Curriculum Proposals
Curriculum proposals should be submitted in the fall semester, except
for exempt courses created to accommodate newly hired faculty. Chairs should send proposals to the appropriate Area Chairs on, or
before, October 20. Curriculum area
meetings are scheduled during the convocation period on November 3. Please keep the following items in mind:
- Chairs
should work out schedules for the initial curriculum work that occurs in the
departments so that the Area Chairs receive proposals on time.
- The current
forms for proposals are available on the web at Faculty Resources.
- Chairs
should email final proposals to the area chair.
This is the signal that the proposal has been approved by the
Department or Program and is ready for the Area(s).
- Each
proposal should be attached as a separate document using a file name like MATH
160, MATH Major, MATH Minor, or MATH 2xx, so we can keep them organized.
The following sections of the Faculty Handbook guide the process:
Graduation Requirements for Majors and Minors
Department
and program chairs should submit proposals for new majors and minors as well as
proposed changes in existing majors and minors using the Curricular Revision
Form found online. The signature of the chair on the proposal forms signifies
that the department or program has approved the proposals. These proposals are first submitted to the
appropriate Area(s) for approval. If
approved by the Area(s), the proposals are then submitted to the Committee on
Curriculum which evaluates these proposals and submit them to the Council on
Academic Policy with one of three notations:
recommended, not recommended, or submitted without recommendation. Proposals that span more than one Area must
be approved separately by each of the Areas involved in order for the proposal
to move forward. The Council on Academic Policy places proposals on the agenda
for the forthcoming faculty meeting and circulate them to the faculty to be
voted up or down. In faculty meetings
these proposals are presented by the Chair of the Committee on Curriculum, who
may call on others to present supporting arguments.
New Course Proposals
Department
and program chairs should submit proposals for new courses in their departments
(or programs) using the Curricular Revision Form found on-line. The signature
of the chair on the proposal forms signifies that the department or program has
approved the proposals. These proposals
are first submitted to the appropriate Area(s) for approval. If approved by the Area(s), the proposals are
then submitted to the Committee on Curriculum which evaluates these proposals
and submits them to the Council on Academic Policy with one of three
notations: recommended, not recommended,
or submitted without recommendation. Proposals
that span more than one Area must be approved separately by each of the Areas
involved in order for the proposal to move forward. The Council on Academic
Policy places proposals on the agenda for the forthcoming faculty meeting and
circulates them to the faculty to be voted up or down. In faculty meetings the curriculum committee
chair presents these proposals and may call on others to present supporting
arguments.
Exempt Courses
In
certain cases when new courses needed to be added to the schedule at a time
when the Curriculum Committee cannot review the course and send it on to the
faculty for approval, these courses are called exempt courses. Examples include courses taught because of
faculty hires that occur late in the academic year and courses attached to
off-campus programs that change late in the academic year or during the summer.
Exempt courses are approved on a one-time basis
using the following procedure.
Department or program chairs should complete a course proposal form and
obtain approval, if possible, from the appropriate Area Chair(s) and the
Curriculum Committee chair. (In this
case, the signature of the chair may not represent the decision of the
department or program.) The signed form
should be sent to the Provost for final approval with copies going to the
Registrar and the Associate Provost.
Exempt courses do not appear in the Catalog
and cannot have Collegiate Center codes attached to them.. Exempt courses must follow the regular
acceptance procedure before being offered in subsequent years as regular
courses. In the case that an exempt
course is later approved as a regular course with Collegiate Center codes, then
those codes are added to the student records for those students who completed
the original exempt course.
Changes in Existing Courses
Proposed
changes in course titles, prerequisites, or catalog descriptions of existing
courses must be submitted by the appropriate department or program chair using
the Curricular Revision Form to the Curriculum Committee Chair, the Associate
Provost, and the Registrar. If these persons believe the change is relatively
minor, meaning that it would not significantly alter the course as it was
originally approved, then the change is considered approved and will be listed
on the Curriculum Committee Chair’s final report. If any one of these persons
believes the changes are more significant, the Curriculum Committee Chair will
take the proposal to the committee and follow the regular process. The same
process should be followed to remove from the Catalog courses no longer being
offered on a regular basis. Changes in
course numbers must be submitted to the Registrar for approval.
General Education Codes
The Committee on
Curriculum is responsible for assigning general education codes to proposed
courses and for making changes to codes for existing courses with one exception: The Writing Across the Curriculum Committee
is responsible for W2 codes. Exempt
courses as described in an earlier section cannot have any Collegiate Center
codes assigned to them.
