Humanics: Integration for Impact

Deans have asked college business development, research development, and co-op teams, as well as the Office of Community-Engaged Teaching and Research in Boston and the XN team, to help with identifying external partners during the application and implementation phases of course development. They have also asked the associate deans of undergraduate studies to support applications, including the assembling of faculty teams.

Members of faculty teams will put together a simple budget for the development or redevelopment phase with advice from unit heads and associate deans. With support from unit heads and deans, faculty may receive funding to replace them in one existing course (up to one per faculty member) or up to $9K in summer salary or stipend per faculty member. Faculty teams can apply for hourly undergraduate or master’s student research assistance funds to support the course development (up to 3K per course). They can also apply for an honorarium of up to 2K to be paid to potential external course partners during the development phase. Please download the budget template here. Please do not fill in or alter the template before downloading it. You will be asked to upload the renamed and filled-in budget form during the application process.

Integration for Impact (Humanics) courses will have all or most of the following characteristics. They will:

• be offered at the 1000 or 2000 level.

• serve as integration courses for combined majors, especially cross-college combined majors, as possible for more than one combined major, and will also serve students from single majors. Part of the course approval process during the development phase will be to ensure that the course is designated as an integrative course for one or more combined majors. College websites provide lists of combined majors and the NU course catalogue lists integrative courses. See also a list of combined majors at the admissions website.

• be developed by two to four faculty members from different disciplinary backgrounds.

• bring an external partner into the classroom at least two times during the semester and conceive at least one assignment with that partner. (Note: this is a requirement.)

• encourage place-based learning by incorporating reflection on the geographical location or region in which the course is taught.

• fulfill one or two of eight NUpath attributes (ND, EI, IC, FQ, SI, AD, DD, and ER). See also the specific NUpath attributes listed under the “NUpath Attributes” tab, or take a look at the NUpath dashboard.

• have learning outcomes that reflect the integrative nature of the course.

Faculty teams also need to develop the following information, in consultation with program directors and associate deans for undergraduate education:

• a plan for the class size and, as applicable, section sizes suitable for the course.

• a curricular sustainability plan, meaning how the course will be offered by the same and/or other faculty in subsequent semesters.

• a plan for the campuses in the global network where the course will and can be delivered.

• identify a lead college and parent unit that support approval through faculty governance and help coordinate efforts during the course development and implementation phase.

• confirmation of sign-off by chairs and associate deans of undergraduate education of each faculty’s home college.

Cross-campus development teams are encouraged as long as they build attention to specific geographical contexts and locations into their course. Courses may be proposed for on-line delivery.

All full-time Northeastern faculty members.

New courses can be developed or existing courses can be redeveloped in Spring and Summer 2025, with Courseleaf approval completed in Spring 2025, and the course taught for the first time in Fall 2025 or Spring 2026; OR in Summer and Fall 2025, with Courseleaf approval completed in early Fall 2025, and the course taught for the first time in Spring 2026 or Fall 2026. Only applications submitted by the September 23, 2024 deadline can be considered for Spring 2025 course development.

Applications need to be submitted at this link via Google Forms. Please view the application questions and components in this Word document and the budget template here, which needs to be uploaded at the application link above.

Unit heads and college deans have to agree to any proposed course releases and faculty stipends, depending on whether a course is new or a redevelopment and taking the size of the faculty team into consideration. Funding for course releases will be at the part-time replacement rate. Applicants submit proof of approval of unit head and associate dean of undergraduate education (who will consult with the dean) as part of the application process. For technical questions during the application process, please contact Jen Grieve at j.grieve@northeastern.edu or via Teams.

Associate deans of undergraduate studies and deans will review applications with members of the Provost’s Office. For applications submitted for September 23, 2024, the Provost’s Office will announce awards by the end of October 2024.

Please submit a brief title/description of your idea here, along with your contact information. The Project Manager on Humanics Initiatives, Jen Grieve, will support you in finding partners in collaboration with college liaisons.

Over the last few months, faculty members have suggested topics/themes for Humanics courses. Perhaps some teams will find inspiration by reading these possible course titles and/or develop courses based on these ideas:

• Plastics: Bodily and Environmental Impact, International Law, and Business Innovation
• History, Economics, and Design for Restorative Justice
• Design for Environmental Justice
• Brain Games for Mental Fitness
• Science Fiction Engineering: History and Future
• Art and Technologies for Personal and Collective Story-Telling
• Mechanics for Effective Policy Generation
• Pandemics: History, Biology, Public Health

Faculty may find inspiration in the following courses already taught at NU. However, these examples do not feature external partners. External partnership is a requirement for this call for courses.

