For the Faculty: Frequently Asked Questions
Should I focus on a narrow topic or a broad issue?
Either approach can succeed. What is important is to engage the students in a manner that excites them and encourages their participation. This can be done equally as well in a course on the history of the earth, and in a course that discusses only one book. A professor could offer a course on Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything and accomplish both approaches at the same time.
At what intellectual level should I present the topic of the course?
Please keep in mind that all of the participants in your course will be first year students. Many of them will be especially bright and accomplished individuals, but none of them will have experienced college work to a great extent. Try to educate and challenge your students while nurturing them at the same time. Keep in mind that the fundamental goals of this program are to ease the students’ transition to college and to engage them in the life of the mind. The topics course is not a “how to succeed in college” or “best academic practices/study skills” course. Faculty seeking to participate in the latter type of course should teach a freshman seminar type course.
Are you looking mainly for courses in the arts and humanities?
NO, NO, NO! We hope that our offerings will reflect the exciting diversity of scholarship at UTC, as well as the diversity of interests of our new students.
How much reading and written work should I assign?
Remember that in a one credit course students should not be expected to devote more than 100 minutes to course preparation for every 50 minute session. Remember also that the course will be offered for a Satisfactory/No Credit grade. Short written assignments and quizzes are appropriate. It is acceptable to make passing the course largely conditional on regular attendance.
May I take my students on field trips?
Yes, field trips are encouraged, and do not need to take place during the regularly scheduled course meeting time. They should be to venues that are easily accessible to even those students who do not have personal transportation. Going to concerts on campus, attending plays in the Fine Arts Center, or attending events and museums are all possibilities.
Should I assign some other kind of reading?
Appropriate texts include novels, newspapers, magazines, and other materials. Ideally, professors will place required readings on Library Reserve. It is the instructor’s responsibility to submit to the library materials for reserve status. Again, keep in mind that your students are new to the university when gauging the difficulty of the readings to assign them.
Who orders books for the course?
Professors must order all books for their courses through their department’s book order process. Before registration begins each semester we will list the section number of your course on our website. Once we have the courses approved, you can find your course listed on the website.
How do I make sure that students will enroll in my course?
Neither you nor we can guarantee that students will enroll, but you can certainly improve the chances. We’ve prepared a few tips that may help you.
May I offer more than one topics course in a single semester?
No. However, you may offer a course in both the fall and spring semesters. Students may enroll in a total of two courses, but are likewise limited to taking one topics course per semester.
What is the compensation for offering a topics course?
For each topics course the professor will receive a $1000 research grant. What this means is that each professor will receive $1000 worth of “UTC Bucks.” These professors will not receive cash; however, they can spend their “bucks” on travel to a conference, for books, or for research, for example.
How do topics course relate to other courses?
Six of the topics courses will be selected as “the” topic for six learning communities. Students in these communities will enroll in the following courses with other students in their learning community: the topics course, the freshman composition course, and the new first year studies course, a one-hour course replacing the former three-hour freshman seminar course.
Whom do I contact for more information?
For more information, please email Fran Bender at fran-bender@utc.edu or call her at 425-4636.
