Program Conversion Process Directions
Version 4
Summary
This document provides a framework for the Program Conversion Process, which utilizes
myCourses and the conversion website. The document also includes information about the
process for developing course outlines for conversion.
Audience
This document is intended for all personnel in RIT academic units who are involved in the
conversion of the curriculum from a quarter-based system to a semester-based system.
Change Log
Responsible
Chandra
McKenzie
Chandra
McKenzie
Chandra
McKenzie
Chandra
McKenzie
Date
Version
Short description
6/10/2010
1
Documentation of the Calendar Conversion
Office’s conversion process as developed by
Curriculum Conversion Process Committee.
9/13/10
2
Added Gen Ed course review process information
on Page 8
9/22/10
3
Page 7 typo fixed
10-13-10
4
! & 2 credit info added, dual degree info added,
save raw files info for coordinators added
Introduction
The goal of the program conversion is to convert RIT’s existing quarter-based programs to a
semester-based calendar.
Phase 1 of RIT’s Calendar Conversion, the Program Conversion Process, will run from June 15th
2010 through July 2011. The RIT community should take this opportunity to re-vitalize curricula,
update general education program content and infuse innovation, creativity and crossdisciplinary team projects into the educational experience for all RIT students.
Conversion of all RIT programs must be approved:
By the College Curriculum Committee – expected before June 1, 2011*
By ICC or Grad Council - by or before October 15, 2011
By NYSED - by or before September 3, 2012 [NOTE: All programs must be sent to
NYSED by November 1, 2011 to be completed in time for RIT’s Fall 2012 Open House]
The companion to the RIT Program Conversion Packet website is an electronic tool which is
based within RIT’s course management system myCourses. The Calendar Conversion Office has
set up this tool to assist with moving program and course documentation through the
conversion process. A myCourses shell has been made for each college. It includes access to a
WIKI that faculty, staff and administrators may use to facilitate group review and input around
specific programs or courses as their conversion progresses through the process. Since the
volume of programs to be processed within the next few months will be large, the Institute
Curriculum Committee (ICC) and RIT’s Graduate Council (Grad Council) will review converted
undergraduate and graduate programs, respectively, from within the myCourses format.
The program conversion process starts with the academic unit primarily responsible for the
administration and delivery of each program. In some colleges that academic unit consists of
faculty in a department or the members of a department curriculum committee or a program
curriculum committee. (Hereafter referred to as academic unit.)
[* The Curriculum Conversion Process Committee is charged to establish a 2010/11 schedule for
the college’s staggered delivery of programs to ICC and Grad Council. The specific program’s due
date will be determined by the college]
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The Program Conversion Process consists of five basic steps:
Step 1 – Background and Documentation: All academic units first become familiar with the
necessary documentation, specifically the NYSED documentation form, and the RIT Program
Framework and Degree and Credit Hour guidelines. These documents are included in the
Program Conversion Packet. Other resources are linked on the website or within the NYSED
documentation form.
Step 2 – Program Review and Approval: Academic units have three options by which they can
create and review documentation: A) follow existing procedures within the academic unit, B) use
the Wiki interface, or C) use myCourses.
Step 3 – College Curriculum Committee Review and Approval: The program documentation
moves from the academic unit to the College Curriculum Committee. At this point, the Program
Conversion Process requires that the program documentation, to be called the Program File, be
converted to a single PDF. Converted course outline documentation must also become a single
PDF. The designated College Conversion Coordinator creates and uploads the PDF for the
College Curriculum Committee’s review.
Step 4 – ICC/Grad Council Review and Approval: With the College Curriculum Committee’s
approval, the program conversion process within the college has been completed. The process
then requires that the Program File be relocated by the designated College Conversion
Coordinator into the ICC/Grad Council shell for their review.
Step 5 – NYSED Repository: With the approval of either Grad Council or ICC, the program
conversion process requires that the Program File be moved by the ICC or Grad Council Chair to
the last program conversion shell in myCourses: the NYSED repository. This signifies that the
documentation is ready to be sent to NYSED.
