School of Arts and Sciences

2022-2023 Agenda Items

Standing Committees on Interdepartmental Programs’ reports

• Legal Studies
• Religious Studies
• Comparative Literature and Culture
• Biological Physics

Changes to Program Offerings

• New Finance Minor
• New Sociology Minor
• Sunset Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Major
• Sunset Teacher Education Minor
• Department of Classical Studies renamed Department of Classics and Early Mediterranean Studies

Curricular Revisions

• Two new tracks within NEJS major: Islamic and Arabic Studies and Israel Studies
• Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies major requirements restructured
• Junior seminar added to IGS major requirements
• Studio Arts major requirements restructured
• Senior studio removed from Studio Arts minor requirements
• Educational Studies major and minor requirements restructured
• Environmental Studies practicum pilot approved

Other Updates

• Three new study abroad programs
• 16 Independent Interdisciplinary majors
• Evaluation of Genesis course and Summer Residency in Women’s Health
• Language proficiency transcript notation pilot
• UCC Guidelines for Approving Majors/Minors
• Two-year timeline for Brandeis Core assessment
• “Attached” practicum structure discontinued
• Revised MKTYP curriculum

Procedures for Conduct of UCC Meetings

Committee members reviewed procedures for the conduct of UCC meetings.

Appointment of Subcommittee for Independent Interdisciplinary Majors

Ellen Schattschneider and Madadh Richey volunteered to serve on the Subcommittee for Independent Interdisciplinary Majors, which will meet twice each semester.

Linda Bui, Senior Associate Dean of the International Business School and Associate Professor of Economics, presented a proposal for a new minor in Finance. 

Brandeis is the only University with a business school within the greater Boston area that does not offer a pathway for either a Finance major or minor for our undergraduate students. While the undergraduate Business program provides an excellent curriculum for students across several business sub-disciplines, the proposal argues that having a Finance minor in the undergraduate program would help Brandeis attract undergraduate students focused on finance who otherwise would apply only to our local competitors such as Boston College, Northeastern, and regional competitors (e.g., Wharton), all of whom offer an undergraduate track in Finance. 

The UCC discussed this proposal in four meeting (September 16, October 14, October 28, November 11) and discussed questions about the following:

Administrative structure for the minor: It was proposed that the Finance minor be housed under the Business IDP program with its own oversight committee.  Major programmatic changes would require approval first by the Finance Minor’s oversight committee, the Business School’s Program Coordination Committee (PCC) – which include the Chair of the Economics department as well as the chair of the undergraduate Business major, then the Division of Social Science, and finally the UCC.  Regular program reviews would fall under the purview of the UCC.      

Course double counting: The second topic focused on the overlap between the Business and the ECON majors/minors and how potential double counting of courses will be handled. It was clarified that the same set of restrictions for double counting of courses (max. 2) as well as all other rules on “counting” that currently exist between the Business and Economics majors/minors. 

Impact on existing programs/courses: Next the UCC discussed the impact of the FIN minor on existing programs/courses, given the high enrollments in some of the ECON pre-reqs and electives courses of the minor. It was clarified that if the number of Finance minors is sufficiently large to put pressure on Econ 83A (a FIN minor pre-req), the Business School would provide an additional section of Econ 83A to satisfy the excess demand.  Additionally, IBS will allow (and encourage) other courses to be used in lieu of Econ 83A, specifically: POL 52A, RIIF 111, BIOL 51A, or MA 36B.  There is no major enrollment concern for the Econ 2A/10A prerequisite as close to half of all students take one of these courses and IBS does not anticipate additional students taking the course just to take the Finance minor. 

The minor will also include three Economics courses as accepted cross-listed courses: Econ 142B, Econ 151A, and Econ 172B. Econ 142B (Behavioral Economics) is only taught in the Copenhagen Summer Program.  Keeping this course as an eligible elective would encourage Finance minors to participate in the Summer Abroad program.  Econ 151A (Statistical Modeling with R for Economics and Finance) has only been offered during summer and over the past 3 summers enrollments have been 12, 14, 15, respectively.  Finally, Econ 172B (Money and Banking) was offered in Fall 2017, 2018, and 2020 with enrollments of 13, 67, and 58.  If enrollment increases in this course IBS could drop this cross-listing and replace it with a new elective in Banking and Financial Institutions.  It was noted that none of these cross-listed elective courses are critical to the Finance minor.  If, for some reason, the Economics elective courses cannot be made available, they will be eliminated from the elective list.   If there is sufficient demand for any undergraduate business course to warrant adding additional sections to meet that demand, the IBS will simply mount those sections. 

