Texas Tech University is in compliance with Comprehensive Standard 3.4.6.

Courses at Texas Tech University are given a four-letter prefix and a four-digit numeric code. The four-letter prefix identifies the program in which the course is housed. The first digit of the numeric code is the course level, the second is the amount of credit the course carries, and the last two digits are an identifier that locates the course within the departmental or college listings. For example, HIST 1300 is a freshman-level history course that carries three semester hours of credit. Its departmental identifier is 00. (This system is described in the Texas Tech University Catalog on p. 12. accessible on line at http://www.depts.ttu.edu/officialpublications/catalog/Explain.html )   

The general policy for determining the amount of credit for courses is based on student contact hours during a 15-week semester (not counting final exam week). This is a standard system that is used throughout the United States by institutions on the semester system, and it is recognized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.  In this system, a one credit course requires 15 hours of lecture contact during a semester, and a three credit hour course requires 45 hours of lecture contact during the semester. Laboratory contact is valued at half the lecture contact so that 30 hours of laboratory contact in a 15-week semester earns one semester hour of credit. For courses that have both lecture and laboratory sessions, semester credit hours are divided. For example, a course with 30 hours of lecture contact and 30 hours of laboratory contact during the semester earns 3 semester hours of credit, and one that has 45 hours of lecture and 30 hours of laboratory would earn four semester credit hours.  

Seminar courses, internships, field classes, and other courses that do not fit the lecture/ laboratory format must offer student-instructor contact or a student time commitment equivalent to the 15 contact hours = one credit standard. The same standard applies to courses that are offered through distance education. In addition, distance education courses must be approved by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which monitors all proposals to insure they meet the same content and credit hour equivalents as course taught on campus for comparable credit.

Courses at the 1000 and 2000 level are considered to be lower-division and suitable for freshman or sophomore students. Generally, they do not have a prerequisite or the prerequisite is the beginning semester for the second course in a sequence. Many times they satisfy core curriculum requirements or serve as prerequisites for upper-division courses. Upper-division courses, generally taken by junior or senior students, are designated 3000 or 4000 and usually carry a prerequisite or assume some prior knowledge of the subject matter. They demand a more sophisticated level of knowledge and interpretation of the subject than do lower-division courses. Lower-division courses are often taught in large sections with objective examinations and little written work. Upper-division classes are less likely to be large and may require more reading, written work such as a term paper or essay, and have higher expectations that students will exercise independent thought and interpretation with respect to the information covered in the syllabus.  As appropriate for the course subject matter, examinations may be essay, short-answer, identifications, or some other subjective format in which students can provide their own interpretations of the material over which they are tested.  

Graduate courses are designated 5000, 6000, or 7000. Most organized graduate courses carry the 5000 designation. It is expected that graduate courses are advanced and require of students an ability to conduct sophisticated analyses of the subject material. They generally involve reading and interpretation of timely professional literature, often from professional journals, and they generally require students to demonstrate through written work, experiment, or projects that they have mastered the course content. 6000 courses are generally Master’s thesis or independent research, and 7000 numbers are assigned for doctoral dissertation or independent doctoral-level research. Some departments differentiate among graduate courses, placing all organized Master’s-level courses in the 5000 level and doctoral level courses at the 7000 level. Advanced courses in the Law School carry a 6000 number.   

New courses must be approved in the originating department or program, at the college level, and by the Academic Council (provost- level) before they may be added to the university course list. The new course review process is rigorous and insures that new courses meet the requirements for the level at which they are taught and that they meet the semester credit hour standards.  

All faculty are required to have students evaluate their courses at least once during the year and many departments require evaluation of all courses. Tenure probationary faculty are to conduct student evaluations of all classes they teach. These evaluations, along with peer review and informal monitoring help to assure that both the content and teaching of courses are appropriate for the level and semester credit hour designation they carry. (For guidelines on faculty performance evaluation, see O. P. 32.32, Performance Evaluation of Faculty http://www.depts.ttu.edu/opmanual/OP32.32.html). In addition, Texas state law mandates that all tenured faculty undergo a comprehensive performance evaluation at least once every six years. The CPE policy is in O.P. 32.31, at http://www.depts.ttu.edu/opmanual/OP32.31.html. Teaching performance is a component of this process.