2014/2015 Annual Fall
Curriculum Information Meeting
Agenda
• Electronic Curriculum System - Updates & Best Practices
• New Programs – Work Flow & Time Lines
• Undergraduate Certificates– Work Flow & Time Lines
• Master Course Syllabi (MCS) - Considerations
• Managing Curriculum Committees
• Lessons Learned
• Resources
New Program (Blue Form)
Workflow & Approval Levels
No
Contact the Office of
Curriculum &
Assessment – 7714
BEGIN ASSESSMENT
PLAN NOW!!!!
Department or
Interdisciplinary
Council
Approval
Initiator
No
Bulletin Editor
Min. Corrections
or Approvals
Dean
College
Curriculum
Committee
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
MSA Council
Non-College
Program
Approval
DESIGNATOR
SHOULD BE
RESERVED AT THIS
POINT.
No – From Provost
APC
Yes – To Provost
New Program (Blue Form)
Workflow & Approval Levels
Initiator
No
Assessment
Council
Provost
Yes
Yes
COURSES MUST BE
APPROVED BY THE
COLLEGE
CURRICULUM
COMMITTEE
No
Yes
BOT
Approval
Yes
Academic
Senate
Approval
No
SRC
Approval
No
No
No
Yes
PCSUM
Approval
Publish
New Degree
Program
Proposals
Yes
HLC
Approval
New Program (Blue Form)
If there are NO edits or returns, time to publication should be:
Department – 1 to 2 weeks
College – 3 to 4 weeks
Dean Approval/Bulletin Editor – 5 to 6
APC/Provost – 7 to 8 weeks
Assessment Council – 9 to 10 weeks
Academic Senate Executive Committee – 10 – 11 weeks
Academic Senate Committee – 12 to 13 weeks
Board of Trustees – 16 to 17 weeks
Presidents Council – 22 to 24 weeks
Expect at least 6 months for new programs to be published with NO delays.
*This does not take breaks or holidays into account.
Initial Considerations When Developing a New
Undergraduate Certificate
The following list of questions serve as a guide or checklist for
those developing new undergraduate certificates.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Does the new certificate consist of credit hours ranging between 12 -18 (not including
hidden requisites and/or co-requisites)?
All undergraduate certificates must have a minimum of 12 credit hours and no more
than 18 credit hours.
Does the new certificate have 15 credits or less?
If so, at least 6 credit hours must be offered at 300-level or above.
Does the new certificate have 16 credits or more?
If so, at least 9 credit hours must be offered at 300-level or above.
Has a proposing entity been identified?
• A proposing entity may be a department, school, interdisciplinary council,
committee or unit.
• Multidisciplinary certificates (cluster of courses and experiences in a defined
thematic area, not confined to a single disciplinary area) must identify a proposing
entity.
Initial Considerations When Developing a New
Undergraduate Certificate Continued5. Is there an advising plan that covers the following?
• Degree Seeking Students: these certificates are NOT automatically earned by
completing requirements of a degree program, Gen Ed, major or minor.
• Degree Seeking Students: receive awarded certificate at time of graduation.
• NON-Degree Seeking Students: must meet existing admission requirements for
Non-degree special admission (on-campus) or special admission (off-campus).
• NON-Degree Seeking Students: are awarded certificate upon completion of
certificate program. Certificate is noted on transcripts.
• Degree Seeking and Non-Degree Seeking Students must consult with an advisor,
and sign a Certificate Program Authorization form (on-campus) or Program Plan
(off-campus).
Getting Approval for a New Undergraduate
Certificate
1. Develop letter of intent consisting of:
• Need for Certificate (Corresponds to Section 2.a of Blue Form)
• Intended Audience (Corresponds to Section 4.a of Blue Form)
• Intended learning outcomes (Corresponds to Section 5.a of Blue Form)
• Outline of the intended courses
2. Identify entities affected by the new certificate.
3. Send letter of intent to identified entities and request letters of support (usually from
department chairs).
4. Next, request a letter of support from the Dean or VP.
5. Forward items to APC for approval:
• Letter of Intent
• Supporting letters from entities
• Supporting letter from Dean or VP
Getting Approval for a New Undergraduate
Certificate Continued6. After APC approves certificate and program receives positive response from the Provost…
Begin Electronic Curricular Process by completing the Section below of the Narrative Blue Form
The rationale for new certificate programs must address the following criteria. Each reviewing body will use the same criteria for evaluation.
1)
The program supports the mission and goals of the institution.
a.) Describe the program’s mission and goals, how the program supports the mission of the university (1.a Blue Form).
b.) If the proposal is an undergraduate certificate, explain how it supports the undergraduate education priorities of the institution
and how it will build on the general education competencies (1.a Blue Form).
2)
There is a need (market and/or disciplinary) for the program. Describe the need for the program (2.a Blue Form).
3)
There is a plan to ensure the program meets the needs of the student and maintains academic excellence.
a.) Describe the student learning outcomes for the program (5.a Blue Form).
b.) Explain the intended procedure for collecting evidence and analyzing the evidence that shows the learning outcomes have been
achieved (5.b Blue Form).
4)
There are financial resources to support the program. Describe the human resources (faculty, staff); classroom space; laboratory space and
equipment; computer resources and library resources/holdings currently available for the program (7.d Blue Form).
5)
There is leadership to support the functioning of the program.
a.) Explain how the program will provide advising and logistical information to students and coordinate other collaborative structures
to ensure program quality (9.d Blue Form).
b.) If applicable, explain how the program will coordinate activity with CMU online (9.b Blue Form).
Proposed Bulletin Copy
The Bulletin description must include
Introductory statement describing the certificate program
If applicable: Admission, Retention and Termination Standards
List of courses (include designator, course number, title and credit hours.) Indicate whether they will be required or electives
Undergrad. Certs. (Blue Form) Proposal
Workflow & Approval Levels
No
Develops Letter of
intent that includes:
-Need for Cert.
-Intended Audience
-Intended Learning
Outcomes
-Outline of Courses
Initiator/
Proposing
Entity
Department or
Interdisciplinary
Council
Approval
Yes
Yes
Provost
Yes
APC
DESIGNATOR
SHOULD BE
RESERVED AT THIS
POINT.
.
No
No
Positive response
in the form of a
letter from the
Provost
Initiator
Begin electronic curricular process
by completing the blue form. See
step 6 in the previous slide.
Letters of
Support from
entities affected
by Cert. such as
other
departments.
No
DEAN
Yes
New Undergraduate
Certificate Program
If there are NO edits or returns, time to publication from initial submission should be:
Department – 1 to 2 weeks
College – 3 to 4 weeks
Dean Approval/Bulletin Editor – 5 to 6
APC/Provost – 7 to 8 weeks
Objection Period – 9 to 10 weeks
Expect at least 2.5 months for new undergraduate certificates to be published with
NO delays.
Master Course Syllabus (MCS)
•
Bulletin Description Handout: How to write a good bulletin description.
•
Online or Hybrid Courses: MUST ADD, “This course may be offered in an online or hybrid
format.” ***NOTE: if the course may be offered via online or hybrid you must ensure the
proposal meets the criteria in “Section V. Other Requirements and/or Materials for the
Course”.
•
Deleting Requisites: If these items are removed from an MCS and/or bulletin description,
the Initiator MUST provide clear rationale explaining the removal of the requisites.
•
Consistency: The MCS MUST MATCH what is listed in the proposal form.
•
Adding Requisites: Adding any of these items may impact time to graduation. Good
practice may include addressing such issues in the rationale.
•
Recommended Requirements: If any courses or requirements are recommended, the
Initiator MUST include the word “Recommended” in the bulletin description.
•
Support of SLOs: ensure the evaluations appropriately support the learning objectives. For
instance, if the course is a 400-level course and is focused on integration of theories and
concepts, one may expect to see an evaluation such as a project where the student is
analyzing, synthesizing, and constructing arguments based on theories and concepts.
Contact an Assessment Coordinator for assistance writing SLOs.
Managing Curriculum Committees
•
Engage Members: Designate committee members to do the following:
– Evaluate impact on time to graduation
– Review grammatical issues that may lead to approved with edits versus returns
– Address possible advising issues
– Evaluate the affects on other departments and programs
– Evaluate course outcomes to ensure they are measureable and appropriate for the
course level
– Evaluate course sequencing for new programs
– Evaluate changes in number of credit hours
– Evaluate affects of program modifications
– Determine if courses are duplicated
– Ensure information in the attached documents match the electronic forms!!!
•
Capitalize on Member’s Strengths: Example, some members may have been involved in
program review. Allow them to evaluate new programs overall while other members may be
better suited to evaluate course modifications because of experience redesigning courses.
•
Follow Up Strategies (Out of Sight Out of Mind): Curriculum proposals are often forgotten
when there is not a good strategy for following up. Develop follow up strategies and
COMMUNICATE to other committees.
Lessons Learned
Example of issues that prolong the approval process
• Forgetting to put certain phrases, such as online/hybrid, CR/NC, etc., in course
descriptions.
• Information is out of order in a course description.
• Missing prerequisites in the course description box on the green form.

