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

Curriculum Process Workflow

So you have an idea for a course or have inherited a course – that’s great! Follow your departmental/college procedures for developing and entering your course action. Typically, you’ll want to contact your Director of Undergraduate Programs/Department Head for help or tips. Ultimately, what you come up with needs to be entered into the Course Inventory Management system (CIM) to go through the process for university approval. (Starting with CIM can save you some time later and can help you organize your thoughts.)

[callout heading=”New Course (with or without GEP)” headingicon=”noicon” textalign=”textright” url=”https://oucc.dasa.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2018/03/UCCCourseMap_v4-01.png” target=”true” type=”img” bgcolor=”innovationblue” img=”24499″ mediaposition=”right” margin=”normal”]Click here to view larger image.[/callout]

[callout heading=”Curriculum Process for Modification of an Existing Course for GEP” headingicon=”noicon” textalign=”textleft” url=”https://oucc.dasa.ncsu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/24/2018/03/UCCCourseMap_v4-03.png” target=”_blank” type=”img” bgcolor=”genomicgreen” img=”24498″ mediaposition=”left” margin=”normal”]Click here to view larger image.[/callout]

[panel heading=”Resources / Terms / Definitions” type=”panel-warning” state=”closed” style=”boostrap”]

  • CIM: Course Inventory Management – The system that facilitates course approval and where you enter all of course information.
  • Cross-list: If your course will be shared between departments/have two prefixes (ST/MA, for example) your course will share a single record. This doesn’t prevent the courses from being scheduled individually.
  • Dual-level: If your course is at the 400-level and is also going to be taught at the graduate level (500-level), then your course is dual level.
  • Major Action/Minor Action: This is a radio bubble selection in the top of the CIM form. Major and minor actions go through the same levels of approval, but minor actions don’t change the content of the course/how it’s taught.
  • Is this action Major or Minor?
    • Minor
      • Basic revision in pre-requisites, co-requisites, or restrictions
      • Basic revision in course prefix or number
      • Basic revision in course title/abbreviated title
      • Change in semester scheduling
      • Change in grading method (from letter-grading to S/U grading)
      • Basic revision in catalog description
      • Adding or removing a cross-listing
      • Removing a GEP attribute from an existing GEP course
    • Major
      • New actions
      • Anything not on the list above
  • Tips
    • Copy and paste items from your syllabus for easy form filling!
    • If seeking a minor action, select “minor” at the top of the edit form.
    • Know your dept/college/university deadlines! Contact your Director of Undergraduate Programs, your Department Head, or your College Liaison for help!
    • We’re human and we’re here to help – contact OUCCAS to talk it through!: courses-curricula@ncsu.edu or 919.515.9769

Revisions Needed/Substantial Revisions Needed
After review, the revisions needed for the department, college, or university to approve the action require the expertise and insight of the course’s home discipline.

  • At the UCCC step, rollback moves the course action to the home college, at which point the college can decide how best to move the action forward (or back).
  • At the CUE step, the course moves forward to implementation as an undergraduate course without the GEP attribute information.
  • The comments and concerns of CUE will be communicated to the college in order for the college to be prepared to resubmit the action in the future for GEP inclusion.

Rollbacks are rare at the University level, but can occur due to:

  • Concerns regarding duplication: see “consultation” for information regarding duplication and how to reach out to colleges with similar courses to avoid this concern.
  • Large amount of incomplete information in the course action: include clear, concise language that addresses all items in the syllabus regulation (the syllabus tool provides boilerplate information and guides you through the decisions needed) and match the language in CIM with the language in the syllabus.

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[panel heading=”Department / College Review Process” type=”panel-default” state=”closed” style=”boostrap”]Scope: Each department has its own review process to serve the needs of the department and discipline. Contact your Director of Undergraduate Programs/Undergraduate Programs Coordinator to learn more details.

At this level, departments review and discuss terms and methods of the disciplines, outcomes, and how the course fits in with the department plans and requirements.

