Approved and Recommended Electives

Approved: March 28, 2001
Printed April 7, 2005

General definitions (from the Univesity Catalog) for electives follow.

LIBERAL ARTS ELECTIVE

A liberal arts elective is any course offered by the Department of Humanities and Communication (HUM, COM, LNG) or the School of Psychology (PSY). Certain course offerings from the School of Business (BUS) and the Department of Science Education (EDS) may also be considered liberal arts electives as determined by the student's academic unit.

HUMANITIES ELECTIVE

Humanities electives should meet the generally accepted definitions that the humanities are the branches of knowledge concerned with human culture. Subjects in this area are art, music, drama, literature, history, philosophy, religion, linguistics, professional ethics and foreign languages other than a student's native language. These courses are designated as HUM electives or as HUM/SS electives in the Course Descriptions section of this catalog. Excluded as Humanities electives for ABET accredited engineering curricula are courses that emphasize learning-specific skills, such as writing, public speaking, studio art, acting, photography, etc. Such courses are designated "HUM; not for engineers" in this catalog.

A foreign language is considered the student's native language if it is the formal or commonly used language of the student's country or community, or if it was the language used as the medium of interaction in all or part of the student's pre-university education.

Humanities elective credits may not be granted by equivalency exams.

SOCIAL SCIENCE ELECTIVE

Social Science electives should meet the generally accepted definition that social sciences are the studies of society and of the relationship of the individual to society. Subjects in this area are anthropology, psychology, sociology, economics, political science, history, linguistics, social responsibility and foreign languages other than a student's native language. (See preceding section.) These courses are designated as SS electives or as HUM/SS electives in the Course Descriptions section of this catalog.

Excluded as Social Science electives for ABET accredited engineering curricula are courses that emphasize learning-specific skills, such as management, finance, marketing, social research methods, applied clinical psychology, etc. Such courses are designated ``SS, not for engineers'' in this catalog.

Social Science elective credits may not be granted by equivalency exams.

RESTRICTED ELECTIVE

A restricted elective is an elective selected from a specified academic discipline. The academic discipline is included in the specification of the elective, e.g., Restricted Elective (Chemistry) or Restricted Elective (CHM). The level of the elective may be specified by the academic unit.

TECHNICAL ELECTIVE

A technical elective is a course in any field of science or engineering, subject to department or program approval. Courses classified as mathematics, basic science, engineering science, engineering design or some combination of these satisfy the requirement. These courses should be at a level appropriate to the level at which they appear in the program.