Committee on Courses of Instruction
Policies and Procedures

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1. General Procedures
   1. Authority of Academic Senate Committee on Courses
   2. The Approval Process
   3. Types of Proposals Needing Senate Committee Approval
2. Establishment of Courses
   1. Level and Emphasis in University Courses
   2. Scope and Organization of Courses (including cross-listing)
3. Course Specifications
   1. Course Title and Description
   2. Course Classification and Numbering
   3. Credit for Courses
   4. Prerequisites
   5. Mode of Grading
   6. Instructor
4. Summer Sessions Offerings

Appendices:

1. Expanded Course Description (ECD) Format
2. General Education (GE) Certification
3. Requests for Approval of Appointment of Associate Instructors to Teach Upper Division Classes
4. Grading Variances
5. UC Policy on Minimum Class Size
6. On-line or Hybrid courses
7. Policy for the Appointment of Undergraduates as Readers and Teaching Assistants
   
8. Policy for the Appointment of Nonstudents as Teaching Assistants
   

1. GENERAL PROCEDURES
   1. The Regents have delegated to the Academic Senate responsibility for authorization and supervision of courses of instruction (Standing Order of The Regents 105.2-b); in accordance with this delegation, the Davis Division Committee on Courses must approve all courses or changes in courses offered on the Davis campus, including University Extension courses yielding credit, before they may be taught or information regarding them be announced in any University catalog, schedule, or other publication. Approved courses are subject to the Committee's review at any time.

   2. Departments, divisions, sections, programs, and other units offering courses (hereafter, the simpler term "department" will be used to refer to any of these units) may initiate requests for approval of new courses or changes in existing courses. Requests must be submitted via the Online Course Approval Form.
      1. An Expanded Course Description must accompany all requests, except for cancellations, internships (numbered 92), directed group study courses (numbered 98 or 198), special or independent study courses (numbered 99 or 199), and teaching assistant practicum courses (numbered 396).

      2. All electronically approved course forms, including the Expanded Course Description (topical outline, grading procedures, etc.), are available online for evaluation by students, faculty, and public. Thus instructors must carefully edit these forms for spelling and grammatical errors. The Committee strongly encourages instructors to first develop the text material using a modern word processor and then copy (using a control "c" command) and paste (using a control "v" command) parts into the appropriate sections of the form. A form with excessive errors will be returned to the department.

      3. The Remarks section of the online form is crucial. It should provide a brief rationale for the request, and in the case of change(s) to an existing course, it should summarize the change(s) and explain the reasons for them. In a case in which a package of several related requests is submitted, a "cover letter" consisting of remarks applying to the package as a whole can be placed in the Remarks section of one of the courses, with the Remarks sections of the remaining courses simply referring the reader to that of the first course.

      4. Each request is reviewed by the dean and the appropriate agencies of the department's school or college.

      5. Following dean's-level approval, graduate course requests are in addition reviewed by the Graduate Council's Subcommittee on Courses.

      6. Approved course requests are forwarded to the Senate Committee on Courses of Instruction for final action.

   3. The criteria regarding whether a proposal needs Committee approval are as follows:

      Changes that require Committee approval include:

      1. Prerequisites

      2. Course title, number, and unit value

      3. Transfer of course from one academic unit to another

      4. Catalog description

      5. Mode of grading

      6. Any change in learning activity (e.g., substitution of term paper for discussion section, use of a virtual discussion section, or substitution of Web notes for lectures) must be approved by the Committee on Courses before it may be listed in the Class Schedule and Room Directory. (Departments should keep this requirement in mind when planning learning activities for new or amended courses.) Courses with the flexible learning activities "extensive writing or discussion" (W-D) or "term paper or discussion" (T-D) do not require special approval when opting for one or the other, but the department should notify the Office of the Registrar of their decision as far as possible in advance of the course.

      7. Changes in the course that affect its General Education status

      Changes that do not require Committee approval:

      1. Instructor.

      2. Year.

      3. Quarter, semester or session.

2. ESTABLISHMENT OF COURSES
   1. Level and Emphasis in University Courses
      1. A University course should present an integrated body of knowledge, with primary emphasis upon elucidation of principles and theories.

      2. Courses of the type normally required for admission to the University and those taught by vocational schools should not be offered for credit. The University does, however, have use for courses in which development of skills and techniques is emphasized for the following reasons:
         1. As a necessary and integral part of professional training accomplished in courses that constitute a recognized professional curriculum.