Converting graduate courses to their undergraduate version: The proposal mentioned that FIN graduate courses will be converted to their undergraduate counterparts.  Such a conversion already took place in the past for the BUS program.  For example, BUS 117A is an undergraduate corporate finance course that is equivalent to FIN 202A.  The same is true for BUS 113A and FIN 213A (Intermediate Financial Accounting).

The members questioned whether the undergraduates taking this business school course would be graded appropriately and at their level. At present there is an equivalent course to FIN 202, BUS 117. IBS intends to create the undergraduate equivalent of FIN 201 course so all students would be able to participate as an undergraduate or graduate student. If the course is taught by the same instructor, they can cover the same topics, but the undergraduate version would move more slowly and have more emphasis on formalized individual assessments. By contrast the graduate student curriculum would place more emphasis on group work and case studies. The coursework for both cohorts would be similar, but not to the same depth, as graduate students often come with field/work experience.

Οn October 28th a revised syllabus for a core course—FIN 101—for the new minor in Finance was presented to the UCC based on the suggestions of the committee from the previous (October 14) meeting and the differences between the undergraduate and graduate version of the course was discussed. The undergraduate version of the course would be based more in concrete examples versus more abstract approaches; it would have fewer case studies. The two syllabi have different topics at the end of the year to speak to topics undergraduates might be interested in e.g., investing, portfolio enhancement and fixed income. 

Commitment to liberal arts education: Some UCC members discussed whether the FIN minor would also share the same commitment to liberal arts education as the BUS interdepartmental (IDP) program. This commitment could be captured by offering electives or even required courses on social impact, including a capstone project that brings together society and finance topics, and/or adjusting the learning goals of the program. Other members pointed out that an elective on the impact of financial investing is already listed in the elective list and that a capstone project is typically not included in minor programs; a capstone project paired with the increased number of required courses might fit better a major rather than a minor degree. UCC members agreed to ask Linda Bui to address these concerns and discuss them in a future UCC meeting.

On November 11th Linda Bui addressed UCC members’ suggestion to add a liberal arts course requirement to the proposed Finance minor. While it was acknowledged the importance of the liberal arts curriculum at Brandeis, several challenges to adding a required liberal arts course to the proposed Finance minor were also noted. One challenge is that the technical nature of the content area already requires significant coursework and leaves little room for an additional requirement. It was also noted that the FIN minor would sufficiently prepare students for a career or graduate study in Finance, while allowing students to major in a liberal arts discipline.

Some UCC members disagreed that Finance was a more technical content area than other majors and minors that include liberal arts courses in their curricula. They also recognized that existing liberal arts courses are listed as proposed electives for the Finance minor and would not require the development of new courses to satisfy this requirement. 

UCC members voted to approve the minor for three years with the expectation that by its next review (in three years) the program will include a requirement that one of the required electives be drawn from the subset of electives that are related to social science, humanities, or socially oriented topics or some curricular equivalent.

Seven UCC members approved the motion and one dissented. The dissenting member thought that the minor should be approved as is, noting the Brandeis Core and major requirements already ensure that all students will receive a well-rounded liberal arts education. They also indicated that some of the proposed electives for the minor, such as a course on social impact investing, allow students the opportunity to connect Finance to the liberal arts if they wish.

Darlene Brooks Hedstrom, Associate Professor of Christian Studies and Chair of the Classical Studies Department, presented the proposed name change for the Department of Classical Studies to Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies. Professor Brooks Hedstrom mentioned that the scope of the program goes beyond Pompeii, Rome, and Athens. The addition of “Early Mediterranean Studies” to the department name more accurately reflects the scholarship and course offerings of the department and aligns with recent developments within the field. The proposed name change also echoes the Mediterranean Studies program previously offered at Brandeis. The department is looking to take a longer-term approach for a broader change in the department, with this first rollout of name change then subsequent alterations to the tracks within the major.

UCC members unanimously approved this name change.

