Reference Guide for Using the Course Report

If you would like a hard copy of this document, please email the registrar's office.

A Few Preliminaries

Getting Started: The report is largely self-explanatory. Simply supply the information it requests. The one place where you are most likely to need a small amount of guidance is in completing the "Meeting Information" section of the report. See the comments below for help with that section.

If you find you do not know how to proceed, use the reference information below to help you along or call the registrar's office at 863-1842.

It All Depends: Because the registrar's office needs different information for different types of courses, you should not be surprised that the report requests different information for different courses. There are three basic types of entries: one for "non-topics" courses, one for "topics" courses, and one for independent study ("one-on-one") courses. See the examples below to see how the different entries look in Banner. You may notice that a further distinction between topics and nontopics courses also affects the information requested and the formatting of items in the report and in Banner. Please note that Secondary Crosslistings are no longer listed on the report.

So long as you are able to provide all the information requested, you need not be overly concerned about what is meant by "topics" versus "nontopics" courses. If you would like more information on those distinctions, see the comments under"Clarifications" below.

If the course or topic that you want to list is not included in the report, follow the guidelines provided under What to Do if a Course Does Not Appear on the Report. Do not attempt to create a new entry in the report by altering the course ID and title of one of the courses listed there.

Completing a Course Entry

A nontopics course entry looks like the PSYC 0090 entry and topics course entry looks like the MATH 0010 and 0010A entry below. Use the checkboxes and blanks to provide the following information:

Offered/Not Offered: Use the checkboxes to indicate whether or not the course is to be offered in the upcoming academic year. You are also given the option of checking a box labeled "No longer offered." Use that box if there are no plans to ever offer the course again.

Complete the remaining sections of the listing for the course only if it is to be offered next year.

Meeting Information: List all meetings (sections, labs, conferences, common meetings, screenings) for the course using one row for each meeting. If the course has more meetings than there are rows, list the other meetings on the "Additional Meetings" form. (See Listing Additional Meetings of Courses.)

Provide the following information for each meeting.

• The semester in which the meeting is to be offered: '1' for fall or '2' for spring.
  
• The type of the meeting:
  • Sec = section (primary meeting/grading unit)
  • Com Mtg = common meeting
  • Conf = conference (discussion section)
  • Lab = lab (use for science labs, language labs, listening sessions)
  • Film=screening

  Every course must have at least one section.

  If you are confused about which meeting type to use, see "Meeting Types" in the "Clarifications" section below.

• Standard meeting hours and/or nonstandard meeting times:

  If a meeting meets during one or more of the standard meeting hours (A Hour, B Hour, etc.), indicate which hour or hours in the column labeled 'Std Hr(s)'. Please use the letter designation for the hour (i.e. 'A' or 'B' or 'C' etc.), not the actual day and time.

  If the meeting meets instead at one or more nonstandard times, leave the 'Std Hr(s)' column blank and indicate the days and times (e.g. 'T.,Th. 12-12:50') in the column labeled 'Nonstandard Time(s)'.

  If the meeting meets both during one or more standard recitation hours and at a nonstandard time (or times), use both columns to indicate the combination of meeting times.

  If the meeting time is to be arranged, write `Arr.' or `Arranged' in the `Nonstandard Time(s)' column.

  Do not use the same row to list times for different meetings. Doing so will result in the multiple times being scheduled for the same meeting.

• List the instructor(s) of the meeting using both first and last names.

  If there is more than one instructor, list the "primary" instructor first. The primary instructor is the one who will be responsible for submitting grades to the registrar's office.

  If the instructor is unknown or you do not wish to list an instructor for a particular meeting in the Course Announcement (e.g. the instructor of a lab or conference), leave the instructor column blank.

Instructor Status: In the case of "topics" courses, we need to know the status of the instructor teaching the course. If there are multiple instructors and they have different statuses, try to indicate the status of each instructor--by writing the status next to the names or the names next to the status or using keys or by whatever other means you can devise. Thanks.

Completing a "Secondary" Course Entry

Secondary crosslistings will be listed in a new way in Banner. See the sample COLT XLIST entry.

Each semester, every department will have a course called XLIST, which will be used to list the primary courses from other departments that your department feels would be of interest to your students or that can be used to help students meet their concentration requirements. (This list is similar to the Related Courses list that many departments used to publish in the Course Announcement.)

The description for XLIST will say, for example, "For information related to courses that are cross listed with Comparative Literature, refer to the COLT XLIST entry in the Class Schedule menu." This description may be revised to meet your department's needs.

To complete the XLIST course entry, please supply the following information (as a list): the semester in which the primary course is to be taught, the course number including the letter at the end if it is a topics course, and the title of the course.

If you have any questions regarding the new course numbers, please do not hesitate to contact the Registrar's Office.

Completing an Independent Study ("One-on-One") Course Entry

Report entries for independent study courses look like the AFRI 1970 sample.

Simply use the checkboxes to indicate if the course is to be offered in the fall term and/or the spring term, not offered next year, or never offered again. If your department would like to supply us with an alphabetical list of faculty who teach independent study sections, this would be the best time to do so. Please note that any faculty who need to be added to the list during the course of the coming year, will be placed at the end; it is not possible to re-alphabetize the list each time a new name is added.

What to Do if a Course Does Not Appear on the Report

If a course you wish to offer does not appear on the report, you need to complete one of the forms labeled "Courses Not Listed on the Report." (The form may be photocopied if you need extra copies.) The form is largely self-explanatory.

