Distribution Credit Information for Faculty

Distribution courses introduce the knowledge, intellectual skills and habits of thought characteristic of disciplines or of inquiry across disciplines within three main areas: humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences and engineering. They are broad-based, accessible to non-majors, and provide a foundation that enables students to integrate knowledge from multiple perspectives. Distribution credit can be assigned to a course at two points in time: course creation and the annual roll-call.

To see current and historical Distribution Credit lists, please click here.

For more information on Distribution Credit please refer to the General Announcements.

Course Creation

When proposing a new course, faculty can indicate if the course should be considered for distribution credit on the proposal form. During the approval review process for new courses the School Course Review Committee (SCRC) will assess the request against the criteria in the General Announcements and approve or deny the request during the proposal review.

Annual Roll Call

The master Distribution Course Listing, in each of the Group I, II and III categories, is compiled annually each Spring for the following academic year. During the spring semester, the Office of the Registrar will send a "roll-call" listing to each Academic Dean's office. The Dean's offices are then asked to review the courses that have historically been offered with distribution credit and determine whether or not they will continue to be distribution credit eligible. During this "roll-call" the Academic Deans also have the opportunity to identify and add new courses to the distribution list. This compiled course list is then circulated and reviewed by all of Rice's Academic Deans. Upon consensus, the master Distribution Course Listing for the upcoming academic year is approved and posted.