These standard operating may be modified by approval of a majority of the voting members of the CAS Curriculum Committee (CC).

Linfield Curriculum (LC) Working Groups: The Linfield Curriculum (LC) Working Groups, one for each LC designation [Creative Studies (CS); Global Pluralisms (GP); Individuals, Systems, and Societies (IS); Natural World (NW); Quantitative Reasoning (QR); Ultimate Questions (UQ); U.S. Pluralisms (US); and Vital Past (VP)], review the course proposals for courses with LC designations requested and make recommendations to the CAS Curriculum Committee regarding whether a proposed course should carry the requested designation. In addition, the working groups examine samples of exemplars and supporting statements submitted by students in order to assess the extent to which students are meeting the learning outcomes.

Each spring, the chair of the CAS Curriculum Committee will solicit volunteers for the LC Working Groups according to the following criteria:

• Each LC Working Group shall consist of four faculty members, each from a different department. For this purpose, the School of Business and the School of Nursing are viewed as departments, and faculty members from these two units should be included on working groups whenever possible.
• Each member of each LC Working Group shall have taught a course with the designation within the five years prior to serving.
• Whenever possible, no faculty member shall serve on more than one LC Working Group simultaneously.
• Whenever possible, individual faculty members will serve for terms of no more than three consecutive years on any given LC Working Group.

Each LC Working Group shall select a chair from its four members. Whenever possible, this person shall have prior experience on the same LC Working Group.

Standard Operating Procedures of the LC Working Groups:

• Duties/Responsibilities:
  • These standard operating procedures may be modified by approval of a majority of the voting members of the CAS Curriculum Committee (CCC).
  • When the CAS Curriculum Committee receives course proposals with requests to include LC designations, the chair of the CAS Curriculum Committee will email the proposal to the appropriate LC Working Group(s), who will deliberate to reach a consensus as to whether the course provides students with sufficient opportunities to meet the relevant learning outcomes. The chair will forward the recommendation to the chair of the CAS Curriculum Committee. In the case of a negative recommendation, the LC Working Group will provide feedback supporting their recommendation .
  • When needed, the LC Working Groups will advise the Registrar concerning the awarding of LC credit for courses taken outside of Linfield.
  • Once every four years, each LC Working Group will spend two days during the summer assessing a sample of the exemplars and supporting statements submitted by students to earn LC credit. Faculty will be compensated for this work by Academic Affairs. The schedule for this summer rotation is as follows:
    • QR and VP: Summers 2023, 2027. . .
    • NW and US: Summers 2024, 2028 . . .
    • GP and UQ: Summers 2021, 2025 . . .
    • CS and IS: Summers 2022, 2026 . .

As part of assessment, the LC Working Group will also assess a sample of exemplars submitted for the Upper-Division requirements for that LC designation.

• In preparation for the summer assessment work, each LC Working Group, in consultation with the CAS Curriculum Committee, will develop a rubric (or refine an existing one) that defines the appropriate criteria for success for each of the learning outcomes.
• At the end of the summer assessment work, the chairs of the two working groups under assessment will provide a report to the CAS Curriculum Committee. The report should include the finding of the assessment process and any recommended changes to the particular designation and its associated learning outcomes. These reports and any included changes must then be approved by each of the three units. Each unit then reports on the passage (or not) to the Senate. If the report is approved by all units, the report and included changes will stand approved as submitted to the Senate, with no further action required. If there is a disagreement among the units, the Senate will take up the issue to make a final decision.

• After assessment, the LC Working Group will hold open forums and write a report on the findings of the working group, including any recommendations to change the description or learning outcomes for the designation. Findings of the LC Working Group will be made available to faculty in all three units.

• Duties of the Chair:

o   Solicit feedback from the Working Group about concerns over a given proposal, typically by email. Ideally, feedback should be collected within one or two weeks of receiving a proposal.

o   Act as a liaison to the Course Instructor to address concerns of the Working Group, including to educate the Course Instructor on the expectations of the Working Group.

o   In cases in which concerns of the Working Group cannot be addressed, provide written communication to the chair of CAS Curriculum Committee expressing the rationale for rejecting the proposal.

o   In preparation for the summer assessment work, develop a rubric (or refine an existing one) which defines the appropriate criteria for success for each of the learning outcomes.

o   Submit a final report to the chair of CAS Curriculum Committee, who will then submit the report to the Faculty Senate.

• Policies for Proposal Review:

o   Verify that the stated course goals are in harmony with that particular LC designation.

o   Ensure that each LC designation requested is justified by reference to the learning  outcome for that particular LC.

o   If multiple designations are sought, verify that a sufficient amount of material will be covered to merit the designation of that particular LC.

o   Ensure that, within the syllabus, the learning outcomes are listed, with specific rationale for which outcome will be addressed within the course.