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Division of Academic and Student Affairs 
Undergraduate Courses, Curricula, and Academic Standards

Course Information

There are many ways to bring your course ideas to life! Below are a few common routes with links to relevant information, as well as some considerations more generally, for both new and current courses.

New Experimental Offering 
New Permanent Offering 
Existing Course 
New Prefix 
Course Numbering 
Contact/Credit Hours 
Crosslisting 
Dual Level 
Major/Minor Actions 

New Experimental Offering

  • Want to try out course material/structure before coming forward with a specific course number? A special topics section may be the route for you.
    • Choose an existing special topics course (usually a 295 number) and work with your department/college for scheduling.
    • Make sure to request a Special Topic ID with your scheduling officer so that your section can be identified
    • No existing special topics course in your department/college? Create a new one using the Process Map and the guidelines for specialized coursework developed by the University Courses and Curricula Committee (UCCC) to help both you and your department.
  • Want to have GEP credit along with your experimental offering? A GEP Special Topics course may be the route you need.
    • GEP courses are reviewed by the Council on Undergraduate Education (CUE), so to have a special topics class with GEP credit, fill out the short form for a GEP Special Topics course and work with your college to submit the form to our office for CUE review.
      • Make sure to focus on the alignment of your outcomes and assessments to the objectives of the GEP category that you are aiming for. This is the primary thing that CUE looks for!
      • Keep in mind the dates and deadlines for CUE review.

New Permanent Offering

  • Ready to propose a new course? Here are some questions to ask to help you plan your route.
    • Do you have a prefix ready to use?
      • This helps define whether or not you will also need to request a new prefix before/alongside your course creation.
    • Where does this class fit in a program or academic level?
      • This will help you choose your catalog number.
      • If your class is a 400-level and will also be scheduled with a 500-level class, you may want to consider creating a dual-level course, which will run your course through graduate-level steps as well as undergraduate-level.
    • Will this class be shared with another department/college?
      • This will help define whether you crosslist the course and run the course through their department/college steps as well.
    • Will this class fit into one of the GEP Categories?
      • This will define whether your course moves through both UCCC and CUE (for GEP classes) or just UCCC (for non-GEP classes).
  • Use the Process Map for “New Course (with or without GEP).“
    • The course will move through your department, your college, and then come to the faculty on UCCC, who look at the course record in CIM as a whole.
    • If you are aiming for a course with GEP, the course will go to first UCCC and then to the faculty on CUE, who look at the course as a potential part of the General Education Program.

Existing Course Changes

If a course prefix needs to be added that is not currently on the CIM Course Form (Course Prefix drop-down list), fill out the CIM MiscAdmin form here.

Undergraduate Level Course Numbering
  • 100-199 courses under the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are offered by the Agricultural Institute and are designed to meet specific requirements of the Associate of Applied Science degree.
  • 100-299 courses are intended primarily for freshman and sophomores (290-299 introductory seminars and special topics courses intended primarily for freshman or sophomores)
  • 300-399 courses are intended primarily for juniors
  • 400-499 courses are intended primarily for seniors (490-498 advanced undergraduate seminars and special topics courses; 499 advanced undergraduate research)
Graduate Level Course Numbering

For Graduate course numbering and associated grading method guidelines see the Graduate Handbook.

Please visit the Credit/Contact Hour Guidelines to review the types of components (Lab, Lecture, Fieldwork, Internship) as a guide for organizing your course structure.

Please feel free to contact the office for assistance in figuring out the best component and to check credit/contact hour formulations that will best fit your class activities!

Cross-listed courses are courses that, much like dual-level courses, share the same course ID in SIS. This indicates that the course is an integral part of the course offerings of all involved disciplines or departments and that a significant level of equal collaboration is in play from financial support to scheduling, instruction, and approval.

The following are not considered sufficient justification for crosslisting:

  • Increasing enrollment by creating multiple listing points in the catalog or schedule of classes
  • To have the course prefix reflect the major
  • Because the course is required in the major
    • There are no constraints on requiring courses from another department for a major

Watch this video to learn more!

The practice of a department teaching a 400-level and 500-level course in the same subject matter is called a “dual-level” offering.

Both courses must:

  • Bear the last two digits at each level (example: PY 414/514)
  • Share the same course title
  • Share the same credit hours
  • Share the same grading method
  • Share the same enrollment components (LEC, LAB, etc)

Such proposals are expected to reflect the different needs and abilities of students taking the 500-level version of the course and students taking the 400-level version.

Therefore, all requests for dual-level use must address how the performance expectations will be greater and performance evaluation more rigorous for students taking the 500-level course.

On the CIM Course form, select the dual-level radio button and the corresponding course number will appear. Complete the form detail and the approval workflow will move the course proposal through the Undergraduate and Graduate approvals.

For more information about dual-level as well as crosslisted courses, check out this video and review Dual-Level Course Guidelines from the Graduate School.

Major vs Minor Course Actions

Both major and minor course actions run through department, college, and university-level committees. Choosing the “Minor” radio button in CIM Courses will narrow down the form to the appropriate fields, and choosing “Major” will show you the required fields (outlined in red) of the full form.

Minor ChangeMajor Change
Basic revision in pre/cro-reqsuisites or restrictionsNew Actions
Basic revision in course prefix/numberChanging Student Learning Outcomes
Basic revision in title/abbrev. titleChanging Student Evaluation Methods
Change in semester schedulingChanges in title, description, etc. that in total indicate a substantive change in the course
Grading method – Letter to or adding S/U
Basic revision in catalog description
Adding/removing a crosslisting
Removing GEP from an existing GEP course
A good guide/rule of thumb: Minor changes are small changes to the labeling or basic functioning of a course. Major changes are substantive changes that alter how a course looks, operates, is assessed, what it teaches, etc.