The following is a summary of recent and anticipated changes in the College; some changes occurring in Fall 2008 are also included to give ample time for notification.

Additionally, three proposed items under consideration this summer or early fall by the Regents are included in this memo.

Publications

The University of Iowa General Catalog for 2007-2008 is currently being updated, and the University community will be notified early in the fall semester when the new edition is online. Printed booklets highlighting individual departments and programs will also be made available.

The paper booklet Academic Policies and Other Useful Information for Students has ceased publication. Last spring, a number of the undergraduate colleges met to discuss the booklet, and the group decided to handle collegiate informational needs separately. This decision was made in part to avoid discrepancies between print materials and online publications that are updated more frequently.

The CLAS Student Academic Handbook will continue to be found online at the CLAS site and through the ISIS login page. The Handbook is updated as changes are implemented.

Essential academic information is also found in the Registrar 's online handbook , Academic Policies and Other Useful Information for Students.

Changes in General Education Course Offerings

The courses below have been added to the General Education Program effective Fall 2007 or earlier if noted:

• 0IH:008 Themes in Global Art in Foreign Civilization and Culture
• 002:040 Biology of the Brain reintroduced in the Natural Sciences non-lab
• 08G:005 Literatures of Native American Peoples, Humanities added to Cultural Diversity (Spring 2007)
• 009:005 Texts and Contexts in France and the French-Speaking World in Interpretation of Literature
• 009:70 World, Nature and Ecology in French Literature in Interpretation of Literature (Spring 2007)
• 13E:120 Germany in the World in Foreign Civilization and Culture
• 16A:112 Chicana/o History in Cultural Diversity (Spring 2007)
• 025:080 Jazz Cultures in America and Abroad in Cultural Diversity and Fine Arts
• 028:022 Resiliency and Your College Experience in Health and Physical Activity (Summer 2007)
• 032:006/39:006 Introduction to Buddhism in Foreign Civilization and Culture and Humanities (Spring 2007)
• 032:34 Introduction to African-American Religion in Cultural Diversity and Humanities
• 032:052 Woman and Islam in the Middle East in Foreign Civilization and Culture and Humanities
• 032:155 Human Rights and Islam in Humanities
• 041:093 Slavic Folklore in Foreign Civilization and Culture and Humanities (Spring 2007)
• 041:094 Religion and Culture of Slavs in Foreign Civilization and Culture and Historical Perspectives (Spring 2007)
• 045:001 Understanding American Culture with Cultural Diversity added to Humanities (Summe 2007)
• 048:010 Contemporary Cinema in Humanities
• 154:060 Sex and Popular Culture in Postwar US for Cultural Diversity (note title modification) (Summer 2007)
• 195:101 through 195:112 Arabic course sequence in Foreign Language.

The courses below have been dropped from the GE Program, currently effective unless otherwise noted:

• 08G: 013 Literature of Latino/as in the USA (will retain GE Humanities status through Fall 2007).
• 22M: 011 Introduction to Calculus with Applications from Quantitative and Formal Reasoning
• 113:118 Social Anthropology of the Caribbean from Foreign Civilization and Culture
• 113:119 Urban Anthropology from Social Sciences
• 113:127 Ethnology of Oceania from Foreign Civilization and Culture

For more information on General Education, including information on proposing a new course for the program and the five-year review cycle for existing GE courses, please visit the CLAS For Faculty pages concerning General Education. 

Changes in CLAS Policies and Procedures

Changes in CLAS policy were discussed and were recommended for approval by the Educational Policy Committee and the Faculty Assembly. Please see the minutes for those meetings at the CLAS For Faculty website.

Effective with Fall 2006, the Educational Policy Committee revised the CLAS policy and procedures for handling academic fraud. All reports of academic fraud must now be reported to the DEO as well as to CLAS. Please visit this link for information.

Effective with Fall 2006, the Educational Policy Committee revised CLAS guidelines for departments seeking to propose limited enrollment or selective admissions programs. The guidelines clarify the procedures generally used by EPC and CLAS considering selective admission or limited enrollment status for a program. The document stresses that as an enrollment management tool selective admissions or limited enrollment is very rarely approved by the College and only in extraordinary situations. The guidelines may be found at this link.

Effective with December 2006 degree conferrals, students are no longer required to earn an additional thirty semester hours in order to complete two baccalaureate degrees. Additionally, students may now finish the degrees concurrently or in succession. Students earning two degrees from one or more colleges are strongly advised to discuss the requirements for the degrees with the involved colleges. Please note that all other requirements for a degree or degrees remain in place (including the requirements of the GE programs, the majors, the colleges' residence requirements, and the University residence requirement.) For more information, please see the Student Academic Handbook .

Beginning with Fall 2007, CLAS will modify its second-grade-only option standard. Students will be allowed to exercise the second-grade-only option exclusively for courses where a grade of C- or lower has been earned regardless of the semester or session when the original course was taken . All other rules for the CLAS SGO policy will remain the same. Please note that other colleges may have other second-grade-only option policies that govern their courses; this policy applies only to courses administered by CLAS. The SGO policy may be found at this link .