Professor Brooks Hedstrom returned to the committee on March 3^rd and presented a proposal to revise the CEMS major curriculum. The department successfully petitioned to change its name in Fall 2022 and now proposes a curriculum adjustment that would draw on the strengths of the current faculty, align with emerging developments in the discipline, and meet students’ desire for more flexibility. CEMS proposes three new tracks: 1) Mediterranean Archaeology, 2) Classical and Early Mediterranean History and Culture, and 3) Classical and Early Mediterranean Languages and Literatures. 

UCC members asked whether these changes would require additional faculty or other resources. The department designed the proposed curriculum to be feasible with existing faculty and resources.

UCC members unanimously approved the proposal via email vote.

Bryan Ingoglia, UCC member and Assistant Professor of Chemistry, presented the findings from the Legal Studies IDP Review from the fall. Bryan lauded the popularity of the Legal Studies program among students and highlighted the need for more resources and faculty to meet the growing demand. He also indicated that faculty would like to develop a Legal Studies major, which would be challenging to develop and maintain with the existing resources. UCC members agreed that the program needs additional resources and suggested that this might be a fundraising priority for the University.

At present, the Legal Studies program has a capstone requirement that consists of either a semester-long internship in the field or a thesis that connects to the students’ major. A UCC student member and prospective Legal Studies minor noted that it was hard for students to complete the minor as there are so few options for the capstone. She suggested that more options for fulfilling the capstone would afford students more flexibility in completing the minor. 

Jon Levisohn, Chair of the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and Jonathan Decter, NEJS Professor and Humanities Division Head, presented two proposals to sunset the Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Program and create a new “Arabic and Islamic Studies” track in the NEJS department. These proposals were presented and discussed together since they are so closely linked. 

Historically, NEJS offered a track in this area, which was developed into the existing IMES interdepartmental program (IDP) based on the number of non-NEJS course offerings. Due to decreased student participation in recent years, the program steering committee voted to sunset the IMES IDP in favor of creating a new track within NEJS. Professor Levisohn emphasized that these changes should not be conceptualized as an absorption of IMES into NEJS, but rather an opportunity to build on the department’s current strengths in Islam and Arabic. The NEJS faculty would aim to maintain connections with faculty working in related areas outside of NEJS.

A UCC member asked whether the new track would focus on Arab League nations. The response was that while the NEJS graduate program does focus specifically on the Arabic-speaking world, there would be no need to focus this narrowly at the undergraduate level. There would naturally be some focus on Arabic because this is the only language currently offered at Brandeis. 

A UCC member also asked if the department has considered offering a minor in Arabic in Islamic Studies; the department offers a minor in Arabic and will consider a minor in Islamic Studies as well. There was a question about options for students who started before the proposed sunsetting of the IMES program. Since the IMES program is small, the department would be able to accommodate students who started at Brandeis in Fall 2022 or earlier (a contractual obligation since the program is listed in the 2022-2023 bulletin). A UCC member also asked whether students would be able to study both Hebrew and Arabic; they would be able to take courses in both languages, but may have to choose one track within the major. There is a hope that the new track would increase enrollments in upper-level Arabic courses, which sometimes struggle with low enrollments.

Jon Levisohn, Associate Professor of Jewish Educational Thought and Chair of the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies (NEJS), presented a proposal to add an Israel Studies track within the NEJS major. The track would require a minimum of nine courses: two foundational courses, one course in each of three contexts (chronological, geographical, and theoretical), and four electives. The track would also require completion of a fourth-semester or higher course in Hebrew or Arabic; consideration would also be given for Russian or Yiddish, which would be relevant to the study of modern Israel. NEJS faculty believe that the proposed curriculum would allow students to develop a strong foundation in the field of Israel Studies while providing enough flexibility for students to explore particular interests.

The committee approved the proposal.

Shirley Idelson, Director of the Hornstein Program in Jewish Professional Leadership and Laura Hyman, Director of Genesis, presented evaluations of the Genesis summer course and Summer Residency in Women’s Health. 

In Spring 2022, the UCC approved a proposal to offer the summer Genesis course for credit on a trial basis. The UCC requested an evaluation of the pilot before approving it on a longer-term basis. After completing the pilot this past summer, Genesis staff decided not to offer the course for credit again. The students and staff who participated in the course agreed that the amount of work required for credit felt like too much for the three-week residency of the program. The staff also found that college credit was not a strong driver of recruitment; students reported that they were interested in “learning for learning’s sake” and had other opportunities to earn college credit if they wanted to (i.e. AP courses). As a result of this feedback, they do not plan to petition the UCC to offer this course for credit in the future.

