Course Descriptions

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Credits and Class Meetings. Unless specifically indicated at the end of the course description, the number of hours a class meets each week is the same as the credit-hour value of the course. The credit-hour value of each course is indicated in parentheses immediately following the title of the course. For example, if three hours of credit may be earned, the credit is indicated as follows: (3). In variable credit courses, the minimum and maximum hours are shown as follows: (1-3). Unless repeat credit is specified in the course description, a course may be applied only once toward the hours required for graduation. The availability of a course for repeat credit and the maximum hours that may be earned are indicated within the parentheses and immediately following the credit-hour value of the course, as follows: (3, R6). In this example, the course carries three hours of credit and may be repeated once for a maximum of six hours applicable toward a degree.

Prerequisites and Corequisites. A prerequisite (PREQ) is any special requirement, usually one or more background courses or requirements, in addition to class rank, which a student must meet before enrolling in a course specifying the prerequisite. A corequisite (COREQ) is any course in which a student must enroll simultaneously with the course specifying the corequisite.

Departmental and Course Prefixes. The prefixes used to designate departments and courses, except in the case of very short names such as Art, are abbreviations of the names of departments or of fields of study within the departments.

Independent Study. Independent study courses are offered by several departments at Western Carolina University. The content and criteria for each course is determined by each academic department. Credit for these courses range from 1 to 6 semester hours credit as determined by the department.

Special Topics Course Policy. Courses numbered 593, 594, 693 or 694 are for special topics that reflect a student’s or faculty member’s special interest not covered by regular departmental curriculum offerings. Credit in these courses varies from one to four credit hours, to be determined by the department for each offering. Students may take up to 12 hours of special topic credit in a single department/program. A particular topic course can be taught at most two times in a five-year period. If a department/program wishes to teach a particular topic course more than twice in a five year period, it must propose the course as a regular course, subject to the curriculum review process.