Baccalaureate Core Committee Proposed Criteria Revision for Perspectives

Baccalaureate Core Committee: Proposed Criteria Revision for Perspectives Categories OSU Faculty Senate, October 11, 2012 Kerry Kincanon and Marion Rossi, BCC Co-Chairs, 2012 -13

Reconciling Policy and Practice • Last spring, the BCC engaged in discussion about the inclusion of upper-division coursework in the Perspectives Categories of the Bacc Core. • All Perspectives categories include the statement: “Be lower division and at least three credits” • Four Perspectives categories, Western Culture, Cultural Diversity, Literature and the Arts, and Social Processes and Institutions, include upper-division course as options to meet the category 1 November 27, 2020

BCC Conclusions • The statement should be revised in the Perspectives categories to align the criteria with what has been the apparent practice of the BCC for several years. • The revised statement should acknowledge that Perspectives categories are often fulfilled by lowerdivision students and the courses therein should not be overly restrictive with limitations and/or prerequisites. 2 November 27, 2020

Proposed Change • Strike the “Be lower division and at least three credits” statement from the criteria of all Perspectives categories • add the following statements to the criteria for all Perspectives categories: For the non-science categories Courses in this Perspectives category shall be at least three credits and accessible to both lower and upper division students. Prerequisites or class‐level restrictions for Perspectives courses must not create unreasonable barriers for students seeking to fulfill these categories. and for the science categories Courses in this Perspectives category shall be at least four credits, contain a lab, and accessible to both lower and upper division students. Prerequisites or class‐level restrictions for Perspectives courses must not create unreasonable barriers for students seeking to fulfill these categories. 3 November 27, 2020