         2. As a means of learning, analyzing, and criticizing theories and principles.

   2. Scope and Organization of Courses (including cross-listing)
      1. Without seeking to determine educational policy or infringe upon departmental judgment regarding course content, the Davis Division Committee on Courses of Instruction will employ the following criteria in evaluating course requests:
         1. Each course should have a clear and important place in the department's curriculum, either filling a gap or strengthening the program without duplication or needless overlap.

         2. There should not be a proliferation of courses, nor should course content be so limited, specialized, or narrow in scope that it could be better incorporated into others.

         3. The content of each course should represent a unified and integral body of subject matter.

      2. When proposed new courses include material generally recognized as falling within the province of another department, the Committee will consult the related department regarding the proposed course, the instructor, and any undesirable overlap of course with their offerings. Course requests coming to the Committee can avoid delays if a statement outlining the results of consultation on overlap with related departments is included in the Remarks section of the Online Course Approval Form.

      3. Requests to cross-list courses will require strong justification, in the Remarks section of the Online Course Approval Form, which shows that cross-listing is preferable to traditional means of simply requiring or recommending a course offered by a specific department, program, or graduate group.

         Any combination of such units may request cross-listing. It must be shown that the course cannot be presented without a significant commitment of resources from each of the cross-listing units. Expanded course descriptions should be reasonably detailed, specifying the obligations of the units involved in the presentation of the course. The specific conditions that must be met for the approval of cross-listing courses are:

         1. Course approval forms must be submitted at the same time by the collaborating units. These proposals must be identical in all respects except for the three-letter identifier (subject) code (and the course number if a common number is not available).

         2. The course proposed for cross-listing must be integral to all of the cross-listing programs.

         3. The course proposed for cross-listing must:
            1. Be regularly taught collaboratively by the units, or

            2. Be regularly offered by the cross-listing units in alternation, or

            3. Be offered by an instructor who is a member of all the units that wish to cross-list, or

            4. Be regularly supported through a significant commitment of resources

               (e.g., equipment, TAs, staff assistance, etc.) by the cross-listing units.

         4. Because courses should be designed for a particular level and taught at that level, a course may not be cross-listed at lower division and upper division levels or at undergraduate and graduate levels. (See Senate Regulation 762 or III.C.4 of this document.

         (Please note that B.3. was revised 4/99)

3. COURSE SPECIFICATIONS

   Much of the information required in the Online Course Approval Form will be included in the General Catalog listings of approved courses. In preparing the form, departments should adhere to the following standards.

   1. Course Title and Description
      1. The course title should be in English and should be brief and explicit.

      2. A description of the course of no more than 40 words should be included unless the course title is fully descriptive of the course content.

      3. The use of identical titles for courses offered by different departments (excluding honors, tutorials, directed group study, special study, seminar, and research courses discussed in paragraphs III-B-4, 5, 6, 7, 10, and 14 below) should be avoided.

      4. If two or more courses offered by one department have identical titles, they must have different descriptions.

      5. The preferred course designation and numbering for courses which cover a broad general subject area but have different sections is "Topics in ____" with A, B, C, etc., used to indicate the individual course segments. These section titles should be listed on the course approval form and will appear in the General Catalog and on the students' transcripts.

   2. Course Classification and Numbering
      1. UC Davis courses are classified and numbered as follows:
         1. Lower division courses are numbered 1-99.

         2. Upper division courses are numbered 100-199.

         3. Graduate courses are numbered 200-299. Courses in the 200 series are designed to help students develop as scholars, researchers, and creative artists, with the potential to create new knowledge in their fields. Courses have a strong foundation in the theory, methods and principles used in research or in the production of scholarly or creative works. Courses focus on understanding and assessing the current state of knowledge, on research and creative work, and on methodology, as appropriate considering the nature of the field.

         4. Professional courses for teachers and courses intended for TA training are numbered 300-399. Courses in the 300 series are designed to help students become teachers and educators. Courses address problems and challenges facing educators and focus on methodology in teaching, research on teaching, and current teaching practices. Courses may emphasize the development of clear written and verbal communication skills. Courses designed to educate graduate students as teaching assistants should be numbered 390.