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Step 1: Background and Documentation
The RIT Program Conversion Packet website [also referred to as the program packets]
https://www.rit.edu/conversion/facstaff_program_conversion_packet.php contains all
downloadable conversion forms and checklists as well as other resources related to the program
conversion process.
The RIT Undergraduate and Graduate Degree Program Framework from Provost Haefner refers
to the overall parameters and guidelines which all programs at RIT are subject to follow.
The NYSED documentation form will be used to document changes in currently registered
programs. Because of the conversion from quarters to semesters, all RIT programs will change
and, consequently, all require NYSED approval. The NYSED documentation form includes all the
documentation for program conversion required by NYSED, as well as by ICC and Grad Council.
Degree and Credit Hour Guidelines are from the Middles States.
Academic units that offer general elective courses (e.g. General Education electives) which are
not required in specific programs and which, therefore, will not be part of a particular program’s
conversion package, should use the Course Outline form for review by the department, college,
and General Education Committee
Academic units should begin the RIT Program Conversion Process by reviewing the four
documents: NYSED/Program Instructions, NYSED Program Proposal Form, RIT Program
Framework and Degree and Credit Hour Guidelines
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Step 2: Program Review and Approval
A shell for Program Files has been set up for each college in myCourses
https://mycourses.rit.edu/. Curriculum committee members should have appropriate access
within their college shell; others can be added in by request. A College Contact Coordinator is
managing the myCourses process within the college. Contact your College Contact Coordinator
if there are specific access issues.
The College Contact Coordinators are:
CAST
CIAS
COLA
COS
GCCIS
KGCOE
SCOB
NTID
Michelle Weterrings
Teresa Merritt
Linda Kenville-Hill
Anne Gottorff
Joanne Roets
Karen Ester
Jerry Curnutt
Marianne Gustafson
5-2368
5-5319
5-2983
5-5327
5-4779
5-7135
5-4713
5-6267 v/tty
mxwast@rit.edu
tam0893@rit.edu
lkhgla@rit.edu
ragsse@rit.edu
jxrgla@rit.edu
kmeeee@rit.edu
jcurnutt@saunders.rit.edu
msgncs@rit.edu
1121 Ross
1116 Gannett
2222 Liberal Arts
1130 Gosnell
1013 Golisano
2103 Gleason
A329 Lowenthal
3833 Johnson
Anyone at RIT can view material in any of the college conversion shells in myCourses using the
following:
Username: conversion_guest
Password: conversion_guest
To accommodate the various processes already existing within the colleges, there are three
Program Conversion Process options for the academic unit to develop program conversion
documentation:
Choose one of the three options to begin conversion of a program:
Option A:
WIKI
If the academic unit does not have an existing online methodology for working collaboratively,
you may want to consider setting up a WIKI. Contact the College Contact Coordinator to create a
WIKI page to work on specific program documentation.
In RIT WIKI space you can create documents/or attach WORD, EXCEL or PDF documents /or cut
and paste text. You can also utilize RIT WIKI functionality to have collaborative review discussion
within documents, between faculty and/or committee members [ADD COMMENTS feature]. RIT
WIKI space has been set up to be accessed within myCourses for this purpose.
Use of RIT WIKI for developing conversion documentation at this level is optional.
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For assistance with using RIT WIKI please contact your Wallace Center Liaison for assistance.
Option B:
myCourses
Your academic unit may choose to utilize the college’s myCourses shell to gather and/or discuss
program documents between members in whatever way is preferred without using RIT WIKI.
Use of myCourses for developing conversion documentation at this level is optional
For assistance with using myCourses or to get help using any myCourses feature please contact
your Wallace Center Liaison for assistance.
Option C:
Other Alternatives
The academic unit may choose to work completely outside of myCourses to assemble the
required documentation, utilizing whichever existing online methodology (intranet, website,
etc.) they choose.
The academic unit’s use of an alternate methodology for developing conversion documentation
is optional.
Information applicable to all three options:
Please follow the official naming convention for all program material. A list of the file names for
the programs in your college is located in the college shell in myCourses.
