Faculty Handbook 2021-2022

F.4.a. Curriculum Approval Policy

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 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 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 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 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 online. 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.