Academics

Bachelor Degrees

Bachelor of Arts

This degree must include a foreign language or ASL (American Sign Language) requirement which may be met by one of the following:

A minimum of 16 semester credit hours in one foreign language.
Documentation of language proficiency through an examination administered by the language and literature department or through an examination by a recognized testing agency.
Students for whom English is a second language may meet the BA foreign language requirement by verifying their proficiency in their (non-English) native language in cooperation with the language and literature department and verifying their proficiency in English as a second language by either passing an ESL exit test or passing the ESL special examination.
Documentation of a minimum proficiency level in American Sign Language through an examination administered by any accredited institution of higher education. The signer must produce and maintain American Sign Language with continuity and precision.

Bachelor of Science

This degree must include successful completion of twelve or more credits in mathematics or laboratory science. Electives or required courses in the major or minor may satisfy this requirement. The science/math requirement for the BS degree can be met by successfully completing courses in agriculture, astronomy, biology, chemistry, computer science, geology, mathematics, physics, nutrition and food science, and kinesiology (PE 3060).

Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies

This degree serves students in an individualized academic program across diverse fields of study. Graduates from this degree cannot be approved for state certification as a teacher.

The Interdisciplinary Studies Degree was designed to allow students to develop, with directed faculty assistance and appropriate administrative approval, a composite major which is interdisciplinary and which is not currently an approved major at SUU. While this program offering is intended to be somewhat flexible, no request will be approved unless the student candidate and faculty advisor have jointly planned and organized the proposed composite major which constitutes the Interdisciplinary Studies Degree

For this reason, a Proposed Program Outline must be submitted by the student, with faculty advisor approval, to the head of the department in which most of his/her courses are to be taken for his/her approval. This Proposed Program Outline should be submitted as early as possible in the student's undergraduate career and must include all courses which are to constitute the composite interdisciplinary major (44 to 67 credits as outlined below).

If the Proposed Program Outline is approved, the student will submit a formal application to the department chair for the Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies Degree by outlining all proposed coursework (composite major, general education, and elective classes) on a Graduation Worksheet form obtained from the Registrar's Office. This formal application must be approved by the department chair and the dean. It should be submitted as soon as possible in the student's career; however, the requirement that at least 20 upper division credit hours of the proposed composite major must be "directed study approved by faculty advisor, department head and dean" mandates that the formal application be approved at least two semesters in advanced of baccalaureate program completion.

The degree's general guidelines are as follows:

Courses may be drawn from all existing University Courses which fill Bachelor's Degree requirements.
The composite major of the program must be interdisciplinary in nature and not, therefore, a major traditionally taken in an academic department or currently approved at SUU.
The selection of the faculty advisor by the student is subject to mutual agreement, except that the advisor must be in the subject-matter discipline and department in which most of the composite major courses are located. Such an assignment also determines the department chair and dean for approval purposes.
For record-keeping purposes, the student is coded into the respective department and College whose department chair and dean approve the proposed interdisciplinary program. This coding does not imply, however that the student or the program is covered by all the regulations of the department for its traditional majors.
Interdisciplinary Studies students are governed by the University's general requirements for graduation:
1. Completion of an interdisciplinary composite major of 44 to 67 credits (no minor is required for Interdisciplinary Studies major);
2. At least 20 of the credits required for the composite major must be upper division credits which are to be completed at SUU after the formal application for an interdisciplinary Studies Degree program has been approved by the department chair and the dean;
3. Only classes with grades of "C-" or higher will be counted within the composite major;
4. No courses with pass/fail grading may be used for the composite major, unless approved at the time the formal application is submitted;
5. No more than 40 hours from any single department can be counted toward the composite major;
6. Two options exist for the 44 to 67 credit hours in the composite major;
  1. The student must take at least 17 credit hours in each of two different disciplines at SUU,
    (the total of the two disciplines equaling 44 or more credits).
    OR
  2. The student must take at least, respectively, 17, 10, and 7 credit hours from at least three
    different disciplines at SUU (the total of the three disciplines equaling 44 or more credit hours).

Second Bachelor Degree

Students seeking a second Bachelor's Degree must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours earned after the first degree (when one degree is completed and awarded), and must meet department major requirements in which the degree is sought, including residency. That is: completion of at least 20 upper division credits at SUU. In addition, at least 50 percent of the credit hours required for the second major must be completed at SUU.

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