         5. Other professional courses (e.g., Law, Medicine) which emphasize material appropriate to a specific professional curriculum are numbered 400-499. Courses in the 400 series are designed to help students become practitioners in their fields. Courses prepare students for critical analysis of problems and the use of theory to solve problems in professional practice, other than teaching. Courses may emphasize aspects of the profession such as ethics, presentation skills, and information gathering techniques. Ordinarily, the content of professional courses is guided by requirements imposed by an appropriate extramural accreditation agency.

      2. Any change from upper to lower division (or vice versa) requires a description of the changes in course content which justify the change in numbering. This information must also be provided for proposed changes from graduate to undergraduate (or vice versa).

      3. The suffix "N" should be used when an existing course is being canceled and a course with a different content is to be given its number. When a department believes students will no longer be affected (after a minimum of four years), a full Course Approval Form including the Expanded Course Description should be submitted. Under Remarks, explain that the only change is removal of the "N" suffix.

      4. A laboratory course associated with another course should be identified by an "L" added to its course number (e.g., Biochemistry 101 and 101L). Courses in sequence with "A" and "B" designations should also use the "L" to indicate a parallel laboratory course.

      5. A lower division course which gives an overview of a field of study for nonmajors should be numbered 10. This number should be reserved for this purpose.

      6. Lower division seminar courses should be similarly numbered 90-91 or 93-96. Upper division seminar courses should be numbered 190. If more than one course of this type is offered, the additional numbers 191, 193, 194, 195, and 196 may be used. Lower division seminars consisting of special topics examined in a small group setting are numbered 90X; upper division equivalents are numbered 190X. Undergraduate seminars which function as research group conferences should be numbered 190C. These courses are limited to one unit of credit and are to be graded P/NP only (no grading variances are permitted). 190C courses may be repeated for credit.

      7. Certain variable unit courses for groups of lower and upper division undergraduates are to be numbered 98 or 198, respectively, and given the title "Directed Group Study." These designations are reserved for courses whose content is not specified to any degree from one quarter to another.

      8. Lower division individual undergraduate special-study courses are numbered 99 and titled either "Special Study for Undergraduates" or "Independent Study." Similarly, upper division courses are numbered 199 and titled "Special Study for Advanced Undergraduates."

      9. A special study course for an honors program should be numbered 194H and titled "Special Study for Honors Students." This type of course is open only to honors students. Additional similar honors courses are to be numbered 195H-196H but each course should have a separate title. A regular course having special requirements for honors students must be identified in the course description and designated by both the regular number and the honors number (e.g., 165, 165H) or be listed as two courses.

      10. Internship courses should be numbered 92 or 192. Internships should have a substantial academic component. They are intended to provide students with an in-the-field educational experience as a complement to their traditional academic study.

      11. Special variable unit courses in which advanced students may receive credit for tutoring other undergraduate students should be numbered 197T (Tutoring). Tutoring in the community should be numbered 197TC. Students enrolled in 197Ts may not lead required discussion sections, required laboratory sections, required tutoring sections, or any other required activity; nor may they grade papers. Students enrolled in 197Ts may only tutor (i.e., help individual or small groups of students either outside of class or within a laboratory) or lead voluntary discussions or other voluntary activities. (AM. 10/08/03)

      12. Graduate seminar courses are numbered 290 and titled "Seminar" when the general subject varies from quarter to quarter. Graduate seminars which function as research group conferences should be numbered 290C, limited to one unit of credit, and graded S/U only (no grading variances are permitted). All 290 courses may be repeated for credit.

      13. A seminar in which the area of study is variable but restricted to some broad subsection of the general field should be given a number in the 291-297 range (preferably the lowest one available). The course title should indicate the general limitation in the field of study (e.g., Pomology 291- Seminar in Postharvest Physiology); titles for such courses need not include the words "seminar in."

      14. A seminar course which has the same general content each time it is offered should not use "Seminar" in its title. The fact that it is a seminar can be conveyed in the course description.

      15. Graduate courses that involve variable-subject group study but are not conducted as seminars should be given the number 298 and the title "Group Study."

      16. Special study or research courses for individual graduate students are to be numbered 299 or 299D. Normally, 299D should be reserved for students who have advanced to candidacy and who are involved in dissertation research.

      17. Generally, courses 92, 98, 99, 190C, 192, 197T, 197TC, 198, 199, 290, 290C may be repeated for credit when the subject matter differs. All other courses that may be repeated for credit should indicate this in the catalog description.

