Section-Specific Course Titles

Using the Banner student system, departments may assign differing course titles for each section of courses that meet one or more of the following criteria:

  1. Special topics/issues courses, seminars, etc. that are designed to offer differing topics on a temporary, periodic, or as-needed basis. These courses should routinely offer sections with differing topics that are clearly marked in the Class Schedule and have enrollments greater than one student. Courses such as individual study, thesis, special problems, etc. where students work individually with faculty do not qualify.
    This functionality should not be sued to bypass the normal course approval process. If a section of a special topics/issues course has an enrollment that averages 20 or more for the semester sin which it is offered during two consecutive academic years, the topic may be offered in the third year only if a proposal to establish it as a regular course is submitted in the normal manner promptly after the beginning of the second semester of the second year of such enrollment. The topic may be offered with a section-specific title in the third and subsequent years (whatever the enrollment then proves to be) only until a decision is made on the proposal of a regular course. If the regular course proposal is approved, the topic may then be offered only in that form; if the regular course proposal is disapproved, the topic may not be offered again.
  2. Courses where the listing of specific-section titles on a student transcript is required by a reviewing agency (e.g., state teacher certification).
  3. Courses where sections are variations on a central course theme and the section titles denote a difference in the area of application of that theme. For example, a course called Computer Programming might have sections called Programming with C++, Programming with Java, etc.

FMS, in coordination with the Office of the Provost, will maintain a list of courses approved for section-specific course titles based on the criteria stated above and periodically monitor the use of section-specific course titles.