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General Education: K-State 8

Course tagging

Procedures for Tagging Courses for the K-State 8

The department faculty responsible for a course makes the decision about whether and how to tag a course for the K-State 8.

Guidelines for identifying the appropriate tags for a course

  • Each department should tag those undergraduate courses that meet the criteria below.
  • A single undergraduate course for three or more credits may be tagged for one or two K-State 8 areas.
  • A single undergraduate course for one or two credit hours may only receive one of the K-State 8 tags.
  • Cross-listed courses should have identical tags. When a course is cross-listed for two or more departments, please confer with the other department(s) before making tagging decisions.
  • To determine the appropriate tag(s) for a course, review the K-State 8 area descriptions. The eight area descriptions can be accessed from the K-State 8 website.

Criteria: Tagging Courses for the K-State 8

For a course to be tagged, it should contain a significant amount of material addressing the tagged area. The grading for the class should also assess the material for the tag. A course that has a K-State 8 tag must have the equivalent of at least one credit hour (University Handbook Section F115) of both content and grading that represent the student learning outcome as defined by the K-State 8 area. One or two credit hour courses may have one tag. A course of three credit hours or more may have at most two tags. Courses taken for less than one credit hour do not earn credit for a tag.  Multiple courses cannot be combined to fulfill the requirements of a tag.  

All K-State 8 tags are approved by Academic Affairs (FSAA) and also Faculty Senate.  It is emphasized that these groups approve course titles and descriptions. It is critical that the course description and/or title contain language that merits the requested tag(s). Due to academic freedom, syllabi are not approved by these groups. However, these groups may request a sample syllabus to help justify a K-State 8 tag.

Approval Process for Tagging New Courses and Changing K-State 8 Tags (adding tags; removing tags; switching tags)

Information about the standard Approval Routing and Notifications Process and the forms required to add courses or change tags are available on the Registrar's website.

Adding, changing, or deleting a K-State 8 tag follows the standard process for course approval.  The proposal will need to be submitted via Curriculog, the automated course and curriculum management software used by K-State. All changes to this process must be approved by Faculty Senate.

Approving, Reviewing and Removing K-State 8 Course Tags

K-State 8 Tags

Although the K-State 8 tagging process begins in the academic units, all K-State 8 tags are approved by Faculty Senate. This document provides the general guidelines for a course to be approved for a K-State 8 tag and also the procedures for removal of a K-State 8 tag.

Tagging Criteria

A course that has a K-State 8 tag must have the equivalent of at least one credit hour (University Handbook Section F115) of both content and grading that represent the student learning outcome as defined by the K-State 8 area. One or two credit hour courses may have one tag. A course of three credit hours or more may have at most two tags. Courses taken for less than one credit hour do not earn credit for a tag.  Multiple courses cannot be combined to fulfill the requirements of a tag.

Establishing and Removing a K-State 8 Tag

Adding or removing a K-State 8 tag to an existing course or proposing a new course with a K-State 8 tag follows a standard process (see the Approval, Routing and Notification document for course and curriculum changes and additions). Thus, all K-State 8 tags are approved by Academic Affairs (FSAA) and also Faculty Senate. It is emphasized that these groups approve course titles and descriptions. It is critical that the course description and/or title contain language that merits the requested tag(s). Due to academic freedom, syllabi are not approved by these groups.  However, these groups may request a sample syllabus to help justify a K-State 8 tag.

Review of K-State 8 Tags

The K-State 8 Council is responsible for reviewing all courses with K-State 8 tags. The general procedure is to review two tags per year. Thus, every tag will be reviewed on a 4-year cycle. The K-State 8 Council will determine the review structure as outlined below.

  1. The K-State 8 Council contacts colleges/schools/academic units with a list of classes that have the specific K-State 8 tag being reviewed. The colleges/schools/academic units are asked to evaluate whether or not the tag is appropriate and may be asked to supply information related to the classes and tags such as syllabi, assignments, projects, exams, etc. The vast majority of discrepancies are resolved through this process with either the academic unit and the K-State 8 Council agreeing that the tag is appropriate or the academic unit agreeing to remove the tag through a course change.
  2. In the rare event that the K-State 8 Council believes that a course should not have a tag, but the academic unit believes that the course should have the tag, then this class and tag is sent through the K-State 8 tag remediation process.

K-State 8 Tag Remediation Process

If the academic unit disagrees with the Council’s recommendation to remove a tag, the dispute is sent to Faculty Senate Academic Affairs (FSAA). FSAA may request interdisciplinary experts in the tagging area to evaluate the course’s ability to satisfy the disputed K-State 8 tag. Representatives from the academic unit, interdisciplinary experts and representatives from the K-State 8 Council will be invited to an FSAA meeting to present their findings or reasons for the discrepancy. FSAA will vote whether or not to keep the tag. If Academic Affairs votes to remove the tag, the dispute moves to the discussion agenda of Faculty Senate for a vote. If Faculty Senate votes to remove the tag, the tag is removed from the course. If either FSAA or Faculty Senate vote to keep the tag, then the course retains the tag and the course is exempt from the next 4 year review cycle (see flowchart (pdf).

* Approved by K-State 8 Council, Faculty Senate Academic Affairs, and Faculty Senate on June 11, 2019. This policy supersedes previous policies related to K-State 8 tagging and criteria.