Scope: Each college has its own review process to serve the needs of the college. Contact your college liaison/Associate Dean for more details. Colleges have both administrative support and committee representatives at the University and College level.(Link out to college CCC if possible)

By the time that the action reaches the College Dean’s step of approval, the following will all have been completed and discussed:

  • Disciplines, terms, methods of assessment, ruling consistent with departmental and college standards. All typos fixed. Syllabus regulations confirmed from the perspective of this step. Items would ideally leave this step as clean as possible re: all items required clearly listed in the syllabus, no typos, all CIM form fields filled out correctly.

    • [/panel]

    [panel heading=”UCCC Review Process” type=”panel-success” state=”closed” style=”boostrap”]Scope: The Faculty Chair of UCCC “approves” this course in the CIM workflow on behalf of the representative body of the academy on CUE to recommend approval of the course to the Provost/Provost’s Designee.

    Approval notifications are sent by OUCCAS to College Liaisons, and Registration and Records and are sent by the system to the initiator of the course action in CIM.

    Scope: The University Courses and Curricula Committee looks at the course action with a university-wide perspective. As members of a representative academy, the faculty members of UCCC verify that all required items are present in CIM and the syllabus and that they are communicated clearly and fairly as a part of the course and are in line with University-wide norms, policies, rules, and regulations.

    Colleges have both administrative support and committee representatives at the University level.

    Committee Charge: Translated
    Recommend adjustments/forwarding concerns about course and curricular matters to the Vice Chancellor/Dean of DASA and the Provost.
    Review and make recommendations to the Vice Chancellor (as the Provost’s designee) regarding course and curricular actions.
    Make recommendations/weigh in as requested from the perspective as a representative body of faculty familiar with university-scale course and curricular matters.
    Develop guidelines and conduct periodic review of courses – this responsibility has moved to the colleges
    Discuss course and curricular matters with the Academic Policy Committee of the Faculty Senate as needed.

    Resources:

    • If there is a chance that your course may seem to duplicate an existing course, the course will be required by another department’s curriculum or is already required, or will otherwise substantially affect another department’s curriculum, you will want to seek consultation through your Associate Dean.

    Tips

    • Actions are due to OUCCAS two weeks prior to a given meeting after having gone through the departmental and college processes. You can see the scheduled UCCC meeting dates online here.
    • If you have a particular semester in mind when you want to offer your new or edited course, contact us to talk about mapping your deadlines backwards to make sure your action gets through on time! OUCCAS Contact Info: courses-curricula@ncsu.edu 919.515.9769
    • You are welcome and encouraged to attend the meetings during which your course will be reviewed!
    • Fill out ALL required fields in CIM (outlined in red) with the same information contained in your syllabus.
    • Make sure that your prerequisites are codable (related to student groups, courses, or academic levels). All other items should be in the description.
    • Verify that your electronic hosting and disability statements are up to date.

    Possible Outcomes:

    • Committee Recommends Approval: Action moves on to the next step.
    • Recommend Approval Pending: there is an issue or question that needs resolving before the course can move forward. OUCCAS will work with the creator and committee representatives from the colleges to facilitate these changes.
    • Recommend Approval with Friendly Suggestions: committee members have offered collegial suggestions to improve clarity of alignment of items in the course:
    • Tabled: that there is significant change or action is required before approval can be recommended. The action will come back for review by the committee.
    • Rolled back/Returned: After review, the revisions needed for the department, college, or university to approve the action require the expertise and insight of the course’s home discipline. The action gets rolled back to the college level.

    Recommended for Approval as Undergraduate Course Pending Minor Changes
    This means that the course is approved as an undergraduate course once one or more required items have been corrected or addressed. Many of these items will be related to required information in the syllabus regulation, such as a clear attendance policy or statements of fees as appropriate for the class.

    OUCCAS will reach out to you after the committee meeting and include the college liaison and committee representatives to relay the committee feedback as well as a timeline/suggestions for next steps. You’ll be added to the CIM workflow to enable you to make the changes, after which the action can move forward![/panel]

    [panel heading=”+GEP (CUE) REVIEW PROCESS” type=”panel-info” state=”closed” style=”boostrap”]If the course has GEP outcomes and is included/would be included on a GEP list, it will follow this track to CUE

    Reviewed by CUE: The Council on Undergraduate Education looks at the course action from a university-wide perspective with a particular eye to the General Education Program requirements. They review the new course or the changes to a course to match its outcomes and means of assessment to the GEP objectives.

