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3896 DOCUMENTS OF THE GENERAL FACULTY CHANGES IN THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BIOLOGY IN THE COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES CHAPTER OF THE UNDERGRADUATE CATALOG, 2006-2008 Dean Mary Ann Rankin of the College of Natural Sciences has filed with the secretary of the Faculty Council proposed changes to the Bachelor of Science in Biology in the College of Natural Sciences chapter in The Undergraduate Catalog, 2006-2008. The faculty of the college approved the changes on October 7, 2004. The dean approved the proposed changes on February 4, 2005, and submitted them to the secretary on February 7, 2005. The secretary has classified this proposal as legislation of exclusive application and primary interest to a single college or school. The edited proposal was received from the Office of Official Publications on March 8, 2005, and was sent to the Committee on Undergraduate Degree Program Review from the Office of the General Faculty on March 10, 2005. The committee forwarded the proposed changes to the Office of the General Faculty on April 1, 2005, recommending approval. The authority to grant final approval on behalf of the General Faculty resides with the Faculty Council. If no objection is filed with the Office of the General Faculty by the date specified below, the legislation will be held to have been approved by the Faculty Council. If an objection is filed within the prescribed period, the legislation will be presented to the Faculty Council at its next meeting. The objection, with reasons, must be signed by a member of the Faculty Council. To be counted, a protest must be received in the Office of the General Faculty by May 2, 2005. <signed> Sue Alexander Greninger, Secretary The Faculty Council This legislation was posted on the Faculty Council Web site (http://www.utexas.edu/faculty/council/) on April 25, 2005. Paper copies are available on request from the Office of the General Faculty, FAC 22, F9500. 3897 CHANGES IN THE BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BIOLOGY IN THE COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES CHAPTER OF THE UNDERGRADUATE CATALOG, 2006-2008 On pages 429-433, under the heading DEGREES, in the BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BIOLOGY section in the College of Natural Sciences chapter of The Undergraduate Catalog, 2004-2006, make the following changes: BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BIOLOGY The Bachelor of Science in Biology degree program offers [eight] nine options: ecology, evolution, and behavior; human biology; marine and freshwater biology; microbiology; cell and molecular biology; neurobiology; plant biology; [and a teaching option] teaching; and biology honors. (Admission to option IX, biology honors, requires completion of the application process described on page 418.) The options have certain prescribed work in common, and each option has additional requirements. Many fields in the study of biological systems require broadly based training that transcends the classical boundaries of biology. In planning a program of work to meet his or her degree requirements, a student interested in specializing in these interdisciplinary areas should choose courses both in biology and in sciences that complement biology. Students who plan to complete the program within four years will have little flexibility in course selection unless they plan a schedule in advance. See "Order and Choice of Work" on page 433 for more information. PRESCRIBED WORK [COMMON TO ALL OPTIONS] 1. Rhetoric and Composition 306 and English 316K. In addition, in taking courses to fulfill other degree requirements, the student must complete two courses certified as having a substantial writing component; one of these courses must be upper-division. If the writing requirement is not fulfilled by courses specified for the degree, the student must fulfill it either with electives or with coursework taken in addition to the number of hours required for the degree. Courses with a substantial writing component are identified in the Course Schedule. 2. Options I–VII: One of the following foreign language/culture [options:] choices. Students in options VIII and IX are exempt from this requirement.5 a. Second-semester-level proficiency in a foreign language. b. First-semester-level proficiency in a foreign language and a three-semester-hour course in the culture of the same language area. c. Two three-hour foreign culture courses chosen from a list available in the dean’s office and the college advising centers. [Students who follow the teaching options are exempt from this requirement.] 3. Six semester hours of American government, including Texas government. 4. Six semester hours of American history. 5. Three semester hours in anthropology, economics, geography, linguistics, psychology, or sociology. 6. Three semester hours in architecture, art (including art history, design, studio art, visual art studies), classics (including classical civilization, Greek, Latin), fine arts, music (including music, instruments, ensemble), philosophy (excluding courses in logic), or theatre and dance. 7. Options I–VIII: Mathematics 408C and 408D, or Mathematics 408K and 408L. Option IX: An honors-designated mathematics course that is restricted to those who have earned credit on the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) Examination in Calculus. Algebra courses at the level of Mathematics 301 or the equivalent may not be counted toward the total number of hours required for the degree. Students who enter the University with fewer than three units of high school mathematics at the level of Algebra I or higher must take Mathematics 301 without degree credit to remove their deficiency. 8. Options I–VIII: An eight-hour sequence of coursework in physics chosen from the following: Physics 301, 101L, 316, and 116L; 317K, 117M, 317L, and 117N; 303K, 103M, 303L, and 103N. Students in the ecology, evolution, and behavior; human biology; marine and freshwater biology; microbiology; neurobiology; and teaching options may substitute Physics 302K, 102M, 302L, and 102N. 3898   Option IX: Three semester hours in an honors-designated physics or computer sciences course. 