College of Liberal Arts Instructions for Changes to the Undergraduate Catalog, 2008-2010

Changes Requiring Faculty Council Legislative Approval

Faculty Council legislative approval is required for all changes to degree requirements and academic policies, including changes to MAJOR, MINOR, HONORS PROGRAM, CONCENTRATION, SPECIAL PROGRAMS, and other ACADEMIC POLICIES. Proposals are first submitted to CoLA for approval, after which they must be approved by the Faculty Council, the provost, and the executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.

[Note: Proposals for adding a new major, dropping an existing major, or renaming a major require the approval of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and additional documentation. They have an earlier submission deadline, April 15, 2009. Please contact Cynthia Cervantes, cac@austin.utexas.edu, if you have questions about this procedure.]

Deadline for proposals to be submitted to the college of liberal arts:

July 3, 2009

The instructions below have been designed to assist you in preparing your catalog documents. I have simplified the process by combining all of the sections of the Undergraduate Catalog, 2008-2010, relevant to your major(s) or program(s) into one document. A physical copy of the Word document has been sent to your chairperson or center/program director, along with a memo from Associate Dean Richard Flores outlining deadlines and summarizing procedures. If your department or program will be making changes, please send an email to cac@austin.utexas.edu and I will forward you an electronic copy of the Catalog document, along with a modifiable impact statement form in Word format. I am also available by phone at 232-2987 if you have any questions.

Table of Contents

I. Impact Statement
II. Catalog Document
   1. Open document
   2. Create document
       Examples
   3. Location Statement
       Examples
   4. Edit Catalog Text
   5. Save document
III. Letter from Chair
IV. Final Submission
Contact

I. impact statement:

titled proposed changes to degree programs in the undergraduate catalog, 2010-2012 or law school catalog, 2010-2012:

An impact statement form is required as the "cover document" for ALL legislative proposals. The impact statement includes questions about key elements of the proposed legislation. A submission may be returned to you if the impact statement form is not filled out in its entirety and/or the rationale for the change is not thoroughly explained.

II. catalog document:

A draft of your section of the catalog showing proposed changes to major, minor, concentration, honors program, or certificate program must be prepared in the legislative format required by the Office of the General Faculty (OGF). Please use the same font as used in the catalog (Times: 10 point for text).

1. Open the Word document that includes your program’s catalog text (forwarded to you at your request).

2. Create a new Word document:

COPY the section(s) you intend to modify from the original catalog document and PASTE to your new document. Please include only sections that require legislative approval.
The document must include a TITLE HEADING at the top of the page. I have included several examples of the required format below. The heading should be centered, capitalized in bold, and clearly identify the program being changed. Use the new Undergraduate Catalog year span, 2010-2012, in the heading:

Example 1: Change to the requirements of a Major:
CHANGES IN REQUIREMENTS FOR THE BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE WITH A MAJOR IN ASIAN STUDIES IN THE COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS CHAPTER OF THE UNDERGRADUATE CATALOG, 2010-2012

Example 2: Change to the requirements of a Minor:
CHANGES IN REQUIREMENTS FOR EARNING A MINOR FOR THE BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE WITH A MAJOR IN ASIAN STUDIES IN THE COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS CHAPTER OF THE UNDERGRADUATE CATALOG, 2010-2012

Example 3: Change to the requirements of a Departmental Honors program:
CHANGES IN REQUIREMENTS FOR EARNING DEPARTMENTAL HONORS FOR THE BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE WITH A MAJOR IN ASIAN STUDIES IN THE COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS CHAPTER OF THE UNDERGRADUATE CATALOG, 2010-2012

3. LOCATION statement

- the introductory statement on your document, . You will need a physical copy of the 2008-2010 (current) Undergraduate Catalog in order to find the page numbers and section names that correspond with the requirements you intend to change. Use the current Undergrad Catalog years in the location statement.

EXAMPLE 1 (Asian Studies major):
On pages 300-301, under the heading DEGREES, in the MAJORS AND MINORS subsection of the College of Liberal Arts chapter of the Undergraduate Catalog, 2008-2010, make the following changes:

EXAMPLE 2 (Asian Studies honors program):
On page 287, under the heading ACADEMIC POLICIES AND PROCEDURES, in the HONORS subsection of the College of Liberal Arts chapter of the Undergraduate Catalog, 2006-2008, make the following changes:

4. EDIT CATALOG TEXT: (note: DO NOT USE THE “TRACK CHANGES” FUNCTION)

1) Information to be DELETED:

Enclose phrases/words/sections to be DELETED in brackets;
Use the strikethrough command to draw a single line through the deletion within the brackets. The strikethrough command can be found on your Formatting Palette in Word under Font and is characterized by the symbol ABC.
Do NOT underline information to be deleted.

2) Information to be ADDED:

INSERT at the appropriate location within the existing catalog text;
Underline ALL additions to the existing text, even if they are minor. The underline command can be found on your Formatting Palette under Font and is characterized by the symbol U.
Do NOT enclose added text in brackets.

5. SAVE your document using the appropriate program and catalog dates in the document name, e. g., ANS 2010-12; ANS-DH 2010-12; ANS minor 2010-12

III. Letter from Chair or Center/Program Director, addressed to Richard R. Flores, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs:

Should include the following information:

Detail about the requirement being changed and the nature of the change;
Rationale for the change;
Statement of the method and date the changes were approved by your department:

Example: "This change was approved by [our department faculty; our undergraduate faculty committee; etc.] on March 18, 2007;"

Signature of your department chair or center/program director.

IV. FINAL SUBMISSION:

1. Collect the following documents and send by Campus mail to Richard R. Flores, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, c/o Cynthia Cervantes, GEB 4.210, mail code G6000:

Cover letter from chair or center/program director;
Document showing proposed changes to your major, minor, honors requirements, concentration, or program in the legislative format described above;
Impact statement (form mentioned in item I, to be sent to you electronically);
Non-legislative change revised catalog pages, including changes/additions/deletions of Scholarship information, with revisions notated neatly in red (see memo.)

2. If your department/center/program will not be proposing changes to the Undergraduate Catalog for the academic years 2010-2012, please send us the following:

a memo/letter signed by your chair/director stating that "The department of __________will be proposing no changes to the Undergraduate Catalog for the academic years 2010-2012.” You may also send this statement by email if you prefer.
return your original catalog materials to us by campus mail.

3. Email the following documents to Cynthia Cervantes, cac@austin.utexas.edu:

Completed "impact statement"
The completed Word document reflecting your proposed changes to the catalog, appropriately titled and in the legislative format described in this document.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or comments.

Thank you,

Cynthia Cervantes
College of Liberal Arts
cac@austin.utexas.edu
512-232-2987