Implementation of White Paper - Review of Academic Programs
Frequently asked Questions
- How many undergraduate units would we recommend given that students might want to double major?
- How might we work in Induction?
- Can participation be included in a capstone?
- Can we have full year units worth 3cp?
- How many undergraduate units would we recommend that a major require given that students might want to double major?
- Can two majors share a capstone unit?
- Can a core unit be nominated for 'people' or 'planet' designation?
- Is the capstone counted in the 12 credit point requirement for a major?
- Can a unit be both a 'people' and 'planet' unit?
- How can we ensure that students have the breadth of experience envisioned in the 'people' and 'planet' initiative in the White Paper?
- What does "completing a major" mean?
- What do I say to potential students at Open Day about degrees and units in 2009?
- Can we propose 1 or 2cp units?
- Can capstone or induction (component 2) units be worth less than 3cp?
- Why do we have to designate a unit to a degree, and can we assign a unit to more than one degree?
- Will there be one participation unit for the whole university?
- Do students have to complete both a designated People unit, and a designated Planet unit?
How many undergraduate units would we recommend given that students might want to double major?
In order to leave enough room for students to double major, we recommend a range of 7-11 units over a regular degree. 7 is optimal, and 11 is possible but really at the maximum.How might we work in induction?
Induction activities could be scheduled in tutorial/teaching rooms booked for classes that do not run in week 1 (i.e. tutorial rooms that are not used until week 2).Can participation be included in a capstone?
Participation may be included within a Capstone Unit, but it must involve outside community engagement.Can we have full year units worth 3cp?
Resolution 04/132, made by APC in June 2004 states:'That Divisions be required to remove all full-year units from the schedule of units from the commencement of 2005, except if this will have an undesirable effect on the conduct of the unit. All requests to retain a full-year offering should be submitted in writing to APC by no later than 27 July 2004.'
How many undergraduate units would we recommend that a major require given that students might want to double major?
In order to leave enough room for students to double major (or do the pre-requisites for the 300-level component of a minor), we recommend that a major require 24 to 33 credit points. 12 of these credit points are the 300-level requirement (either four 3 credit point units or three 4 credit point units). The remainder is the pre-requisites for those units, which may be 4 to 7 100- & 200-level units. 4 is optimal, and 7 is possible but really at the maximum. While recognising that different combinations of 300-level units within a major may require different combinations of 100- and 200-level units, for each such combination it should be possible to completely fulfil the requirements of the particular set of 300-level units within some combination of 4 to 7 100- and 200-level units. Note that this 4 to 7 recommendation includes *all* the study a student needs to enter those 300-level units (ie the 100-level units required by the 200-level units which are the pre-requsities for the 300-level units).Can two majors share a capstone unit?
No. Every major needs its own capstone because units cannot be double counted for majors.Can a core unit be nominated for 'people' or 'planet' designation?
There are two ways of responding to this: yes, if it means opening up one of your core units to students from other departments and faculties. Bear in mind that the unit should not have prerequisites that lock those other students out. No if it means that you want students to complete the 'P' component of their degree within your department. The principle driving the People and Planet units is that students gain a broader experience during their studies.Is the capstone counted in the 12 credit point requirement for a major?
Yes they are.Can a unit be both a 'people' and 'planet' unit?
No, units can be designated as 'people' or 'planet', but not both.How can we ensure that students have the breadth of experience envisioned in the 'people' and 'planet' initiative in the White Paper?
There are two main ways that this will be achieved.First, no department will be able to propose both 'people' and 'planet' units, and double 'People-Planet' units. Departments that see their offerings as straddling both areas are asked to decide between them. Students will of course continue to benefit from the multidimensional offerings of such departments, but this program is designed to introduce students to the many ways in which our world - past and present - is understood across campus.
Second, academic advice is important. Encourage students to look further afield, and to try approaches to study outside of their chosen major. Give them the chance to experience study outside of your department, and - if you are part of a 'named' degree - give them the space in your program to do so.
What does "completing a major" mean?
First all, all student completing a major must complete a capstone unit. Unless *every* 300 unit that a student could take within the major is designated as a capstone unit (very unlikely) then there has to be a specification within the major that ensures that the student will take a capstone unit.If there is more than one 300-level unit that fulfils the capstone requirement, then the students can be given the choice as to which one to take. So it could say (using DISC as a example code prefix):
*students must take DISC301
or
*students must take at last one of DISC301 and DISC302
Assuming in the first case only DISC301 was capstone unit and in the second both DISC301 and DISC302 were capstone units. The obvious extension is possible if the major include more than two units that are designated as capstones. However, most majors will contain only one capstone unit and students will then have to take that unit to complete the capstone.It is strongly advised that there be no requirement for students to take more than 12cp of 300-level units to qualify for a major. Part of the intent behind the white paper is to allow students to possibly:
1. do two majors
This will means they would have to be able to fulfil the 300-level requirements of both majors in their third year of study (8 units). So each could require no more than 12cp of 300-level units,
or
2. do a major and a minorQualification for a BSc, BA, BComm, requires a minimum of six 300-level units. Within that a student should, if they wish, be able to qualify for a major and a minor. A minor is half a major. Therefore majors should require only four 300-level units, meaning minors require only two.