When developing dual degree programs [or service courses] the primary academic unit is
responsible for reaching out to the other academic units that share the program [or use the
content of the course] to ensure the content is mutually acceptable before it moves on to the
next level for approval.
Dual Degree Programs: Overlapping semester credit hours Added 10-13-10
In a dual degree where the bachelor’s portion is 120 sch’s, students may overlap 6 semester
credits. Additional overlapping of no more than 3 sch is allowable in bachelor’s programs
requiring 123 or more semester credits. The overlapping credits are graduate courses which
fulfill graduate program requirements and are also used in the credit hour requirements for
the baccalaureate degree. For every dual degree, there must be at least 30 graduate
semester credits to justify the award of the master's degree.
Minors will be addressed by ICC after programs requiring NYSED approval have been reviewed.
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Do not duplicate COURSE OUTLINE documentation within the program’s file. Instead, reference
the associated courses within the program documentation by name, using the
file naming convention for course(s).
All completed program documentation ready to move along the Program Conversion Process
to the next level of administration for review must become a PDF. Chair should Notify the
College Contact Coordinator
More about Courses:
The RIT Program Conversion Packet website is the location of the downloadable WORD
or PDF Course Outline Form . Information about all the documentation required for
course conversion is included on this form.
Academic units may choose any of the same 3 options for developing course outline
documentation.
A list of the courses offered during the past five years, in each college is located in the
College’s myCourses shell.
Please follow the appropriate naming convention for all course outlines located on the
website
When developing service course outlines, the primary academic unit is responsible for
reaching out to other academic units that use the content of the course to ensure the
content is mutually acceptable before it moves on to the next level for approval.
1 and 2-credit hour courses in semester programs ADDED 10-13-10
The RIT Program Framework provides the parameters to be used across the University to design all graduate and
undergraduate semester programs. As stated in the Program Framework, the Provost must approve any exceptions
to the stated program requirements; specifically related to this memo, every undergraduate program must include
32 3-credit hour courses. Exceptions to this requirement will be difficult to obtain.
Currently, some undergraduate curricula across campus include 1 and 2-credit courses that help programs address a
variety of needs such as freshman year retention, transition into specific areas of study, and strengthening a
program of study in specific areas. To accommodate the curricular needs of these programs to include 1 and 2
semester credit hour courses either as required (e.g., field-specific freshman seminars), or as elective courses, up to
4 credit hours in any combination of 1, 2, and 3-credit hour courses can be a part of the new curricula under the
following parameters:




Programs must satisfy the 32 3-credit hour course Program Framework requirement.
Programs can include up to four semester credit hours split into 1, 2 and 3-credit hour courses;
combinations of 1 and/or 2-credit hour courses are no substitute for 3-credit hour courses as stated in the
Program Framework’s 32 3-credit hour course requirement.
Programs that intend to include more than 4 credits in 1 or 2-credit hour courses must seek Provost
approval by submitting an exception form to the Conversion Cross-Disciplinary Committee.
Department chairs and program directors whose programs include 1 and 2-credit hour courses, are
required to submit a short statement that explains the number and need for 1 and/or 2-credit hour courses
in the curriculum and whether the program meets the 32 3-credit hour course Program Framework
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requirement . This statement should be reviewed and validated by the program’s college curriculum
committee.
Please note that undergraduate programs are neither expected nor required to include 1 or 2-credit-hour courses;
this guideline gives program designers a degree of freedom that is not explicitly stated in RIT’s Program Framework.
Department chairs and program administrators are encouraged to carefully examine the consequences of adding 1
and 2-credit hour courses to their curricula as it may impact student credit loads and faculty teaching loads.
All completed course documentation ready to move along the Program Conversion
Process to the next level of administration for review must become a PDF.
When all the required documentation for a course has been compiled, named and
approved by the academic unit the Chair should notify the College Contact Coordinator.
He or she will create the PDF composed of the Course Outline Form and its related
documentation and place it in the COURSE OUTLINES-FINAL PDF (module)
Ready to Review for the College Curriculum Committee.
