MU logo Governance Manual
Home Calendar Directories News! Search Help

Section 3: Undergraduate Academic Policies

Course and Program Modification Policies : Course Identification Policies

Course Numbering and Renumbering Guidelines:

In order to provide meaningful numbers which may be interpreted by students, staff and other persons, the following numbering system for courses being offered at Millersville shall apply:

  1. Course numbers will contain three digits with no alphabetical prefixes or suffixes.
  2. The first digit should indicate the nature of the course.

Lower Level Courses

0## developmental, remedial or pre-college level courses                                                               
1## Introductory courses in a discipline

Upper Level Courses


   
2## intermediate courses in a discipline (survey courses in a major may be included)
3## specialized courses in a discipline
4## specialized courses requiring proficiency in a discipline
5## first level graduate courses (these courses may be taken by advanced undergraduate; however, a course with a number five or higher may not be required of an undergraduate student
6## graduate courses 

(Approved by FS 11/5/02; AA 4/16/03)

  1. The second digit may be used by departments to indicate an area of study within a department.

    0 in the second position would indicate general studies. This "0" will identify those courses which may be open to all students; for example, Art 100, Music 100, Biology 100, etc.
    1-9 should be used by a department to designate an area of study. For example, in the earth sciences department a "1" in the second position would indicate courses dealing with astronomy; a "2" courses dealing with geology; a "4" meteorology studies; a "6" oceanography, etc.

  2. The third digit should indicate a sequence within a discipline which a student should follow or a "stand alone" course.

    0 in the third position would indicate a "stand alone" course within a discipline, which has no prior or subsequent courses being offered in this area. For example, Art 100, Biology 100
    1, 2, 3, 4 in the third position would indicate a sequence of courses. For example, English 221, 222, 223, 224
    5, 6, or 7 in the third position would indicate a course which has a prerequisite but is not a part of a sequence of offerings
    8 in the third position would indicate an independent study, a seminar course, or a research report. For example, Industrial Arts 698, Math 498
    9 in the third position would indicate an honors course, or graduate thesis. For example, Psychology 699, Political Science 499


Divisional Courses and Designations:

  1. In addition to courses being offered with a departmental designation, courses may be offered using four divisional designations: Education (EDHS), Humanities/Fine Arts (HMFA), Social Sciences (SSCI), or Science/Mathematics (SCMA).

  2. Courses carrying a divisional designation must be cross- or multi-disciplinary in content or deal with topics that are not appropriate offerings for individual department(s) within the division, but are considered the domain of the division.

Divisional courses must be sponsored by the appropriate school or divisional curriculum committee. These courses shall be listed separately by division in the undergraduate catalog and all class schedules. Area Studies Programs, which are approved by the Senate, are exempt from specific departmental labels and sponsorship.

Dual-Numbered Course Procedures:

  1. Departments wishing to offer a course to both undergraduate and graduate students should number the course with a 500 number.

  2. If a department feels that the single 500 number is not adequate and the course needs to be dual-numbered then it submits the following items:

    1. Justification for dual-numbering
    2. Statement of distinction between undergraduate and graduate assignments.
    3. Statement of distinction between the evaluation of undergraduate and graduate students.
    4. Resources (available graduate faculty, etc.)
    5. Need for and rationale for the course.
    6. Syllabus for each course which will include the following:
      • Course number and title
      • Catalogue description
      • Topical course outline
      • Method of evaluation
      • Texts
      • References

  3. The material is to be submitted first to the Graduate Course and Program Review Committee; upon approval of this body the material is to be submitted to the Undergraduate Course and Program Review Committee. If substantive changes are made by this committee in anything other than the undergraduate syllabus then the material is to be resubmitted to the Graduate Course and Program Review Committee.

  4. If issues which cannot be resolved by the two committees should arise, then two appointed members of the Graduate Committee will meet with two appointed members of the Undergraduate Committee to resolve differences.

  5. Once the dual-numbered course proposals have been approved by both bodies, they will be sent to Faculty Senate for its approval.

  6. The counting of teaching load for faculty who teach dual-numbered courses should be on the basis of the undergraduate course assignment, i.e.: the presence of graduate students earning graduate credit in a dual-numbered course does not constitute or count toward a graduate load assignment.

  7. The simultaneous teaching of dual-numbered courses shall count as only a single preparation.


Go Back to the Governance Manual Table of Contents
Go Back to Section 3 Table of Contents