The University of Memphis has defined its current general education requirements in the university’s General Education Program, originally developed and approved by the university faculty in 1987 and revised in 1999. [1] The General Education Program requirements, established for all undergraduate programs at UofM, are published in the undergraduate bulletin [2] and on the General Education Program web site. [3] This program is being replaced beginning the fall 2004 semester by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) common core program. [4] The UofM will share with other TBR institutions a set of equivalent lower-division general education courses. The new common core at UofM was approved by the Faculty Senate on October 22, 2002. [5] Individual courses for the common core at the UofM were submitted by the departments to TBR and presented to the University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee in fall 2002. [6] The UofM’s response to SACS Core Requirement 2.7 describes in detail UofM’s general education program. [7]
The University of Memphis defines and publishes major program requirements in the undergraduate bulletin, [8] the graduate bulletin, [9] and the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law website. [10]
Program requirements conform to commonly accepted standards and practices for degree programs. At the foundation level, any UofM course for which a student receives degree credit presumes and does not replicate the Basic Academic Competencies defined by the Education Equality Project of the College Board (the "Green Book"). [11] These competencies are what a student needs to know and be able to demonstrate upon college entry. [12] Each department and University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee evaluates each course prior to approval to ensure that these standards and guidelines are being built upon.
Graduate programs at UofM follow standards of the Tennessee Conference of Graduate Schools [13] and the Council of Graduate Schools. [14] The University Council for Graduate Studies and Research annually evaluates proposed curricular revisions. [15]
All undergraduate and graduate degree programs at the UofM that are eligible for accreditation, with the exception of Computer Science (B.S.), are fully accredited and meet the standards of their accrediting bodies. [16] Computer Science is preparing for accreditation review in fall 2005 by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology/Computing Accreditation Commission, ABET/CAC.
Academic programs that do not have accreditation reviews are evaluated once every seven years by outside reviewers. For these reviews, the university selects reviewers who have distinguished themselves in their discipline, who are highly respected throughout higher education, and who will challenge the university with their insights. [17] These evaluations are in a format similar to an accreditation assessment and are based on standards established by the Tennessee Board of Regents, [18] Tennessee Higher Education Commission, [19] and the Tennessee Conference of Graduate Schools. [13]
The Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law is the only UofM program that offers a post-baccalaureate professional degree. Requirements for this program conform to commonly accepted standards and practices. [10] The School of Law is accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), which is the official accrediting agency for American law schools.
3.4.1
