SEOS Curriculum Work

Curriculum chair portfolio | School of Earth and Ocean Sciences

SEOS curriculum work.

Overview board for status, summaries for context, and slides of current working files.

Caution

All items on this site are unofficial working materials. They may change substantially, or may never proceed. Curriculum changes become part of the official UVic curriculum only after approval through the full governance process, including Senate.

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Use This Site

Start with the live board for an overview, then open linked files if needed.

This page tracks draft curriculum work. Use the board for current status, the briefing section below for high-level summaries, and proposal decks only when you need working detail.

Use the curriculum atlas as context for the work shown here. The atlas shows the current approved program structure, prerequisite pathways, and course relationships, so it is the baseline against which draft curriculum changes should be read.

Atlas home Programs Courses

Atlas Example

The atlas can show a compact prerequisite map for a course or program. Use it to understand the current approved structure before reading draft changes on this page.

Example simplified prerequisite graph from the curriculum atlas for EOS 460 Geomorphology

Example from the atlas: the simplified prerequisite graph for EOS 420.

Live Board

Current SEOS curriculum work at a glance.

Use the board below for the current overview.

Overview mode: all items visible, details closed. Open any card for more context.

Stage 1

Scoping

Scoping SEOS Year 2 revisions Second-year redesign to build a clearer computing path across programs and reduce contact hours for Year 2. Current status: work ongoing after undergraduate committee review and broad support at department meeting; several implementation questions remain open.

The main direction is still to bring EOS or GEOG 230 into year 2, reduce barriers around EOS 240, and clarify the long-term role of EOS 261. Recent discussion raised concerns around a coding course in Chemistry and Ocean Sciences, and mineralogy as a pre-requisite.

Carry-forward questions: Chemistry and Ocean Sciences prerequisite traps with EOS 325, future EOS 261 level as 3rd or 4th year, and overlap among EOS 321, EOS 403, EOS 460, and EOS 261.

Slides Briefing
Scoping First year enrolment and barriers to entry Department retreat discussion highlighted some options to increase first year enrolment and pointed out some potential barriers to entry in our current programs. Our first and second year contact hours are 4-6 hours higher than many comparable programs, including the BSc in Geography. Current status: initial idea phase.

Some ideas: explore removing the lab from EOS130 and/or EOS240, more flexible pre-req structures at year 1 and 2, and more offerings of EOS110 and EOS170

Scoping Douglas College pathway Early transfer-pathway discussion; still testing whether a clean years 1 and 2 map exists. Current status: with Associate Dean Academic likely needs follow up; no formal pathway draft yet.

It seems that Douglas offers a strong enough sequence to support a reusable template into SEOS, rather than relying on case-by-case advising. A formal agreement seems likely.

Briefing Key themes

Stage 2

Consultation

Consultation Combined Honours calendar revisions Standardizing admissions and honours-standing language across SEOS combined honours programs. Current status: language revisions and partner department consultation in progress.

This work is in the final consultation phase. It remains active because it carries wording and formatting decisions across several partner departments.

Slides Briefing
Consultation MATH calculus changes SEOS response to MATH restructuring 2nd year calculus with downstream effects on our programs and prerequisites. Current status: direction is clear; final stages of internal consultation and partner department consultation starting.

Various levels of consultation are underway. No obvious complications expected at this point.

Slides Briefing

Stage 3

Complete

Complete Physics requirement changes PHYS 102a requirement dropped from programs that previously offered PHYS 102a + PHYS 110 + PHYS 102b pathway. Current status: prep in Kuali for Faculty of Science Committee submission with the next cycle.

Complete.

Slide Briefing
Complete BIO/EOS 311 prerequisites BIO/EOS 311 prerequisite cleanup including PHYS 102a issue. Current status: prep in Kuali for Faculty of Science Committee submission with the next cycle.

Complete.

Slide Briefing

Key Themes

High-level summaries of the current SEOS curriculum work.

The text below describes the main curriculum threads and highlights the ongoing questions.

Theme 1

Combined Honours Calendar revisions

The core issue is inconsistency in Calendar language across SEOS-related combined honours programs. Admissions language, GPA expectations, and honours-course requirements are not described in many cases, which makes the Calendar harder to read and causes real problems with Advising.

  • The current direction is to use a cleaner shared template while preserving any genuinely program-specific requirements.
  • The main challenge is balancing the needs of different programs and departments.
  • The working intent is not to substantively change the programs themselves.
Slides

Theme 2

PHYS102a after PHYS110

Some students take PHYS110 and then "drop down" to PHYS102B. These students are then unable to register for PHYS102A since they completed PHYS110.

This thread began with trying to solve this awkward problem and broadened into a cleaning some prerequisite logic for BIO/EOS 311.

  • The agreed upon solution was to remove the PHYS102a requirement for students that have completed PHYS110.
  • This work is ready for submission at the next cycle.
Program slides BIO/EOS311 slide

Theme 3

Second-year computing and program structure

This is the broadest thread in the current portfolio. The underlying concern is that year 2 computing is not currently well implemented. We are also trying to reduce barriers to entry into second year courses, decrease contact hours in year 2, and reduce some redundancy in course content.

  • The current direction is to move EOS/GEOG 230 into the second-year for most programs.
  • Tutorials will come off of EOS210 and EOS261.
  • EOS240 prerequisites will need to be relaxed so this course can serve more programs.
  • EOS261 will leave second year and potentially change or merge with other courses.
  • Broad support at department and undergraduate meetings, but department consensus is still forming. Some department members on leave need to be consulted.
Slides

Theme 4

MATH changes and calendar housekeeping

MATH is changing the second year calculus offerings, so we need to update our programs and pre-requisites accordingly.

  • MATH200 and MATH204 will be discontinued
  • New offerings include two flavors of Multivariable Calculus:MATH200A and MATH200B and a differentially equations course MATH201
  • Programs that offer MATH202 pathways only need to update the non MATH202 option
  • Programs that require MATH200 and MATH204 need to change to the new courses
  • Pre-requisites on third and fourth year courses need to be updated
Slides

Theme 5

First year enrolment and barriers to entry

Department retreat discussion highlighted some options to increase first year enrolment and pointed out some potential barriers to entry in our current programs. Our first and second year contact hours are 4-6 hours higher than many comparable programs, including the BSc in Geography.

  • Explore removing the lab from EOS130.
  • Explore removing the lab from EOS240.
  • Explore more flexible pre-req structures at year 1 and 2
  • More offerings of EOS110 and EOS170