Associate Dean for Student Academic Affairs assigns two or more L&S Student Academic Affairs staff members who serve as ex officio members of the committee. Nancy Westphal-Johnson, Associate Dean Undergraduate Education and Academic Administration, also serves in an ex officio capacity. Assistant Dean Elaine M. Klein, Director of L&S Academic Planning, Program Review, and Assessment of Student Learning assists the chair and serves as a consultant to the committee.

2007-2008 Membership:

Term members:

• Robert Asen, Communication Arts, Year 1 of 3 (joining committee second semester)
• Robert Bleiweiss, Zoology, Year 3 of 3
• Greg Downey, Journalism & Mass Communications & School of Library Information Studies, Year 2 of 3
• Diana Frantzen, Spanish & Portuguese, Year 3 of 3 (Chair)
• Ellen Jacobson, Sociology, Year 3 of 3
• Michael Morgan, Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, Year 2 of 3 (Sabbatical)
• Teju Olaniyan, African Languages and Literature & English, Year 3 of 3
• Ned Sibert, Chemistry, Year 1 of 3
• Jeremi Suri, History, Year 1 of 3 (joining committee second semester)

Ex Officio:

• Elaine Klein, L&S Administration
• Christopher Lee, L&S Student Academic Affairs
• Molly McGlone, Assistant Director for Curriculum, L&S Honors Program
• Mike Pflieger, L&S Student Academic Affairs
• Tori Richardson, L&S Student Academic Affairs (publication liaison)
• Nancy Westphal-Johnson, L&S Administration

Student Members:

• Maria Carone
• Rachel Strykowski

Course Proposals

The Curriculum Committee reviews all proposals to add, change or delete L&S courses. Proposals are sent to the L&S Curriculum Committee at least four (4) weeks prior to the Divisional Executive Committee meeting at which departments would like them considered. L&S administrative staff and the committee chair review all proposals prior to consideration by the Curriculum Committee in order to resolve technical questions they may contain; once approved, notice of approval is sent to the department and to the Divisional Executive Committee Office.

Course Proposal forms are available online at http://www.secfac.wisc.edu/divcomm/courses/CourseProposals.htm. Please submit three (3) copies of each proposal to the L&S Curriculum Committee in care of Elaine Klein, Room 307B South Hall.

Course proposals must be accompanied by a letter from the department chair indicating that the department has approved the proposal. This memorandum should explain why the changes are being sought. It is particularly useful to note whether changes are requested as a result of efforts to assess and improve student learning (see Chapter V.6, "Academic Assessment" for more information on that subject). If several proposals are being submitted, each packet of proposals may be accompanied by one letter; there is no need to attach the cover letter to each proposal if one letter can address all changes sought.

The three copies will be used to conduct the initial review. Once all technical and substantive questions (if any) are addressed, and the proposal is revised to reflect those changes, the committee will consider and approve the proposals. The department will be notified and asked to send 20 clean copies of the current/revised proposal to the Divisional Executive Committee Office (134 Bascom). In the interest of saving paper and reducing duplicating costs, please do not send the 20 copies until they are requested.

Liberal Arts and Science (LAS) Course Review

In addition to reviewing L&S course proposals, the committee reviews on request courses offered by other Schools and Colleges to consider whether L&S students may count non-L&S courses for degree credit. Courses that may be counted are expected to meet the committee's "Criteria for Liberal Arts and Science Courses".

It is important to note that this aspect of the curriculum changed substantially with the implementation of the 2007 L&S BABS degree requirements. Under the old curriculum, approved non-L&S courses were known as "T" or "C" courses, and L&S undergraduate students were allowed to count up to 20 credits of "T" courses toward an L&S degree, and could count "C" courses just as they would count credits earned in L&S courses. Under the rules that went into effect in Summer 2007, the "T" course rule will be eliminated, and L&S undergraduates admitted after May 21, 2007, or who elect to "opt in" to the new curriculum, must earn at least 108 credits of "Liberal Arts and Science" courses; they will also be allowed to count for degree credit up to 12 credits in any other credit-bearing UW-Madison courses.

The L&S Curriculum Committee will review departments' requests to consider courses that meet its criteria for Liberal Arts and Science Courses. Requests to review non-L&S courses may be forwarded to the L&S Curriculum Committee by the Divisional Executive Committee office or by the department. Ideally, requests should include the following information:

• A cover letter explaining the course’s contribution to liberal education;
• A course change form requesting LAS designation;
• A detailed syllabus that includes weekly lecture topics and subjects covered by them,
  readings, and method of student evaluation; and,
• If breadth designation is sought, an explanation of the course’s contributions to general principles important to understanding the world through the Arts, Humanities, or the Social, Natural, Physical, or Biological Sciences

Please contact the committee chair, or Elaine Klein (kleine@ls.admin.wisc.edu) for more information.

Changes in the Major

The L&S Curriculum Committee reviews proposals to change undergraduate major requirements (including requirements for admission to the major) for all L&S degree and certificate programs. Proposals must be submitted to the Curriculum Committee for review before they can be implemented; when approval is granted, Departments are given an implementation date after which they may admit students under the new requirements. Departments and Programs are encouraged to contact the Chair of the Curriculum Committee and consult the Committee's Guidelines for Curricular Change (which includes a discussion of time to implementation) before undertaking any changes. As part of this process, we encourage Departments to consider the impact of their proposed changes on programs closely related to their own, such as School of Education programs for which L&S departments provide content instruction. Departments may wish to consult School of Education Associate Dean Jeff Hamm (hamm@education.wisc.edu) for assistance in considering theimpact of proposed revisions on School of Education programs.

Please send proposals to the attention of the committee chair, c/o Elaine Klein (Room 307E South Hall).

Consultation on Curricular and Policy Matters

Finally, the L&S Curriculum Committee serves as the primary vehicle for the consideration of new curricular initiatives such as Freshman Seminars, and advising the Dean and L&S Student Academic Affairs on the interpretation of L&S curricular policy as the need arises. As part of this responsibility, the Curriculum Committee completed a multi-year assessment of the L&S BA/BS requirements. That assessment led to changes to the L&S baccalaureate degree requirements that were approved by the L&S Senate in April 2005, and which have since been the focus of much of the committee's work. In 2007-08, the committee will continue to work on issues related to the implementation of the curricular changes that went into effect in May 2007.

L&S Interdisciplinary Timetable

In accordance with the administrative guidelines for the L&S Interdisciplinary Timetable subject listing, the L&S Curriculum Committee serves as the faculty body that approves whether courses may be listed in that timetable. For procedures on how to list a course in this area, please contact Associate Dean Nancy Westphal Johnson (westphal@ls.admin.wisc.edu), who serves as the Chair of this "virtual department".

Last revised:  October 24, 2007 .