      18. For single lower division auto-tutorial courses, the letters AT should follow the course number, e.g., 15AT; for sequential lower division courses, such as the Spanish 1 series and the Religious Studies 31 series, the following number and letter arrangement must be used: Spanish 1ATA, 1ATB, 1ATC. Because only five characters are provided on the transcript for recording course numbers, the following number and letter arrangement should be adopted for sequential upper division courses: 101AT, 102AT, 103AT.

      19. "Teaching Assistant Training Practicum" courses should be numbered 396. Such a course is intended for use by active teaching assistants. It is a variable-unit course, allowing registration for 1 to 4 units. The Prerequisite is graduate standing, and the course is to be graded S/U only. Departments may request the creation of such a course by memo to the Committee on Courses.

   3. Credit for Courses
      1. Units of credit are assigned to courses based on the "Carnegie rule" which specifies one unit of credit for three hours of work by the student per week. Usually this involves one hour of lecture or discussion led by the instructor and two hours of outside preparation by the student.
         1. Normally two hours of laboratory or studio time (plus an hour of outside preparation) are required for each unit of credit. Proposals for these courses will require assurance in the expanded course descriptions that the Carnegie unit standard is being followed.

         2. If the number of lecture or discussion hours specified in the General Catalog is less than the number of units of credit assigned to the course, some form of additional non-classroom work, such as a substantial term paper, is required of the student. Requests for courses with fewer contact hours than the number of units awarded (e.g., a 4-unit course that meets three hours per week) must be accompanied by adequate justification.

         3. Repeating a course for credit: Normally a given course cannot be taken a second time for degree credit. When a course offering is designed to allow for substantial changes in content (typically, these are "topics" courses) it may be repeated for credit. These circumstances should be explained in the Remarks section of the Online Course Approval Form. The number of times a course may be repeated for credit must be specified in the form in the course description and will be published in the General Catalog description.

      2. The approved credit range for variable unit courses is as follows:

         90X:	1-2 or 1-4			190X	1-2 or 1-4			:199:	1-5
         92	1-15			192	1-15		:	297T	1-5		:
         97T	1-5			194	1-5			298	1-5
         97TC	1-5			197T:	1-5			:299:	1-12
         98:	1-5			197TC:	1-5			299D	1-12
         :99:	1-5			198:	1-5			396:	1-4

      3. A department may offer more than one section of a group-study course (198 or 298) during a quarter. Unless the course description states otherwise, a student may receive credit for more than one section of a 198 or 298 course in the same quarter.

      4. Senate Regulation 762, "Credit in Courses," states, "No student, by merely performing additional work, may receive upper division credit for a lower division course or graduate credit for an undergraduate course. Related courses may share lectures, laboratories or other common content but must have clearly differentiated and unique performance criteria, requirements, and goals." On occasion, it may seem desirable for different but related upper and lower division courses or different but related upper division and graduate courses to share some lectures, laboratories, or other common content. (In no case may an identical course be given credit at both levels.) A request for such an arrangement may be approved by the Committee only if accompanied by strong justification which clearly shows that the courses in question have differential goals and requirements as evidenced by the activities of both the students and the faculty involved.

   4. Prerequisites
      1. The prerequisites for a course must be approved by the Committee on Courses. The enforcement of prerequisites is the responsibility of the instructor and the department.
         1. If no prerequisites are stated for a lower division course, it is understood that the course is open to any matriculated student whose standing is appropriate for the course.

         2. Consent of instructor is an implied prerequisite for any individual study course and need not be listed.

      2. The Regulations of the Academic Senate specify that ordinarily the minimum prerequisite for any upper division course is junior standing or completion of at least one lower division course in the same department. Upper division courses may be listed in the General Catalog with no stated prerequisite if this minimum prerequisite is sufficient. Ordinarily, it is not necessary to state "Consent of instructor" as a prerequisite.

      3. When a two- or three-quarter sequence course is designated by the same number and is shown as a single listing (e.g., Design 160A-160B-160C), each is presumed to be prerequisite to the one that follows unless the contrary is stated. When each course is listed separately (e.g., Economics 100A and Economics 100B), one course is not considered prerequisite to another unless specifically mentioned in the prerequisite list.

