Title V:
INFORMATION COMPETENCY Development Models

Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

 DRAFT PAPER

2001-2002 Curriculum Committee and Library Liaisons

 Dan Crump, American River College
Carmen Guerrero, Oxnard College
Elton Hall, Moorpark College
Andy Kivel, Diablo Valley College
Sue Shattuck, Diablo Valley College
Barbara Sawyer, Diablo Valley College
Glenn Yoshida, Los Angeles Southwest College

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background
Introduction
Definition and Components
Models Under Construction

Cabrillo College

Cuyamaca College

Diablo Valley College

Merced College

BACKGROUND

             In 1996, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors (BOG) issued a policy statement in The New Basic Agenda: Policy Directions for Student Success identifying information competency as a priority and requesting a study to investigate the feasibility of establishing information competency as a prerequisite to the certificate of completion and the associate degree. Gavilan College, under a BOG grant, conducted a feasibility study in 1997 and 1998 and submitted 43 recommendations to the BOG.   http://www.gavilan.cc.ca.us/library/infocomp/cover.html) In August 1998, California Community Colleges  (CCCCO) Chancellor’s Office staff presented to the Consultation Council a proposed action item, based, in part, on the Gavilan recommendations. In September 1998 the item was presented to the BOG. After discussion, the Chancellor directed staff to review the Gavilan grant project and bring the item back to the Board at a later date. Based on a detailed review by staff and discussion within the Chancellor’s Cabinet, the proposed plan was revised and once again presented to the Consultation Council in February, March, and April 1999. 

            In 1997 the Chancellor’s Office awarded Funds for Student Success grants to seven colleges to undertake studies relating to information competency in the community colleges. Allan Hancock, Diablo Valley, Gavilan, Glendale, Cuyamaca, Santa Ana, Shasta, and College of the Sequoias were the recipients. (Appendix)

            In May 1999, the BOG received seven recommendations: two policy and five operational. The first policy recommendation was that the implementation of the information competency as a graduation or certificate requirement is an academic and professional matter. The BOG, therefore, delegated the issue of information competency to the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) for its recommendations. The second policy recommendation was for the CCCCO to review the Title 5 Regulations and identify relevant areas where the inclusion of information competency would be appropriate. The BOG requested that when completed the outcomes of the two activities be combined and submitted as a comprehensive Title 5 revision for information competency.

            In response to a Fall 1996 resolution calling for information competency, and that its development, components and programs be the primary responsibility of the ASCCC, the Counseling and Library Faculty Issues Committees of 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 issued a paper entitled “Information Competency in the California Community Colleges.”  The Academic Senate plenary body adopted this paper at the 1998 ASCCC Spring Plenary Session.

             Noting that “information competency is essential to student success in the Information Age,” the paper offered a definition of information competency, identified its key components, and suggested some ways that information competency might be implemented in the educational programs of community colleges. (This paper is available on the Academic Senate website—(www.academicsenate.cc.ca.us/Academic%20Senate%20Web/Publications/Papers/info_competency.html)

Title V
INFORMATION COMPETENCY:
Development Models

Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

 DRAFT PAPER

2001-2002 Curriculum Committee and Library Liaisons

 Dan Crump, American River College
Carmen Guerrero, Oxnard College
Elton Hall, Moorpark College
Andy Kivel, Diablo Valley College
Sue Shattuck, Diablo Valley College
Barbara Sawyer, Diablo Valley College
Glenn Yoshida, Los Angeles Southwest College

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract

Background

Introduction

Definition and Components

Models Under Construction

Cabrillo College

Cuyamaca College

Diablo Valley College

Merced College

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

             In 1996, the California Community Colleges Board of Governors (BOG) issued a policy statement in The New Basic Agenda: Policy Directions for Student Success identifying information competency as a priority and requesting a study to investigate the feasibility of establishing information competency as a prerequisite to the certificate of completion and the associate degree. Gavilan College, under a BOG grant, conducted a feasibility study in 1997 and 1998 and submitted 43 recommendations to the BOG.   http://www.gavilan.cc.ca.us/library/infocomp/cover.html) In August 1998, California Community Colleges  (CCCCO) Chancellor’s Office staff presented to the Consultation Council a proposed action item, based, in part, on the Gavilan recommendations. In September 1998 the item was presented to the BOG. After discussion, the Chancellor directed staff to review the Gavilan grant project and bring the item back to the Board at a later date. Based on a detailed review by staff and discussion within the Chancellor’s Cabinet, the proposed plan was revised and once again presented to the Consultation Council in February, March, and April 1999. 

