H&S Experimental Course Process
Experimental courses provide opportunities for departments to explore new pedagogies,
topic areas, or delivery methods before determining that the offerings should become a
regular part of the curriculum. Normally, experimental courses may be offered a maximum
of three times, at which point they must go through the APC process for approval as a new
course to become part of the curriculum.
Applications for experimental courses are accepted on a rolling basis; applicants should
allow 7-10 days for review, approval, and creation of experimental courses in the Homer
catalog. To the degree possible, this process should be completed well in advance of the
semester/term scheduling process, so that sections can be added to the schedule by the
schedule deadline.
Experimental courses are expected to adhere to HSCC and APC guidelines and policy for
course descriptions, prerequisites, and other elements of course design
(http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/faculty/hscc/ ). Course numbers assigned to experimental
courses may continue to be used when making an experimental course permanent through
the APC process.
Creation of experimental courses is a two-step process:
1 The registrar’s “New Experimental Course Worksheet” (pdf) and ) a course syllabus or
syllabus outline (Word document) are submitted together electronically to the H&S dean’s
office (hscurriculum@ithaca.edu) for review and approval;
2) The dean’s office forwards the approved New Experimental Course Worksheet to the
registrar.
Step 1: The Worksheets and syllabi are reviewed by the associate dean in the H&S Dean’s
office for accuracy, completeness, and clarity. The associate dean consults with the chair of
the H&S Curriculum Committee when questions arise about course design, and/or liberal
arts (LA) designation requests (NS, HU, SS, FA, U). In some cases, experimental course
proposals may be reviewed by the entire HSCC.
Step 2: The dean’s office forwards approved worksheets to the registrar’s office so the
courses can be added to the course master. Departments are cc’d on these requests. Note:
the second page of the Worksheet is for scheduling information. This page should be
completed ONLY if the semester schedule has already been created; if the semester
schedule is still in process, scheduling information should be provided to the department.
Note: General Education designations and Integrated Core Curriculum designations
cannot be requested using this application. Instead, once the course has been approved
and created in Homer, you should submit designation requests through the regular
process; information is available here: http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/faculty/hsgened/ and here
http://www.ithaca.edu/icc/facstaff/ .
Form Sept 2013
Instructions For Completing The Worksheet
the worksheet is available at:
http://www.ithaca.edu/hs/faculty/docs/hscurricmisc/expercourseformshs/expcourseworksheet/

Proposals without COURSE NUMBERS will be returned. Departments are responsible for
assigning course numbers, and for keeping track of numbers used in their curricula. If you
are not sure whether a course number has been used in the past, you can contact the H&S
Dean’s office (at hscurriculum@ithaca.edu) or the registrar's office for assistance.

SHORT TITLE: this title appears on the Argus report used to keep track of the schedule of
offerings, and on student transcripts; 30 characters includes punctuation and spaces

REPEATABLE COURSE & HOW MANY TIMES, etc.: Typically, only selected topics or
individualized study courses such as internships are repeatable. If a course is repeatable for
credit, this information should be included in the course description as well. Note that for
selected topics courses, if you create a number range to be used for different topics, it is not
necessary to make the course repeatable (departments are responsible for keeping track of
which subsidiary numbers get used for which topics).

AUDIT: Typically, courses which require lots of hands-on, in-class activities are not auditable.

SCHEDULE TYPE OPTIONS: This refers to “method of instruction.” You should include here as
many methods as might apply to the course. Typical ones include: LEC (lecture - the default
option), SEM (seminar), LAB (laboratory), DISC (discussion section linked to a large
lecture), Practicum (for a hands-on class with in and outside of class responsibilities). Other
options are described on APC's New Course proposal form.

Please consult either the H&S Curriculum Committee Guidelines (section 8) or APC
guidelines on appropriate prerequisites and restrictions, and for information on what
constitutes an LA course. For LA courses, designations should also be indicated in the
course description, with a rationale provided in the syllabus section of this application (#7
above).

PRE-REQUISITE(S): refers to specific courses or types of courses (e.g., three courses in
humanities).

REGISTRATION RESTRICTIONS: refers to class standing (e.g., junior standing), major and/or
school; also includes permission of instructor.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: the description should be equivalent to one you would put in the
course catalog (i.e., brief and to the point), rather than one you would include on a
syllabus (which can be more expansive). The course description should appear just as
it would in the catalog, and include the number of credits, as well as the prerequisites,
registration restrictions, semesters and years offered (e.g., S, Y). If the course is repeatable,
please provide information to that effect in the course description as well.
The worksheet and the syllabus (or syllabus form) should be sent electronically (as an
attachment to an email) to the dean’s office at hscurriculum@ithaca.edu. The subject line of the
email should include the words “experimental course” and the name of the department. Please
rename the worksheet according to the following format: SUBJ NUMBER Exp Course_SEM YR
(e.g., ANTH 40701 Exp Course_Spr13); use the same format for the syllabus information, but
add “syll” to the file name (ANTH 40701 syll Exp Course_Spr13).
Syllabus Outline/Draft
When submitting this document, please delete the instructions pages, and submit this
page only to hscurriculum@ithaca.edu
If you are submitting an entire syllabus, simply answer question 7 below.
If you do not yet have a complete syllabus for review, you may instead answer all the questions
directly on this form. Please put your responses in the cells in the right-hand column; these will
expand as you type.
1. Course number and title
2. Course description (this can be more
extended than the catalog description)
3. Student learning objectives
4. Topics to be covered
5. Sample texts/resources assigned
6. Basis for determining course grade
(type and number of assignments, tests,
papers, etc.)
7. REQUIRED OF ALL APPLICANTS FOR
COURSES TO BE DESIGNATED “LA.” for
the distribution area you are requesting
(FA, HU, NS, SS, U), please provide a
rationale that addresses the criteria
described in the definitions outlined by the
HSCC