CRITERIA FOR COURSES SATISFYING
THE COMPUTER COMPETENCY REQUIREMENT

Competence in the use of computers is exhibited in different ways in different disciplines. Requisite skills for a graduate of the School of Music are not the same as a graduate of the College of Engineering . But underlying each degree program is the need to demonstrate mastery of computer use in that discipline. In recognition of this skill diversity, a department or school is given the option of proposing a course to satisfy this requirement for its graduates.

To satisfy the Florida State University's Computer Competency Requirement, a course must require the student to demonstrate:

1. competent use of a discipline-useful software package, and
2. the ability to perform simple transactions using the web/Internet.

Faculty in the department teaching the course will collect data on student performance on a specific assignment ( capstone activity ) that reflects the above competencies.  These data will be submitted for review by June of each year to the Undergraduate Policy Committee as well as the Dean of Undergraduate Studies and the Associate Vice President for Planning, Budgeting, and Institutional Effectiveness.

The course must be approved by the Undergraduate Policy Committee. To be approved, the request must be accompanied by a:

• List of general computer skills required in the discipline or skills covered by the course if offered for multiple disciplines;
• Statement of how the given course provides the student with these skills, including a description of a sample capstone activity* used to measure the competency;
• Complete syllabus which includes the following statement: In order to fulfill FSU’s Computer Competency Requirement, the student must earn a “C-” or better in the course, and in order to receive a “C-” or better in the course, the student must earn at least a “C-” on the computer competency component of the course. If the student does not earn a “C-” or better on the computer competency component of the course, the student will not earn an overall grade of “C-” or better in the course, no matter how well the student performs in the remaining portion of the course.
• Grading rubric for the capstone activity;
• Statement as to whether this course is for majors in that area, or open to all students;
• Statement that the school/department/program will evaluate requests from their own majors for transfer credit of the required computer competency skill for their discipline.

Revised:  03/07

*Note: A capstone activity could be assignments/activities which require students to search the Internet and submit results via an email attachment and demonstrate competent use of a software package. The corresponding grading rubric must specify assignment of credit for each component.