When completing the form, supply the following information:

Course ID: In the space provided, indicate the course ID (four-letter department or field abbreviation plus the four to five digit course number, e.g. 'AMCV 1860').

CAB Title: Provide the title of the course as it should appear in Banner limited to a maximum length of 100 characters, including spaces and punctuation.

Transcript Title: Provide the title as it should appear on the students' transcripts. Note that the transcript title is limited to a maximum length of 30 characters, including spaces and punctuation marks.

A. Topics/Nontopics: Use the checkboxes to indicate whether or not the course is a topics course. If you are not certain, the best thing to do is to call the registrar's office at 863-2246 or 863-1842. Also see "Topics Courses" in the "Clarifications" section below.

If the course is a topics course, please indicate

1. if the topic has been taught before and, if so, when;
   
2. who is teaching the course and the status of the instructor(s); and
   
3. if the topic is being offered at the undergraduate level and is being taught by someone other than a Brown faculty member, whether or not the College Curriculum Council has approved its being taught by that instructor.

If the course is not a topics course, please indicate

1. if the course has been approved by the appropriate body (the College Curriculum Council or the Graduate Council) and, if not, whether a proposal has been submitted to the appropriate body;
   
2. if the course is a new course and, if not, whether it has been taught in the last eight years; and
   
3. if the course previously has been taught, please supply the previous course ID.

B. Meeting Information: See the instructions above under "Completing a `Primary' Course Entry." If the course has more than three meetings, list the other meetings on the "Additional Meetings" form. (See Listing Additional Meetings of Courses below.)

C. Grade Option: Indicate whether the course is to be offered with the standard grade option or the mandatory S/NC grade option. If the standard option is indicated, students will be able to enroll in the course either for a letter grade (ABC/NC) or for an S/NC grade. If the mandatory S/NC option is indicated, students will be allowed to enroll in the course only for an S/NC grade.

D. Description: Provide a course description for inclusion in the Course Listing. Do not exceed 150 words. Descriptions longer than 150 words will be abridged by the registrar's office. (If the course has a limited enrollment, please include information regarding the selection criteria for the class as part of the course description.)

Listing Additional Meetings of Courses

If there are not enough rows on the "Meeting Information" chart to list all the meetings of a particular course, do the following:

1. Check the box under the chart indicating that more meetings are listed on an "Additional Meetings" form.
   
2. Add the course to one of the forms labeled "Additional Meetings of Courses Listed Elsewhere":
   
   1. In the space provided on the form, insert the course ID of the course for which you are listing the meetings. Be sure to include the section number if the course is a topics course.
      
   2. Using one row for each additional meeting, provide the information requested for each meeting. Follow the same procedures as used for completing the meeting information chart on the "Course Report."
      

Clarifications (Extra Help for the Confused)

Secondary crosslistings: Courses in other departments that have been approved for crosslisting in your department will now appear as a list. There will be a separate list for each semester which will have your department code and the number "XLIST"..

Topics Courses: Topics courses are approved as courses in which it is expected that multiple offerings will appear under a common course ID and will share a general theme or pedagogical purpose, but will vary in specific content. An example is HIST 1970, "Undergraduate Seminars on Interpretations of History," whose individual topics include "Everyday Life in Urban America, 1870-1930," "Churchill and Roosevelt," and "The Chivalrous Society and the Monastic World (ca. 1000-ca. 1250)." Each individual offering (topic) has a similar course ID with a letter at the end of the course number (ex., HIST 1970A, HIST 1971B, etc.). Further, though they all fall under the general title "Undergraduate Seminars. . .," each one also has its own specific title and description. By contrast, all nontopics course sections share a single title and description--i.e. they provide essentially the same subject matter taught at different times or in different places. It is possible for a topics course to have only one topic offered in a given year, but other topics presumably will be offered in subsequent years.

The Numbering (lettering) of Topics Courses: In the case of topics courses, each course (formerly section) that falls under a Topics Rubric or base-course is a distinct topic--or, put differently, each topic is assigned to a uniquely-numbered course. With the re-numbering of courses for conversion to Banner, each topics course has been assigned a course number with a letter at the end (ex. HIST1970A). New topics courses should be created with a distinct course number that has not previously been assigned to a different course.

Meeting Types: Course meetings are divided into five types:

• Sections (the primary meetings/grading units)
  
• Conferences (discussion groups)
  
• Common Meetings (in a multi-section course, the time at which all sections meet together)
  
• Labs (includes science labs, language labs, listening sessions, etc.)
  
• Filmmings (screenings)

The term 'section' is used in different ways throughout the University. As it is used here, it refers to the basic grading unit of the course. It does not refer to a discussion section (which is here referred to as a "conference").

Examples:

• If a course (e.g. a basic math or language course) is divided into several distinct units, each with its own instructor who is responsible for submitting grades for that unit, each of those units should be considered to be a section.
  
• In the case of a course that divides into several discussion groups conducted by graduate teaching assistants but is led by a professor who lectures to the entire class and takes responsibility for submitting all grades, the course should be considered to have one section and several conferences (which may or may not be listed in the Course Announcement ).
  
• On the other hand, a course with several units that are independently led and graded but in which all the units periodically gather together in a common meeting should be considered to have several sections and one common meeting.

Bottom line: If there is one grade sheet, there is one section; if there are multiple grade sheets, there are multiple sections.

As the term is used here, every course will have at least one "section." Some courses will have multiple meetings--either several different sections or some combination of one or more sections and other types of meetings.

Example of a "Non Topics " course:

Example of a "Topics" course:

Example of an independent study ("one-on-one") course:

Example of a "secondary" crosslisting: