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Baccalaureate degrees consist of two principal components, general education and in-depth study in a major, which taken together are designed to prepare the student for a productive career, involved citizenship, and continuous growth. As noted elsewhere, the baccalaureate degree requires 120 semester credit hours unless (1) otherwise required by statute, regulation, or accreditation and (2) approval by PASSHE.
Students are required to complete at least 50 percent of their major required credits in courses at IUP1 or another State System institution. (Junior/Senior year Study Abroad semesters or other formal articulation agreements in which State System students may reverse-transfer credits back to IUP are exceptions to this policy.)
The program for the undergraduate IUP baccalaureate major consists of at least 30 semester credit hours and provides depth of knowledge in an academic disciplinary or interdisciplinary program. The major may also include required courses in related disciplines (cognate courses). For the Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree, the major program should not exceed 42 semester credit hours, including required cognate courses, unless approved by the chancellor. For the Bachelor of Science (BS), courses required by the major, including required cognate courses, must comprise at least 40 semester credit hours but no more than 60 semester credit hours. Professional Baccalaureate Degrees (Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.), Bachelor of Science in Education (B.S.Ed.) and programs with specialized accreditation (AACSB) may reflect standards of professional societies or accrediting agencies as well as requirements of the university. The general education component may be specifically adapted to the profession but must be consistent with the competencies appropriate for all students at the institution.
All majors must include advanced coursework. Advanced coursework in this context usually refers to courses with advanced depth of content knowledge in the field and carry the expectation of more complex competencies identified in the expected student learning outcomes. These courses often have prerequisites and are usually beyond the “Introduction to…” level. Most courses with at least two prerequisites will be “advanced.”2
NOTES:
- IUP courses include all courses listed in the Undergraduate and Graduate catalogs.
- Some disciplines use the model of three levels of “introductory,” “intermediate” and “advanced.” In this case, courses labeled as “intermediate” as a second of a two-course sequence providing basic or foundational content knowledge in a discipline would likely not meet the definition of “advanced” as used here but that is to be determined on a course-by-course basis.
Rationale: In reviewing multiple policies referring to major and in responding to a related question, the committee realized that we had no formal, Senate approved Undergraduate Major Policy. Exploration discovered a PASSHE Board of Governors (BOG)policy. Given the OneSis project and upcoming One System initiatives, the new IUP policy essentially, mirrors the PASSHE policy, while very much retaining the flexibility in the BOG policy and the common elements of current IUP majors.
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