PROGRAM CHANGES

WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY

Submission Date: November 10, 2009

College: Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts and Humanities

Department: Foreign Languages and Literatures

Program Title: All Foreign Language Majors and Minors (French, German, Japanese, and Spanish)

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

The Department of Foreign Languages proposes to change our lower division sequence (FL 1010, FL 1020, FL 2010, FL HU2020 and FL 2021) from four credit hours to three credit hours each. These courses are prerequisites for the majors and minors in foreign languages.

At the same time, the Department is proposing a new course, FL 2030 (3 credit hours) to help prepare those students who wish to continue into upper-division language study.

Check all that apply:

____New course(s) required for major, minor, emphasis, or concentration.

____Modified course(s) required for major, minor, emphasis, or concentration.

____Credit hour change(s) required for major, minor, emphasis, or concentration.

____Credit hour change(s) for a course which is required for the major, minor, emphasis, or concentration.

____Attribute change(s) for any course.

____Program name change.

____Deletion of required course(s).

__X__Other changes (specify) __ Credit hour changes that apply only to prerequisite courses, the number of hours required for the majors or minors in foreign languages remains unchanged.

If multiple changes are being proposed, please provide a summary. Use strikeout (strikeout) when deleting items in the program and highlight (highlight) when adding items.

Submit the original to the Faculty Senate Office, MC 1033, and an electronic copy to kbrown4 @weber.edu

JUSTIFICATION:

There are three major justifications:

1) Students are currently struggling with the pace of these courses and taking things a little slower will allow students to have a more successful experience; by requiring less material in each semester, students will have more time to assimilate the material and practice skills. Nationally it is quite common for first and second year language classes to earn three credit hours.

2) Three credit hours will be much easier for our students to fit into their course schedules and will allow for a more efficient use of classroom space and faculty resources.

3) The change will allow a more harmonious integration of the current university curriculum proposal regarding the Bachelor of Arts requirements.

Some of our students intend to continue study of the language at the upper-division level. This reduction in hours would leave them less prepared for this move than is currently the case, therefore, the Dept. of Foreign Languages is proposing a new course, FL 2030 (3 credit hours), which will help students bridge the gap between second year language study and upper-division.

In addition, the WSU Faculty Senate is now considering a proposal that would require all WSU students who are pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree to complete six credit hours of a foreign language. Our current credit hour distribution is incompatible with the change, should it be approved.

INFORMATION PAGE

Attach a copy of the present program from the current catalog and a revised version (exactly as you wish it to appear in the catalog).

(see attached)

Did this program change receive unanimous approval within the Department? No If not, what are the major concerns raised by the opponents?

Nine of twelve faculty (75%) voted in favor of this proposal. The three who voted not to proceed expressed concerns with a perceived rush in the decision, the loss of contact hours in first year and an inability, if we no longer have four credit-hour courses, to teach only three classes per semester. No viable alternatives were proposed.

Explain any effects this program change will have on program requirements or enrollments in other departments including the Bachelor of Integrated Studies Program. In the case of similar offerings or affected programs, you should include letters from the departments in question stating their support or opposition to the proposed program.

This change will not affect any program or enrollments in any other departments. No other department maintains similar offerings.

Indicate the number of credit hours for course work within the program. (Do not include credit hours for General Education, SI, Diversity, or other courses unless those courses fulfill requirements within the proposed program.)

The credit hours for each program in the department are unchanged. This proposal affects only prerequisite courses.

Majors: 30.5 upper-division credit hours

Majors with commercial emphasis: 30.5 upper-division credit hours

Teaching Majors: 36.5 upper-division credit hours

Minors: 15 upper-division credit hours

Minors with commercial emphasis: 15 upper-division credit hours

Teaching Minors: 21 upper-division credit hours

Indicate the number of credit hours for course work within the current program. (Do not include credit hours for General Education, SI, Diversity, or other courses unless those courses fulfill requirements within the current program.) ____

Same as above.