Biology, M.S.

X2023-2024 Graduate Revise Program Request

completed

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Introduction
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  • Welcome to the University of West Georgia's curriculum management system. 

    Please TURN ON the help text before starting this proposal by clicking  next to the print icon directly above this message. 

    Your PIN is required to complete this process. For help on accessing your PIN, please visit here.

    The link to the shared governance procedures provides updates on how things are routed through the committees. Please visit  UWG Shared Governance Procedures for Modifications to Academic Degrees and Programs for more information.

    If you have any questions, please email curriculog@westga.edu.


    **CHANGES TO PROGRAMS MUST BE SUBMITTED 9-12 MONTHS IN ADVANCE OF THE DESIRED EFFECTIVE TERM**

  • Modifications (Check all that apply)*
  • If other, please identify.
    Removing requirement for Graduate Record Exam (GRE) for admission into program.
    Removing requirement for Graduate Record Exam (GRE) for admission into program.
  • Desired Effective Semester*
    Scroll to the bottom and choose Fall, Spring, or Summer.
    Desired Effective Year*
Routing Information
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  • Routes cannot be changed after a proposal is launched. 

    Please be sure all fields are filled out correctly prior to launch. If a routing error is made it can result in the proposal being rejected and a new proposal will be required. 

    Please refer to this document for additional information: UWG Shared Governance Procedures for Modifications to Academic Degrees and Programs.

    If there are any questions or concerns regarding the routing of your proposal please contact curriculog@westga.edu.

  • School/ Department *
  • Is this a School of Nursing or School of Communication, Film and Media course?*
    Is this a College of Education Program?*
  • Is this change a Senate ACTION and/or INFORMATION item? Please refer to the link below.*

  • List of Faculty Senate Action and Information Items

Program Information
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  • Select Program below, unless revising an Acalog Shared Core.

  • Type of Program*

  • IMPORT curriculum data from the Catalog by clicking icon in the top left corner. To search for courses select the "PREFIX" filter. To search for programs select the "NAME" filter. 

    NOTE: The fields below are imported from the catalog. Edits must be made in these fields in order for the changes to be updated correctly in the catalog. 

    • Program Name
    • Program Description
  • Program Name*
    Biology, M.S.
    Biology, M.S.
  • Program ID - DO NOT EDIT*
    21
    21
  • Program Code - DO NOT EDIT
    21
    21
  • Program Type*
  • Degree Type*
  • Program Description*
    A student entering this program is normally expected to have an undergraduate degree in biology. Students without a degree in biology or students lacking certain background courses in biology and related sciences may be expected to complete undergraduate courses to compensate for deficiencies. Applicants to the Biology Graduate Program must have a minimum undergraduate cumulative post-secondary grade point average of 2.8 on a 4.0 scale. Graduate students must select an advising committee by the first pre-registration period following admission on any basis, or one will be selected for them by the Head of Graduate Studies. There are two plans for degree completion. The first plan, the thesis track, is designed for students who plan to continue on with further graduate education or who plan to enter research-related careers. The second plan, the non-thesis track, is designed for students who do not plan to continue their education in biology. This plan is often preferred by secondary educators, persons interested in scientific sales, or those interested in laboratory management positions. In either case, the student, in consultation with her or his advising committee, will design a course of study to specifically meet the needs of the individual student. The specifics of the two degree programs are provided below. Requirements All applicants to the Biology Graduate Program must submit the following: Three Letters of recommendation (and one additional letter from your thesis advisor for thesis track applicants) Resume A narrative statement (up to 1 page in length) including three components: 1) their reasons for pursuing a graduate degree in Biology; 2) the specific area(s) (sub-discipline) of Biology in which they are interested; and 3) the type of degree (thesis track or non-thesis track) they wish to pursue.
  • Status*
  • Program Location*
Curriculum Information
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  • Prospective Curriculum*

  • PROGRAM CURRICULUM

    **IF NO COURSES OR CORES APPEAR IN THIS SECTION WHEN YOU IMPORT, DO NOT PROCEED. Contact curriculog@westga.edu for further instruction.

    This section allows departments to maintain the curriculum schema for the program which will feed directly to the catalog. Please click here for a video demonstration on how to build your program curriculum.

    Follow these steps to propose courses to the program curriculum. 

    Step 1 - Deleting Courses

    In order to delete courses that you are removing the courses from you program, please follow these steps:

    • First, delete the course from the core it is associated within the curriculum schema tab. For removing courses click on the  and proceed.
    • Next, delete the course from the list of curriculum courses tab. For removing courses click on the  and proceed.

