College of Arts and Sciences restricted electives and overlays
Changes or additions to the list of courses that count for the college’s common requirements for undergraduate degree programs must first be approved by disciplinary advisory committees. These committees provide recommendations to the college course and curriculum committee, which is responsible for oversight of these requirements. Members of the five advisory committees will be filled by tenured, tenure-track, or non-tenure-track faculty from Arts and Sciences departments/units, excluding department/unit heads.
In the future, all members will serve 3-year terms. Initially, the term length will be staggered.
Every spring term, the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will send out a call for nominations to serve on the committee in the upcoming academic year. A faculty member is eligible to be re-nominated for the same or another committee. The Dean’s Office will select committee members from among the nominees.
When possible, representation on committees will be spread out among disciplines.
Committee Members for the 2024-2025 Academic Year
- Arts and Sciences Requirement – Natural Science
- Robbie Bear, Biology – 1-year term
- Ryan Rafferty, Chemistry – 2-year term
- Bethany Plakke, Psychological Sciences – 3-year term
- Arts and Sciences Requirement – Quantitative Social Science
- Nathan Albin, Mathematics – 3-year term
- Haiyan Wang, Statistics – 2-year term
- Yoonjin Lee, Economics – 1-year term
- Ethical Reasoning Overlay
- Nathan Kellen, Philosophy – 3-year term
- John Warner, Political Science – 2-year term
- Nikhil Moro, A.Q. Miller School of Media and Communication – 1-year term
- Global Perspectives Overlay
- Trevor Durbin, Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work – 3-year term
- Rachel Levitt, Social Transformation Studies – 2-year term
- Vera Smirnova, Geography and Geospatial Sciences – 1-year term
- U.S. Multicultural Overlay
- Lisa Tatonetti, English – 3-year term
- Ethan Bernick, Political Science – 2-year term
- TBD – 1-year term
- Kimathi Choma, Assistant Dean – Non-voting ex officio member
Process
Each committee will convene at least once per academic semester. Meeting dates will be announced by email to department heads and directors of undergraduate studies. Additional meetings may be held if the committee deems it necessary.
At the first meeting the committee will develop an assessment rubric to rank objectives and criteria for course inclusion. Once that assessment rubric has been finalized, this will be posted here on the Arts and Sciences website.
One week prior to a scheduled meeting, the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Development Manager will share with the committee the applications and accompanying documentation for courses under consideration. Submissions must be in before this deadline to be considered at that meeting.
Once the committee has made a determination, the Chair will communicate that decision to the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Development Manager who will then work with the Arts and Sciences Course and Curriculum Committee for their approval. Once approved by the committee, the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Development Manager will notify the department of the committee’s decision. Official overlay and requirements course listing will be updated once a semester, posted on the Arts and Sciences website, and integrated into DARS. Requests for additions to a list that require a Curriculog proposal (i.e., courses with other changes or new courses) must be submitted in Curriculog in time for the proposal to go through the approval and routing process. Please see the Course Form Deadlines page.
Requirement links
The Arts and Sciences Degree Requirements, which includes definitions of the restricted electives and overlays, may be found at: College Degree Requirements
List of current courses approved for Arts and Sciences Restricted Electives may be found at: ArtSci Area Restricted Electives
List of current courses approved for Arts and Sciences Overlays may be found at: ArtSci Overlays
As these documents are updated each academic semester, previous lists will be maintained on this site under an archived link.
Forms and Procedures for Making a Request
Fillable form to propose additions to restricted electives or overlay list
If a department is only requesting approval for an existing course to be added to the designated requirement or overlay approved list with no other changes to the course, a Curriculog course change proposal will not be needed. Only the fillable form is required.
If a department is requesting a new course or changes in addition to the request for approval to be added to the designated restricted electives or overlay approved list, a Curriculog course proposal will be required.
A course may not satisfy more than one overlay or more than one requirement category.
Only courses within the College of Arts and Sciences are eligible to be listed as an overlay.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Associate Dean Scott Tanona at stanona@ksu.edu or 532-6900, or the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Development Manager, Becky O’Donnell at bodonnel@ksu.edu or 532-6900.