Automatic Designations
Courses with the following prefixes will automatically count for College Core Requirements as indicated.
Disciplines
| Acronym | College Core Discipline |
| BS | Belief Systems |
| BSCP | Behavioral, Social, or Cultural Perspectives |
| HP | Historical Perspectives |
| LVPA | Literary, Visual and Performing Arts |
| NS | Natural Sciences |
| QR | Quantitative Reasoning |
- AAH (Art and Art History)—LVPA
- ANT (Anthropology)—BSCP
- BIO (Biology)—NS
- CHE (Chemistry)—NS
- CMP (Comparative Literature)—LVPA
- CSC (Computer Science) —QR
- ECO (Economics)—BSCP
- HIS (History)—HP
- LIT (Literature)—LVPA
- MAT (Mathematics)—QR
- PHL (Philosophy)—BS
- PHY (Physics)—NS
- POL (Political Science)—BSCP
- PSY (Psychology)—BSCP
- REL (Religion)—BS
- SCI (Interdisciplinary Science)—NS
- SOC (Sociology)—BSCP
- VPA (Visual and Performing Arts)—LVPA
Social Justice
- AAS (African American Studies) – Race & Ethnicity
- INB (International Business) – Global Perspectives
- INT (International Studies) – Global Perspectives
- WGS (Women’s and Gender Studies) – Gender & Sexuality
Approval Process
Overview
The College Core Council serves as the curriculum committee for College Core designations and IDS courses.
Approved Courses
Courses can be submitted for approval of College Core designations once they have been approved as courses through the Course Approval Process, either immediately after approval or at some point in the future. Guidelines on submission for approval for College Core designations are provided below under “Submissions.”
Special Topics Courses
Special topics courses are new courses developed and offered by faculty members that will subsequently go through the curricular approval process, or courses that are highly specialized and may be taught for a limited time. Faculty can seek provisional approval for College Core designations for these courses by contacting Kit Murphy (murphych@tcnj.edu), Associate Provost. Special topics courses can receive provisional College Core designations for the first three times they are taught, thereafter they will need to be submitted as permanent courses to department and school curriculum committees and submitted to the College Core Council for approval of the College Core designations.
Writing-Intensive Courses
Instructions for submitting course proposals for the writing-intensive designation can be found on the Writing Program website.
Submissions
During the academic year, questions about the submission process should be directed to the current Chair of the College Core Council (identified here); during the summer, questions should be directed to Christopher “Kit” Murphy, Associate Provost of Curriculum & College Core at murphych@tcnj.edu.
Submissions must contain the following:
1. Copy of Original Course Approval/Change Form (as submitted when course was first approved)
2. New Course Approval/Change Form:
Complete first portion of Section I. Course Information
Complete Section IIA. College Core Designations Sought
3. Letter from department chair indicating support for addition of designation(s)
4. Course syllabus: Must include the course description, required materials, course requirements, course learning outcomes, general topics covered, and a general breakdown of assignment types and their weighting for final grades.
Note: The syllabus must contain the College Core outcomes for any designations, either proposed or approved in the past, including those assigned by virtue of the course prefix.
5. Rationale for requested College Core Designations: List each College Core outcome as a separate heading and make a clear case that the course meets the learning outcomes for the requested designations by describing how specific course material will help students achieve the outcome. Include examples of how daily topics, course materials, readings, projects, assignments, and assessments support the learning of the outcome.
The rationale should pay particular attention to how students will engage actively with the action verb of the learning outcome and its cognitive level (e.g., “Integrate in-depth knowledge to interrogate”, “critically evaluate”,“analyze how”, “make a decision”, “evaluate a quantitative claim”). An effective rationale would describe in some detail the course components through which students engage with the learning outcome and how the components help students master the outcome. Here are two specific examples taken from more extensive rationales:
“The class discussion and written assignments (essays) require students to consider the intersections of race and gender in the nineteenth century…. In reading Frederick Douglass’ slave narrative and Halls of Honor, a book about the experiences of college-aged white men in the South, students evaluate what manhood meant in the nineteenth century for enslaved men and middle-class white men with access to higher education.”
“Historical Figure Assignment: In this assignment, students delve deeply into the life of a scholar, past or present. This investigation asks students to develop understandings of their positionality, their ideological suppositions, and how their work/research changed and/or contributed to the field of education.”
Below are three additional examples of well-crafted rationales:
*Please note that the learning outcomes listed in these last two examples are from the previous set of learning outcomes.
