MODULE APPROVAL PROCESS:
GUIDANCE NOTES
NEW MODULES/REVISED MODULES FOR THE NEXT ACADEMIC CYCLE
Each year all the current year’s modules in MOFS will be rolled forward to create a version for
the next academic year; these will be available for amendment from early November.
Phase 1:
Schools are able to make changes to module data across all fields in the MOFS database during
Phase 1 of the Module Approval Process. Revisions to these fields can commence as soon as
the new academic year versions of the module have been rolled forward in the database, around
early November each year.
The fields highlighted below in blue can only be changed during Phase 1 and will be locked by
the Faculty Learning & Teaching Teams at the end of January in preparation for student module
pre-registration and the production of the academic timetable.
Note: For all new modules all module fields must be completed (phase 1 and 2 fields) during
phase 1; by the end of January deadline for FLTSEC approval.
Phase 2:
For all existing modules, Phase 2 fields will remain open for completion until the end of July.
There may be some faculty variation in how phase 1 and 2 operates in practice and many
schools will chose to complete all fields in the first phase rather than revisit the completion of the
module at a later date.
The table below displays the approval level required for each field in MOFs. The fields
highlighted in blue must be completed as part of Phase 1; the remaining fields must be
completed as part of Phase 2.
Tab
Module
Core Info
Field on MOFS
Module code
Year
Title
Short Title
SAP Object ID
Maximum Capacity
Offered/Active status
New
Dummy Module
Lock Mode
Semester/Credits (multiple fields)
Owning School
ECTS
FHEQ level
Marking Scale
Mode
Standalone availability
Delivery
Teaching Location
Contributors
Approval Level
School/BoS
FLTSEC
Yes
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
N/A
N/A
Yes
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
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External Organisations
Equivalent Modules
Pre-Requisite Modules and Comments
Co-Requisite Modules and Comments
Content
Programme Relationships (summary)
Summary
Availability
Aims (to include Summary)
Outline of Syllabus
Study Abroad
Learning
Intended Knowledge Outcomes
Outcomes
Intended Skill Outcomes
Graduate Skills Framework
Teaching
Teaching & Learning Methods (inc other methods)
Methods
Jointly Taught
Rationale of Teaching Methods and Relationship to
Learning Outcomes
References References (read only- populated from library list)
Assessment Exams
Exam Resits
Exam Pairings
Exam Pairings Resits
Other assessments
Other assessment Resits
Zero weighted Pass/Fail assessments
Zero weighted Pass/Fail assessment resits
Formative Assessments
Assessment Rationale and Relationship
Exempt from assessment tariff (faculty only)
Exempt from assessment tariff date (faculty only)
Exempt from assessment tariff comment
HESA
HESA data
Additional
General Notes
Data
Immunisation
Requisites
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
N/A
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
N/A
Yes
Yes
Yes
N/A
Yes
Yes
N/A
N/A
N/A
Yes
N/A
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
N/A
N/A
Yes
Yes
N/A
INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMITTING MODULE CHANGES
The MOFS database is the corporate database for all module information providing definitive
module data across the University and data feeds to a number of other University management
information systems. All modules are created and maintained in the database and the approval
process is integrated within the system to provide a secure environment.
All new or revised modules must be approved by the Board of Studies or other appropriate
school committee. All new or revised modules will be considered for approval at faculty level on
behalf of FLTSEC. For instructions on how to submit module documentation please see Faculty
guidance.
MOFs LOCKING MECHANISM
The revised MOFs database features some new locking mechanisms to facilitate the
management of the two phase approval process. The lock facility allows phase 1 fields to be
locked whilst phase 2 fields remain open to schools. The lock facility also allows fields to remain
open to School Managers/ Administrators (or nominee by arrangement) whilst being closed to all
other school based staff. This was developed in response to feedback from School
Managers/Administrators who required the functionality to lock the database to wider school
staff for validation before submission to the Faculty Learning & Teaching Teams. All fields
remain unlocked to Faculty and LTDS users at all times.
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The table below outlines the lock functionality.
Lock Status
Unlocked
Phase 1 School Locked
Phase 1 Locked
Phase 2 School Locked
Phase 2 Locked
Description
Total unlock – all fields are unlocked to all users
All Phase 1 fields are locked to all users except School
Managers/Admins with permission
All Phase 1 fields are locked to all users
All Phase 1 and 2 fields are locked to all users except School
Managers/Admins with permission
All Phase 1 and 2 fields are locked to all users.
The following fields remain unlocked throughout the year and can be amended by School staff at
any time;

Contributors

General Notes
Users are reminded that if changing these fields during the academic year they should reset the
BoS approved flag to ticked and upload the module to SAP. Failure to do this may result in the
amended information being missed off data feeds into other related systems.
The following fields are populated by other databases and are read only in MOFS:

Programme Relationships (read only – updated via SAP SLcM)

Reading Lists (read only – updated via Library online reading list)
CREDIT ACCUMULATION AND TRANSFER SCHEME (CATS) – STANDALONE / DUAL
MODE MODULES
Requests for a new or revised CATS module that will be delivered on a dual mode or standalone
basis should be amended in the MOFS database as detailed above. In addition a completed
Module Approval Form must be submitted to the Faculty Learning & Teaching Team in order to
ensure the essential quality assurance mechanisms are in place.
ALLOCATION OF NEW MODULE CODES
Where appropriate schools should allocate a module code using the agreed coding system –
refer to the Module Outline Guidelines and any internal school coding conventions. If uncertain,
please contact Faculty Learning & Teaching Teams for advice.
New module codes should be allocated in the following circumstances:

Creation of a totally new module;

Approval of extensive revisions to an existing module (e.g. a change in total credits);

Where a module is offered more than once in any academic year a different code will be
required for each occurrence.
FACULTY LEARNING & TEACHING TEAMS:
HSS
FMS
SAgE
CrossFaculty
Christine O‘Hara
(Christine.Ohara@ncl.ac.uk) Ext.83942
Lynn Oakes
(Lynn.Oakes@ncl.ac.uk) Ext. 85595
Laura Johnson
(SAgE.Quality@ncl.ac.uk) Ext.88516
Janice Trewick
(Janice.Trewick@ncl.ac.uk) Ext.88359
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/hss/internal/teaching/ModuleApproval.htm
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/internal/medicine/teaching/teaching.phtml
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/sage/internal/teaching/admin/modules/
http://www.ncl.ac.uk/quilt/committees/faculty/
Last revised: August 2015
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