Laura reported that the Summer Residency in Women’s Health worked better than the Genesis course for credit. However, they do not plan to offer this program in the future due to new priorities.

The UCC Subcommittee on Independent Interdisciplinary Majors approved six IIMs in Fall 2022 and ten IIMs in Spring 2023.

Fall 2022 

• Linet Cardoso ’22 – Architectural Studies
• Emily Coelho ’25 – Communication and Media Studies
• Ashley Sharmat ’24 – Communication and Media Studies
• Floriesha Bastien ’24 – Race, Media, and Communications
• Maggie DiPierdomenico ’24 – Politics, Philosophy, and Law
• Noah Goble ’23 – Digital Technology and Culture 

Spring 2023

• Vinnie Wengert ’25 – Media: Society, Culture, and Politics
• Lauryn Williams ’25 – Communications and Public Policy
• Alia Apollos ’25 – Queer and Trans of Color Critique
• Anana Turner ’25 – Technology: Ethics and Politics
• Ofri Levinson ’25 – Multimedia Storytelling and Design
• Aiden Guthro ’23 – Communication and Media Studies
• Tibria Brown ’25 – International Journalism
• Bronwyn Rothman-Hall ’25 – Media, Culture, and Communication
• Lauren Rifas ’24 – Women’s Health
• Salma Bensalim ’24 – Communication, Marketing, and Cultural Industries

At the May meeting, Kate Colahan, Assistant Director of Academic Advising and IIM Coordinator, shared recent trends in IIM proposals:

• The number of approved IIMs has increased in recent years. Part of this may be attributed to the increased interest in majors related to Communications; more than half of this year’s IIMs related to Communications.
• The majority of proposed IIMs combine courses from the social sciences and humanities. Some incorporate the arts and a more limited number incorporate science. In addition to Communications, common areas of interest are Philosophy Politics & Economics (PPE), Philosophy Politics & Law, social and ethical considerations of technology, and the creative arts.
• Some faculty are tapped to be IIM advisors and oversee capstones over and over, particularly in the area of Communications. Kate is working with the IIM subcommittee and the Dean’s Office on strategies to accommodate the growing interest. Some ideas that have been proposed are consolidating independent studies into small seminars for students with similar interests, encouraging students to complete a capstone in a related discipline when appropriate, and directing students to other advisors with relevant expertise.

Ziva Hassenfeld, UCC member and Assistant Professor of Jewish Education, presented the findings from the Religious Studies IDP review. The review committee was impressed by the unique value of the Religious Studies program. The reviewers found that students appreciated the opportunity to study the sociological and anthropological aspects of religion, which they felt distinguished Religious Studies from other majors and minors at Brandeis. The committee noted that the number of majors and course enrollments have fluctuated in recent years but remain reasonable. 

The reviewers noted that, as is often the case for small programs, the majority of work required to maintain the program falls to one faculty member. However, they found that the program runs very smoothly under the chair’s leadership and are not concerned about leadership continuity. The committee endorses the program’s request for an adjunct in East Asian Studies to fill the gap left by a recent retirement. The UCC unanimously voted in favor of the committee’s recommendation to approve the Religious Studies program for another five years.

Yukimi Nakano, Senior Lecturer in Japanese and Irina Dubinina, Associate Professor of Russian and Director of the Russian Language Program, presented a proposal from the World Languages and Cultures (WLC) committee to offer a transcript notation for language proficiency. In addition to recognizing students’ language proficiency in a standardized way, the committee believes that the notation would offer students an incentive to continue studying a language after completing the language requirement, which may increase enrollments in upper-level language courses. Students who complete two courses beyond the Brandeis Core World Languages and Cultures requirement with a GPA of at least 3.3 in target language courses would qualify for the notation.

The WLC committee proposes a 3-year pilot to gauge student interest. Chinese, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Russian would like to participate in the pilot; other programs, such as Spanish and French, have opted out. Some of the faculty in these programs are concerned that offering a notation could disincentivize completing the minor; other WLC members argue that it could increase interest in the minor by engaging students in intermediate to advanced language study. A UCC member pointed out that different programs’ circumstances might make the transcript notation more of a priority for some than others. For example, students' prior study in French or Spanish might facilitate higher enrollments in advanced courses.  