    Step 2 - Adding New Courses

    In order to add courses to your program, you must first add all courses to be included in the program of study through the view curriculum courses tab

    • If this new program proposal includes the UWG undergraduate General Education Curriculum, scroll to the top of this form and click on the  icon to import the "University of West Georgia General Education Requirements."
    • For courses already in the catalog, click on "Import Course" and find the courses needed.
    •  For new courses going through a Curriculog Approval Process click on "Add Course"-- a box will open asking you for the Prefix, Course Number and Course Title.

    NOTE: A New Course Request proposal must also be submitted along with the New Program Proposal if the course is new. 

    Step 3 - Adding Courses to Cores in the Curriculum Schema

    To add courses to the cores (sections of the program of study, e.g., Semester 1, Semester 2, etc.) in the curriculum schema  click on  "View Curriculum Schema."  Select the core that you want to add the course to.  When you click on "Add Courses" it will bring up the list of courses available from Step 2.

Justification and Assessment
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  • Rationale*
    We are requesting the removal of Graduate Record Exam (GRE) from the requirements for admission because this is a financial barrier for many potential applicants and the exam scores are not an accurate predictor of success in our Master's program. This will increase our potential number of applications. This is in line with the M.S. in Integrative Biology degree program offered at Kennesaw State University, which does not require GRE scores for applications. We are requesting to reduce the total number of credit hours needed to complete our program from 36 hours to 30 hours. This change will align with the new BOR policy allowing for Master's programs to be 30 hours. The credit hour reduction will assist in recruitment by allowing the program to be competitive with similar graduate programs in our region. Note that the reduction of hours is decreasing the number of credit hours required in BIOL 6984 Graduate Biology Seminar (4 credit hours to 2 credit hours both tracks), in BIOL 6999 Thesis or BIOL 6995 Comprehensive Exam (2 credit hours to 1 credit hour both tracks), and in Graduate Courses in Biology (30 credit hours to 27 credit hours non-thesis track; 21 credit hours to 15 credit hours thesis track). The number of credit hours required in BIOL 6983 is increasing for thesis track (9 credit hours to 12 credit hours) to reflect the focus on research related to the thesis project and the time commitment necessary to complete the research. The reduction in credit hours will allow students on both tracks to have a more focused concentration of courses based on the career goals of the students.
  • If making changes to the Program Learning Outcomes, please provide the updated SLOs in a numbered list format.

  • SACSCOC Substantive Change 

    Please review SACSCOC Substantive Change Considerations for Curriculum Changes
    Send questions to kgwaltney@westga.edu

  • Please select all that apply.*
  • Check all that apply to this program*
  • SACSCOC Comments
    To submit new tracks/concentrations together with a new program, list them here. For instance, "New Tracks/Concentrations: name 1, name 2, name 3....

  • REQUIRED ATTACHMENTS

    ATTACH the the following required documentsl by navigating to the Proposal Toolbox and clicking  in the top right corner.

    1.) Program Map and/or Program Sheet

    For advising purposes, all programs must have a program map. Please download the program map template from here, and upload.

    Make sure to upload the new program sheet that reflects these changes. When uploading both the old and new program for reference, please ensure that you distinctly mark them and upload as one document.

    3.) Academic Assessment Plan/Reporting

    All new major programs must include an assessment plan. Stand-alone minors must have an assessment plan as well.  A stand-alone minor is a minor that can be earned in a program that does not offer an undergraduates degree with a major in that discipline (for example, a student can earn a minor in Africana Studies but cannot complete a bachelor's degree with a major in Africana Studies). Minors in a discipline where a corresponding major is offered, are not required to include an assessment plan.

    Please download the Academic Assessment Plan/Reporting template and attach to this proposal.

    4.) Curriculum Map Assessment

    Please download the Curriculum and Assessment Map template and attach to this proposal.

  • Program Map*
  • Assessment Plan*

  • LAUNCH proposal by clicking  in the top left corner. DO NOT implement proposed changes before the proposal has been completely approved through the faculty governance process. 

  • FINAL TASK: After launching the proposal, you must make a decision on your proposal. Select the  icon in the Proposal Toolbox to make your decision.

  • User Tracking

    Help: Show Original: This option displays the proposal as it appeared at launch. No markup will be visible on the form. There will be no differentiation between fields that contain imported content and content that was created or selected by the originator by hand.

    Help: Show Current: This option displays the proposal as it appears currently. No markup will be visible on the form. There will be no differentiation between fields that contain imported content and content that was created or selected by the originator by hand.

    Help: Show Current with Markup: This option displays the proposal with all of its current content marked to show different editors. Text fields that include imported content are indicated by a blue highlight, and may also include additional changes within, indicated by each editor’s unique color. Fields containing selects, checkboxes, radio buttons, or widgets (such as the curriculum) provide an activity log above the field, indicating each editor’s selection and unique color.

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