In order to get these changes through the College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Curriculum Committee in time for implementation in the Fall of 06, we need to prepare the paperwork prior to August of 05, which really means by June of 05, since many of us will not be around for the Summer.
Many of the courses will be "simple" name and description changes only (e.g., The Earth, The Earth Today, and quite a few more). For these, we do not need to provide a new syllabus. These changes should be relatively easy.
For the new courses, we do need to provide new syllabi. These will be done by subcommittees in the Spring semester.
The real work comes in preparing to teach these courses, particularly the introductory and other new courses. We propose to have a Summer workshop in both 05 and 06 for relevant faculty to develop these courses. One of the purposes behind submitting a proposal to the NSF (for the intro course development) is to find money for the 06 workshop. We will also ask the Administration for help. And we need more ideas, please, to see this through.