The UCC also asked how smaller programs that don’t offer intermediate and advanced courses every semester will support students who are interested in the notation; these programs already offer independent studies to meet students’ needs.

UCC members unanimously approved the proposal via email vote.

The five-year review of the Brandeis Core curriculum is scheduled to begin in the 2023-2024 academic year. The review will need to address the many elements of the Brandeis Core and incorporate feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders. The UCC approved the Office of the Dean of Arts & Sciences’ proposal for a two-year approach, with planning, committee formation, and preliminary data collection taking place in 2023-2024 and implementation taking place in 2024-2025. This timeline will provide data from two graduating classes. It will also enable the new Dean of Arts & Sciences (expected to begin in Fall 2023) to acclimate to their role and become familiar with the undergraduate curriculum before leading the assessment process. 

One UCC member suggested appointing a large committee with several subcommittees, which worked well in the development of the Brandeis Core. Another member suggested some overlap with the committee that developed the Brandeis Core to preserve continuity. 

There are a small number of informal 2-credit practicum courses that are attached to a base 4-credit course. Practica that are attached to base course do not go through a formal approval process, are not accounted for in the annual curriculum planning process, and are not compensated the same as standard 2-credit courses. They were developed as part of an experiential learning initiative that no longer exists at Brandeis; most of the courses that were originally included in this category are no longer offered or have been converted to formal, standalone courses. The Office of the Dean of Arts & Sciences proposes sunsetting the attached practicum structure to enhance the consistency of both workload and compensation across 2-credit courses. If approved, DAS will work with affected departments/programs to adjust the few remaining attached practica. 

UCC members noted that the attached practicum structure was promoted as an option for departments to fulfill foundational literacy requirements during the development of the Brandeis Core and asked how this would affect those departments; while attached practica can be difficult to identify because they are not consistently tagged, DAS is only aware of one department that uses this model for foundational literacy courses. DAS is still looking into this and would work with any departments that are affected to identify a reasonable solution. A member also asked whether there are any similar course structures that might be affected, such as PEER-94 courses. DAS does not believe this would affect other courses.

Elanah Uretsky, Associate Professor of International Global Studies and Program Chair of IGS, presented a proposal to add a Junior Seminar to the IGS Major requirements. The recently restructured IGS curriculum requires majors to choose one of three tracks. IGS faculty propose adding a required Junior Seminar course for each track. The Junior Seminar would replace one of the six electives majors take, leaving students with five electives. Students will be encouraged to take the course during their junior year but will have flexibility as needed. 

Faculty believe that the Junior Seminar will enhance students’ focus in their area of concentration. They also hope that the seminars will introduce students to research and encourage more students to consider pursuing a senior thesis. The seminars will be taught by core IGS faculty and will not require additional resources.

The UCC voted to approve the proposal.

Professor Laura Miller, Chair of the Sociology Department and Professor Michael Strand, Undergraduate Advising Head for Sociology, presented a proposal to add a Sociology minor to the undergraduate curriculum. The proposed minor curriculum would require five courses: three required courses that provide a strong foundation in the field and two electives. These requirements are in line with minor requirements in comparable Brandeis departments. The requirements also closely resemble the requirements for a Sociology minor at peer institutions. Professor Miller noted that Sociology is the only Social Sciences department at Brandeis without a minor and that students have expressed increasing interest in a minor over the years. 

There is a much higher level of interest from students in a Sociology minor in recent years. Recent changes to the Sociology major requirements have also made it more possible to create a cohesive minor with existing course offerings. Faculty feel the time is right to meet student demand for a minor.

Faculty expect that another section of the methods course (one of the three required courses) may be needed, and possibly one or two other courses. There are already a large percentage of non-majors who take Sociology courses, so faculty don’t expect a significant need to add course sections.

The UCC voted to approve the proposal.

Leah Gordon, Director of Education and Associate Professor of Education; Danielle Igra, Associate Professor of Education and Director of Teacher Education; and Rachel Kramer Theodorou, Senior Lecturer in Education and Assistant Director of Elementary Education, presented two proposed changes to the Education curriculum. 