    Committee Charge: Translated

    • Recommend adjustments/forward concerns about the GEP to the Vice Chancellor and Dean of DASA and the Provost.
    • Discuss and set review expectations for GEP review within categories and (as requested) discuss items such as the USD category.
    • Review courses for inclusion on GEP lists or for maintenance on a GEP list.
    • Develop and conduct periodic reviews of the General Education course lists – not currently an active part of committee work. Review is driven by changes in the curriculum.
    • Consultation is complete, and responsibility for further review is transferred to Assessment.
    • Discuss items with the Vice Chancellor and Dean of DASA and the Academic Policy Committee of the Faculty Senate as needed.

    Tips

    • Make sure all of the required fields (outlined in red) are filled out in CIM with the same information contained in your syllabus (including all GEP category information)
      .
    • These courses must be available to the larger campus – at least 25% of seats should be available and the course prerequisites should keep enrollment free for campus.
    • If multiple GEP categories are possible in your course, include a statement that clarifies to students that they will need to choose which category the course will fulfill.
    • Include some detail in your assessment information to create a clear bridge for reviewers from the GEP Objectives to the learning outcomes of your course. Sample questions are not required but are a quick and easy way to create this bridge.
    • Clearly label:
      • Your disciplines for Interdisciplinary Perspectives. For higher-level courses that delve deeper into disciplinary methods and perspectives, the committee expects to see 2-3 discplines. For lower-level survey courses, a larger number of disciplines can be represented.
      • The countries and cultures referenced for US Diversity/Global Knowledge.

      Resources:

      • Actions are due to OUCCAS two weeks prior to a given meeting after having gone through the departmental and college processes. You can see the scheduled CUE meeting dates here.
      • If you have a particular semester in mind when you want to offer your new or edited course, contact us to talk about mapping your deadlines backwards to make sure your action gets through on time!

        • OUCCAS Contact Info: courses-curricula@ncsu.edu 919.515.9769

      • You are welcome and encouraged to attend the meetings during which your course will be reviewed!
      • Colleges have both administrative support and committee representatives at the University level.
      • Trying out a Special Topics course for which you want to offer GEP? GEP SPTP Forms will guide you through the process of offering an experimental course for GEP credit with CUE approval.

      Possible Outcomes:

      • Committee Recommends Approval: Action moves on to the next step.
      • Recommend Approval Pending: there is an issue or question that needs resolving before the course can move forward. OUCCAS will work with the creator and committee representatives from the colleges to facilitate these changes.
      • Recommend Approval with Friendly Suggestions: committee members have offered collegial suggestions to improve clarity of alignment of items in the course:
      • Tabled: that there is significant change or action is required before approval can be recommended. The action will come back for review by the committee.
      • Rolled back/Returned: After review, the revisions needed for the department, college, or university to approve the action require the expertise and insight of the course’s home discipline. The action gets rolled back to the college level.

      Recommended for approval as GEP pending minor changes
      This means that the course needs a few points of clarification before it’s added to one or more GEP lists. Many of these items will be related to clarifying language connecting the learning outcomes to the assessments and GEP objectives or to including further information regarding outcomes assessment.

      Work with your college liaison/associate dean/CUE representatives, and OUCCAS to address these items so that the action can move forward!

      If the next deadline occurs and no changes have been made, the course automatically reverts to tabled and is sent back to the college curriculum committee for work and review as defined by the process workflow for tabled actions.

      For example, if a course is approved pending on August 29th, the responsible faculty member would have until September 12th at 5pm to make changes. If that deadline passes, it will be rolled back to the College CCC step with suggestions for next steps[/panel]

      [panel heading=”Approval by the Provost or the Provost’s Designees” type=”panel-success” state=”closed” style=”boostrap”]You’re done!

      The course action has moved Registration and Records for implementation in the Peoplesoft Undergraduate Course Catalog.

      As a University Standing Committee, both UCCC and CUE advise the Provost and recommend actions. This approval indicates the agreement of the Provost (or the Provost’s Designee) with that recommendation and it moves the course forward to be implemented in the undergraduate catalog.

      Registration and Records is implementing the change/adding the course to the Undergraduate Course Catalog.

      Reach out to your scheduling officer to schedule the course with the new changes![/panel]