South Dakota Board of Regents

New Baccalaureate Degree Minor

Note: Use this form to propose a new baccalaureate degree minor that requires either existing or new courses. An academic minor within a degree program enables a student to make an inquiry into a discipline or field of study beyond the major or to investigate a particular content theme. It too should be organized around a specific set of objectives that are achieved through a series of courses. Minors are intended to provide limited competency in the subject. Course offerings in a minor may be centered in a specific department or drawn from several departments as in the case of a topical or thematic focus. Some specific requirements are included. Regental undergraduate minors typically consist of 18-24 semester credit hours. Flexibility typically is achieved by offering the student a choice from among a group of courses to complete the credits. Minors are established by Board of Regents action. The Executive Director or the Board may request additional information concerning proposals.

University:	DSU
Title of Proposed Minor:	English for Information Systems
Degree(s) in which minor may be earned:	BA/BS with any major
Existing related majors or minors:	B.S. in English for Information Systems
Proposed Implementation (term):	Fall 2006
Proposed CIP Code:

University Approval

To the Board and the Executive Director: I certify that I have read this proposal, that I believe it to be accurate, and that it has been evaluated and approved as provided by university policy.

President of the University

Date

After approval by the President, a signed copy of the proposal should be transmitted to the Executive Director. Only after Executive Director review should the proposal be posted on the university web site and the Board staff and the other universities notified of the URL.

1. Do you have a major in this area?

X

Yes

No

2. If you do not have a major in this area, explain how the proposed minor relates to your mission.

3. How will the proposed minor benefit students?

Students who are majoring in fields requiring writing skills, such as Business, Computer & Information Technology majors, will have the opportunity to add this minor to better prepare them for their future careers. In addition, offering the minor through Internet delivery will benefit the economic development of the state as traditional and nontraditional students across the state, including those currently employed in technical fields, will have the opportunity to develop their technical writing abilities.

4. Provide estimated enrollments and completions in the table below and explain how the estimates were developed.

	Fiscal Years*
	1st	2nd	3rd	4th
Estimates	FY_07_	FY2_08	FY3_09_	FY4_10
Students in the minor (fall)	12	15	18	20
Completions by graduates	0	0	5	12

* Do not include current year.

5. What is the rationale for the curriculum?

The curriculum was developed by studying the current course offerings in the major, course offerings for a minor at other Universities, through discussions with faculty and administrators from other Colleges and with the Director of E-Education Services at Dakota State University. The required courses and the range of electives would provide students the opportunity to supplement the knowledge, skills, and abilities they develop in their major area of study with basic skills in professional and technical writing and publishing, computer graphics, web publishing, digital photography and typography, contemporary rhetoric, grammar, and communication research methodologies.

6. Complete the tables below. Explain any exceptions to BOR policy being requested.

A. Distribution of Credit Hours

[title of proposed minor]	Credit Hours	Percent
Requirements in Minor	12	67%
Electives in the Minor	6	33%
Total	18	100%

B. Required Courses in the Minor

Prefix	Number	Course Title	New*	Hours
MCOM	161	Desktop Publishing	N	3
ENGL	208	Documentation & Presentation	N	3
ENGL	309	Computer-Supported Collaborative Writing	N	3
ENGL	379	Technical Communication	N	3
		Subtotal, required		12

* New: Y= yes, N = no.

C. Elective Courses in the Minor: List courses that may be taken as electives in the minor. Indicate any new courses to be added specifically for the minor.

Six credit hours from (existing courses):

ENGL 305 Professional, Technical, & Grant Writing

ENGL 401 Advanced Writing

ENGL 466 Text Markup and Processing

ENGL 467 Computer Text Analysis

ENGL 480 Contemporary Rhetoric

ENGL 492 Topics

MCOM 351 Web Publishing I

MCOM 360 Technical Publishing

MCOM 409 Information Architecture

7. What outcomes will be expected for all students who complete the minor? How will these outcomes be achieved?

· Students will learn and practice fundamental design principles, techniques and technology of electronic layout and production.

· Students will design and create a variety of print and electronic documents common to technical and professional projects, using industry-standard computer applications.

· Students will learn and practice principles of effective development of technical and professional documents and presentations for specific audiences and purposes.

· Students will learn and practice principles of successful collaborative writing using appropriate computer, communications, and authoring software.

· Students will learn and practice research strategies appropriate to technical and professional writing.

· Students will learn and practice effective strategies for planning and managing technical and professional writing projects using appropriate computer, communications, and authoring software.

These outcomes will be achieved through electronic documents, communications, and presentations in an online setting.

8. What instructional technologies will be used to teach courses in the minor? This refers to the instructional technologies used to teach the new courses in the minor and NOT the technology applications students are expected to learn.

None; there are no new courses in the minor.

9. Is the University is requesting authorization to provide the minor to students at an off-campus location or by distance delivery? If yes, explain. If off-campus or distance delivery authorization is not requested, enter “None.”

Yes; all courses would be developed to include Internet delivery.

10. Costs, Budget & Resources: Explain the amount and source(s) of any one-time and continuing investments in personnel, professional development, release time, instructional technology and software, other O&M, facilities, etc needed to implement the minor.

No new personnel would be required; all instructional technology and software would be available through WebCT and the Citrix server. Funding for course development for internet delivery will be obtained through E-Education Services.

11. Additional Information Additional information is optional. Use this space to provide information not requested above.. Limit the number and length of additional appendices. Identify appendices with capital letters. Letters of support are not necessary and are rarely included with Board materials. This item may be deleted if it is not used.