Core Curriculum

Core Curriculum

The Curriculum

• Overview
• The Liberal Arts Seminar
• International Languages
• Liberal Arts Approaches to Understanding the World
• Experiencing the Liberal Arts in the World

 

Resources

• The First Year Experience
• The Oral Expression Center
• The Writing Center 
• Core Curriculum Faculty and Staff
• Petitioning the Core Curriculum Committee
• Forms and checklists 

Core Curriculum Committee - Petitions

Students:

Students may petition the Core Curriculum Committee in order to use a non-standard experience for their Experiencing the Liberal Arts in the World requirement, or to request an exception to Core policies.

To petition for a non-standard ELAW experience, please select:

• Detailed Petition directions
• A sample petition for Core 350.08 
  
  

To petition for an exception to policy, students must write a letter explaining:

• what the policy the petitioner is requesting an exception from; 
• the reasons for the request; 
• what the desired outcome is;and
• what the ramifications will be if the petition is not granted. 

Please be clear and complete in presenting your case. 

For example, if you realize the semester after studying abroad that you failed to register for Core350, and thus have not satisfied your ELAW requirement, you would be petitioning for an exception to the policy requiring you to register for Core350 concurrently with your international experience. The reason for this might be—failure to pay attention? Your desired outcome would be that you get to register for Core350 in the current semester. And the ramifications if you can't might be that you have to use another experience to satisfy the requirement, which will delay your graduation. 

In the heading of your letter, include the following identifying information:

• Full name (First, Middle and Last)
• Date of petition
• Student ID#
• Current address (on or off-campus)
• Permanent address
• Email address
• Phone number
• Advisor's name
• and Major (if declared) 

The petition letter must be signed if submitted in hard copy, or e-mailed from your SMC e-mail account. Petitions may be submitted in hard copy to Glendening 220, or e-mailed to corecurriculum@smcm.edu.

The Core Curriculum Committee meets monthly during the school year. For a petition to be considered in any given month, it must be received in the office of the Core Curriculum by the first of that month. Petitions submitted over the summer will be reviewed by a subcommittee of the Core Curriculum Committee on a case-by-case basis, pending the availability of committee members.  

Students will be notified by the Dean when the Committee has reviewed the petition and will either be given the outcome of the Committee's deliberation in writing, or will be asked to provide further clarification or supporting data before a decision can be made.

Faculty:

In order to add or remove a course from the Core Curriculum, a letter of petition may be submitted to the Dean of the Core Curriculum by a Department Chair or Cross-Disciplinary Coordinator. The following information is required in the letter:

• Course number and title
• Course catalog description
• and rationale for requesting the addition or removal of the course from the Core.

For requested additions, the Core Curriculum Committee also requests the following supporting documentation:

• A syllabus
• a written description of how the course addresses the learning outcomes of the section of the Core in which the course should be placed
• and a staffing plan for when and how often the course will be taught.

Petitions must be submitted to the Dean of the Core Curriculum and First Year Experience by October 1 to be considered by the Core Curriculum Committee for addition to the catalog in the following academic year. Faculty will be notified by the Dean when the Committee has reviewed the petition and will either be given the outcome of the Committee's deliberation in writing or will be asked to attend a future meeting to provide further clarification or supporting data. The decision of the Core Curriculum Committee will be sent on to the Curriculum Committee for ratification.

For petitions that fall outside of those listed above, contact the Dean of the Core Curriculum and First Year Experience for specific procedures.