Davis Division Courses Committee Policies and Procedures

Committee on Courses of Instruction

Policies and Procedures

Outlined below are policies and procedures developed by the Davis Division of the Academic Senate Committee on Courses of Instruction pertaining to the development, modification, and cancellation of courses offered by departments and other academic units on campus. In considering course requests, each College Committee on Courses as well as the Senate Committee will be guided by the policies described below, recognizing, however, that unusual circumstances may justify exceptions.

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 submitting via the Online Course Approval Form.
  1. All requests, except for course cancellations, must be accompanied by an expanded course description.
  2. 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). 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.
  3. Each request is reviewed by the dean and the appropriate agencies of the department's school or college.
  4. Following dean's-level approval, graduate course requests are in addition reviewed by the Graduate Council's Subcommittee on Courses. A graduate group course request must be signed by both the instructor's department and graduate group chair.
  5. 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, except addition or deletion
  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 which affect its General Education status (e.g., decrease in length of writing assignments below 5 pages in a block, deletion of material related to social-cultural diversity).
  Changes that do not require Committee approval:
  1. Instructor.
  2. Year.
  3. Quarter, semester or session.
4. Modification of a Course Approval Request
  1. Courses that have been recently approved may be modified by memo under very limited circumstances (e.g., minor clerical error, change in effective date).
  2. The approval of a new course will not be held up in cases where further information about the proposed GE designation is needed. The Committee on Courses may subsequently change or add the GE designation for the course without the submission of an additional Online Course Approval Form.
  3. The department submitting the request will be notified of any such change.
5. Requests by Memorandum
  1. Requests for approval of courses numbered 92, 98, 99, 192, 198, 199, and 396 should be made by memorandum to the college or school Courses Committee with a copy sent to the Senate Committee on Courses of Instruction. Electronic mail submissions are also acceptable.
    
    Course 396 requests should be made by memorandum to the Committee on Courses of Instruction (see Section III. B., "Course Classification and Numbering" for descriptions of courses with these numbers). Electronic mail submissions are also acceptable. Note: these requests need to be approved at the college level first.
  2. Changes to prerequisites resulting from revisions of courses included in the current prerequisites may also be made by memorandum to the college or school committee with a copy to the Committee on Courses of Instruction. For example, renumbering of courses in an introductory physics sequence results in a different physics course being appropriate as a prerequisite.
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 rather than upon development of skills and techniques.
  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 which comprise 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 judgement 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.
    (Please note that B.3. was revised 4/99)

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.

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.
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. Course 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 cancelled 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 request can be made to the Office of the Registrar to remove 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. Normally, 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.
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.

Credit for Courses

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.

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

90X:	1-2 or 1-4	192:	1-12	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
190X:	1-2 or 1-4	199:	1-5

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.
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.

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.
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.
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.

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."

EXPANDED COURSE DESCRIPTION*

In order to facilitate the work of the College and Divisional Courses Committees, every request for approval of a new course, restoration of a course, or substantial revisions of an existing course must be accompanied by an expanded course description. This expanded course description should include at least the following information.

COURSE GOALS. Provide a brief statement of what the course is intended to accomplish.
ENTRY LEVEL. Explain what subject background and/or courses the student should be familiar with in order to comprehend the material presented in this course. Also indicate if the student should have upper or lower division standing in a specific area (e.g., upper division standing in biological sciences). Indicate if a course is intended for majors or non-majors. State or explain special restrictions, prerequisites, and requirements (e.g., senior honors students only; or second-year standing in the School of Veterinary Medicine; or completion of the Subject A requirement; or proficiency in a foreign language or computer programming language).
TOPICAL OUTLINE. Provide a list of major topics to be covered in the course. It is recognized that the specific combination of topics may vary to some degree 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.
GRADING PERCENTAGES AND COURSE REOUIREMENTS. 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 generally is reluctant to approve weights which are unusually high, say 50% for a final exam or 25% for class 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 over 80 hours.)

Explain grading procedures in cases where nonstandard teaching practices and/or assignments are involved.

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.
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.
EXPLANATION OF POTENTIAL COURSE OVERLAP. Any 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 and so on.
If no overlap is foreseen, this should be explicitly indicated.
GENERAL EDUCATION DESIGNATION. If the course is intended as a GE course, additional information is required. See Guidelines for GE Designation of a Course.

One copy of this expanded course description should be submitted with the request for course approval. The "Remarks" section in the Online Course Approval Form should be used to explain special grading procedures, discrepancies between course units and contact hours, and other procedural matters, rather than to duplicate material in the expanded course description.

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

GENERAL EDUCATION (GE) CERTIFICATION OF A COURSE

The Representative Assembly of the Academic Senate passed legislation in the fall of 1995 which establishes new General Education requirements for all UCD undergraduates, effective in the 1996-97 academic year. In brief, the new Davis Division Regulation 522 redefines General Education as having three components: topical breadth, social-cultural diversity, and writing experience.

The new legislation also charges the Committee on Courses of Instruction with the responsibility for certifying all courses that will fulfill the new GE requirements and assigning each certified course to one or more of the three GE components.

