The Council on Academic Affairs approved 28 line items, which includes the addition of a biological sciences course that will serve as a second chance for those who failed or struggled in the BIO 1110: General Biology course Thursday.

BIO 1180: Principles of Biological Investigations will be a half-semester course that is meant to intervene and help at-risk students. Kai Hung, a biological sciences associate professor, said the department created this course to help engage students by placing them in a situation where they need to do actual research.

“One of the tried and true methods of engaging students is to provide them with some genuine hands-on research experience that are open-ended, investigative to engage their intellect,” Hung said.

This has a dual purpose of helping those who find BIO 1110 difficult and also keeping students within the major.

“Before they decide to give up on biology or science in general, we would like to get a hold of them, give them a second chance and a different look at biology,” Hung said. “We want to keep our majors.”

Hung said the course will hopefully engage those students who may need to see science in a different way to understand the science and to stay engaged in the program.

“It is less like a lecture,” Hung said. “It is more like a research experience.”

Hung said this course would expectedly inspire students to retake BIO 1110.

The theatre major program was also revised to require less core classes to allow students to take electives within the major.

Kevin Doolen, the theatre department chairman, said the department wanted to allow students to focus on their specific interests within the major. The major has also removed the directing concentration.

The same can be said for the theatre minor. Less core courses are required to allow students to seek out interests within the program that interest them.

Several theatre classes were also revamped to include an online option for students. These include THA 2140: Introduction to the Theatre, THA 3751: Origins of European Theatre, THA 3752: European and U.S. Theatre from 1660 to the Present Day, THA 3754: Theatre and Film, THA 3755: African-American Theatre: Historical and Contemporary, THA 3757: Contemporary World Theatre and THA 3758: Topics in World Theatre History.

They also added four new courses including THA 3343: Devised Theatre in Performance, THA 3349: Classical Acting Styles and THA 3350: Stage Management.

The journalism major program was also revised. Now, JOU 3300: Publication Design and JOU 3610: Broadcast News are now required courses in the major.

Joe Gisondi, a journalism professor, said the department thought it was necessary to have at least a basic understanding of all aspects of journalism. A Sports Media Relations concentration was also added as an option within the major.

Another senior seminar will also be offered. EIU 4174: Documentary Film and Society will be offered allowing students to learn about documentaries specifically.

Also, two business courses now have an online option including BUS: 2710 Survey of Finance and BUS 3470: Principals of Marketing.

The family and consumer sciences department is now offering FCS 2750: Nutrition Assessment and Counseling and FCS 4757: Food Product Development.

Other approved courses can be viewed in the council’s minutes on the CAA page on Eastern’s website.

The council will meet again at 3 p.m. March 26 in Room 4440 of Booth Library.

Jarad Jarmon can be reached at 581-2812 or jsjarmon@eiu.edu.