Approved with Edits: DO NOT use any other means to suggest approved with edits other
than the comments box within the electronic proposal. If you need to use other means, then
strongly consider returning the proposal since significant changes are required.

Departments as Initiators: If the Department is the initiator, you must have a systematic way
of informing faculty of proposal statuses.

Caution – Sending Back Proposals: DO NOT send a proposal back to the initiator until the
entire committee has reviewed the proposal. This does not save time, since additional
revisions may be posed by the committee. Faculty become very frustrated!

Electronic Approval of Minutes: a well-designed electronic approval process can save a
significant amount of time during the next meeting if the minutes are discussed electronically.
Resources
•
Curriculum Website: CentralLink>Office of the Provost>Academic Affairs>Curriculum and
Assessment>Curriculum.
•
Academic Senate Website: CentralLink>Academic Senate.
•
Electronic Curricular Forms Link: CentralLink>Academic Senate>Academic Senate –
Internal>Curricular Forms.
•
Bulletins: CentralLink>Office of the Provost>Academic Affairs>Bulletins.
•
Assessment Plan Development: CentralLink>Office of the Provost>Academic
Affairs>Curriculum and Assessment>Assessment>College Assessment Coordinators.
•
Online Faculty Information System (OFIS): CentralLink>Office of the Provost>Academic
Affairs>OFIS
•
Education Index for Graduate Schools: http://graduate-school.phds.org/educationindex/robotics-courses-in-michigan
•
Education Portal: http://education-portal.com/
•
O*Net Home: http://www.onetonline.org/
Questions