Approved Curriculum Proposals 2020-2021

This proposal outlines a College of Liberal Arts (COLA) Geographic Information Sciences (hereafter GISc) minor, at Fairmont State University. Geospatial fields are among the fastest growing STEM careers. Considered a bridge discipline, GISc adds an applied STEM focus to all majors and potential career advancement. A GISc minor produces graduates who think spatially, are better able to interpret data, and critically apply theory and practice across disciplines. A GISc minor extends university capacity because industry and government expect GISc to be collaborative with scholarships, internships, and funding. Further applied projects often focus on campus initiatives, local community, and alumni.

This proposal is to modify the Psychology and Sociology Specializations in Behavioral Analytics to concur with the courses in the Data Science Minor. The Specializations predate the
minor and were built on existing MATH and COMP courses. The newly developed Data Science Minor and courses (2020-2021) align with the goals of the specialization and provide a current and streamlined path to those goals.

By choosing this path, Psychology and Sociology Majors would complete the Behavioral Analytics Specialization in the respective major, but they would not be eligible to declare Data
Science as a separate minor. Conversely, Psychology and Sociology majors who declare Data Science as a minor would not be eligible for the Behavioral Analytics Specialization

The Physics Program proposes to add a new physics course to the course catalog that has not been previously offered: a 4-credit hour core curriculum-level non-trig based physics course for any program which accepts a core curriculum-level or non-trig based physics course as a program prerequisite, and also for interested non-science majors. This new course has the same prerequisites as CHEM 1101 and will serve a similar role in the Physics Program. Laboratory experiments and classroom activities involving data collection and analysis will supplement the three hours of classroom lecture. Course content will follow the same outline as PHYS 1101, but with lower math and science background. Specifically, there is no Trigonometry pre-requisite.

This proposal creates an opportunity for Business Administration majors to earn 18 credits in a Data Analytics concentration versus taking major electives. It is designed to provide additional courses that advance their training in this field if they wish to pursue this career path. It does not require the development of any new courses but provides students a specified series of courses already offered within the School of Business & Aviation to enhance the quality and depth of their undergraduate training across quantitative management, data analytics, and data-driven decision-making. Appendix C summarizes the relevant courses and flow of topics.

The intent of this proposal is to propose minor revisions of COMP 1130 – Principles of Programming II.

This proposal seeks to clarify the Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) requirement for the Spanish and Spanish Education Programs. Spanish Education students must pass the OPI at
the Advanced Low level or above in order to graduate with a Spanish Education degree. Spanish BA students must take the OPI before graduation as part of the Departmental assessment program but are not required to attain a specific score. To assist student success in attaining the Advanced Low score, SPAN 4410: Advanced Skills, may be repeated if necessary.

The Physics Program proposes to add a new course to the course catalog that has previously been offered and taught as Special Topics courses numbered 1099-001, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos. This course will be taught as a science elective. The course teaches analytical methods and applications useful to students in Mathematics, Computer Science, Chemistry, Biology and Engineering Technology.

An introductory Astronomy course entitled “Life in the Cosmos” is proposed that will fulfill the Natural Science 4 credit hour requirement of the FSU Core-Curriculum. (See Core-Curriculum
Outcome 8.)

The recent change in West Virginia State Board of Education standards combining health education and physical education standards to make up wellness education standards made it imperative for the Health and Human Performance department to revise the current Physical Education curriculum to include more health content.

This proposal will increase health and wellness education content in the Physical Education major curriculum by adding 9-credit hours of health courses. This addition will require the stranding of key assessments and content of two courses currently required in the curriculum. The courses will be removed, and the key content and assessments will be incorporated throughout the existing course curriculum.

Writing Intensive Course : PHED 3350: Physical Activity and Fitness Education

The School of Business & Aviation is proposing a new course, BSBA 2800 – Business Communication in a Digital Age to replace BISM 2800 – Corporate Communications and Technology which was deleted from the Information System Management (ISM) curriculum through proposal #19-20-21 approved in Spring of 2020.

The intent of this proposal is to propose a Minor in Cybersecurity (Appendix A). This minor would allow interested students from any major with a background in college algebra to develop theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience with the tools and protocols needed to understand, implement, and manage cybersecurity technologies. Cybersecurity has become one of the most demanding and rapidly growing fields in today’s technology universe and the proposed minor will help students find employment in this area.