The Education Program currently offers two degree pathways for undergraduates: a major and minor in Education Studies and a minor in Teacher Education. The Teacher Education minor is a pre-professional program that prepares students for state licensure in K-12 education. Given the closure of the MAT and BA/MAT programs, which shared a number of courses with the Teacher Education minor, Education faculty propose closing the Teacher Education minor and moving the licensure option into the Education Studies major and minor. 

The proposed new structure would break down the silo between students who want to teach and those not pursuing licensure, which would allow for a deeper integration between the broader field of education studies and the practice of teaching. The new structure would also address the ongoing logistical challenges of low-enrolled courses and an over-reliance on per course hires, which would otherwise be exacerbated by the closure of the MAT program.

There aren't many programs at other institutions that offer a pathway to licensure without also offering an MAT. Faculty believe that the proposed curriculum covers both Education Studies and Teacher Education well in comparison to peer institutions. Some peer institutions are working toward a more integrated curriculum like this one, so this puts Brandeis ahead of emerging trends.

All courses will be open to non-licensure students. This will allow students flexibility in choosing electives and will reduce the risk of low enrollments.

The UCC voted to approve the proposal.

The Education Program proposes adding a new applied learning requirement for the Education Studies major. Students would be able to complete an internship or an independent research project. The internship option would introduce a new course, ED 89: Education Internship and Analysis. Students would have the option to complete an internship in a school, policy-making context, or education-related organization. The independent research option would allow students to complete a senior thesis or capstone paper. The proposed change would meet the student demand for internships and encourage student participation in community-engaged learning and independent research. The Education faculty believe that the proposed options are flexible enough to meet a variety of students' needs and interests.

The proposed structure offers flexibility for students not pursuing licensure while allowing those who are to meet the state's internship and student teaching requirements. The internship structure has been modeled after the successful internship courses in HSSP and LGLS.

The UCC voted to approve the proposal.

lauren woods, Assistant Professor of Fine Arts, presented two proposed changes to the Studio Arts Curriculum.

The current Studio Arts major curriculum is multidisciplinary and allows students to explore several methods of production (painting, sculpture, photography, etc.). The challenge is that the requirements allow students to take several introductory courses with fewer intermediate or advanced courses in a particular method of production. The proposed new curriculum provides more of a scaffolded learning experience and requires students to declare a focus on a particular method of production by their junior year. This would allow majors to develop more advanced skills in a particular area in order to prepare for the senior studio.

The proposal would also create a new category, Cultural Production in Context: History and Theory. This category would broaden the existing Art History requirement. This is an emerging area of student interest that is growing due to recent faculty hires. For now, students interested in this category can fulfill the requirements through independent studies as needed. Faculty expect there to be sufficient student interest to create additional new courses in the future.

The UCC voted to approve the proposal.

The Studio Arts minor currently requires a senior studio capstone course. The minor has become so popular that there is not sufficient studio space to accommodate all of the minors. Due to space constraints, the faculty propose to remove the senior studio requirement from the minor curriculum. This change would give majors first priority to enroll in the senior studio courses and would make remaining spots available to minors by application only. The faculty believe that this change could lead to an increase in both majors and minors; it might encourage some minors to pursue the major if they really want to do advanced studio work, and it could encourage students who don't want the studio experience to complete the minor.

The application for minors would include a meeting with faculty and a portfolio review. Available spots would be allocated based on students' plans for using the studio space and their readiness to complete their project in time to exhibit their work. Unfortunately majors have to get priority in order to complete the requirements. UCC members expressed regret that we don't have sufficient studio space to accommodate minors, but agreed that this plan makes sense given the level of demand from students.

The UCC voted to approve the proposal.

Colleen Hitchcock, Associate Professor of Ecology and Chair of Environmental Studies and Sally Warner, Assistant Professor of Climate Science and Undergraduate Advising Head of ENVS presented a proposal to offer intensive advanced practicum courses as part of the Environmental Studies curriculum. These practica would be aligned with a four-credit course and offer experiential learning opportunities such as field work or attending a conference or other off-campus event. Many practica would involve travel, typically during university breaks. ENVS previously offered a field semester that is no longer offered, which leaves a gap in experiential learning opportunities in the curriculum.

ENVS faculty will aim to connect with community organizations as appropriate, depending on the course themes and the context of the work. In many cases, students will participate in fieldwork that local organizations are conducting. They also anticipate that the experience of traveling and working together will build community among students, which is important for the student experience and not always easy to achieve within small interdisciplinary programs. 