   5. Mode of Grading

      The Committee may request additional information on grading procedures where nonstandard teaching practices and/or assignments are involved. As options to the usual letter grade system, the following approaches may be used, as appropriate:

      1. For undergraduates--P/NP (Passed/Not Passed). Grading in undergraduate variable unit courses shall be on a P/NP only basis unless approval for letter grading in specific cases is requested by the department and given by the Committee. (Note: grading variances are not permitted for 190C.) A proposal to grade a regular course on a P/NP basis only must be approved by the Committee. A letter grade variance for 198 courses may be granted when the certain minimum criteria are met.

      2. For graduate students--S/U (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory). With the consent of the appropriate department or graduate group and approval of the Graduate Council and the Committee on Courses of Instruction, the grades assigned in specific graduate courses may be S/U only. Regulations of the Davis Division also specify that 290C, 299, 299D courses shall be graded S/U only.

      3. For the School of Medicine: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.

      4. Deferred grading: In general, requests for deferred grading will be considered only for sequential courses and only where it is difficult or academically inadvisable to assign grades for each quarter of the sequence. Such courses should carry the designation "deferred grading" in the course description.

   6. Instructor
      1. The qualifications required of persons responsible for courses or assisting in them (including readers) are specified in paragraph 750 of the Academic Senate Regulations. Any exceptions must be approved by the Committee on Courses.

      2. A request for course approval may be denied if it does not list the name of a qualified instructor or contain a statement to the effect that the University budget includes a provision for one.

4. SUMMER SESSION OFFERINGS

   Courses approved for offering during the regular academic year may be offered in a summer session without further approval from the Committee on Courses provided that there are no changes in the course specifications other than an appropriate adjustment of class meeting hours per week or a change of instructor. The number of such a summer session course is the same as for the regular session course, with the addition of the prefix "S."

To facilitate the work of the College and Divisional Courses Committees, requests for approval of a new course, restoration of a course, or revisions of an existing course must be accompanied by an Expanded Course Description (for exceptions, see I.B.1 of this document).. The Expanded Course Description includes at least the following information.

1. TOPICAL OUTLINE. List 10-20 major topics to be covered in the course. Although the specific topics may vary somewhat from quarter to quarter and from instructor to instructor, this list should include those topics most likely to be covered in all offerings of the course.

2. GRADING PERCENTAGES AND COURSE REQUIREMENTS. Explain the basis for determining grades. Note the relative weight of components of the course (as percentages) in assigning the final grade (For example, "Letter grade based on homework 15%, midterm 15%, project 20%, laboratory 25%, final exam 25%.") The Committee is reluctant to approve weights which are unusually high (e.g., greater than 50% for any one examination). The Committee will not approve weights greater than 10% for participation unless the greater percentage is justified and the criteria for grading participation described. In part to distinguish between a university and high school level education, the Committee will not approve grading based on attendance; attendance is an implicit component of participation.

   Specify the length and type of written assignments or projects. (For example: Research paper of 10-12 pages in length; eight 3- to 4-page essays; programming project requiring approximately 25 hours; lab and field project requiring 80 hours.)

   Explain grading procedures in cases involving nonstandard teaching practices and/or assignments.

   If the course is to be graded P/NP (undergraduates) or S/U (graduate), a statement about how these grades will be determined must be provided. This statement is not required for the following courses: 98, 99, 198, 199, 290, 299.

3. READING. List the text(s) and/or some of the key readings that will be required. A full bibliography is not necessary. Where applicable, indicate films and audio tapes used, or computer use.

4. EXPLANATION OF POTENTIAL COURSE OVERLAP. Significant overlap between this course and others (whether or not offered by the same teaching unit) must be listed and justified, by citing significant differences in prerequisites, emphasis, depth of coverage, etc..

   If no overlap is foreseen, this should be explicitly indicated.

5. GENERAL EDUCATION DESIGNATION. If the course is intended as a GE course, additional information is required. See Guidelines for GE Designation of a Course.

Use the Remarks section in the Online Course Approval Form (page 1) to explain special grading procedures, discrepancies between course units and contact hours, and other procedural matters.

*These are minimum guidelines. College level committees may require additional information.

Additional Committee on Courses Policies

1. Topical Breadth and Social-Cultural Diversity GE courses must be at least three units of credit. Writing GE courses may be two units of credit. (Revised 3/27/98)
2. Courses may be either lower or upper division courses and they may have prerequisites.
3. Mode of grading must be letter.

Especially at the upper division level, the University and its students are best served when faculty members have responsibility for courses. However, under unusual circumstances it may be necessary for an advanced and mentored graduate student (an 'AI') to serve as a course instructor.

