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This new section has not been added to the Guide. It will not be added until the recommendations have been received from the General Education Implementation Committee.

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E. Intercultural and International Competence Requirement

On March 20, 1990, the University Faculty Senate established a Cultural Diversity graduation requirement effective Summer Session 1991 for all students entering the University as baccalaureate degree candidates. Students must had to take either 3 credits of Diversity Focused (DF) courses or 12 credits of Diversity Enhanced (DE) courses. The legislation was modified on April 26, 1994 eliminating the Diversity Enhanced requirement. This action became effective Summer Session 1994. In addition, students may could satisfy the diversity requirement with experiential learning, including University-approved study abroad, specific and structured internships, Peace Corps experiences, and their equivalents. Petitions for all experiential learning intended to satisfy the diversity Intercultural and International Comeptence Requirement must be submitted to SCCA for review. On December 2, 1997 the University Faculty Senate recommended a renaming of this requirement to Intercultural and International Competence requirement and asked that courses fulfilling this requirement require students to make comparisons, particularly with their own realm of experience and emphasize student engagement and active learning. Courses fulfilling this requirement have a GI suffix.

The goal of Cultural Diversity courses was to encourage students through their studies in many disciplines to (a) consider the various historical backgrounds, cultural and scientific contributions, economic, psychological, and political situations of a wide range of other peoples; and (b) appreciate the impact of the developing global community on American society. (SR:3/20/90). The report of December 1997 accepted this view but asked to sharpen the focus of the requirement and to include courses or experiences (study abroad, in-service work, etc.) that pertain to what students come to know and learn to do.

"Intercultural competence" in this context means: a focus on the study of groups whose experiences and culture are under represented in the curriculum; such groups include those distinguished by characteristics related to ethnicity, race, class, religion, gender, physical/mental disability, and/or sexual orientation and the development of skills to deal constructively with questions which arise in a culture consisting of such diverse groups;

"International competence" in this context means: a focus on the development of a global perspective through study of the impact of other countries and their peoples on society and the development of skills which enable a student to function effectively in a complex and increasingly interdependent global community.

An Intercultural International Competence Course (GI) concentrates on one or both of the objectives above. Diversity Focused (DF) course concentrates on one or more of the concerns listed in the definition above.

 

1. Criteria for Intercultural and International Competence Courses

The criteria for the approval of Intercultural and International Competence courses below have been derived from the previously stated goals of the Cultural Diversity requirement and expanded by the goals of the December 2, 1997 report. No one course or section is expected to achieve every criterion, but each course proposal must clearly specify which criterion it proposes to meet. Each proposal should also demonstrate both scholarship and objectivity. These criteria are designed for use in reviewing course proposals. The course proposal must:

A. Indicate whether the course will emphasize mainly the development of the Intercultural Competence or International Competence or attempt to develop both simultaneously

B. Identify the main cultural concern (ethnicity, race, class, religion, gender, physical/mental disability, sexual orientation) or the main global/international issue (insert examples.........)on which the course will focus.

 

A. Identify which of the following concerns will be emphasized:
    1. Ethnicity
    2. Race
    3. Religion
    4. Gender
    5. Physical/mental disability
    6. Sexual orientation
    7. Global perspective
    8. Other _____ (please specify)

B. Does the course proposal concentrate on one or more of the above listed concerns?

C. Describe, if appropriate, how the course encourages students to develop understanding of the historical backgrounds, cultural and scientific contributions, economic, social, psychological, and political circumstances of the group being studied.

D. Describe, if appropriate, how the course encourages students to develop a global perspective.

D. Show how the course will provide a study of one or more of the following elements:

D. Explain how the students will be engaged, through active learning, to develop their Intercultural and International Competence.

Courses emphasizing the development of the Intercultural Competence of students should provide a study of one or more of the following elements:

  1. Significant cultural experiences and/or achievements of individuals who are identified by ethnicity, race, class, religion, gender, physical/mental disability, or sexual orientation; or study the cultural history of a group or groups so identified. In either case, the course outline must demonstrate a relationship between these experiences and the group's culture.
  2. The interrelations between dominant and non-dominant cultures, either in the United States or elsewhere, with special attention to the dynamics of difference. The course outline must indicate the opportunities for encouraging insights into the experience through such study in the United States.