            In 1997 the Chancellor’s Office awarded Funds for Student Success grants to seven colleges to undertake studies relating to information competency in the community colleges. Allan Hancock, Diablo Valley, Gavilan, Glendale, Cuyamaca, Santa Ana, Shasta, and College of the Sequoias were the recipients. (Appendix)

            In May 1999, the BOG received seven recommendations: two policy and five operational. The first policy recommendation was that the implementation of the information competency as a graduation or certificate requirement is an academic and professional matter. The BOG, therefore, delegated the issue of information competency to the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC) for its recommendations. The second policy recommendation was for the CCCCO to review the Title 5 Regulations and identify relevant areas where the inclusion of information competency would be appropriate. The BOG requested that when completed the outcomes of the two activities be combined and submitted as a comprehensive Title 5 revision for information competency.

            In response to a Fall 1996 resolution calling for information competency, and that its development, components and programs be the primary responsibility of the ASCCC, the Counseling and Library Faculty Issues Committees of 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 issued a paper entitled “Information Competency in the California Community Colleges.”  The Academic Senate plenary body adopted this paper at the 1998 ASCCC Spring Plenary Session.

             Noting that “information competency is essential to student success in the Information Age,” the paper offered a definition of information competency, identified its key components, and suggested some ways that information competency might be implemented in the educational programs of community colleges. (This paper is available on the Academic Senate website—(www.academicsenate.cc.ca.us/Academic%20Senate%20Web/Publications/Papers/info_competency.html)

             The Academic Senate, through its Counseling and Library Faculty Issues Committee, and working with representatives of the Council of Chief Librarians, Chief Instructional Officers and the Student Senate, developed a paper on information competency and presented it to the Spring 2000 plenary session. The paper proposed infusing information competencies into all degree applicable courses rather than creating a stand-alone information competency course. Because of the sweeping changes proposed, the plenary session specifically directed the Academic Senate to gather more input from the field by holding hearings at the regional level and return with revised recommendations.

             As a result of that direction from the body, the ASCCC held a workshop on the proposal at the Summer 2000 ASCCC Curriculum Institute. During February 2001, the ASCCC held open hearings at six colleges across the state, so that interested persons including curriculum committee chairs, classroom and library faculty, and chief instructional officers could seek to reach a statewide position on the incorporation of information competency into community college curricula. While the hearings elicited consensus on the importance of an information competency graduation requirement, the details of the best method of implementation were vigorously debated. It became clear that local situations would dictate different best practices of implementation and that a locally determined process at each college through the academic senates and curriculum committees would be advantageous.

 At the 2001 ASCCC Spring Plenary Session, the ASCCC Senate approved Resolution 9.01 S01. The resolution called for the ASCCC to recommend to the BOG that “information competency be a locally designated graduation requirement for degree and Chancellor’s Office-approved certificate programs,” and to encourage the BOG “to provide resources for implementation and appropriate faculty development activities.”  In addition, the resolution outlined the need for methods of implementation to be decided locally and for a paper outlining various approaches.

 Resolved, That the Academic Senate support the concept that each college be empowered to use its local curriculum processes to determine how to implement the information competency requirement, including the possibilities of developing stand-alone courses, co-requisites, infusion in selected courses with or without additional units, and or infusion in all general education courses with or without additional units; and

 Resolved, That the Academic Senate develop a best-practices paper to be presented at the Spring 2002 plenary session that includes suggested competencies, recommended models, and colleges that are implementing each of the models.

 At the 2001 ASCCC Fall Plenary Session, a subsequent resolution (9.03 F 01) reaffirmed the ASCCC’s position taken in Spring 2001 to require information competency for graduation and for completion of Chancellor’s Office approved certificates.  For a listing of ASCCC resolutions regarding information competency from the ASCCC website (www.academicsenate.cc.ca.us/index.htm), click on Index, the “R” down to Resolutions, and then do a keyword search for “information competency.”

             At this time, a Chancellor’s Office Task Force is drafting language that would encode the information competency graduation requirement in Title 5 for the associate degree and for Chancellor’s Office approved certificates.  Consideration of proposed Title 5 language by the Consultation Council is scheduled for April-May 2002.