This proposal creates an opportunity for Healthcare Management (HCMG) majors to earn 12 credits in a Healthcare Marketing concentration versus taking 12 credits free electives. It is designed to provide additional courses that advance student training in this field if they wish to pursue this career path in healthcare. It does not require any new courses but provides students a specified series of courses already offered within the School of Business & Aviation that enhance the quality and depth of their undergraduate training in branding, customer service, social marketing and business development strategy geared toward health consumers, providers and payors.

This proposal creates an opportunity for Healthcare Management (HCMG) majors to earn 12 credits in a Health Information Technology (HIT) concentration versus taking 12 credits free electives. It is designed to provide additional courses that advance their training in this field if they wish to pursue this career path. It does not require any new courses but provides students a specified series of courses already offered within the School of Business & Aviation that will enhance the quality and depth of their undergraduate training across computerized systems and the secure exchange of health information between consumers, providers and payors.

This concentration creates an opportunity for Healthcare Management (HCMG) majors to earn 12 credits in a Wellness Leadership concentration within existing HCMG’s free electives. It provides options for additional courses that are beneficial if the student pursues roles in post-acute or longterm care (LTC) activity programming designed to comply with Patient Rights in LTC delivery. This concentration does not require any new courses but provides recommended courses already offered within the School of Health, Education and Human Performance. These courses expand the quality and depth of their undergraduate healthcare management training with a focus on working with groups,and role of nutrition and fitness in special populations.

This proposal creates an opportunity for Healthcare Management (HCMG) majors to earn 12 credits in a concentration designed for non-profit leadership versus taking 12 credits free electives. The concentration provides additional study that advances student orientation to smaller healthcare, welfare, or social service agencies that typically operate as non-profits in a community. It does not require any new courses but provides courses already offered within the School and the Community Health Promotion Program (COLA) that focus on management and leadership for smaller organizations. These generally depend upon sound business strategy, grant support and effective governance for sustainability.

This proposal is intended to substitute a different course for the core business requirements for the BS in Healthcare Management Program. It eliminates BSBA 3320 (International Business) and replaces this with a current School of Business & Aviation (SOBA) course, BISM 3300 (Information Systems and Data Analytics for Leaders). Healthcare management requires understanding complex relationships between information technology and is data-reliant for compliant business practices and clinical decision making. Data analytics enables managers to study trends, compare performance, and develop effective business strategies. This proposal also corrects a technical oversight by adding BISM 1200 to the required core courses for HCMG.

This proposal ties up loose ends from last year’s program changes:

▪Allow BSBA 3310 and MATH 1550 to meet the program requirement of a stats course.
▪Correct the pre-req for CHEP 3350. CHEP 3345 should have been listed as the pre-req for CHEP 3350.
▪Adding CHEP 4498 provides additional options for students to tailor their elective courses to meet their career and graduate school plans.
▪Adding CHEP 3399 and CHEP 4495 provide options within Banner to offer unique courses and to create individualized experiences for students.
▪Add healthcare management electives as options in the CHEP Major Electives categories.

This will update Psychology’s required elective options to include courses from the Community Health Program.

ENGL 2240 will replace ENGL 2230 and 2231 in the Core Curriculum.. ENGL 2230 and 2231 will be withdrawn from the Core Curriculum and the catalog. This single course, ENGL 2240, incorporates content from both courses and replaces them.

The purpose of this proposal is to do the following:

• Create HONR 4400 (Honors Thesis Design), which will be a required component of the Honors senior thesis project;
• Create HONR 2200 (Honors Mentoring) in order to formalize the Honors Program mentor program;
• Establish HONR 3350 (Seminar in Special Topics) as a required course;
• Revise the Honors Program requirements in order to meet the needs of current students;
• Establish a distinct “Honors track” for students majoring in Nursing and Education (Elementary and Secondary) to accommodate issues related to program-specific accreditation.

The purpose of this proposal is to request two changes to the existing Minor of Exercise Science:
a. Deletion of PHED4400: Research Methods course (3-credit hours)
b. Addition of PHED3360: Strength and Conditioning Theory and Practice (3-credit hours)

These proposed curricular changes are in response to West Virginia Board of Education changes to Policy 5100. Funding from the WVDE to support Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) is now reserved for those that
include a year-long residency model for the senior year of the teacher education curriculum. Policy 5100 refers to year-long residency EPPs as Tier 1 schools (see Appendix D for WVBOE Policy 5100).

