COURSE PROPOSAL

Course Name: Listening and Interviewing 
Course Prefix: COMM
Course Number: 3060
             Submitted by (Name & E-Mail):  Becky Johns, bjohns@weber.edu

Current Date:  9/22/2011
College: Arts & Humanities
Department:   Communication                              
From Term: Fall  2012 

Substantive

change 

Current Course Subject COMM
Current Course Number 3060

COMM 3060. Listening Theory (3) Study of listening theory and literature in various contexts including public, interpersonal and intercultural settings. Student exploration and application of listening theories. Prerequisites for Communication majors, minors and BIS students: COMM HU1020, 1130, 2110, and acceptance in program; pre/co-requisite, COMM 3000. Prerequisite for non-Communication students: advanced standing.

New/Revised Course Information:

Subject:  COMM            

Course Number: 3060

 Check all that apply:
    This is for courses already approved for gen ed.
    Use a different form for proposing a new gen ed designation.
DV  CA  HU  LS  PS  SS 
EN  AI  QL  TA  TB  TC  TD  TE

Course Title: Listening and Interviewing

Abbreviated Course Title: Listening and Interviewing

Course Type:  LEC

Credit Hours:  3  or if variable hours:    to

Contact Hours: Lecture 3  Lab    Other

Repeat Information:  Limit 0   Max Hrs 0 

Grading Mode:  standard

This course is/will be: a required course in a major program
a required course in a minor program
a required course in a 1- or 2- year program
elective

Prerequisites/Co-requisites:

Prerequisite - COMM 3000

Course description (exactly as it will appear in the catalog, including prerequisites):

COMM 3060
Listening and Interviewing
This course covers the purpose, structure, focus, and techniques employed in effective listening and interviewing. Emphasis is placed on observing, attending, listening, responding, recording, and summarizing in a variety of interviewing settings. This course is designed to offer students insight into improved listening and interviewing practices. The theory and research concerning the process of listening and the practice of interviewing will form the basis for students' understanding about listening and interviewing behavior. This course then applies that knowledge to the development of listening and interviewing skills.
Prerequisite: COMM 3000

Justification for the new course or for changes to an existing course. (Note: Justification should emphasize academic rationale for the change or new course. This is particularly important for courses requesting upper-division status.)

This course has existed in our department and has been taught on a regular basis as Listening Theory only. The Department of Communication has long been aware that Interviewing is a necessary course for our majors and appears in almost every other communication department curricula across the nation.

The Listening Theory version of this course has been taught most recently with a culminating activity in which the students do an Oral History. It occurred to our department members that the teaching of interviewing skills, which we had long wanted to include in our curriculum, could be effectively and usefully combined with Listening Theory. Thus, making for a much stronger course. In addition we can cover the area of Interviewing without the need to add another course to our curriculum. We anticipate that adding Interviewing to Listening Theory will also increase enrollments in this course and may attract students who are not communication majors.

INFORMATION PAGE
for substantive proposals only

1. Did this course receive unanimous approval within the Department?

true

If not, what are the major concerns raised by the opponents?

2. If this is a new course proposal, could you achieve the desired results by revising an existing course within your department or by requiring an existing course in another department?

This is a revised course.

3. How will the proposed course differ from similar offerings by other departments? Comment on any subject overlap between this course and topics generally taught by other departments, even if no similar courses are currently offered by the other departments. Explain any effects that this proposal will have on program requirements or enrollments in other department. Please forward letters (email communication is sufficient) from all departments that you have identified above stating their support or opposition to the proposed course.

There are other courses which seem to have interviewing as a part of their course but they mostly exist in the helping professions such as social work, nursing and psychology. These types of interviews are not covered in the proposed changed course except to demonstrate listening and interviewing skills. We do not ask our students to act as interviewers to gain personal, health, or mental health information.

4. Is this course required for certification/accreditation of a program?

no

If so, a statement to that effect should appear in the justification and supporting documents should accompany this form.

5. For course proposals, e-mail a syllabus to Faculty Senate which should be sufficiently detailed that the committees can determine that the course is at the appropriate level and matches the description. There should be an indication of the amount and type of outside activity required in the course (projects, research papers, homework, etc.).