Biology, B.S.

2025-2026 Undergraduate Revise Program Request

completed

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

    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)*
    Explanation related to one or more of the check boxes above should be included here.
  • Desired Effective Semester *
    Scroll to the bottom of the list and choose either 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 the addition/change related to core, honors, or XIDS courses*
  • Is this an Accelerated Bachelors to Masters program related proposal?*
  • Is this a Senate ACTION 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*
  • If other, please identify.

  • IMPORTANT: To remove a course from the program, you must first remove it from the curriculum schema. Then, you can delete it from the list of courses.

    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, B.S.
    Biology, B.S.
  • Program ID - DO NOT EDIT*
    4589
    4589
    This loads once you import. It is internal to the curriculog system.
  • Program Code - DO NOT EDIT
    This loads once you import. It is internal to the curriculog system.
  • Program Type*
  • Degree Type*
  • Program Description*
    Biology, B.S. Students majoring in Biology will select 1 of the following 3 concentrations: 1. Biomedical Sciences Concentration The B.S. in Biology with a Biomedical Sciences Concentration is designed to prepare students for post-graduate studies and careers in health-related fields. 2. Environmental Biology Concentration The B.S. in Biology with an Environmental Biology Concentration is designed to prepare students for post-graduate studies and careers in natural resource conservation, management, and research. 3. Integrative Biology Concentration The B.S. in Biology with an Integrative Biology Concentration is designed to allow students flexibility in customizing a course of study to prepare for post-graduate studies or careers in government agencies and private sectors. Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Degree pathway in Biology (Non-thesis &Thesis Tracks) The Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Degree Pathway in Biology (Non-thesis & Thesis Tracks) at the University of West Georgia allows outstanding students who major in Biology in all concentrations to begin earning credit toward a graduate degree while completing their Bachelor's degree.  The ABM in Biology allows exceptional students to count up to six (6) hours in the M.S. Biology (Non-thesis & Thesis Tracks) toward both degrees. The Accelerated Bachelor's to Master's Degree Pathway offers the opportunity to simultaneously satisfy partial degree requirements for a bachelor's and a master's degree in an accelerated program of study.  Upon completion of the undergraduate B.S. in Biology, with a satisfactory undergraduate grade point average and a grade of "B" or better in all graduate courses completed, the student may move to full graduate status in the Master's program in M.S. in Biology (Non-Thesis & Thesis Tracks) and the graduate-level courses taken as an undergraduate will be applied toward the graduate degree. Students applying for the ABM Pathway in Biology must:      Have completed at least 90 hours toward a B.S. in Biology.      Have completed at least 30 hours of the 90 hours of coursework at the University of West Georgia.      Have a UWG GPA of 3.2 or higher and must maintain that GPA while they are undergraduates.      Have taken BIOL 2108+BIOL 2108L.      Meet all admission requirements for the M.S. in Biology (Non-Thesis & Thesis Tracks) with the exception of the complete B.S. in Biology.      Students applying for the accelerated program will not be required to take standardized admissions tests. The list below shows the graduate courses for which students can receive credit towards both the graduate and undergraduate degrees, along with the undergraduate courses which they would replace.  Students in the pathway may receive credit for two such courses in the M.S. Biology (Non-Thesis & Thesis Tracks) which requires 30 hours of coursework.  Undergraduate students admitted to the ABM pathway should take at least one (1) 4000-levle course before taking any of the 5000/6000-level courses listed below. Graduate Course followed by Undergraduate Course which is being replaced: 1) BIOL 5130 Climate Change Biology for BIOL 4130 Climate Change Biology 2) BIOL 5241 Entomology for BIOL 4241 Entomology 3) BIOL 5242 Invertebrate Zoology for BIOL 4242 Invertebrate Zoology 4) BIOL 5245 Icthyology for BIOL 4245 Icthyology 5) BIOL 5266 Molecular Ecology for BIOL 4266 Molecular Ecology 6) BIOL 5315 Bacterial Genetics for BIOL 4315 Bacterial Genetics 7) BIOL 5325 Advanced Medical Microbiology for BIOL 4325 Advanced Medical Microbiology 8) BIOL 5424 Wildlife Habitat Ecology for BIOL BIOL 4424 Wildlife Habitat Ecology 9) BIOL 5425 Fire Ecology for BIOL 4425 Fire Ecology 10) BIOL 5427 Conservation Biology for BIOL 4427 Conservation Biology 11) BIOL 5430 Wildlife Techniques for BIOL 4430 Wildlife Techniques 12) BIOL 5440 Aquatic Ecology for BIOL 4440 Aquatic Ecology 13) BIOL 5445 Marine Biology for BIOL 4445 Marine Biology 14) BIOL 5450 Terrestrial Ecology for BIOL 4450 Terrestrial Ecology 15) BIOL 5539 Comparative Physiology for BIOL 4539 Comparative Physiology 16) BIOL 5727 Essentials of Immunology for BIOL 4727 Essentials of Immunology 17) BIOL 5728 Bacterial Pathogenesis for BIOL 4728 Bacterial Pathogenesis 18) BIOL 5730 Emerging Pathogens for BIOL 4730 Emerging Pathogens 19) BIOL 5732 Biology of Aging for BIOL 4732 Biology of Aging 20) BIOL 5733 Animal Nutrition for BIOL 4733 Animal Nutrition 21)  BIOL 6503 Biological Perspectives: Biochemistry for BIOL 4503 Biological Perspectives:  Biochemistry 22) BIOL 6513 Human Physiology for BIOL 3513 Human Physiology 23) BIOL 6526 Vertebrate Histology for BIOL 3526 Vertebrate Histology 24) BIOL 6981 Graduate Independent Study for BIOL 4981 Independent Study 25) BIOL 6982 Directed Readings for BIOL 4982 Directed Readings 26)  BIOL 6983 Graduate Research for BIOL 4983 Senior Biology Research
    This loads once you import from the catalog.
  • Status*
  • Program Location*
Curriculum Information
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  • 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 from the Program