INTRODUCTION

             Students are awash in information. At no time in history has so much data from so many diverse sources been available at the click of a mouse. Both transfer institutions and employers expect individuals to be comfortable with technology and to be able to use it to locate and process information. Employees are more and more often required to successfully navigate and manage information by manipulating databases, spreadsheets, and web pages that create the essential links to information. It is incumbent upon our colleges to prepare our students for the information realities of the workplace and the information challenges they will meet in upper division work when they transfer.

             Even prior to the implementation of a graduation requirement for information competency in the California Community Colleges, a number of colleges have accepted the challenge to prepare students for the Information Age by developing formal information competency programs.  In fact, community college library faculty throughout the state have included library skills and research instruction in their programs for many years.  This paper will feature four colleges who have taken steps to enable students to access, evaluate, and use information: Cabrillo, Cuyamaca, Diablo Valley, and Merced.

             There is no one “way” to institute information competency and the examples in this paper are not exhaustive; rather they suggest a variety of possibilities for incorporating information competency. In all of the models, a collaborative effort has taken place. While library faculty have certainly played a key role in the development, they have joined in collaboration with classroom faculty. The teaching of information competence is everyone’s job!

             The general education pattern, the nature of a college’s students, resources, and the state of the college library’s instruction program play a role when faculty determine the best way to introduce and include information competency in the curriculum. Developers in all instances considered how best to reach all students: basic skills, transfer, vocational, recent high school graduates, and returning students, all of whom have varying levels of expertise and needs. Public K-16 education is an interdependent and interconnected system.  High schools prepare students for community colleges and four-year institutions; community colleges prepare students for transfer to four-year institutions. The same interdependence in the teaching of information competency is crucial, so skills need to be articulated among the different segments of public higher education.

             Before information competency of students can be ensured, information competency of faculty must be ensured. With the rapid pace of technological changes, skills need continual updating and renewing. The need for faculty development is paramount and is a consideration for all information competency program designers.

            Each of the models will include a description of the process for incorporating an information competency requirement in the curriculum, an overview of the present state of implementation, and a summation of current and future challenges.

                                                                                                  close DEFINITION AND COMPONENTS

             The 1998 paper, Information Competency in the California Community Colleges, recommended the following definition of information competency:

 Information competency is the ability to find, evaluate, use, and communicate information in all its various formats. It combines aspects of library literacy, research methods and technological literacy. Information competency includes consideration of the ethical and legal implications of information and requires the application of both critical thinking and communication skills.

 The paper also identified key components, expressed as skills, which comprise information competency as defined. These key components are:

·        State a research question, problem, or issue.
·        Determine information requirements in various disciplines for the research questions, problems, or issues.
·        Use information technology tools to locate and retrieve relevant information.
·        Organize information.
·        Analyze and evaluate information.
·        Communicate using a variety of information technologies.
·        Understand the ethical and legal issues surrounding information and information technology.
·        Apply the skills gained in information competency to enable lifelong learning.

 As recognized in the definition, some of these key components of information competency may be represented in curriculum designed to meet other requirements or fulfill other needs, such as critical thinking. The paper advised “that faculty review their curriculum to assure that these components are covered.”

MODELS UNDER CONSTRUCTION

 CABRILLO COLLEGE

 PROCESS
 IMPLEMENTATION

 At Cabrillo College, the three-unit transfer English course, English 1A (College Composition), has a one-unit co-requisite, Library 10 (Information Research). Library 10 is a self-paced class that can also be taken without English 1A. Students may take the class for credit/no credit and can receive credit through Credit By Exam. Less than 1 percent elect the credit/no credit option. Fulltime and adjunct librarians teach the course.

 There is a Library 10 web page at http://libwww.cabrillo.cc.ca.us/html/about/library-10/index.html.

 Common Course Objectives
 Library 10 is structured to support the objectives of English 1A and has overlapping objectives from English 1 A:

  Students will
1.      use the library to find information in books, magazines, and specialized journals; use electronic databases and a variety of on-line sources to find information;

2.      plan an efficient search to discover those sources that are most useful and reliable;

3.      learn to incorporate sources in writing through paraphrase, summary, and direct quotation and to acknowledge the sources in formal documentation to avoid plagiarism;

4.      begin to question texts for logical consistency and adequacy of evidence.

