Innovations
1989	ART:  Began offering a series of seminar courses, called Perception and Notation, that integrate the study of art with inquiry in the sciences and the humanities

1989	Science Learning Center:  Interactive, collaborative work space equipped with tutorial programs and staffed by TAs

1989	LSA:  The Language Resource Media Center provides audio and video support to accompany language course lectures and exercises

1989	LSA:  Women in Science Internships provide an opportunity for first- and second-year undergraduate women in LSA to conduct research projects in the laboratory of professional women scientists (20-22 students per year)

1989	NATURAL RESOURCES and the ENVIRONMENT:  UM undergraduates have been involved in many aspects of the Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN), a world-wide water quality monitoring network of public school students who study their local rivers and share information. (60 students from Natural Resources, LSA, Education, and Engineering)

1991	MUSIC:  Offer an interdisciplinary program called Music and Technology, which combines traditional training in music history, theory, and performance with specialized training in computer technology (30-40 students enrolled)

1991	MUSIC:  West Africa Exchange Program allows UM students to study the performing arts for six months or more at the University of Ghana in Legon. (4 students in inaugural group) 

1994	LSA:  UM-University of Ghana Study Abroad Program expands the Music SchoolÕs West Africa Exchange Program to include LSA students from all disciplines

1996	Media Union:   Merges the creative aspects of disciplines across campus, providing powerful technological resources for inventive scholars 

Initiatives
1989	LSA:  Collegiate Seminars are small classes offered to first- and second-year undergraduates that focus on issues central to a particular discipline.  The seminars are taught by tenured and tenure-track faculty, and they emphasize critical thinking and proficiency in writing

1991	LSA:  Adoption of the Race or Ethnicity Requirement means every student takes at least one course that focuses on the meaning of race, ethnicity, and racism.  Students may choose from over 70 courses

1992	LSA:  Theme Semesters (e.g. Comedy, Beyond 1492, Work, Evil) Students take a number of courses, offered by different departments, that are organized around a unifying theme.  The purpose is to develop courses that each provide a different perspective on one theme and that also meet the general distribution requirement

1992	ENGINEERING:  LeaderShape

1993	LSA:  CUE Courses   These new distribution courses for first- and second-year students are designed intentionally around a topic that emphasizes linkages between disciplines 

1994	LSA:  Writing portfolios required of all students for placement  in English courses
 
1994	LSA:  New First-year Seminars are small enrollment courses taught largely by regular and emeritus faculty

1994	LSA:  Quantitative Reasoning Requirement that requires students to take one course that exposes them to the process of examining quantitative evidence and of drawing conclusions based on that evidence.  These courses are offered by departments such as Chemistry, Communications, Economics, Mathematics, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Sociology, and Statistics

Curriculum Reforms
1989	LSA:  Reform of Chemistry 210-211, the introductory chemistry sequence for students with good high school preparation, to emphasize the process of doing chemistry, rather than solving mathematical problems and memorizing formulas or definitions (2000 students per year)

1992	LSA:  Reform of Math 115-116, which is the introductory calculus sequence, so that it emphasizes mathematical reasoning rather than computational maniupulation, and it uses imaginative new teaching materials and methods (4000 students per year)

1992	LSA:  Revision of teaching assignments and curriculum in Geology, resulting in the development of a large number of seminar courses, taught by tenure-track faculty, for first- and second-year students, especially those who do not plan to major in the sciences 

1993	LSA:  Offering new B.A. degree in General Biology.  It is intended for students with interests in the sciences, but who do not intend to become practicing biologists

1993	LSA:  Reform of Chemistry 125-130, the standard introductory sequence for students whose high school backgrounds do not qualify them for enrollment in Chemistry 210-211.  The course sequence emphasizes learning through collaborative discovery (4000 students per year)

1993	LSA:  Offering new B.A. or B.S. degree in General Physics for students who want a strong background in science but want to pursue a broader general education or pursue a double major 

1993	Reorganization of the Inteflex Program, a program run jointly by LSA and the Medical School since 1972, to identify and prepare minority students and to provide a vehicle for curricular innovation in premedical education

1994	ENGINEERING:  Interative computer modeling to teach thermodynamics

1994	LSA:  Reform of Physics 127-128 and 141-241, the lab courses that accompany the two introductory sequences in physics (4000 students per year)

1994	LSA:  New B.S. degree offered in Biochemistry, which was developed cooperatively by the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, and Biological Chemistry to respond to undergraduate interest in this field

1994	LSA:  Offering new B.A. degree in Classical Civilization for students with an interest in ancient civilizations, but who are not trained in Latin or Greek

1990	Language requirement strengthened from simply completing four semesters of course work to demonstrating a level of proficiency

1992	Reformulation of a set of middle- and upper-level language courses to focus on substantive topics learned through a second language, rather than on second-language learning per se

1993	Participation of and cooperation between LSA and Engineering in the new Engineering Global Leadership Honors Program (LSA provides the ÒCultural CoreÓ)

1993	Approval of tenure-track positions that would be evaluated on the basis of pedagogy and pedagogical research rather than more traditional literary research

1993	Change in the Directorship of the Office of International Programs (OIP) from a half-time to a full-time position and incorporation of the OIP into the new International Institute in an effort to forge stronger links between area study research and student study abroad

1994	Creation of special section in large lecture courses, taught by non-language departments, in which teaching materials and discussion will be in a foreign language