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College of Liberal Arts
University of Mississippi

Important Curriculum Changes and Reminders

Updated January 2013

A. GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

1.     First Year Composition Requirement (all degrees)

Beginning with the Fall 2011 semester, the new composition sequence is: WRIT 100 or WRIT 101 in the fall semester, and WRIT 102 or LIBA 102 in the spring semester. Students must pass either WRIT 100 or WRIT 101 before attempting 102.  WRIT 100 and WRIT 101 fulfill the same requirement for first semester writing, previously filled by English 101. Students may take either 100 or 101, but not both.  Both 100 and 101 teach the same new learning outcomes: learning a writing process, engaging in exploration and argumentation, writing for a variety of purposes and audiences, conducting research, and producing writing free of serious grammatical errors.  These courses usually include three written essays, an in-class writing assignment, and a multimodal project, collected in an ePortfolio.  Although students in 100 write one less essay than students in 101, the main difference between 100 and 101 is class size: WRIT 100 is limited to 15 students who have more one-on-one conferencing with their teacher.  WRIT 102 teaches the same outcomes as 100/101, but with an emphasis on research and information literacy. The readings in these courses are now themed: students can choose from Writing about Literature, Writing about Business, Writing about Sustainability, Writing about Food, and Writing about Pop Culture.

Catalog Descriptions:
WRIT 100. INTRODUCTION TO COLLEGE WRITING. Prepares students to write in college by focusing on writing as process for a variety of contexts and audiences. Develops information literacy, awareness of conventions, skills of inquiry, exploration, and argumentation. Includes frequent conferencing with instructors and multimodal writing presented in ePortfolios. Students may not receive credit for both WRIT 100 and WRIT 101. (3)

WRIT 101. FIRST-YEAR WRITING I. Prepares students to write in college by focusing on writing as process for a variety of contexts and audiences. Develops information literacy, awareness of conventions, skills of inquiry, exploration, and argumentation. Includes multimodal writing presented in ePortfolios.. Students may not receive credit for both WRIT 100 and WRIT 101. (3)

WRIT 102. FIRST-YEAR WRITING II. Writing processes, skills of inquiry, exploration, and argumentation, with special emphasis on research, information literacy, and writing for a variety of contexts and audiences. Includes multimodal writing presented in ePortfolios. Prerequisite: Writ 100 or Writ 101. (3)

LIBA 102:  FIRST-YEAR SEMINAR. Students build on the formats and expectations of college readers established in WRIT 100 or 101, expanding writing processes, skills of inquiry, exploration, and argumentation. Special emphasis on research, information literacy, and writing for a variety of contexts and audiences. Includes multimodal writing in ePortfolios. Taught in seminar format and organized around one disciplinary research theme. For detailed course descriptions, please visit the Center for Writing and Rhetoric  https://www.olemiss.edu/cwr/liba102des.html Prerequisite: WRIT 100 or 101.

2. Humanities Lower Division Requirement (B.A. degree only)

The applicable gender studies courses are G St 103, 201, 301, 333.  In addition, gender studies courses that are cross-listed with African American studies, classical civilization, English, modern languages, philosophy, or religion courses will satisfy this requirement.

3. Modern or Ancient Language Requirement (B.A. or B.S. degrees)

a. Language training from the Department of Modern Languages or the Department of Classics will fulfill the requirement to pass 6 hours at the 200-level or higher in one language.

b. Please be aware that in some exceptional cases, entering students are able to start their language training at a more advanced level than the 100 or 200-level courses.  Advisors should speak with a language coordinator in the Department of Modern Languages or the chair in the Department of Classics.

c. With approval from the Department of Modern Languages, students may use languages other than those above to satisfy the language requirement by taking courses through study abroad or at another university.  Before, students were limited to those languages taught on our campus to fulfill this requirement.  Under this rule change, American Sign Language will be allowed, which will be taught beginning in Fall 2013 by the UM Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders – ASL 101, 102, 201, 202. College students must complete ASL 201 and 202 to satisfy the language requirement.

d. Speakers of languages other than English may present documentation to the Department of Modern Languages showing that they studied in high school in that language and will thus fulfill the language requirement.  Before, foreign students were required to follow the same language requirement as domestic students.  While they are not required to opt out of the language requirement through this type of documentation (i.e. they still may enroll in a third language study or enroll in classes in their native language at or beyond the 300-level), this is not an option.

e. Online and independent study courses are now allowed to complete the language requirement.  There are a couple of cautions for advisors.  The successful completion rate on independent study courses is rather low.  And, there will be limited online availability for language courses from UM.  Students must have prior permission from the dean’s office to take courses from another university while enrolled at UM.

4. Suggested Student Placement in Mathematics Courses

The Department of Mathematics suggests that students who have a mathematics ACT sub-score of 25 or higher (or the SAT equivalent) should not be placed in MATH 121, but rather take MATH 125, 261, or 267.  In addition, students who do not plan to advance to calculus courses may be better served by taking the MATH 115: Elementary Statistics course instead of MATH 121: College Algebra.