The proposed changes include the addition of two field experiences, one in order to fulfill the 125 clock hours prior to beginning Residency 1. Residency 2 (previously known as “student teaching”) will be completed in the student’s final semester. Proposed course changes include merging MUSI 3330: Music in the Elementary Classroom and ART 3350: Elementary Art Education to form ART 3352: Arts Integration in the Elementary Classroom; merging PHED 3326 and HLTA 4400 to form PHED 3000: Wellness Integration in the Elementary Classroom; replacing EDUC 3331: Reading in the Content Area with EDUC 3333: Assessment and Reading Improvement; changes to course description, learning outcomes, and course sequencing for EDUC 3330: The Reading Process; and changes to course description, learning outcomes, and course sequencing for EDUC 3332:
Pedagogy of Literacy.

Fairmont State University proposed development of a sixty (60) credit hour, online Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Care (BSRC) degree completion program. Currently in West Virginia there are four nationally accredited associate degree programs in respiratory care, one accredited program also has a non-accredited baccalaureate degree advancement program. Options are limited for students to obtain their baccalaureate degree and meet the American Association of Respiratory Care’s (AARC) strategic initiative that 80% of practitioners either hold or be actively working toward a baccalaureate degree by 2020. The charge is in response to the increasing need for highly trained
advanced practitioners, respiratory care therapists, across multiple health care settings (AARC, 2018). This BSRC degree completion program provides a pathway to allow working respiratory therapy practitioners to obtain their baccalaureate degree.

The proposed degree completion program at Fairmont State will help to meet the profession’s strategic plan and assist in enhancing respiratory care to residents in the state of West Virginia. West Virginia ranks first in the prevalence of COPD (impacting 13.9% of adults; West Virginia Department of Health and Human Services, 2020), 4th in chronic lower respiratory disease mortality (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017) and first in the number of new lung cancer cases (79.6 which is significantly higher than the national rate of 59.6 according to the American Lung Association, 2020).

The purpose of this proposal is to create two areas of concentration in the Exercise Science major to provide more diverse pathways based on the employment goals of the student upon graduation with the Exercise
Science degree. The purpose of the differentiation between the two concentrations, Exercise Physiology and Kinesiology, is to better prepare students for the academic constructs of the given fields. The Exercise Physiology concentration requires a greater depth in the scientific fields for professional preparation and graduate work. The Kinesiology concentration utilizes an applied approach, preparing the students for applications in the fitness and wellness field.

The Exercise Physiology concentration is the equivalent of our current Exercise Science major with the addition of one course to the required course menu (PHED 1180-Medical Terminology – currently offered as an elective). This concentration focuses on the preparation for allied health degrees (Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Medicine, Physician Assistant, Chiropractic, Athletic Training and more).

The Kinesiology concentration is designed to prepare students for the application of the Exercise Science degree in personal, community and corporate leisure, fitness and wellness industries, sports team applications, coaching, personal business, or outdoor recreation settings. It will require a minor which will allow students to tailor their degree to their professional goals.

This proposal seeks to add the following to the Criminal Justice Curriculum:

1. New Concentration: Police Academy Concentration within the criminal justice major.

2. New Minor: Police Academy Minor in the Criminal Justice program.

3. New Certificate: West Virginia Law Enforcement Officer Basic Police Training certificate evidencing completion of all training requirements necessary for employment as a West Virginia Law Enforcement officer for (a) Criminal Justice majors who choose an Academy Concentration, (b) non-degree seeking students who complete the Academy Curriculum, and (c) Fairmont State students who complete the requirements for the Academy.

Incorrectly calculating drug dosages is one of the most common medication errors caused by registered nurses. Some nursing students struggle with correctly calculating medication dosages while other students request additional course work to improve their confidence level in doing so. These courses are designed to enhance the nurses use of critical thinking skills in performing drug calculations, reading drug labels, and provides a foundation for safe medication administration across the lifespan.

A new course, NURS 1025 Introduction to Nursing, is proposed as a 3-credit hour introductory course for pre-nursing students. This course is designed to help students make the transition into college learning, prepare for the nursing program, and explore the field of nursing. This course is designed for pre-nursing majors and is not a requirement of the nursing program.

If approved, this course can be used to fulfill Category 1: First Year Seminar in the core curriculum for any Bachelor's degree.