Appointment of Associate Instructors or AIs for upper division courses must first be approved by the Committee on Courses of Instruction, and requests for approval must contain all of the following information:

A) evidence that the candidate is qualified.
B) a mentoring plan.
C) information about who normally teaches the course.

If the request lacks A, B, or C, it will be returned to the department unapproved.

A) Evidence that the candidate is qualified. The candidate AI must have at least 3 quarters of teaching experience (experience as a TA counts), must have excellent knowledge of the course material, should have completed at least 30 quarter units of course work as a graduate student (excluding research units), and must have passed to candidacy for the Ph.D degree. A summary of the candidate's teaching evaluations (if available) and the candidate's CV should be included.

B) Mentoring plan. The candidate and his or her faculty mentor must develop a mentoring plan for the upper division course to be taught. The plan must be approved by the thesis advisor and by the department chair and must be submitted to the Committee with the approval request.

C) Information about who normally teaches the course. Indicate the number of AIs used for the last six course offerings. If the upper division course has frequently been taught by AIs, the requesting department must justify how frequent use of AIs is appropriate for the specific course. The Committee has intentionally left 'frequently' undefined, so that the each request can be evaluated on its own merits. Although requiring more work from both the departments requesting AIs and from the Committee, this flexibility is in the best interests of the University.

If departments appear to be using AIs for more than 5% of their upper division instruction, the Committee will suggest that this be examined by the appropriate program review committee.

Even when the conditions A, B, and C above are satisfied, COCI will not generally approve the application if it is for a core upper division course, i.e., one that is explicitly required for the department's major students.

There are two exceptional circumstances where the use of Associate Instructors for upper division courses may be approved.

1) As a short-term remedy for staffing shortages, as occurs when the regular faculty instructor is on sabbatical leave, is ill, is temporarily reassigned, etc.

2) When mentored teaching is a component of training for an advanced graduate student. This will be permitted only in those disciplines in which the expectation is that advanced graduate students will teach an upper division course as part of their professional development. With proper mentoring and oversight, advanced graduate students should be sufficiently experienced to do an excellent job teaching an upper division course in their area of expertise.

AIs should not be used to solve long-term imbalances between enrollment and staffing.

Form to Petition to Hire an Associate Instructor

(AM. 1/16/04)

Undergraduate variable-unit courses are graded on a Passed/Not Passed basis unless a request for a specific variance is received and approved by the Committee on Courses of Instruction. Committee approval is also necessary to change the grading of those variable-unit graduate courses that are graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory and those that are letter-graded. The Committee will forward approved variances to the Office of the Registrar. Approval is not automatic.

In every request for a grading variance, the instructor must provide the following information:

1. The course number, section, course title, term, and CRN.

2. An explanation of the reason for the request.

3. Assurance that the tests, assignments, papers, and other classwork required of the students are comparable to the work done in regularly scheduled classes.

4. A description of an appropriate basis for determining letter grades, including the relative weights (in percentages) of all graded components..

Requests for grading variances may be made in one of two ways.

1. Before the class meets.

   Requests must be received by the Committee on Courses before the first class meeting.

   In addition to the items mentioned above, the instructor must submit a copy of the course syllabus, in which it is explicitly stated that the mode of grading will be other than that listed in the General Catalog and (if the course is listed as P/NP or S/U) that each student will have the option of reinstating the original grading mode in the following way. By the usual P/NP (or S/U) deadline (the 25th day of instruction) the student must take a copy of the syllabus to the Office of the Registrar and file a 'Grading Variance Exception' petition.

2. After the class has met.

   Requests must be received by the Committee on Courses by the fifteenth day of instruction. In addition to the items mentioned above, a list containing the students' names and signatures must be appended to the request. All students enrolled in the course must indicate (by signature) their agreement with the change in the mode of grading from that stated in the General Catalog.

   If the course is listed as P/NP or S/U, the agreement must note that each student has the option of reinstating the original grading mode in the following way: by the usual P/NP (or S/U) deadline (the 25th day of instruction), the student must take a copy of the syllabus to the Office of the Registrar and file a 'Grading Variance Exception' petition.

