Eight-Semester Program Completion Plan

Department Instruction Sheet for Completing Templates

Act 1014 of 2005 requires that UCA offer "most" undergraduate programs on an Eight-Semester Guaranteed Plan. Unless your program has been explicitly excluded, it must have an eight-semester completion plan. Authorization to exclude a program requires the approval of the college dean and the Office of the Provost.

The following instructions will guide you through the creation of an Eight-Semester Program Completion Plan (PCP). Note: students on an Eight-Semester Plan are required to complete between 30 and 36 credit hours per academic year (fall and spring). If you have questions about creation of your program's PCP, please contact Terri Files.

Creating your PCP

Eight-semester PCP templates are in MSWord and may be downloaded from the Program Completion Plan page: download and open the eight-semester template (pcp_8s.doc), and fill in each section appropriately.

Note: Updated templates will be available by November 5 each year. New and updated PCPs are due in the Undergraduate Studies office no later than February 15 to be effective for students beginning at UCA in the following fall semester.

PCP Header Information

Be sure to complete all header information, including the Undergraduate Bulletin URL for your program information (EXAMPLE: English programs are described at http://www.uca.edu/ubulletin/03/30502.html). If an item of header information does not apply to your program (e.g., the program has no separate tracks or emphases), enter "N/A." Note that you will need to enter in the header the total number of hours required for graduation (usually 124 for baccalaureate programs, of course, and never less).

How to List Courses and Credit Hours

Your program completion plan should be as specific in the listing of courses as you are able to guarantee. Where possible, list specific courses students should enroll in to complete your program, including major and General Education requirements (see below for more on General Education).

Please list specific courses only by program prefix and course number (e.g., ENGL 2370, WRTG 1310, MATH 1360) or by using an appropriate and consistent notation such as "Core requirement," "Major elective," or "Minor elective." Credit hours should be listed in the appropriate column as a single digit number or, if courses might vary in credit hours, as follows: 4-5 (where the suggested courses might be for 4 or 5 credit hours).

General Education Courses and General Electives

Include WRTG 1310 and 1320 in the first two semesters of the PCP, since these are required in these semesters by university policy. Your PCP should then include the appropriate number of additional General Education hours, listing specific General Education courses or areas as required by your program. If your program allows students a choice of General Education courses and the order of completion, you may simply include the appropriate number of General Education courses, listing these as "Gen Ed." You may also include specific General Education courses that you recommend (rather than require), denoting these with an appropriate endnote. (See section on adding endnotes, below.)

If you do list an area requirement, rather than a specific course, please do so as "Gen Ed (area)," and use the following abbreviations for the General Education areas: Hist/Gov, Fine Arts, Health Sci, Hum, Math, Oral Com, Nat Sci, Soc Sci, WCT. In order to allow scheduling flexibility, suggested (rather than required) areas should be endnoted thus:

See appropriate choices, alternatives, or substitutions under "General Education Program" in the Undergraduate Bulletin.

Finally, every PCP should also include the appropriate number of "General electives" required to reach the total number of credit hours necessary for graduation. Programs requiring a minor will need to balance general and minor elective hours (see below). To allow students the option of enrolling in the First-Year Experience course, a three-hour "Gen Ed or General elective" may be included in the first semester with the following endnote:

The First-Year Experience course (FYFS 1320) or another appropriate course may be taken as a General Elective during the first semester.

You will then need to include another "Gen Ed or General elective" later in the program plan to account for all General Education requirements.

Minor Requirement

Programs that require completion of a Minor should allow for approximately 24 minor credit hours (the most common number of credit hours for minor programs), and should include the following endnote:

This Program Completion Plan includes 24 credit hours in the Minor field of study. Minor requirements range from 18 to 27 credit hours; the student will need to adjust the number of general elective and minor elective credit hours in this PCP as needed depending upon the chosen minor field of study.