Effective with Fall 2007, the Foreign Language Incentive Program (FLIP) has been modified. Students will now be allowed to earn up to 8 s.h. of FLIP credit in one language taken at the fifth-semester level or higher and/or will be able to earn 8 s.h. of FLIP credit in one language sequence taken through the fourth-semester level. All other rules governing FLIP remain the same. For example, FLIP 1 and FLIP 2 options may still be combined and no more than 8 semester hours of FLIP credit may be earned. Please visit the FLIP section of the CLAS Student Academic Handbook for more information.

Effective with Fall 2007, a 2.50 cumulative GPA on at least 24 semester hours of acceptable graded credit will be required for students to transfer to The University of Iowa if a student does not have an AA degree from a community college with an articulation agreement with The University of Iowa. Students with fewer than 24 semester hours will be considered based on a combination of high school and college academic records, as well as ACT or SAT scores. Please visit the Admissions website for transfer information.

Changes in CLAS Departments and Programs

Most departments add and drop courses every year or make minor adjustments such as renumbering or renaming courses; these changes are not included below unless they significantly affect programs.

Departments wishing to implement curricular changes must do so before February 15 and in time for the changes to appear in the next edition of the General Catalog. Please remember that many curricular changes, such as adding or dropping a minor, changing a departmental name, or creating a new certificate need approval of CLAS, the Provost, and the Regents, with the approval processing taking between six to twelve months. Departments considering curricular changes should review the For Faculty section in the CLAS online pages.

Effective Fall 2006, the Department of Exercise Science became the Department of Integrative Physiology.

Effective Summer 2007, no new majors will be admitted into the LSA Program beginning with the first day of the summer session, May 14, 2007. The Board of Regents formally approved the termination of the CLAS Literature, Science, and the Arts Program at their May 1, 2007 meeting. All currently declared majors have until Friday, July 29, 2011 to complete a BA degree with a major in Literature, Science, and the Arts. All requirements for the major remain the same and may be found in the current online General Catalog .

Students with questions should be directed to the Literature, Science, and Arts Program (414 Jefferson Building, 319.335.3497).

Effective Fall 2007, Communication Studies courses with a prerequisite cumulative GPA of 2.50 will require a cumulative 2.60; students wanting to declare Communication Studies as a major must also have a cumulative GPA of 2.60 (as well as the currently required 30 earned semester hours). Students who are declared Communication Studies majors before Fall 2007 will be allowed to enroll in communication studies classes and to maintain major status under the old requirements; all other students will be held to the 2.60 GPA. Additionally, the department is refocusing its curriculum, discontinuing media production courses in Fall 2007 and continuing instead to emphasize the historical, cultural, and critical analysis of media processes and institutions.

Effective Fall 2007, the Department of Health and Sport Studies will implement a selective admissions track in Sport Studies, effective Fall 2007. For more information, please contact the department.

Effective Fall 2007, the Interdisciplinary Major is adding an additional emphasis area in Arts Management within the Business track.

Effective Fall 2007, 008:005 Introduction to English Major: Theory & Practice will be required for all English majors who declare as of Fall 2007. Current majors are encouraged, though not required, to enroll in the course.

Effective Fall 2007, Theatre Arts has adjusted its major, increasing the total of required Theatre Arts courses from 32 s.h. to 35 s.h and making other changes. Please ask the department for details.

Effective Fall 2008, the Department of Dance will begin using auditions for acceptance into the major. Please speak with the department for more information.

CLAS Changes Under Consideration by the Regents for Fall 2007

The following changes have been approved by CLAS; they are awaiting final approval by the Regents. For questions about the changes, please contact the sponsoring department.

• The Department of Computer Science has proposed a new major in informatics.
• The Department of Biological Sciences has asked to have its name changed to the Department of Biology.
• The Department of Asian Languages and Literature has asked to change its name to the Department of Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures, reflecting the reorganization of the Russian Program with the Department of Asian and Slavic Languages and Literature.

Reminder of Registrar Additions to OSIRIS

Declaration of Minors

All advisors may now declare minors for their students using the student records page of OSIRIS. Students may also request that CLAS declare the minor for them by coming into 120 Schaeffer Hall and speaking with the staff. Beginning this summer, students will be able to declare their own minors through their ISIS account.

The declaration of a minor will trigger the creation of a degree evaluation for that minor, allowing students to track their academic progress. Degree evaluations for minors have not previously been available and should help eliminate confusion and questions over requirements. Please remember that all degree evaluations are created by the Registrar based on the requirements stated in the most recent General Catalog .

Electronic Authorization of Students to Register

The student records page on OSIRIS now allows advisors to authorize a student to registrar without issuing a four-digit registration code. The use of this new feature should eliminate last-minute emails and phone calls from students who have misplaced their codes.

In order to gain access to the OSIRIS student records page and its confidential information, faculty and advisors must complete the online FERPA training and request access to the student records page. This may be done online from a link on OSIRIS and is easily completed.

Other features of the student records page include the ability to view all degree evaluations including those for a declared second major or for a minor. Advisors may also view other vital advising information by using the pull-down menu in the top right of the page.

Using the online student records page eliminates the need for a paper copy of a student's degree evaluation.

All faculty advising students and other academic advisors are strongly encouraged to complete FERPA training and to begin using the OSIRIS student records page in anticipation of the University's move toward a paperless environment.

For questions concerning CLAS policies and procedures or changes in departmental programs, please contact Helena Dettmer ; please contact Luke Flaherty for issues involving academic records.