The course proposal should demonstrate how the student would be encouraged to do or achieve one or more of the following:

reexamine their beliefs and behaviors about social identities (e.g., ethnicity, race, class, sexuality, gender, physical disability, etc.);
recognize and be sensitive to the different ways social identities have been valued;
be able to interact effectively with persons of different social groups;
increase their knowledge about the range of cultural achievements and human conditions through time;
be more sophisticated in their understanding of the nature of stereotypes and biases;
convey consideration for different cultural values, traditions, beliefs, and customs.

Courses emphasizing the development of the student's International Competence should provide a study of:
The philosophies, history, culture, work, or organization, economy, science and technology of societies as they impact on the developing global community.

The course proposals should demonstrate how the student would be encouraged to do or achieve one or more of the following:

appreciate the diversity that exists among persons who share a particular social identity;

see nations and cultures not in isolation, but in relation to each other;

be able to interact successfully with representatives of other nations;

cultivate their awareness of the pluralism and diversity within international cultures;

increase their knowledge of, and ability to locate and evaluate information about other parts and peoples of the world;

convey consideration for different cultural values, traditions, beliefs and customs.

 

2. Procedures for Submitting Intercultural and International Competence (GI)

Courses Proposals

Permanent Diversity Focused (DF) Courses

Proposed courses must:

be consistent with the objectives of the Intercultural and International Competence requirement,

include a complete course outline including a statement of course objectives,

explain how the course meets the appropriate criteria,

identify and explain any intended linkages, thematic or sequential, between the proposed course and other courses,

indicate what size student audience will be addressed and whether there will be specific limits set for enrollment in the course; if the course includes discussion or lab sections, their enrollment limits should be given,

include a publishable one-page description of the course,

include documentation of participation of all colleges in which the course is to be taught in the preparation of the proposal,

include the name(s) of the faculty member who has major responsibility for the development of the course.

If the course is planned to meet both the General Education as well as the Intercultural and International Competence requirement, the criteria for both types of courses must be met.

Mechanism for action on proposal:
    1. The proposal is submitted to the Curriculum Coordinator at the Senate Office using theCourse Proposal Form and following the standard procedures.
    2. The Intercultural/International Subcommittee reviews and makes recommendations to SCCA.
    3. SCCA acts on the proposal and publishes the results in a subsequent issue of the Curriculum Report.
    4. If the course is submitted as a General Education course, as well as an Intercultural and International Competence Course, the proposal will be reviewed first by the General Education Subcommittee and subsequently by the Intercultural/International Subcommittee.

Procedures for Submitting Diversity Focused Course Proposals

Proposals must include:
    1. a completed Course Proposal Form; and
    2. documentation presented in the format as shown above

Mechanism for action on proposal:
    1. The proposal is submitted to the Curriculum Coordinator at the Senate Office using The Course Proposal Form and following the standard curricular affairs procedures.
    2. The Cultural Diversity Subcommittee reviews and makes recommendations to SCCA.
    3. SCCA acts on the proposal.

3. Procedures for Submitting One-Semester Intercultural and International Competence (GIV) Course Proposals

3. One-Semester Diversity Focused (DFV) Courses

Procedures for Requesting Approval of DFV courses
  1. The Format of course proposals for a one semenster offering (GIV) are identical in all respects to those of regular GI course proposal. Prosals should be submitted 6 weeks prior to the deadline for submitting courses for inclusion in the Schedule of Courses.

Fall Semester - first week of January
Spring Semester - mid-November
Summer Session - first week of April

  1. The faculty member submits a DFV GIV proposal to the University Subcommittee on Cultural Diversity Intercultural and International Competence at the Senate Office, simultaneously forwarding informational copies to her/his department head, division head or director of academic affairs (if located at a Commonwealth Campus), and the college dean for undergraduate instruction. If the course is to be offered with a special topics number, the proposal must be approved and forwarded by the department head.

  2. Any one of the three informed groups can put a hold on the proposal by informing the University Subcommittee on Cultural Diversity. Intercultural and International Competence. The hold would require discussion and possible revision. A need for substantial revisions would probably postpone the potential DFV GIV listing until the next semester in which the proposer is scheduled to teach the course.