GUIDELINES ON SELECTION OF
TECHNICAL ELECTIVES
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
22 September 2005

In general, a student will be allowed to apply to Restricted Elective a maximum of one of the following 1-credit-hour courses unless, in appropriate cases (*), the course is taken with a companion lecture course:
 
BIO-1200 Introduction to the Health Professions
BIO-1500 Introduction to Aquaculture
BIO-4990 Biology Forum
CHM-1091 Nanoscience/Nanotechnology Laboratory
CHM-4901 Senior Research Seminar
COM-2012 Research Sources and Systems
ENS-3105 Atmospheric Pollution Laboratory*
ENS-4901 Special Topics in Environmental Science
ENS-4911 Environmental Field Projects 1
OCN-3111 Biological Oceanography Laboratory*
OCN-3211 Marine and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory*
OCN-3311 Geological Oceanography Laboratory*
OCN-3411 Physical Oceanography Laboratory*
OCN-3433 Geophysical Fluids Laboratory*
OCN-4901 Special Topics in Oceanography
OCN-4911 Marine Field Projects 1
*corresponding lecture course is co requisite/prerequisite
 
Transfer courses designated as Biology Elective may be used only if they are advanced biology courses (BIO-2XXX, 3XXX, 4XXX) for which we simply do not have an equivalent in our catalog.
 
Note that some options include BIO-1200 or BIO-1500 in the curricula; taking either of these required courses does not exclude the student from taking another of the courses listed above as a Restricted Elective for that option.

The following paragraph from the 2005 - 2006 catalog, p. 22, sets the basic criteria for technical electives:
 
TECHNICAL ELECTIVE
A technical elective is a course in any field of science or engineering, subject to department or program approval. Courses classified as mathematics, basic science, applied science, engineering science, engineering design or some combination of these satisfies the requirement. These courses should be at a level appropriate to the level at which they appear in the program.
 
DEPARTMENT APPROVAL
The purpose of this document is to establish departmental approval, as outlined below.
 
APPROVED SUBJECTS
Courses with the following prefixes have the potential for use as a technical elective:
 
AHF CHM MAE ORP
AVS CSE MET PHY
BCM CVE MTH SPC
BIO ECE OCE SPS
CHE ENS OCN SWE
 
In addition, PSY-3423 Physiological Psychology has been designated in the catalog for many years until the present catalog as a campus-wide technical elective. The consensus from administrators is that the course still satisfies the intent of a technical elective.
 
APPROVED LEVELS
Technical electives are scheduled in the junior or senior year in biology programs. Only 3000- and 4000-level courses and graduate courses in the above subjects are automatically approved for use as technical electives, unless they are designated as “non-majors” courses, in which case they are excluded. For example, BIO-3010 Microbes and Society is a non-majors course and is, therefore, unavailable. Because restriction of technical electives to the junior and senior years in biology curricula is more a convenience to avoid otherwise full freshman and sophomore years, 1000- and 2000-level courses with the prefixes listed above are also allowed, barring the exceptions that are listed below.
 
EXCEPTIONS
The following 1000-, 2000-, and 3000-level courses are excluded as technical electives for biology majors:

AVS-1101 Aviation Chemical Science
AVS-2101 Aviation Physical Science
BIO-3010 Microbes and Society
CHM-1100 Introduction to Chemistry
CSE-2234 Introduction to System Administration
MTH-1000 Precalculus
MTH-1701 College Algebra
MTH-1801 Trigonometry Review
MTH-2401 Probability and Statistics
 

Restricted electives are defined as follows in the 2005 - 2006 catalog, p. 22:
 
RESTRICTED ELECTIVE
A restricted elective is an elective selected from a specified academic discipline. The academic discipline is included in the specification of the elective, e.g., Restricted Elective (Chemistry) or Restricted Elective (CHM). The level of the elective may be specified by the academic unit.
 
APPROVED SUBJECTS
Most undergraduate options within the Department of Biological Sciences allow selection from Biology (BIO), Chemistry (CHM), Environmental Science (ENS), and Oceanography (OCN).
 
APPROVED LEVELS
Restricted electives are assigned in our curricula in the junior and senior years, although a student might take them earlier if a semester’s credit load allows and if prerequisites are met. Assignment to the advanced years in the curricula indicates that the Department intends for the chosen courses to be advanced courses within the disciplines. 1000-level and non-majors courses (e.g., BIO-3010 Microbes and Society) are not allowed.
 
EXCEPTIONS
The only 1000-level courses that may be taken for restricted elective are among the one-credit-hour courses listed below [see Department policy “Use of 1-credit courses for Restricted Electives (revised)” dated 22 September 2005]. A student is allowed to include only one of the courses on this list for graduation credit unless it is bundled with its own 3-credit lecture course(*). If BIO-1200 or BIO-1500 is required in a curriculum, the student is not excluded from taking another course in this list as a restricted elective. The list also includes one out-of-discipline course, COM-2012.
 
BIO-1200 Introduction to the Health Professions
BIO-1500 Introduction to Aquaculture
BIO-4990 Biology Forum
CHM-1091 Nanoscience/Nanotechnology Laboratory
CHM-4901 Senior Research Seminar
COM-2012 Research Sources and Systems
ENS-3105 Atmospheric Pollution Laboratory*
ENS-4901 Special Topics in Environmental Science
ENS-4911 Environmental Field Projects 1
OCN-3111 Biological Oceanography Laboratory*
OCN-3211 Marine and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory*
OCN-3311 Geological Oceanography Laboratory*
OCN-3411 Physical Oceanography Laboratory*
OCN-3433 Geophysical Fluids Laboratory*
OCN-4901 Special Topics in Oceanography
OCN-4911 Marine Field Projects 1
 
Elective courses are covered on pp. 21–22, 117 -122, and 159 in the 2005–2006 university catalog. The notes below provide guidance on courses that are allowable as liberal arts and on the use of military science courses in our curricula. The only changes with this revision are page references to the most recent catalog, a note on BUS-1701, and the elimination of outdated notes.

Courses Available as Liberal Arts Electives for
Options in the Department of Biological Sciences
1. All non-required courses with prefixes COM, HUM, LNG, and PSY.
2. All courses designated in the university catalog as HU elective and SS elective.
3. Any transfer credits designated by the Registrar as HU elective, liberal arts elective, or SS elective.
4. The following courses from the School of Business (3 cr each):
BUS-1701 Introduction to Business [no longer offered, but some students might have taken]
BUS-2601 Legal and Social Environments of Business
BUS-3404 Personal Financial Planning
BUS-3501 Management Principles
BUS-3502 Human Relations in Management
BUS-4503 Business Ethics
NOTE: The following courses are already designated in the catalog as social science electives: BUS-1301 Basic Economics; BUS-2303 Macroeconomics; BUS-2304 Microeconomics.
5. The following course from the Department of Science Education:
EDS-1005 Introduction to Education (3 cr)
6. Military science courses as noted in items 1 and 3 below.

Application of Military Science Courses
1. MSC-4002 (3 cr), the second semester of Military Science 4, is usable as a HU, liberal arts, or SS elective. This is the only MSC course that may be used for HU or SS elective credits.
2. Up to 3 credits of MSC-XXXX in any combination may be applied to the free elective.
3. Up to 6 credits of MSC-XXXX in any combination may be used as liberal arts electives.
4. Note that the four years of MSC courses vary in their credit-hour loads. Consult course descriptions in the catalog.