School-Sponsored Courses

School-sponsored course (SSC) is a compulsory requirement of the Common Core Program. All undergraduate students are required to take 9 credits of SSCs, with 3 credits each in the Humanities, Social Analysis and Science and Technology common core areas. The objectives of SSC are to:

(a)
Exemplify the attainment of the Common Core goals in their course design, content, pedagogy and delivery;
(b)
Support the attainment of the desired attributes for HKUST graduates, ABC LIVE; and
(c)
Transcend disciplinary areas.

Selection Criteria

SSCs are expected to demonstrate clearly ALL of the following:

(a)
Exemplifying the attainment of the Common Core goals in their course design, content, pedagogy and delivery;
(b)
Supporting the attainment of the desired attributes for HKUST graduates, ABC LIVE; and
(c)
Transcending disciplinary areas.

It is understood that individual SSCs may demonstrate different levels of attainment in each of these selection criteria. Of the seven attributes, A, B and C would be achieved mainly through major programs or the general common core courses. While the Common Core collectively should serve to attain all the remaining four attributes (i.e. LIVE), individual SSCs should address at least one of these four attributes.

Submission of SSC Proposals

Any existing common core courses which have been offered at least once as such may be proposed to be a school-sponsored course (SSC).

The proposal must be submitted using the prescribed "School-Sponsored Course Proposal Form" together with evidence from previous offering(s) to demonstrate that the proposed course could meet the SSC selection criteria. Evidence should include, but not limited to, course outlines, assessment samples, student evaluation, and documentation of quality assurance activities adopted for ensuring the continued attainment of the SSC objectives. Examples of practices for illustrating/explaining the selection criteria can be found here.

Proposal Submission Schedule

(a)
For existing SSCs (that is, courses that are designated as SSCs in the 2017-18 academic year), their provisional SSC designation has been extended to the end of 2019. If Schools would like to retain the SSC designation for any of these courses, they should submit the SSC Proposal Form to Undergraduate Core Education (UCE) Team, Center for Education Innovation on or before 31 August 2019 in accordance with this schedule. The SSC designation of these existing SSCs will be revoked automatically at the end of 2019 if no approval is obtained from the Committee on Undergraduate Core Education (CUCE) for retaining this designation.
(b)
For newly proposed SSCs, the completed SSC Proposal Form and Common Core Course Change/Deletion form should be submitted to Undergraduate Core Education (UCE) Team, Center for Education Innovation in accordance with this schedule.

The SSC Proposal Form and Common Core Course Change/Deletion form should be endorsed by the course offering school.

Selection Process

SSC proposals will be reviewed by the relevant Course Review Panel (CRP) with regard to the above three selection criteria, based on evidence presented from previous offering(s). Upon recommendation of CRP, the proposals will be submitted to the CUCE for approval.

Quality Assurance Mechanism

SSCs should follow the same set of quality assurance arrangements as for other common core courses. For SSCs that could not demonstrate their attainment of the SSC objectives, their SSC designation could be revoked by the CUCE.