The companion course would be a prerequisite or corequisite and align the practica with a four-credit course. Practica will go through the formal course approval process and will be included in curriculum planning, per the new practicum policy. During the pilot phase, the practica would not count toward the major/minor. The Program might consider incorporating practica into the major/minor requirements if additional funding is secured. 

If approved, the pilot will be funded through an existing grant from the Thoreau Society, which must be used by December 2023. Launching the pilot in the Fall would time to apply for subsequent funding. There are NSF grants that this seems like it would be a good match for and the team is optimistic that they’ll be able to secure funding if the pilot is successful. UCC members supported this approach, given the team’s experience in securing similar grants and the grant writing support provided by the Division of Science. 

The committee approved the proposal.

UCC member Yu-Hui Chang presented the Standing Committee on Interdepartmental Programs’ report on the review of the Comparative Literature (COML) program. The Standing Committee found that, while small, the program is stable and successful. The program has recovered from a previous decline in the number of majors and students reported feeling very supported by the program. UCC members commented that COML has addressed the suggestions and concerns raised in the last review and have gained stability.

The committee noted students’ suggestion to consider whether COML 100a is the right gateway course for the program. Student feedback suggests that a less theoretical introductory course might draw more majors. The committee also noted that students don’t always see the benefit of the required advanced language courses; they suggested that the program might better articulate the benefits of these requirements and work with students to complete them.

The committee voted to continue the Comparative Literature program for another five years.

Yu-Hui presented the Standing Committee’s report on the review of the Biological Physics (BIPH) program. The committee reported that students in this program do very impressive work, especially considering the small size of the program. BIPH faculty believe that the size suits the nature and goals of the program.

UCC members discussed the challenges of creating a cohesive experience for BIPH students, since students take courses from different disciplines and the program isn’t large enough to offer many BIPH-specific courses. Members noted the challenges but agreed that the program still serves students very well. 

The committee also discussed student feedback about the Quantitative Biology Research Community (QBReC) fellowship, which a small number of incoming first years are invited to join. Some students who were not part of this program felt that they missed out on faculty guidance and initial foundation courses that could have been useful to them as BIPH majors. The fellowship is funded by a gift, so expansion opportunities would be limited without additional funding. Members discussed whether an application process would help by increasing transparency.

The committee voted to continue the Biological Physics program for another five years.

The Myra Kraft Transitional Year Program (MKTYP) underwent an external review last year and decided to revise the curriculum based on the findings. Lori Tenser, Dean of Academic Support and Advising and Kathryn Bethea-Rivera, Director of the MKTYP presented the revised curriculum for informational purposes, as the revision does not require UCC approval.

The MKTYP is a transitional program that aims to address skills gaps for students who have lacked access to pre-college academic opportunities and resources. After completing the one-year program, students go on to pursue an undergraduate degree at Brandeis. Before this curricular revision, the courses that students took during the transitional year did not count toward their degree, so it took them five years to graduate from Brandeis. This led to retention issues and a lack of connection to the Brandeis community beyond the program.

MKTYP staff sought an external review in 2022 since the program had not had one since its founding in 1968. The review was conducted from March-June 2022. The reviewers recommended bolstering the curriculum and program design, involving more Brandeis faculty, revisiting the program size and staffing, addressing barriers to inclusion and belonging, and conducting ongoing assessment.

Based on the findings of the review, program staff worked with other campus stakeholders to develop a revised curriculum that will allow students to earn credit toward their degrees and complete core requirements during the transitional year, which will allow them to complete the degree in four years. The courses include a writing course that will satisfy the UWS requirement, research methods courses that will satisfy the Quantitative Reasoning and Social Science requirements, and a learning strategies module that will satisfy the Health Wellness and Life Skills requirement.

The UCC discussed the relationship of the MKTYP to other programs that support traditionally underrepresented students, such as POSSE, Galaxy, and SSP. Brandeis has been committed to engaging with the most vulnerable and under-invested populations for a long time, so different programs coexist.

UCC members also discussed what support exists to facilitate students’ success in the program. The MKTYP Director advises students and serves as a consistent presence and source of support throughout their time at Brandeis. There will also be grad student tutors for each course. A faculty liaison position has also been created; Elanah Uretsky, who has worked on development of a new curriculum, will serve in this role.