LAIS Policies and General Information

Undergraduate Advisor
Sandy Woodson
402 Stratton Hall
303.384.2335
swoodson@mines.edu

LAIS policies—General Information

Humanities & Social Science Required Core Courses

All Undergraduate students are required to take the following two core courses from the Division of Liberal
Arts & International Studies:

• LAIS 100 Nature and Human Values 4 semester hours
• SYGN 200 Human Systems 3 semester hours

All Undergraduate students, except single majors in Economics, are also required to take either EBGN 201 (3 semester hours) from the Division of Economics and Business (EB).

Students in the McBride Honors Program must take LAIS 100, Nature and Human Values. By taking HNRS 202, Comparative Political and Economic Systems, McBride Honors students are exempt from taking SYGN 200 and Human Systems. If a student leaves the McBride Honors Program without completing HNRS 202, he/she must take SYGN 200.

Required Humanities & Social Sciences (H&SS) General Education Restricted Electives

Beyond the core, all Undergraduate students must take an additional three courses (9 semester hours) from the list that appears below. The following restrictions apply to these three courses:

1. At least one of the three courses must be taken from the Division of Liberal Arts & International Studies.
2. At least one of the three courses must be a 400-level course. In any given semester, either LAIS or EB may offer 400-level Special Topics courses that will be numbered as either LAIS 298, 398, or 498 or EBGN 298, 398, or 498. Even though no Special Topics courses appear in the list below, these courses may be use to fulfill the H&SS General Education restricted electives requirement as follows:
   • All courses that are numbered “LAIS 498.”
   • Some “EBGN 498” courses as determined on a case-by-case basis for compliance with being “writing-intensive.”
   • Consult either LAIS or EBGN in any given semester for EBGN 498 courses that satisfy the requirement.
3. A maximum of two Foreign Language courses (LIFL) may be applied towards satisfying the H&SS General Education restricted electives requirement. However, no LIFL 400-level course may be used to satisfy the 400-level course requirement in Item 2 above.
4. Communication (LICM) and Music (LIMU) courses may not be used to meet the H&SS General Education restricted electives requirement. They may be used for Free Elective credit only.
   
5. Single majors in Economics may not use Economics courses to meet the H&SS General Education restricted electives requirement. In other words, they must meet this requirement with courses from the Division of Liberal Arts & International Studies, as per the above restrictions and requirements. Students other than single majors in Economics may take up to 6 semester hours (2 courses) in Economics to satisfy the H&SS General Education restricted electives requirement
6. During Pre-Registration each semester, only students with senior standing or instructor’s permission are initially allowed to register for 400-level LAIS courses. If 400-level courses do not fill up during Pre-Registration or soon thereafter, the Division Director may elect to open course registration to sophomores and juniors who have met the LAIS 100 and SYGN 200 pre-requisites for 400-level courses.

Nature and Human Values (Shortform)
Nature and Human Values (NHV) is the combination of two courses: an environmental/professional ethics class, combined with a composition/technical writing course. There is no other amalgamation of content in any class at any college in the country, so transferring a class one-for-one is impossible, at least at this point.

Although there is no straightforward transfer credit, many transfer students do bring in significant coursework in composition, and Shortform was designed precisely for them: transfer students who have completed two semesters of college level writing instruction (“writing instruction” may include Technical Writing, Composition, Composition & Rhetoric).

While Shortform was designed for transfer students, some students enter CSM with Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate credit. For those students who score 5 on BOTH the AP English Language and Composition as well as the AP English Literature tests, permission to take Shortform may be granted upon review of a writing sample. International Baccalaureate credit is not currently accepted as the prerequisite for Shortform.

Registration for Shortform will be permitted once the Undergraduate Advisor has confirmed the completion of the course pre-requisites. Requests for a permit may be emailed to the address above.

Transfer Credits
LAIS accepts transfer credit from accredited institutions around the world. For those students planning to study abroad or take courses elsewhere, Prior Approval must be obtained. This protects the student by insuring that the courses taken “count” toward graduation requirements. If a student intends to take a Humanities or Social Sciences course (but not Economics or Business—that’s a different department), bring a Prior Approval Form (available at the Registrar’s Office) to Sandy Woodson’s office hours for the required signature.

Since short form is designed for transfer students, first semester freshmen typically struggle in the course. Thus, freshmen must wait until their second semester to take short form.

If you have any questions about the viability of a course for transfer, gather as much information as possible—course descriptions, syllabi, etc.—and submit them for assessment. If the information is electronic, feel free to email it to swoodson@mines.edu.

Foreign Language Policy
Beginning in fall 2009, students interested in foreign language instruction but are not sure which course is appropriate, may take a placement test offered by BYU. This test is for placement purposes only, no credit will be awarded based on this (or any other) test.

Students may not take a “foreign” language course in their native or second language.

Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate
AP courses accepted—score or 4 or 5*

• Art History
• Chinese Language and Culture
• English Language & Composition
• English Literature & Composition
• European History
• French Language
• French Literature
• German Language
• Government & Politics: Comparative
• Government & Politics: US
• Human Geography
• Italian Language & Culture
• Japanese Language & Culture
• Latin Literature
• Latin: Virgil
• Music Theory
• Psychology
• Spanish Language
• Spanish Literature
• US History
• World History

Exceptions hold for the language courses, listed below.

STUDENTS WILL ONLY BE ALLOWED TO APPLY 3 HOURS OF AP CREDIT TOWARD THE HUMANITIES & SOCIAL SCIENCES GENERAL EDUCATION RESTRICTED ELECTIVES REQUIREMENT.

• The Arts—free elective credit only—3 hours
• English 1A—free elective credit only—3 hours
• Geography
• Islamic History
• History
• Language
• Philosophy
• Psychology
• Social Anthropology
• World Religions

All IB credits will be recognized only for the Higher Level courses. LAIS will award 3 hours for scores of 5, 6, or 7.