9. Options I–VIII: Chemistry 301, 302, and 204. Option IX: Chemistry 204 and honors sections of Chemistry 301 and 302. 10. Options I–VIII: Biology 211, 212, 213, 214, and 325, with a grade of at least C in each. As part of the major, these courses must be completed before students progress to other upper-division biology courses. Option IX: Biology 315H and 325H. 11. Options I–VIII: At least twenty-four semester hours of upper-division work chosen from the courses listed below. In some options, other courses may be used to fulfill this requirement; these courses are listed in the section "Additional Prescribed Work for Each Option." The student must earn a grade of at least C in each course. The twenty-four hours must include at least one different course in each of the following three areas and at least three hours of coursework in each area. Option IX: Biology 320 or 344, 349, 365R, 370, and at least six additional semester hours chosen from the following courses. a. Cellular, developmental, and molecular biology: Biology 320, 323L, 325L, 325T, 326D, 326E, 126L, 226R, 226T, 327, 127L, 328D, 330, 130L, 331L, 332, 333, 335, 336, 337 (Topic: Development and Evolution), 337J, 339, 339M, 343M, 344, 347, 349, 350M, 360K, 160L, 366, 366R, 367, 368L, 379G, 379J. b. Physiology, neurobiology, and behavior: Biology 322, 122L, 226S, 328, 128L, 329, 129L, 438L, 339, 341, 141L, 345, 345E, 359J, 359K, 359R, 360K, 160L, 361, 361L, 361T, 365D, 365L, 465M, 365N, 365R, 365S, 365T, 365W, 371M. c. Ecology and evolution: Biology 321L, 226S, 340L, 342L, 448L, 351, 352, 353L, 354L, 455L, 456L, 357, 458L, 359, 359J, 262, 262L, 363, 364, 365W, 369L, 370, 471G, 472L, 373, 373L, 375, 376, Marine Science 352C, 354Q. 12. [The student must complete at] Options I–VIII: At least four laboratory courses in biology with a grade of at least C. Three of these courses must be upper-division. Option IX: Three upper-division laboratory courses in biology. 13. At least eighteen semester hours of upper-division coursework in biology must be completed in residence at the University. 14. Options I–VIII: Enough additional coursework to make a total of at least 126 semester hours. Option IX: A total of at least 120 semester hours. All students must complete at least thirty-six semester hours of upper-division coursework. ADDITIONAL PRESCRIBED WORK FOR EACH OPTION No changes to options I through VIII. OPTION IX: BIOLOGY HONORS 15. Chemistry 118K, 118L, 318M, and 318N. 16. Natural Sciences 301C (Research Methods). 17. An honors section of Rhetoric and Composition 309S. 18. Biology 679H. 19. Thirty-two additional semester hours of coursework approved by the departmental honors adviser. 20. Six semester hours of coursework in the College of Liberal Arts or the College of Fine Arts. Special Requirements The student must fulfill the University-wide graduation requirements given on pages 18–19 and the college requirements given on page 421. He or she must also make a grade of at least C in each biology course counted toward the degree, in each course used to fulfill requirement 11 of the prescribed work, and in each course used to meet the prescribed work requirements for his or her option. To graduate and be recommended for certification, students who follow the teaching option must have a University grade point average of at least 2.50. They must earn a grade of at least C in each of the professional development courses listed in requirement 21 and must pass the final teaching portfolio review; those seeking middle grades certification must also earn a grade of at least C in each of the courses listed in requirement 22. 3899 For information about the portfolio review and additional teacher certification requirements, consult the UTeach-Natural Sciences academic adviser. To graduate under option IX, students must earn a grade of A in each half of Biology 679H and must present their research in an approved public forum, such as the annual College of Natural Sciences Poster Session. Students must also have a grade point average at graduation of at least 3.50 in coursework taken in residence at the University. Students who fail to maintain an in-residence grade point average of at least 3.25 will usually be academically dismissed from option IX; under special circumstances and at the discretion of the departmental honors adviser, a student may be allowed to continue under academic review. 5. Students in all options who enter the University with fewer than two high school units in a single foreign language must take the first two semesters in a language without degree credit to remove their foreign language deficiency. RATIONALE: Since its inception, Dean's Scholars has striven to challenge the very best and brightest of the young science and mathematics students who attend the University of Texas at Austin. By adopting a formal curriculum, the honors program will be able to continue in its efforts to meet the needs of the most intellectually ambitious of our students by deepening their grasp of the basics, broadening their general education, and intensifying their entire learning experience so that they are prepared for a lifetime of learning. After intensive efforts by a curriculum development committee, this formal curriculum has been finalized and approved by the relevant departments. We are seeking inclusion in the catalog at the mid-point in order to be able to move forward with implementation as quickly as possible . Locating the Dean's Scholars degree plan in the departments as an option allows for greater departmental input into the education of the top-ranked students. Since the departmental faculty will also supervise lab work and ultimately the required thesis for the students, they should logically have jurisdiction over this aspect of the degree plan within their own departmental policies. And finally, a decentralized system places less stress on the infrastructure of each department as the necessary record keeping will be contained within the department .