Any major which *requires* more than four 300-level units will not enable these options and is therefore outside the spirit of the white paper.
Students do not have to do a minor, nor are they limited to only six 300-level units in their degree. So even though majors should only require four 300-level units, a student will be free to take more than that. However, satisfying the requirements of the major should involve no more than four 300-level units.
How disciplines choose to specify those requirements is up to them. It could be as restrictive as DISC301, DISC302, DISC303, DISC304 or, as general as DISC301 and any 9cp from DISC302-DISC399
It could be somewhere in between, such as DISC301, DISC302 and 6cp from DISC303-DISC399.
Even specifications such as DISC301, one of DISC302, DISC303, DISC304, 6 cp from DISC302-DISC399 are possible. And it is no mistake that the range in the last one says 302 (not 305) as you may want students to take more than one of 302,303,304. But it could have been 305, if that's what you wanted.
Another example
DISC301, one of DISC302 & DISC303, one of DISC304 & DISC305, 3 cp from
DISC306-DISC399.Also, majors do not have to consist purely of units with one course code, so the following is also possible
DISC301, 6cp from DISC302-399, 3 cp from CSID301-399
or
DISC301, 6cp from DISC302-399, 3cp from DICS302-399, CSID301-399You do have to exercise some care with mixing in units that might also appear in another major because a minor requires half of a major (which includes two 300-level units, as above) If you had a major in DISC specified as, say
DISC301, 3cp from DISC302-399, 6cp from DICS302-399, CSID301-399
Then a student could take 6cp of CSID units, no DISC units and claim a minor
in DISC. This is not specifically prohibited by the white paper, but something a discipline should probably be cautious about.Now, the above is solely about the 300-level requirement, which is only part of what students have to do.
You also need to make sure that whatever combination of four 300-level units a student takes (or at least for the vast majority of them, including the likely ones) a student can fulfil *all* necessary prerequisites for those units within 4-7 units (assuming 3cp units). This includes all the 200-level units that are pre-reqs for the 300-level units, and all the 100-level units that are pre-reqs for those 200-level
units. If there are any units outside the discipline of the major that are pre-reqs, they are also within the limit.Now this does not mean that the pre-reqs for all combinations of four 300-level units in the major have to be satisfied with a particular set of 4-7 units, but that each set of four 300-level units can have its pre-requisites satisfied by its own particular set of 4-7 units.
For example one set of four 300-level units that satisfy the major may require:
DISC101, DISC102, DISC201, DISC202
another:
DISC101, DISC203, DISC204, DISC205
another:
DISC101, DISC102, CDISC101, DISC201, DISC203, CDISC201Each of these is between 4 and 7 units, but between they include more than 7 - that doesn't matter, because they require no individual student to take more than 7 units in satisfying the pre-reqs for their four 300-level units. And all require at least 24cp.
What do I say to potential students at Open Day about degrees and units in 2009?
Students enrolling in 2009 follow the current arrangements. They will not complete the requirements of degrees set out in the White Paper (eg people, planet, participation) unless they decide to switch across to the new programs in 2010 onwards.Can we propose 1 or 2cp units?
No, the minimum and expected standard is 3cp. Departments can propose 3cp units at 100-level, 3cp units at 200-level and 3 or 4 cp units at 300 level or above. Units cannot shift up to 4, and those units that are currently 4 will have to switch down to 3 in future. Departments should consider moving 300-level offerings down to 3cp in order to avoid asking staff to switch twice (once now, and one more time in the near future).Can capstone or induction (component 2) units be worth less than 3cp?
No, capstones are full units, and should be worth 3cp. They can be existing units, or proposed new ones. Proposals for new capstones should be completed by the Feburary deadline set by Faculty FSQCs. Component 2 of induction will be embedded within existing units of study at 100-level, and those units will be worth 3cp.Why do we have to designate a unit to a degree, and can we assign a unit to more than one degree?
Units have to be linked to degrees so that both students and staff know when a student has completed the requirements of a major (pp. 22-3 of the White paper). Units can be assigned to more than one degree.Will there be one participation unit for the whole university?
University-wide arrangements for participation are the focus of a working group at present. There already exist a number of units that might be registered as 'participation' units. Departments who have units of that type - which fit the guidelines on participation - are welcome to nominate them on the unit renewal form. Senate will approve the list of People, Planet and Participation units.Do students have to complete both a designated People unit, and a designated Planet unit?
Unless the student is an international student who is taking English for academic purposes (p. 11, White Paper) and who is exempt from a 'People' unit, all students will have to complete both a designated People and a designated Planet unit. Senate will approve the list of People and Planet units, and their status will be indicated in the Handbook. All degrees will accommodate those requirements.