Timeline
Proposals for College Core designation(s) should be submitted one year in advance of the semester in which the course will be offered. (Example: Faculty seeking a College Core designation for a course to be offered in Spring 2022, should submit a College Core Course Designation Proposal no later than January 2021.) This will enable Records & Registration to enter new College Core designations into PAWS prior to student registration, ensure that students and their advisors have sufficient time to plan appropriate course schedules, and give faculty ample time to revise and resubmit a College Core Course Designation proposal, if necessary.
College Core Course Designation Proposals are due by 4:00 p.m. on the last Wednesday in September (for Fall semester submissions) and by 4:00 p.m. on the last Wednesday in January (for Spring semester submissions).
Faculty will be notified by the Chair of the College Core Council of the decision(s) regarding College Core Course Designation Proposals no later than December 1st (for Fall submissions) and May 1st (for Spring submissions).
Decisions
College Core Course Designation Proposals will be evaluated by the College Core Council and, if necessary, by any relevant consultants approved by the Faculty Senate. Faculty members who submit a Course Designation Proposal while serving on the College Core Council must recuse themselves from all discussion of their course.
College Core Council decisions will be based on the extent to which, as evidenced in the course syllabus and Rationale, specific course materials (readings, assignments) indicated on the course syllabus support the College Core outcomes for the requested designation(s); assignments relevant to the College Core outcomes for the requested designation contribute substantially to the final course grade; the requested College Core designation(s) represent(s) a substantial focus in the course, as indicated by the proportion of the course schedule, content, and/or readings that target College Core outcomes.
The College Core Council, in conjunction with any consultants approved by the Faculty Senate, reviews and decides whether a College Core Course Designation Proposal is to be:
Approved The faculty member, department chair, Records & Registration, and the Associate Provost for Curriculum and College Core are notified by the Chair of the College Core Council that the College Core Course Designation Proposal has been approved. Records & Registration will record the approved College Core Course Designation(s) in PAWS, and the Associate Provost will add the course to the Table of Approved College Core Courses on the College Core website.
Approved, with Minor Revisions The faculty member and department chair are notified by the Chair of the College Core Council that the College Core Course Designation Proposal has been provisionally approved, pending minor revisions. In accordance with TCNJ’s Course Approval Policy, College Core Course Designation Proposals that are approved pending minor revisions will be given written feedback specifically identifying the minor revision that must be made. Faculty must complete these revisions and resubmit their proposal to the Chair of College Core Council no later than December 15th (for Fall submissions) or May 15th (for Spring submissions). The College Core Council, in conjunction with any consultants approved by the Faculty Senate for the current academic year, will review the revised proposal to ensure that the suggested minor revisions have been completed.
Revise & Resubmit The faculty member and department chair are notified by the Chair of the College Core Council that the College Core Course Designation Proposal must be revised and resubmitted. In accordance with TCNJ’s Course Approval Policy, College Core Course Designation Proposals that receive a “revise & resubmit” decision will be given “written feedback specifically identifying deficiencies” that must be revised and/or remedied prior to resubmission. This feedback will be indicated on the College Core Designation Evaluation Form. Proposals receiving a “revise & resubmit” decision should be resubmitted in accordance with the submission deadlines indicated under “Timeline.”
Declined The faculty member and department chair are notified by the Chair of the College Core Council that the Council has declined the College Core Course Designation Proposal. In accordance with TCNJ’s Course Approval Policy, College Core Course Designation Proposals that are declined will be given “written feedback specifically identifying deficiencies.” The faculty member and dept. chair may appeal the decision of the College Core Council.
College Core Course Designation Proposals that have been declined by the College Core Council may be appealed; a Proposal that has received a “revise & resubmit” decision may not be appealed unless and until it is declined. If the College Core Council determines that the College Core Course Designation Proposal remains insufficient after it has been revised and resubmitted, the Proposal must be declined.
Appeals
Faculty may appeal College Core Course Designation Proposals that have been declined by the College Core Council by notifying the Chair of the College Core Council and the Associate Provost of Curriculum and College Core, in writing, of their intention to appeal no later than two weeks after receiving the decision of the College Core Council.
Appeals of College Core Course Designation Proposals that have been declined by the College Core Council will occur no later than March 15th (for proposals declined the previous fall) or November 15th (for proposals declined the previous spring).
Review of appeals will be conducted by the members of the College Core Council and any relevant expert consultants who have been appointed by the Faculty Senate to serve in this capacity for the academic year.
Faculty who appeal a Course Designation Proposal that has been declined must address the written feedback on the Evaluation Form. They may submit additional materials and/or request the opportunity to appear in person before the College Core Council and any relevant expert consultants who have been appointed by the Faculty Senate to serve in this capacity for the academic year in order to provide additional amplification and explanation regarding the Rationale, course syllabus, and/or assignments.