 Library 10’s objectives include:

1.      understand the differences between types of information, e.g., popular, scholarly, current, retrospective, statistical, critical, primary and secondary;

2.      develop appropriate search strategies, evaluating the information accessed in relation to its content, source, quality and relevance;

3.      recognize the levels and appropriate uses of diverse types and formats of information;

4.      synthesize information from a variety of sources to satisfy research and applied needs and be able to transfer research process to future information needs;

5.      apply principles of scholarly and ethical research, such as proper citation formats and respect for intellectual property;

6.      demonstrate effective use of the library in conjunction with academic assignments as well as applied learning needs.

 Library 10 Activities                                                                                                       

 Early in the semester, the Library 10 and English 1A faculty meet their respective sections in the library and together introduce and explain the Library 10 course. Some librarians include a tour of the library as part of this first session. Midway through the semester, students are required to turn in their Library 10 workbook. The workbook explains the world of information resources with special emphasis on research strategies and evaluation of resources and includes exercises, many of which are done using online sources. Once the workbook is graded, students continue with it and turn in the completed workbook by a final due date. After another grading, students use the workbook to prepare for the final exam that is both “performance based” and “written” (e.g., multiple choice and short answer questions).  Students do searches on a new topic, selecting and citing quality resources on a focused topic.

 Selected sections of English 1A are offered online. During a mandatory 3-hour orientation session, the Library 10 instructor describes the partnership and presents the Library 10 homepage that is linked to English 1A online homepage. The same workbook is used and the final exam consists of a final project, which is an annotated works cited list that describes each item they identified using their workbook and what value it contributed to their research.

 Students overwhelmingly recommend that fellow students take Library 10, based on course evaluations. Students also state that the course should be required of all students.

 Positive Outcomes
 Strong ties between English 1A and Library 10 faculty develop as the semester unfolds. Faculty members follow through with students having difficulty in both subjects and often arrange for coaching and review sessions. A “team spirit” develops.

 Partnerships develop between librarians and classroom teachers from a variety of disciplines. After consultation to work out specific objectives, the librarian constructs a Web-based experience. The class then meets in the library’s electronic classroom and students complete the exercise with the assistance of both librarian and classroom faculty. Last year, about 110 course-related sessions occurred each semester.

 All librarians, including those working at the Reference/Instruction Desk, take ownership of Library 10. Students know that any available librarian can assist them with the Library 10 workbook or can answer questions related to course content.

Challenges
Discussion on having an online Library 10 workbook has begun. Further development of the workbook to meet specific needs of English 1A faculty is also taking place.

 CUYAMACA COLLEGE

PROCESS IMPLEMENTATION                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Cuyamaca College is using an infusion model.  In 1997-1998, the College undertook rigorous “general education reform”.  After these two years, Cuyamaca College adopted a set of six required components to all General Education courses.  One of these components is Information Competency.  The other five components are Writing Across the Curriculum, Linkages, General Education Outcomes, Workplace Skills Outcomes and Diversity Outcomes.  Effective 1999, all General Education courses and new course additions to the General Education package must show evidence of all six components in order to meet certification standards by the Cuyamaca Curriculum Committee.

 The Information Competency component is simply stated:

 “Courses shall motivate students to develop information competency skills to improve the quality of education and everyday life though the selective use of information technology and information resources.  Students will be able to identify information resources, apply appropriate tools to acquire information, formulate a search strategy, evaluate acquired information, and recognize alternative information sources (note: these could be considered as the primary elements of information competency).  This can be achieved through various activities including but not limited to: using computers, periodical/journal research, internet research, Web home-page projects, and library research orientations.”

 This infusion model approach is based on the understanding that each discipline has its own conventions of language use and style and that these conventions, supplemented by information competency, must be taught to students so that they might successfully participate in academic discourse.

 The primary mission is to help faculty implement and shape a course that makes information competency an essential and integral component in the learning process.

 Advantages:                                                                                                           close window|

• Infusion model approach is never prescriptive.  It is based on the understanding that each discipline has its own conventions of language use and style and that information competency can easily be adapted to these conventions.
• Infusion model allows students to develop information competency skills at their own pace as they work through each General Education course.
• Infusion model make students aware that information competency is a necessary and frequently used skill in all courses and in the workplace.
• Infusion model reaches a greater number of students compared to a traditional unit course of 30 students.
• Infusion model easily implemented into online courses and traditional courses.
• Infusion model is embraced by faculty who do not have the time to develop information competency modules.
• Infusion model requires minimum cost to implement.

