[OACRAO] Determining if an updated course needs a new course number or not

[Ron Napoli]

Alex,

I believe you should be documenting everything that is approved in as much
detail as practical. You will eventually get to a point, if you continue on
your current path, where it will become too difficult to remember why, how,
and what things were approved for particular classes. There is a lot of
turnover in higher education; the people who may remember these details may
leave. Institutional memory suffers from this fact. This will make the task
of approving courses/curriculum unnecessarily arduous in the future.

Ron

Ron Napoli, Registrar

Antioch College
One Morgan Place
Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387
Phone: 937.319.6139 ext. 3210

On Wed, Mar 7, 2018 at 11:14 AM, Alex Siebert <asiebert at artacademy.edu>
wrote:

> Ron,
>
>
> We do not have a clear outline by which courses are approved. We are small
> enough that we have a body that reviews the course and votes to approve it
> or not based on a discussion period and input from staff and faculty. I am
> still relatively new here, but that is our current practice based on my
> experiences here thus far.
>
>
> I'm sure at some point, if this continues, the latest iteration of it will
> not accurately reflect the original, but if the changes are small enough,
> that can be really hard to determine.
>
>
> Thank you for your input, I love hearing about other schools' practices!
>
>
> *Alex Siebert*
> Director of Registrar Services
>
> *Make Art, Make a Difference*
>
> asiebert at artacademy.edu
> *O* 513-562-8749 <(513)%20562-8749>
>
> 1212 Jackson Street
> <https://maps.google.com/?q=1212+Jackson+Street+%0D%0ACincinnati,+OH+45202&entry=gmail&source=g>
> Cincinnati, OH 45202
>
> *P* 800-323-5692 <(800)%20323-5692> toll free
> <https://instagram.com/artacademyofcincinnati/>
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Ron Napoli <rnapoli at antiochcollege.edu>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, March 7, 2018 11:00:57 AM
> *To:* Alex Siebert
> *Cc:* oacrao at lists.service.ohio-state.edu
> *Subject:* Re: [OACRAO] Determining if an updated course needs a new
> course number or not
>
> Alex,
>
> Is there a course outline upon which the course was approved? If the
> course outline (or whatever document that was considered when the course
> was originally approved) clearly states that the content is limited to wars
> of the 20th century, then this document should be amended to include
> conflicts of the the Post 9/11 era. But I don't believe there is
> significant change to require it to be a new course (with a new number).
>
> Ron
>
> Ron Napoli, Registrar
>
> Antioch College
> One Morgan Place
> Yellow Springs, Ohio 45387
> Phone: 937.319.6139 ext. 3210 <(937)%20319-6139>
>
> On Wed, Mar 7, 2018 at 10:48 AM, Alex Siebert <asiebert at artacademy.edu>
> wrote:
>
> Colleagues,
>
>
> I would like your professional opinion on whether an updated course would
> need a new course number or if the original would still be appropriate.
>
>
> This is in regards to a history class (closer to modern day) that we are
> bringing back after a hiatus.
>
>
> The original course content covers 20th century wars that the US was
> involved in (both World Wars, Vietnam, Korean wars) focusing on the concept
> of "Total War" and how that impacts the countries' societies in many ways.
>
>
> The new description updates it to also include the Post 9/11 era of modern
> warfare, and updated technology/teaching styles used in the classroom,
> still keeping the core concept of "Total War" and its impacts.
>
>
> I am of the opinion that this would not constitute creating a new course
> number because the core focus of the class has not changed, only the range
> of events and tech used has been changed. I can see that this could create
> a problem if this conversation were to come up again in 5-10 years time
> with small changes over time changing it to where it does not accurately
> reflect the original anymore. I don't think that we are at that point just
> yet though.
>
>
> I think it comes down to valuing a somewhat finite number of available
> course numbers and clearly defining what constitutes a significant enough
> change in a course description/curriculum that necessitates a new course
> number entirely.
>
>
> To use a metaphor (because I was recently in the market for purchasing a
> car), I can see parallels in car models and their different generations.
> There's the new generation of a car (significant body change and styling
> and bigger under the hood changes), which would be our new course number
> scenario. There's also the mid-cycle refreshes, or annual updates (updating
> the entertainment system, tweaking the suspension, adding the latest tech
> like Apple Carplay and wireless charging) but you can't see really any
> changes from the outside--that would be like a course description update
> that does not mandate a new course number.
>
>
> Thanks for your thoughts on this--I appreciate it!
>
>
>
> *Alex Siebert*
> Director of Registrar Services
>
> *Make Art, Make a Difference*
>
> asiebert at artacademy.edu
> *O* 513-562-8749 <(513)%20562-8749>
>
> 1212 Jackson Street
> <https://maps.google.com/?q=1212+Jackson+Street+%0D%0ACincinnati,+OH+45202&entry=gmail&source=g>
> Cincinnati, OH 45202
>
> *P* 800-323-5692 <(800)%20323-5692> toll free
> <https://instagram.com/artacademyofcincinnati/>
>
>
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>
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