Other
than the exception, proposed codes and changes in codes must be submitted by
the appropriate department or program chair for evaluation using the Curricular
Revision Form found on-line. The
signature of the chair on the proposal forms signifies that the department or
program has approved the proposals. These
proposals are evaluated in the same way as described in the earlier section on
graduation requirements for majors and minors. No course may receive more than
two Learning Domain codes.
Odyssey Codes for Courses and Modules
New Courses with
Odyssey Codes. The
course proposal with code requests is submitted to the Curriculum Committee. The signature of the chair on the proposal
forms signifies that the department or program has approved the proposals. The Curriculum Committee forwards the code
requests to the Engaged Learning Committee. The Engaged Learning Committee
sends codes recommendations back to the Curriculum Committee. The Curriculum
Committee forwards course and codes recommendations to Academic Policy for
discussion and vote by the faculty.
Exempt courses cannot have any Collegiate Center codes assigned to them.
Odyssey Codes
for Existing Courses. Code
requests are submitted to the Engaged Learning Committee. The Engaged Learning
Committee then sends codes recommendations to the Curriculum Committee. The
Curriculum committee forwards codes recommendations to Academic Policy for
discussion and vote by the faculty. Exempt courses cannot have any Collegiate
Center codes assigned to them.
One-Time Odyssey
Credit Proposals based on Courses or Modules within Courses. Proposals
are submitted to the Engaged Learning Committee. The Engaged Learning Committee
notifies the Curriculum Committee of Odyssey credit decisions. The Engaged Learning
Committee notifies persons submitting proposals of Odyssey credit decision.
Managing Degree Requirements
It is the
responsibility of the Registrar to maintain degree progress records toward
graduation. Requirements for each major
and minor can be found in the Catalog. Exceptions or substitutions to these
requirements for a major or a minor can be approved by the department or
program chair of the department in which the major or minor resides. In the case of exceptions or substitutions
agreed to by the members of the department, the chair should inform the
Registrar by email stating and explaining the exceptions or substitutions. The Registrar uses these exceptions or
substitutions in the student’s academic audit.
Through
Campus Web, chairs have access to some student record information including
lists of majors and minors as well as student course histories. To access these forms, sign into Campus Web
and select the Faculty Tab and then choose Faculty Chair Reports.
Registration
Chairs are expected to be available on Confirmation and Schedule Change
days each semester to answer enrollment questions from the Area Chairs or the
Registrar concerning faculty in the department who cannot be contacted.
On the Friday before
the fall semester confirmation day, department and program chairs should be in
touch with their Area Chair by 9 am to discuss issues with enrollments in their
courses. That discussion should take into consideration room size,
student interest, graduation requirements, minimum enrollment limits as well as
other department or individual interests. [The policy on class size appears
below. CoF understands that enrollment is still fluid at that time since
there will be a lot of student shuffling on Monday.]
Possibilities for courses where student interest exceeds course
limits:
-
Bump. This is when the number of students
exceeds the course limit. The number of students greater than the limit
will be removed from the course and these students will have to find an
alternative course. Students are selected randomly.
-
Keep. This is when the number of students
exceeds the course limit but all students are allowed to remain in the course.
The Registrar can keep the course limit as it is and enroll the extra
students manually. The department chair is responsible for working with
the Registrar if the room size is an issue.
-
Move. This is when the number of students
exceeds the course limit but student slots are available in other sections of
the same course in the same semester. On your request, the Registrar will
attempt to move students to other sections that fit into the student schedule.
We need to minimize the move students, since the process is
very time consuming. Also, before deciding whether to request bumping or
keeping, remember to keep in mind what likely other options students will have.
Examples:
- Course X has students over the limit: The
request can be made to keep 2 of the additional students and bump
the others to maintain the limit as is.
- Course X has students over the limit: The
request can be to bump the additional students and the students can
try another similar, or similarly coded, course.
- Course X has students over the limit and there
are two other sections of the course that are under the limit: The
request can be made to move the extra students, if possible. After
all possible moves, then bump the extra students.
- Course X has students over the limit and there
are two other sections of the course that are under the limit: The
request can be made to move the extra students, if possible.
After the possible moves, then keep the extra students.
A similar process occurs
during returning student registration in March.
Guidelines for Courses with Low Enrollment
The Committee on
Faculty may request that undergraduate courses at the lower level may be
cancelled if enrollment levels are below ten. Upper level classes may be
cancelled if enrollments are below three. The department or program chair
may be asked to justify running a course below these limits. If courses
are cancelled, the chair is responsible for helping the faculty member fill the
empty slot, possibly by adding a new course or by splitting an existing course
with a large enrollment. In the case of upper level courses, the chair
may be asked to request the faculty member teach these students as an overload
independent study.