Disadvantages:   Infusion models using Web-based delivery systems need web-design and technical support. For the years of 1999- present, Cuyamaca Library has committed to infusing information competency via the Web. The advantage to publishing the infusion model to the Web is that the use of the Web has dramatically increased access to information competency research for students and faculty. The disadvantage is that, unlike some pages on the college site, the library information competency infusion model will always be undergoing structural change.

Infusion models requires librarians to develop expertise in building the web content pages.  If an instructor decides to change his course content, the librarian has to update all information competency modules by continuing to add new points of access, reformatting web layout, and re-designing appropriate visuals. Many students are more computer savvy than most of the staff and faculty here at Cuyamaca.  These students will gravitate toward web pages that reflect state-of-the-art awareness.  An unprofessional library page could easily harm a library’s reputation with the ones who matter the most.  If a college chooses to publish to the Web, an expert web-designer and librarian content-builder are both critical to the success of an infusion model.

 The work of the Cuyamaca Librarians has gone far in achieving the information competency. The Library has developed a vital program, which continues to build a campus community of dedicated faculty across Cuyamaca College.

 DIABLO VALLEY COLLEGE

PROCESS

 Diablo Valley College will institute a one-unit Information Competency A.A. degree requirement beginning Fall 2003. In 1998, DVC faculty initiated a two-year, college wide review of the general education requirements. In addition to holding open forums to discuss broad general education issues, and an examination of all existing requirements by each academic division, the review process included an opportunity for departments to propose “new areas of study” for possible addition to the G.E. curriculum.

 The "New Areas of Study" Task Force received four proposals for new requirement areas. One of these was an information competency requirement proposed by the library department. Next, the G.E. Review Plenary Committee, comprised of faculty representatives from each division, considered each proposal and voted to recommend the one-unit information competency proposal as a new G.E. requirement. The Plenary Committee collected all the recommended changes to the G.E. pattern, including the new G.E. Area VII Information Competency catalog statement (see below), and compiled the revisions for presentation to the Faculty Senate.

 G.E. Area VII. Information Competency – Catalog Statement

 Information Competency is the ability to both recognize when information is needed, and to locate, evaluate, synthesize, use and communicate information in various formats.

 The faculty believes that DVC graduates should be able to:

1. recognize when information is necessary;
2. develop effective research strategies;
3. locate, retrieve, and use information in a variety of formats;
4. critically evaluate and synthesize information;
5. effectively create, present and communicate information;
6. competently use computers and other information technology tools;
7. understand the social, legal and ethical issues relating to information and its use.

 The entire revised G.E. pattern was distributed to faculty in spring 2000 and adopted overwhelmingly in May. To date, all aspects of the adopted G.E. revision have been included in the current catalog except for the new Information Competency -- Area VII. It is slated for implementation Fall 2003.

 To coordinate and plan implementation for the fall 2003 IC requirement, the Faculty Senate established the Information Competency Implementation Task Force.  Convened spring 2001, the task force is currently meeting on a regular basis.   To ensure a broad-based collaborative effort the committee’s charge directed that membership include: two library faculty, the Assistant Dean of Instruction, the Instruction (Curriculum) Committee chair, a second member of the Instruction Committee, an English faculty member and four additional classroom faculty.

 The primary goal of the task force is to develop and recommend a curriculum approval process on information competency for Faculty Senate approval and Instruction Committee implementation. The recommendation will detail the learning outcomes expected of the IC requirement, provide criteria to guide curriculum development and assessment, and outline a procedure for the Instruction Committee to follow when approving proposed new or revised courses.  The task force is not responsible for selecting a particular implementation model (stand alone course, co-requisite, infusion or integration, etc.), but it will develop a procedural foundation and establish information competency learning outcomes and standards for what is anticipated to be a variety of instructional programs to meet this graduation requirement.

 Over this same period, a program of information outreach and staff development on information competency has occurred. These efforts, primarily provided by library faculty, have included a 3-session colloquy (spring 2000), hosting one of the six State Academic Senate hearings on IC (March 2001), and staff development workshops. Support for these programs to institutionalize information competency have come from a Chancellor’s Office Fund for Student Success library grant and the Academic Senate.