    In order to delete courses that you are removing from your 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 to the Program 

    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 in the Curriculum Schema

    To add courses to the cores (sections of the program of study, e.g., Requirements, Additional Information, 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*
    I have attached a one page document summarizing the modifications we are proposing to the B.S. in Biology degree plan and what is staying the same (See file: Summary of Modifications). Briefly, we are reducing the number of B.S. in Biology degree tracks to 1 (modifying General Track; inactivating Preprofessional track if this proposal is approved). We are adding 3 concentrations (Biomedical Sciences, Environmental Biology, & Integrative Biology) to the single degree track. This is to allow students to easily identify the appropriate course plan to pursue the myriad of career options available to biology majors (alignment with QEP and Strategic Plan of the University). We are reorganizing the existing courses in the 2 degree tracks and reducing the number of required courses to be taken by every major down to 2 courses (down from 5-6 courses in the current degree tracks). One of the required courses is a new course BIOL 3168 Evolution & Ecology (new course proposal submitted concurrently with this proposal). BIOL 3168 is a merger of content from 2 current courses (BIOL 3135 & 3242), and BIOL 3168 can be substituted for BIOL 3135 or 3242 for current students. This reduction in required courses allows for more flexibility to students for completing their degree, i.e. retention, progression, graduation. Another significant change is that Biology majors will now take the BIOL 1107 & 1108 sequence (with labs) rather than BIOL 2107 & 2108. These course sequences are already an allowable substitution due to transfer students. We have noticed that having the students wait to take the introductory biology courses until the completion of CHEM 1211 & 1212 (with labs) is a barrier to progression in the major because many of our students need extra remediation in math prior to starting the chemistry course sequence, which delays the students' ability to enroll in BIOL 2107 & 2108. This change allows most students to take the introductory biology and general chemistry sequences at the same time, and for those who are requiring additional math remediation, this allows for more time to get the math caught up and still make progress toward the major. Finally, we made some minor adjustments to the ABM. The ABM can now be applied for by those students interested in the M.S. in Biology Thesis track, and more graduate courses were added to the course list students can take while in the B.S. in Biology degree. All of the proposed modifications have a goal to increase the flexibility of our degree track and to better illustrate to students what career paths can be pursued in the biology major.
    Max 400 characters
  • If making changes to the Program Learning Outcomes, please provide the updated SLOs in a numbered list format.
    No changes are being made to the SLOs or the assessment plan.

  • SACSCOC Substantive Change

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

  • Check all that apply to this program*
  • Check all that apply to this program*
  • SACSCOC Comments

  • 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. If you'd like to update both the old and new program new 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 select.png 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.

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    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.

    Comments

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