The Academic Senate Office receives a number of calls each year asking for guidance on the University's policy on minimum class size. Although this matter is not within the purview of the Committee on Courses, this information is provided here as a convenience to departments. The full account of the policy on minimum class size norms is available in President Hitch's 3/14/73 memo to Chancellors (available in the Senate Office). What follows is an excerpt of the key points.

Exceptions to these norms may be allowed in certain circumstances, including:

1. The course is required for the degree and cancellation would delay the graduation of students who wish to enroll.

2. The course is required for the degree and it must be offered at a specified time in order to maintain a proper sequence of courses.

3. It is a new course and the enrollment potential remains to be developed. If enrollment in a class falls below the norm for two successive offerings, it should only be offered again after review and serious consideration by the department chair.

These policies do not apply to independent study, research courses, or thesis work.

There is a growing interest in offering courses that use the World Wide Web and other Internet technologies. Some courses are taught entirely on-line and others are 'hybrids' or mixtures of on-line and in-class activities. In response, the Committee on Courses of Instruction has designed two additional "Learning Activity" codes to be used in course approval forms. These are WVL (for on-line activities that replace standard lectures) and WED (for on-line activities that replace standard discussions). The Committee expects that instructors will use one or both of these codes for all courses in which one or more hours/week of lecture/laboratory/discussion in one or more class sections are replaced by on-line formats. The Committee does not require the use of these activity codes if the on-line material merely supplements regularly scheduled lecture/laboratory/discussion sections.

The Courses Committee recognizes that 'on-line lecture' and 'on-line discussion' may often be inadequate (that on-line activities may do other things besides mimicking regular lectures and discussions), and we do not intend that the listed activities restrict what instructors do. But rather than add new activities, we ask that instructors select WED or WVL and then describe the activities more fully under Course Format. This description must include:

• the nature of the activity and an estimate of the time required by a typical student to complete the activity. This should be done for all major activities in the course.

• instructor contact hours. Describe how the instructor interacts with students and for how many hours per week or quarter.

• how the course unit value conforms to University of California statewide regulation 760 (1 unit equals 30 hours of student work.) In a 4 unit course, for example, the instructor must explain under course format how the average student will work for 120 hours (12 hours per week in a 10-week quarter).

• grading. The Committee requires that midterm and final examinations (generally required in all undergraduate courses) be proctored to ensure that the person taking the examination is the student receiving credit. Given current technology, this means that examinations must be given in a traditional classroom. Exceptions must assure that examinations reflect individual student work and that a student's rights are protected under Senate Regulation 538. Describe all graded components and assign each component a percentage of the grade. Grades for on-line discussion groups will normally be based on electronically submitted materials such as homework, research papers, and participation; if the grade for participation exceeds 10% of total grade, criteria for grading participation must be described.

Faculty should be aware that the Registrar normally would not assign regular classroom space for sections with on-line learning activity codes. Furthermore, for courses without traditional lecture/discussions components, the instructor needs to coordinate with the Registrar the dates and times of any "in class" examinations. The Registrar will inform instructors within the first 3 weeks of the quarter of the room assignment(s) for the midterm examinations. Final examination times for on-line-only courses will be assigned the "TBA" time slot.

To assess the impact of on-line courses and the evaluation process, all new or revised courses with WVL and WED learning codes will be reviewed within 2 years of approval. At that time COCI will expect instructors to supply a brief self-evaluation, a peer evaluation, and summaries of student evaluations with sample comments.

The suffix "V" should be used to designate all web-based courses.

Web-based Learning Codes:

WVL - On-line lecture - a fully-integrated on-line course with interactive text, graphics and/or executable programs; on-line student access to the instructor(s); measures to assure compliance with copyright laws.

1 unit for each ~ 30 hours per quarter of both on-line interactions and related off-line activities; the overall workload should be approximately that of any corresponding off-line course.

Examinations must be in a class setting at times listed in the Class Schedule and Registration Guide; exceptions must assure that examinations reflect individual student work and that a student's rights are protected under Senate Regulation 538.

Grades may also be based upon electronically submitted materials such as homework, research papers, and general participation (not more than 10% of the total grade, unless approved by the Committee).

WED - On-line Discussion - on-line discussion groups using list-processor or moderated e-mail, news groups and/or chat rooms; on-line student access to the instructor(s); measures to assure student privacy and civility in these activities.

1 unit for each ~ 30 hours of electronic discussion group related activity.

Grades for on-line discussion groups will normally be based on electronically submitted materials such as homework, research papers, and participation.