After completing MATH 261 with a C or higher, students may not receive credit for MATH 121, 125, or 267.

5. Natural Science Lower Division Requirement

Students who wish to use astronomy courses to satisfy the B.A. in Liberal Arts general education requirement for natural science must be aware that they will not receive credit for both ASTR 101 and ASTR 103. Similarly, a student will not receive credit for both ASTR 101 and ASTR 104.

6. Social Science and Humanities Requirement (B.S. degree only)

Beginning with the Fall 2012, the requirement for 12 hours of social science and humanities will specify that at least 6 hours must be chosen from the social sciences, which consist of anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology courses.

B.  PROGRAMS OF STUDY IN THE COLLEGE

MINORS

1. A minor in Neuroscience was approved for the Fall 2011.  It consists of 19-22 hours, including PSY 319, BISC 327, and four courses at the 300 level or above, of which at least one course must be a formal laboratory course or director-approved independent lab course (3 hours minimum), and at least one course must be at the 500 level.  The Fall 2011 catalog outlines the approved courses for this minor and gives more information. Lainy Day (Biology) is the director of the minor.  

2. A minor in Cinema was approved for the Fall 2011.  The minor consists of 18 semester hours, including THEA 250, ENGL 353, and 12 elective hours from the approved list.  The 12 elective hours must include 3 hours from the category of cinema production courses and 3 hours from the category of cinema studies courses.  Alan Arrivée (Theatre Arts) is the director of the minor. 

3. Approved Minors Outside of the College for the B.A. degree

There are only a few minors offered from departments outside of the College that are approved for students completing the B.A. degree, including Accountancy, Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Intelligence and Security Studies, Journalism, and Park and Recreation Management.

Beginning in the Fall 2012, the minor in Education will be available.  It consists of EDFD 209 (Foundations in Education); EDSP 308 (Introduction to Special Education); EDAV 427 (Educational Technology); and 9 additional hours of education courses at the 300-level or higher.  Issues in K-12 education related to pedagogy, child development, philosophy, and foundations are focus areas of this minor.

4. Majors and Minors in the Same Department

Except for the B.A. in African American Studies, International Studies, Liberal Studies, and Southern Studies, students who complete the B.A. degree in the College of Liberal Arts must complete a minor course of study (or a second major).  In a department that offers multiple areas of study, a student may complete the minor course of study (or complete a second major) in the same department as the one in which the student takes his or her major. The one exception is the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

5. Approved Optional Minor for the B.S. Degree

Beginning with the Fall 2012, students have the option of formally declaring a minor course of study with their Bachelor of Science degree, which will appear on the student’s transcript. The minors to select from are the same as those available to the students pursuing the Bachelor of Arts degree.  Required hours completed in the “Related Subjects” category for the B.S. degree can be counted as hours towards this optional minor.

C. MINIMUM GRADE OF C REQUIREMENTS FOR MAJORS/MINORS   

Some majors and/or minors in the College require a minimum grade of C in those department courses used to satisfy graduation requirements for the major or minor.  This rule is made effective beginning in a particular semester (indicated below in parenthesis) for all majors and/or minors regardless of when the student first enrolled at the University.  Please be aware that grades of C- will not fulfill this requirement.

  • African American Studies major (Spring 2005)
  • Art major for the B.F.A. degree (Fall 1980)
  • Biology major for the B.A. and B.S. degrees (Fall 2001)
  • Gender Studies minor (Fall 2006)
  • History major and minor (Fall 2003)
  • International Studies major and minor (Fall 2006)
  • Liberal Studies for the B.S. degree (Fall 2001)
  • Mathematics major for the B.A. and B.S. degrees. (Fall 1995)
  • Modern Languages majors in Chinese, French, German, Linguistics and Spanish; and minors in Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish (Fall 2007)
  • Music major for the B.A. and B.M. degrees (Fall 2000)
  • Philosophy major and minor (Fall 2004)
  • Political Science major and minor (Fall 2006)
  • Religious Studies major and minor (Spring 2009)
  • Theatre Arts major for the B.A. and B.F.A. degrees and the minor (Spring 2001)

D. UNIVERSITY CLASS ATTENDANCE POLICY

Students who do not attend the first day of a class may be removed from the class roll. The rule is as follows:

“Students must attend the first meeting of every course for which they are registered, unless they obtain prior departmental approval. Without such approval, a student who is absent from the first class meeting may be dropped from that class by the dean of the school or college with the responsibility for the course.”

It is the student’s responsibility to contact the department office prior to the first day of class to request permission to be absent. Each department will decide whether to enforce this policy.  Therefore, students must not depend upon the department dropping a class from their schedule if they do not attend the first day.

E. ACADEMIC RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS

A reminder of a university-wide regulation:  At least 25 percent of the semester credit hours required for an undergraduate degree (31 hours for a 124 hour degree) must be taken in residence.  At least 30 semester hours of residence credit must be taken in the College of Liberal Arts for those degrees offered in the College.  Hours from courses offered through the College that are taken before and after a student declares the major in the College may be used to satisfy this 30-hour residence requirement.