DS2000/2001 Programming with Data and Applied Practicum

DS2000 Programming with Data (2 credits)

Introduces programming for data and information science through case studies in business, sports, education, social science, economics, and the natural world. Presents key concepts in programming, data structures, and data analysis through Python and Excel. Integrates the use of data analytics libraries and tools. Surveys techniques for acquiring and programmatically integrating data from different sources. Explains the data analytics pipeline and how to apply programming at each stage. Discusses the programmatic retrieval of data from application programming interfaces (APIs) and from databases. Introduces predictive analytics for forecasting and classification. Demonstrates the limitations of statistical techniques.

Corequisite taught by faculty members from multiple colleges. For Fall 2023 list see

course.ccs.neu./ds2000/

DS2001 Data Science Programming Practicum (2credits)

Applies data science principles in interdisciplinary contexts, with each section focusing on applications to a different discipline. Involves new experiments and readings in multiple disciplines (both computer science and the discipline focus of the particular section). Requires multiple projects combining interdisciplinary subjects.

INSH 2300 Culture, Technology and the Future of Healthcare

Please see teaching modules created by colleagues from multiple colleges under the leadership of Sari Altschuler (English) and Chris Parsons (History) for this interdisciplinary course.

healthhumanities.sites.northeastern.edu/modules/

For NU faculty talking about their experiences and team teaching in April 2023, see Minute 21:50 and on at this link.

packnetwork.com/nuhumanics-april2023/

NUpath attributes

ND = Engaging with the Natural and Designed World
= NUpath Natural/Designed World

EI = Exploring Creative Expression and Innovation
= NUpath Creative Express/Innov

IC = Interpreting Culture
= NUpath Interpreting Culture

FQ = Conducting Formal and Quantitative Reasoning
= NUpath Formal/Quant Reasoning

SI = Understanding Societies and Institutions
= NUpath Societies/Institutions

AD = Analyzing and Using Data
= NUpath Analyzing/Using Data

DD = Engaging Difference and Diversity
= NUpath Difference/Diversity

ER = Employing Ethical Reasoning
= NUpath Ethical Reasoning

Please also see the NUpath dashboard.

List of College Liaisons

	Course Development	Business Development	Research Development
BHCS	Jennifer Kirwin	Caroline Hewitt	Melinda Boehm
CAMD	Michael Hoppmann	Ian Canning	Liz Allen
COE	Susan Freeman	Marybeth Savicki and Holly Foskett	Mariah Nobrega
COS	Brent Nelson	Brent Nelson	Vance Blankers
CPS	Erin Clair	Molly Smith	Francesca Grippa
CSSH	Laura Green	Darrell LeMar	Kate Duggan
DSMB	Todd Alessandri	Christina Jaracz	Olubumni Faleye
Khoury	Christo Wilson	Steve Lewis	Andrea Stith
NU London	Naomi Goulder	Emma Kelly	Carolyn Barker
NU Oakland	Carol Theokary and Bryan Aja	Christie Chung	Christie Chung
NUSL	Hemanth Gundavaram	Quaime Lee	Lua Yuille

Contact in Office of Community-Engaged Teaching & Research – service-learning@northeastern.edu

XN Contact – Laura Engel, Director of the Experiential Network (XN), Employer Engagement, l.engel@northeastern.edu

Funding

Funding will be shared by the Provost’s Office and the colleges, with 25 percent of cost supported by the Provost’s Office. The lead college will administer the funding.

Course Releases and Faculty Stipends

Unit heads and college deans (or associate deans as their delegates) have to agree to the proposed course releases and faculty stipends, depending on whether a course is new or a redevelopment. Funding for course releases will be at the part-time stipend rate.

Integrative Courses for Combined Majors

Undergraduate program directors and associate deans of undergraduate studies support the approval of the course as an integrative course in one or more combined majors. Existing integrative courses can be found in the NU Course Catalog. The goal is not to create attractive options for students, not to add to the number of credits in a combined major.

Enrollments in Combined Majors

The Provost’s Office in collaboration with UDS has created this Tableau report, which shows enrollments in all combined majors. This report is available to all faculty and staff and does not include demographic data. A version that includes demographic data (which can become a privacy concern) has been made available to deans and associate deans. For an overview of combined major numbers for NU and by college also see the Northeastern Factbook.

Deadlines for Timely Course Approval

For New Courses Taught for the First Time in Fall 2025 and Spring 2026

• January 31, 2025 – Deadline for colleges to approve new courses for program proposals for effective terms Fall 2025 or later. (New courses must exit the college approval process by January 31, 2025.)”
• February 28, 2025 – Deadline for colleges to approve program change proposals with effective term Fall 2025 or later. (Any program in which new courses will appear needs to have them added, which is a program change.)

For New Courses Taught for the First Time in Fall 2026

• January 31, 2026 – Deadline for colleges to approve new courses for program proposals for effective term Fall 2026 or later. (New courses must exit the college approval process by January 31, 2025.)
• February 28, 2026 – Deadline for colleges to approve program change proposals with effective term Fall 2026 or later. (Any program in which new courses will appear needs to have them added, which is a program change.)