Natural Sciences and Engineering Practicum (NSEP) Courses

hands-on learning in Swarthmore's garden

The College Catalog defines the requirements for Natural Sciences and Engineering Practicum (NSEP) courses. NSEP courses must have at least 18 hours per semester of scheduled meeting time for laboratory, separate from the scheduled lecture hours. How the laboratory hours are scheduled varies with the nature of the course and the types of laboratories involved. Such meetings may entail weekly or biweekly 3-hour sessions in a laboratory, several all-day field trips, or several observation trips.

Department chairs are responsible for ensuring that existing NSEP courses meet these requirements. This is especially important in cases in which new faculty are hired to teach previously approved NSEP courses or faculty have significantly revised a course. Department chairs are also responsible for overseeing the creation of new NSEP courses in their departments. Department Chairs should work with faculty developing these courses to make sure that they meet the NSEP requirements and that they are submitted for approval as outlined below.

The approval process for new NSEP courses is as follows:

  • The chair of the department should draft a brief document that contains the following information:
    • Course title
    • Course description
    • An affirmation that the course has enough scheduled lab time to meet the laboratory requirement (describe the length and frequency of labs)
    • A short description of the content of the labs
  • The document should be sent to the NSE Division Chair who will distribute it to the NSE department chairs for consideration and approval.
  • Once approved, the NSE Division Chair will notify the Registrar that the course is eligible for NSEP designation.