Signature Courses - General Information for Fall 2008 and Spring 2009

(512) 471-4421 | sbergom@austin.utexas.edu

Signature Course proposal form
Word document (42KB)
PDF (109KB)

Funding application
Word document (40KB)
PDF (54KB)

Signature Course Scheduling Form

Dean's Office Procedures for proposing Signature Courses and Signature Course funding information (PDF, 37KB)

Faculty Resources

The Signature Course is the centerpiece of the Curriculum Reform that began with the alumni on the Commission of 125 and was developed by a Task Force of Faculty, Students, and Staff. It was revised by the Educational Policy Committee and approved by the Faculty Council in January 2007.

The purpose of the first-year signature course program is to provide all first-year students at the University with a course that helps them mature intellectually from promising high school students to good college students.

Students have said that the most valuable aspect of a freshman course was:

“Learning how to write on a college level.”
“I was challenged to think rather than regurgitate information.”
“Having a good professor who could distribute knowledge and useful information.”

Faculty have said that the best thing about teaching a freshman course is that the course:

“allows students to maintain relations with each other and faculty over four years...”
“helps [the students] with the transition to college.”

SIZE. Signature Courses may be taught in three formats: as small seminars (15-18 students), large lecture courses (40 to 240 students), or Difficult Dialogues seminars (20-25 students). The large format courses must have specially trained teaching assistants at a ratio of about one TA for every fifty students.

TOPICS. Faculty should choose topics that are exciting for them. All topics should have an issue of contemporary importance and introduce students to the methods of more than one discipline.

FACULTY. Signature Courses may be taught by distinguished faculty from any college or school at the university. These must be regular departmental faculty who have been recommended as good teachers by their department chairs. The program calls for regular faculty in the hope that that incoming students will come to know faculty with whom they may wish to work in later years. (Regular faculty include tenured and tenure-track professors, as well as senior lecturers and, in special cases, adjunct or emeriti professors.)

SEMESTER. Most Signature Courses are offered in the fall semester, but a few are also taught in the spring and summer sessions. Difficult Dialogues Seminars may only be taught in the spring semester.

How to Submit a Proposal to Teach a First-year Signature Course for 2008-2009:

Faculty members are invited to submit a proposal to teach a Signature Course to his/her college dean’s office. Proposals will be forwarded to the Office of Undergraduate Studies after they have been approved by your dean. Proposals should be submitted no later than Friday, October 12.

The proposal should include:

• The title of your proposed course
• A one-paragraph description. This description should include a brief statement of the subject matter and the means for studying the subject matter.
• A preliminary list of readings used in the course.
• A preliminary list of assignments that will be factored into the student’s grade.
• Verification of permission from your dean or department chair.