Objectives and Expectations

Objectives and Expectations

UMCES is an accredited university and everyone should participate in the graduate education program by teaching. The level of participation varies according to your appointment. Be sure to discuss your expectations for teaching with the Director.

Teaching within UMCES has been formalized in recent years. Any course you intend to offer now has to be discussed with your Director and approved through the UMCES Programs, Courses and Curricula committee (PCC).

The UMCES PCC has developed a clear set of guidelines for those wanting to offer a new course. The guidelines are available here. Important deadlines are:

Submission to PCC For Courses Taught

December 1 next Autumn semester

May 1 next Spring semester

UMCES offers four different types of courses. Details are provided in the UMCES PCC guideline document and are only summarized here.

  • Foundation courses are team-taught courses with a defined curriculum that provide an overview of a specific area. There are four foundation courses, and we do not expect to develop new courses.

  • Professional development courses are designed to provide training that cuts across the foundation to provide students with essential professional skills. Elective courses provide students with detailed training within or among their foundation areas.

  • Elective courses are generally taught by individual, or a small number of faculty. Seminar courses that involve readings of the scientific literature may count as elective courses. The final group of courses is

  • Issue Study Groups are the final category of courses. ISGs seek to develop student lead solutions to scientific or practical challenges. ISGs focus on topical issues and result in a product – such as a peer-reviewed manuscript submitted to a journal, a poster presentation, or a white paper submitted to a sponsoring agency.

A list and schedule of the current courses taught by UMCES faculty are available on the UMCES Graduate Education Team Drive, available here. Please talk to your Director, the UMCES PCC chair, or the Vice President of Education before getting too far in submitting your syllabus.

Submissions for new courses must include the course category, a detailed syllabus, and clear learning outcomes. A syllabus template is available here and should be used for all submissions. Proposals for new courses should be submitted to umcespcc@umces.edu.