Regents approve UNI plan to add 87 courses, drop 32

IOWA CITY - University of Northern Iowa officials plan to add 87 courses and drop 32 in the school's 2012-14 academic catalog, a move approved Wednesday by the state Board of Regents.

UNI officials plan a net gain of 55 courses for the next catalog. Most of the new offerings come in the areas of natural sciences; humanities, arts and sciences; and education.

Because course catalogs cover a two-year period, there is a regular review process to add or drop classes from the listings, officials said, so the changes approved by the board have been in the works for almost two years.

UNI Provost Gloria Gibson said many of the courses being added officially to the catalog have already been taught in the past two years in the field testing and evaluation phase, and some of the additions are simply name changes. Some of the courses are needed for accreditation and licensure of a given program, Gibson said, since as those standards change over the years officials often have to adapt the courses offered to meet the standards.

She also said there is no added financial impact from the new courses, as no new faculty will be hired for them.

More courses will be dropped in the coming years, Gibson said, as a result of the nearly 60 academic program closures at UNI approved by the regents in March. But some of those related courses remain in the catalog for now as students finish out those programs, she said.

“Over the next couple of years, I'm certain you will see additional courses that will be pulled from the catalog,” she said. “There will be additional courses that will be dropped, but the net effect will be greater efficiency.”