from the Office of the Dean of Undergraduates

• It is the student’s responsibility to present the course proposal to his/her College Master for College approval and subsequent recommendation to the Dean of Undergraduates. To ensure that there is sufficient time for review within the college, each proposal should be submitted to the college masters with sufficient time in advance of the proposal deadline, as specified by the college masters.
• Does the title/topic of the course match the syllabus/subject matter? In other words, will the course actually address what the instructor claims they will teach? Similarly, does the course teach what should be covered in a course on that topic, as judged by an expert in the general field? As an important part of this criterion, the subject matter of the course must not already be offered at Rice.
• Is the topic sufficiently well-defined that the topic can be covered in the limited amount of time for a 1 credit course? The course should not sacrifice depth for breadth and should not attempt to accomplish too much within the constraints of a student taught course.
• Does the course provide more than one perspective on the topic? In other words, has the instructor included additional appropriate readings, guest lectures, videos, etc. into the syllabus for the course? A good course provides the students with a synthesis of material from more than one viewpoint. There are numerous ways to accomplish this synthesis. The course needs to present more than just the student instructor’s own view. The course proposal should include a detailed plan for providing both synthesis and multiple perspectives, along with an explanation of the instructor’s qualifications to teach a course on the subject matter.
• Do the assignments in the course actually match the learning objectives and the subject matter of the course? Will a student who completes the assignments have met the objectives of the course? This is particularly important since the courses are graded S/U only.
• For courses which involve physical activity or skills development, are the appropriate safety precautions and training in place? Risk management should be consulted, and for physical activity courses which require appropriate spaces, the Director of the Recreation Center and the Director of the Lifetime Physical Activity Program must be consulted.
• Does the course proposal have the support of the faculty associates of the college? This can be provided in a manner determined by the college masters and may include a designated subset of the faculty associates. To ensure that there is sufficient time for review within the college, each proposal should be submitted to the college masters with sufficient time in advance of the proposal deadline, as specified by the college masters. The masters may find it helpful to have the input of the academic fellows/mentors in the college during this process.
• The best procedural step to ensure that the answers to these questions are positive is through the mentoring provided by the faculty sponsor. This is facilitated when the faculty sponsor provides a statement (approximately 1 page) addressing the substance of the course, the supporting materials, the learning objectives, and the assignments. As such, it is imperative that the student instructor work with the faculty sponsor from the outset of the planning process, rather than at the last minute.