Course Offerings and Expanded Access

By Christopher Todd

One of the most important fundamental principles in public policy is that the more complex a change, the less one can force that change upon stakeholders. Look to any state or federal education mandate, and one can understand the complexity of change. Simply mandating or forcing students to take advantage of the multitude of dual credit opportunities their school provides doesn’t lead to success. However, creating a robust catalog of offerings that allows for choice, and aligns with student interests will ultimately shift the landscape of dual credit opportunities in Connecticut.

In his book “Inquiry Mindset”, Trevor Mackenzie writes Passions create opportunities for deeper learning as students are highly motivated and willing to explore them further. Their proper knowledge of the topic accelerates and amplifies their inquiry. Student interest and passion must drive the opportunities we look to create in an expanded course catalog. As the UConn ECE program quickly approaches 100 unique UConn course offerings, the program stands on the precipice of determining which new courses to add to our catalog, and as such, advocates with the appropriate university leadership within corresponding disciplines. The program will continue to look for disciplinary gaps in our course offerings and will work to bring in new course offerings that align with partner school needs, relevant career pathway pursuits, and most importantly student interests and passions.

Taking this into consideration, the UConn ECE program is excited to share new course offerings available during the forthcoming 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years. These courses align with the program’s strategic vision of expanding course offerings in a way that addresses both disciplinary gaps and student interests and needs.

	ASLN 1102: Elementary American Sign Language II (4 credits) Continued development of basic knowledge and understanding of conversational ASL.
	BUSN 2235: Personal Financial Literacy (3 credits) Introduction to essential topics in personal finance for individuals and entrepreneurs. Financial literacy, personal finance topics including recordkeeping, budgeting, risk, insurance, credit, purchasing decisions, savings/investment options, income taxation of individuals and small businesses, and retirement savings.
	CHIN 3210: Chinese Conversation and Composition I (3 credits) Development of ability to communicate in Chinese, orally and in writing. CHIN 3211: Chinese Conversations and Composition II (3 credits) Development of ability to communicate in Chinese, orally and in writing.
	CSE 1010: Introduction to Computing for Engineers (3 credits) Introduction to computing logic, algorithmic thinking, computing processes, a programming language and computing environment. Knowledge obtained in this course enables use of the computer as an instrument to solve computing problems. Representative problems from science, mathematics, and engineering will be solved.
	KINS 1100: Exercise and Wellness for Everyone (3 credits) Overview of the five pillars of health (exercise, nutrition, sleep, stress and relationships); role of exercise in health promotion and disease prevention across the lifespan; impacts of exercise in leisure time, culture, community, careers and the workplace.
	MATH 1070Q: Mathematics for Business and Economics (3 credits) Linear equations and inequalities, matrices, systems of linear equations, and linear programming; sets, counting, probability and statistics; mathematics of finance; applications to business and economics.
	PUBH 1001: Introduction to Public Health (3 credits) This course describes the history, philosophy, and science of public health. Students will identify biological, environmental, and social determinants of health from a comprehensive perspective. They will apply these principles to define health problems, evaluate possible causes, and recommend effective public health responses to health concerns. By doing so, students will learn about career opportunities and the complementary role public health plays with health care and voluntary and governmental organizations in protecting the public’s health.