Departments and programs that wish to propose an existing course for GE certification should send a brief memorandum to the Committee that explains the requested change. Submission of a new Online Course Approval Form is not necessary; however, the current Expanded Course Description of the course must be submitted along with the memorandum. Departments and programs that wish to propose a new course for GE certification must submit an Online Course Approval Form and an Expanded Course Description.

Following the clauses of Regulation 522 defining the three components of GE (in italics) are guidelines for their implementation.

H. A course in the topical breadth component is characterized by the following features:

It addresses broad subject matter areas that are important to a student's general knowledge.

It takes a critical, analytical perspective on knowledge, considering how knowledge has been acquired, and the assumptions, theories or paradigms that guide its interpretation.

It requires readings from a range of theories.

The three topical breadth subject matter areas are 1) science and engineering, 2) social sciences, and 3) arts and humanities. An upper division course with a relatively specialized focus may receive a GE certification when it deals with principles or paradigms that have broad implications. Some courses with a heavy "applied" emphasis may not be given GE certification. In cases where a given course bridges two or more of these general areas, the department or program should recommend which of the above three subject matter areas seems most appropriate. When a sufficient claim can be made that a course should be certified in more than one topical breadth area, this will be allowed.

I. A course in the social-cultural diversity component is any course that deals with issues such as race, ethnicity, social class, gender, sexuality, or religion.

To be certified as meeting the diversity requirement, a course must have a substantial emphasis on issues, topics, or perspectives on race, ethnicity, social class, gender, sexuality, or religion that have been traditionally under-represented in programs of study. Analysis of the effects of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, or religion on interactions among people must be central and essential to the course content and goals. A description of how the course meets this guideline must be included in the expanded course description. (Revised February 12, 1998.)

J. A course in writing experience normally requires a minimum of five pages of writing in a block, which will be evaluated not only for content, but also for organization, style,use of language, and logical coherence. The Committee on Courses of Instruction may, however, approve for General Education Credit some other form of satisfying the writing requirement if, in its judgment, the alternative meets the goals of encouraging students to think critically and communicate effectively.

The Committee will make exceptions to the strict interpretation of this requirement when it can be shown that alternative writing assignments meet the spirit of this provision. In all instances where it is recommended that a course be certified in this category, please explain briefly the nature of the writing assignment(s) involved. Additional specific policies are as follows: 1. The five pages of writing stipulated in the legislation is interpreted to be 1500 words. 2. Writing experience courses must be in English. 3. Poetry courses will not satisfy the writing experience requirement unless there are prose writing assignments as well. The legislation allows a given course to be certified under more than one of the components described in (H), (I), and (J) above. For example, an upper division course in Geology that requires an eight page term paper could be certified as meeting both the topical breadth in science and the writing experience requirements.

Additional Committee on Courses Policies

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)
GE courses may be either lower or upper division courses and they may have prerequisites.
Mode of grading must be letter.

REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF APPOINTMENT OF ASSOCIATE INSTRUCTORS
TO TEACH UPPER DIVISION CLASSES

Approval must be obtained from the Committee on Courses of Instruction prior to the appointment of Associate Instructors (also known as "AIs" or "Associates-In") for upper division courses. In order to avoid delays in approval, the following guidelines should be followed:

Letter of request-The letter should note the course to be taught and briefly describe the academic qualifications and relevant background of the person being recommended as the instructor. If the individual has been approved to teach the course previously, this should be noted.
Curriculum vitae-A current CV is helpful in most cases. If it appears that the CV may not fully support the claim of academic qualifications, an explanation should be given in the letter of request.
Evidence of teaching ability-Summaries of teaching evaluations, if available, should be enclosed. If the candidate has served as a teaching assistant for the course he/she is to teach, this evaluation summary would be particularly helpful. In most instances, it is not necessary to send the evaluations themselves. In cases where this material appears to indicate marginal performance in some area(s), an explanation should be given. When teaching evaluations are not available, the letter of request should offer other information concerning teaching competence.

Use of AIs to teach upper-division courses is intended as a temporary remedy to short-term staffing shortages. The Committee strongly discourages departments or other teaching units from routinely heavy reliances on AIs for upper-division courses, and may deny requests in such cases.

GRADING VARIANCES

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 which are graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory and those which 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:

The course number, section, course title, term, and CRN.
An explanation of the reason for the request.

For variances from a P/NP or S/U grade to a letter grade the instructor must also provide the following:

Assurance that the tests, assignments, papers, and other classwork required of the students are comparable to the work done in regularly scheduled classes.
A description of an appropriate basis for determining letter grades.

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

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 stated explicitly 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 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 there. Grading variance exceptions cannot be made through RSVP.
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 there. Grading variance exceptions cannot be made through RSVP.

Revised 4/99

UC POLICY ON MINIMUM CLASS SIZE

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 in 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.

Minimum class size norms for lower division courses:	12
Minimum class size norms for upper division courses:	8
Minimum class size norms for graduate courses:	4

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

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

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