 The task force began its work with shared readings and general discussion on the subject before drafting a statement of learning outcomes. The committee utilized the Association of College & Research Libraries, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, and an abridged version of these learning outcomes drafted by a group of S. F. Bay Area community college library faculty. The document amplifies the seven points in the catalog statement on IC provided above. These criteria will guide curriculum development and approval for G.E. Area VII.                                                    close window|

 The task force will also recommend a procedure for the Instruction Committee to use in evaluating new or revised courses seeking approval as methods of satisfying the Area VII requirement.  A challenge mechanism for students who seek to get "credit by exam" for the Area VII requirement will also be developed. These procedures will be utilized to begin approving courses Spring 2002.    It is anticipated that a one-unit library course LS121, Information Competency and Research Skills, will be the first curriculum approved this spring. Following this initial approval, the opportunity will continue for a variety of curriculum projects to be initiated this year and for the next several years.

 Library Instructional Program

 In addition to efforts establishing a new graduation requirement on information competency, the library faculty have been developing and piloting a variety of curriculum models. For over 20 years the library has offered a one-unit course, Introduction to Library Resources. This is a self-paced workbook course focusing on the techniques of using specific library information resources. This course has been reshaped into a newly approved course, LS121, Information Competency and Research Skills, a more conceptual rather than tools-based approach to an information competency curriculum.

 A half-unit course, LS100, Basic Library Skills has also been created. This course targets the under-prepared population and is offered primarily as a component of Learning Communities paired with English courses.

 English instructors wishing to incorporate components of this instruction into their own curriculum use a basic skills workbook and a version designed for ESL students.   Using Partnership for Excellence startup funds, the library has also begun offering a series of four drop-in workshops covering a broad-range of information and research skills. For more information on this initiative visit:  http://www.dvc.edu/library/workshops/Workshopdesc.htm

 Instructors can also request a long-standing program of one-shot orientations taught by librarians. And lastly, a web-based introductory tutorial on library and research skills is under development.

 These library instructional programs are designed to provide a foundation for teaching information competency skills. As new programs are created, such as a first-year experience initiative currently under discussion, library curriculum can be applied in new ways. At the same time, library curricula provide the starting points for classroom instructors or departments to begin integrating information competency skills into new or revised course curricula.

  MERCED COLLEGE          

 PROCESS

 Merced College adopted an information competency graduation requirement two years ago, effective for students entering in the Fall of 2000. The plan includes a requirement for computer competency as well as information literacy.  For more background on the initiative, visit www.merced.cc.ca.us/susan/infolitcomp.

 Originally the Curriculum Committee formed a subcommittee to investigate computer and information literacy competencies.  The chair of the Curriculum Committee appointed the committee members.

 Faculty on the “Comlit Committee” represented Allied Health, Industrial Technology, Business, Guidance, Science/Math and Learning Resources divisions. Other committee members included a Dean from the Office of Instruction, the Learning Resources Director, and a Student Services staff person.

 The Comlit Committee met for one year to decide 1) whether or to implement this requirement, 2) what the competencies would be 3) how to determine what courses would meet the competencies, and 4) what level of scrutiny would be in place for new courses wishing to meet the competencies.

 The Comlit Committee presented their recommendations broadly across campus. Faculty Senate requested each Division to present ideas and competencies for approval.

 The Instructional Council (Division Chairs) worked within each division with the faculty to determine what courses would be certified as meeting the competencies.

             The Curriculum committee presented recommendations only after the Faculty Senate and Instructional Council had determined the competencies and the courses.

 IMPLEMENTATION

  1) Courses may elect to meet any or all competencies.

  2) Courses that were approved in the initial process are now certified as meeting the competencies.

  3) New courses that wish to meet the competencies must include them on the course content page and exit skills of the Course Proposal Forms.

  4) Existing courses may elect to meet the competencies by completing a Course Change Proposal, which includes the course content page and exit skills.

  5) The Student Services staff must certify the competencies at the time of application for graduation.

  6) The chart of which courses meet the competencies is maintained in the Office of Instruction. Changes in courses become effective for the Fall semester following the course change proposal or course approval process of the curriculum committee.