Overview section

Write a high-level summary of this program, capturing students’ interests. What is studied in this program? What are its strengths? What makes it amazing?

The first few lines are your chance to make your most concise argument why students should consider this program.

Think about the mindset of the students who have just chosen this program. What was it that sparked their interest and convinced them that this is their preferred way to earn their L&S degree? Speak to those interests, and briefly share what your faculty and advisors tell those newly declared students about the value of studying this program. Don’t just emphasize outcomes. Show students how and why studying this program is exciting, challenging, inspiring, or transformative.

Please use the ‘Advising and Careers’ section for career and graduate-study options.

Your unit’s website is the best place to showcase your unit’s history and events: focus here on the academic program itself.

★ No “governed” details will be in the Overview, such as specifically required courses or the number of credits needed to complete the program. The L&S Guide Coordinator will review all nongoverned sections to confirm information is in the correct places.

Describe what it means to study this field at the college level

For subjects also taught in most secondary schools (e.g., History, English, Chemistry), help students understand how it’s different in college: deeper investigation, varied perspectives, more complex analysis, first-hand research, expertise of instructors, etc.

For subjects not often taught as stand-alone subjects in secondary schools (e.g., Linguistics, Neurobiology, Social Welfare), introduce students to your field, and help them learn how to explore it here.

Describe why the academic program is designed this way

Your unit created the academic program as a set of learning experiences: designated courses that will build specific knowledge and skills for students. The Requirements and Learning Outcomes sections are governed through Lumen, showing the formally approved components of this academic program.

Your Overview is your narrative description the program’s ideas and experiences, helping students understand why this program is so interesting, and what they get to learn, do, and discover about this field.

For certificates that blend different disciplines, be sure to describe why this combination of perspectives and subjects is so intriguing and fits together well.

For certificates that share a name with a major, consider including some text to explain the difference in learning experiences compared to the major. The program’s requirements stay in the governed Requirements section, but the Overview is the right place to help students understand the program’s design.

• Editing nongoverned content
• Program image
• Contact information
• Overview section
• Advising and Careers section
• Resources and Scholarships section
• Wisconsin Experience section