BA Foreign Language Requirement and BS Science/Math Requirement

Include the three hours of foreign language at the 2000-level or higher in all BA programs as appropriate, listing this as "Foreign Language (2000-level)." An endnote should be added to this that says:

Students with no previous experience with a foreign language may need to enroll in up to six hours of lower-level instruction to prepare for this requirement. These courses are not included in this plan of study. Please note that such need voids the guaranteed Eight-Semester Plan.

Additionally, the Academic Advising Center and the Department of World Languages, Literatures, and Cultures recommend that students complete this requirement as early as possible in their program in order not to lose fluency gained in high school.

For BS degrees, please include two semesters of "BS Science/Math," listing the credit hours as "3-5."

Required Courses Offered Alternate Years

If your program includes courses that are only offered every other year, provide an alternative course suggestion in that slot, using an "or" between suggested courses. Be sure that you also include these courses the following year, as well, again with an alternative course suggestion.

Adding Endnotes to Your PCP in MS Word

Place your cursor where you want the note number to appear. Under Insert select Reference and then Endnote. Ensure that the endnote location is End of document and that the number format is 1, 2, 3, . . . After making your selections, choose Insert again, and type your note. (In MS Word 2007 on the References tab, select Insert Endnote) Once you have finished typing your note, move your cursor back to the body of your document and resume typing. (Endnotes rather than footnotes are appropriate here in order to leave the entire body of the PCP and the signature block on the first page.)

NOTE (added 1/23/2006): If you need to refer to the same endnote more than once, use Word's Cross-Reference function. This will allow all the references to any given note to be updated when the original endnote is renumbered, moved, etc. The following explanation is excerpted from the Word Help system.

Inserting cross-references to endnotes: "(1) Click where you want the reference located. (2) On the Insert menu, point to Reference, then click Cross-reference. (3) In the Reference type box, click . . . Endnote. (4) In the For which box, click the note to which you want to refer. (5) In the Insert reference to box, click Endnote number. (6) Click Insert, and then click Close." (For MS Word 2007 on the References tab click Cross-Reference.) Note that the note reference mark (your cross-reference) is inserted as unformatted text, so you will need to apply the Endnote reference style to it. Again, the following explanation is excerpted from Word's Help system: "(1) Select the note reference mark [that you inserted using Cross-reference]. (2) If the Styles and Formatting task pane is not open, click Styles and Formatting on the Formatting toolbar [or Format menu]. (3) In the Styles and Formatting task pane, click Custom in the Show box. (4) In the Format Settings dialogue box, select the . . . Endnote Reference check box, and then click OK. (5) In the Styles and Formatting list, click . . . Endnote Reference. Superscript formatting is applied to the [endnote]." After going through this process the first time, this style will be available to you in the Style dropdown list on the Formatting toolbar. (MS Word 2007 on Home tab Font section click the Superscript button.)

Saving and Transferring Your PCP File

Please save your PCP for your own records as a MS Word document, but transfer it to Undergraduate Studies in PDF format. (To do this, you will need to have a PDF compatible printer installed as one of your printer options. Contact Information Technology's help desk at 450-3107 if you do not have this.) When you print to the PDF driver, name the resulting file as indicated on the list of filenames (in PDF format): PCP Filename List.

Once "printed" to your PDF print driver and saved, your completed PCP can be submitted in PDF format as an email attachment to terrif@uca.edu or on a CD to Terri Files, Undergraduate Studies. Undergraduate Studies will then upload the file to the appropriate web folder.

In addition, all Eight-Semester Plans must be accompanied by a signed hard copy of the plan. Before sending the electronic copy, please sign a hard copy of your Eight-Semester PCP, have your College Dean review and sign it, and then forward the signed copy to Terri Files in Undergraduate Studies at the same time you forward the electronic copy. This step is necessary because UCA is required by law to provide a signed copy of this plan to all students who accept an Eight-Semester Plan contract.

Updating Your PCP File

Program Completion Plans may be reviewed each year to reflect changes in your program. In order to have them ready for freshman summer advising, updated PCPs are due each year no later than February 15. Please try, however, to minimize the frequency of your revisions of the Eight-Semester Plan, since faculty advisors working with students on these plans will be accountable for each extant version.