Completed COURSE OUTLINES will not be moved out of the college shell.
When the course is approved by the College Curriculum Committee, the Chair will notify
the College Contact Coordinator to move it from Ready for Review to the APPROVED
section of the COURSE OUTLINES-FINAL PDF (module) or if the course has been designated as
Gen Ed, the College Contact Coordinator will move it to the Approved & Awaiting Gen Ed
Review section of the COURSE OUTLINES-FINAL PDF (module).
When Gen Ed approves the course the Chair will notify the College Contact Coordinator who will
move it to the APPROVED section (module) of the COURSE OUTLINES-FINAL PDF (module)
where all other the other completed and approved College’s courses outlines are permanently
stored. If a course is not approved by the Gen Ed Committee, the documentation will be
returned [via the College Contact Coordinator] to the academic unit for follow up action.
The process must then be repeated.
Do not remove or duplicate course outlines that are located in the COURSE OUTLINESFINAL PDF (module)
Do not remove or duplicate course outlines that are located in the COURSE OUTLINESFINAL PDF (module)
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Step 3: College Curriculum Committee Review and Approval [IS NOT OPTIONAL]
Following the Academic Unit’s use of any of the three options:
All completed program documentation ready to move on in the Program Conversion Process to
the next level of administration for review must become a PDF.
When all the required documentation for a program has been compiled, named (see File Naming
convention for programs) and approved by the academic unit, the Chair should notify the
College Contact Coordinator. He or she will create a PDF of the program’s documentation. This
PDF is called the Program File.
There will ultimately be only one Program File for each RIT program. This Program File will move
from one level of approval to the next.
The College Contact Coordinator is the only person who should relocate the Program File to the
next level for review. The next level is the College Curriculum Committee READY FOR REVIEW
module.
Added 9-21-10
The conversion checklist is required to accompany program documents to college
curriculum committee, ICC and/or GC, they can edit if necessary. Coordinators should not include the
checklist within the PDF file; instead, include it as a separate document in its native format (Excel) with
the same name as the program it goes along with. E.g. If the program pdf file is ABCDEF.pdf then the
accompanying checklist is ABCDEF.xls When both files get uploaded or moved w/in myCourses the
names will keep them listed together.
If a program or course is not approved by a College Curriculum Committee, the documentation
will be returned [via the College Contact Coordinator] to the academic unit for follow up action.
The process must then be repeated.
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Step 4: ICC/Grad Council Review and Approval [IS NOT OPTIONAL]
When all the required documentation for a program has been compiled, named (see
File Naming convention for programs) and approved by the academic unit, the Chair should
contact the College Contact Coordinator who will relocate the program file to College Curriculum
Committee Approved module.
The College Contact Coordinator is the only person who can relocate the Program File from
Approved to the next level for review, a separate shell outside the college shell. The next level
for review is ICC for Undergraduate Programs or Grad Council for Graduate Programs.
Added 10-13-10 FOR COORDINATORS: Chan. Will request the program’s raw WORD/EXCEL
files from you (the ones you use to create the PDF) at the tail end of every program going
through the review process. Be sure to save those files aside for this purpose. When the
programs are approved by ICC or Grad Council, I will send you the email request for the
Program’s file documents. The Word version of the documents (and excel if you have any of
those) you submitted to ICC or Grad Council should be sent to nysed@rit.edu. To help them sort
appropriately you should make the email subject line College Name, degree award and name of
program Example: KGCOE/BS/Mechanical Engineering or SCB/MBA/Management.
ICC/Grad Council shell is access restricted to the members of those committees and the College
Contact Coordinator who deposits the program files into Ready to Review module for the
appropriate committee. The Ready to Review module is further delineated by college.
Course Outlines do not move. Course outlines are not approved by ICC, Grad Council or NYSED.
ICC or Grad Council members have access to the COURSE OUTLINES-FINAL PDF (module) within
all of the college shells.
If ICC or grad Council do not approve a given program, the Program File will be returned [via the
College Contact Coordinator] to the academic unit for follow up action. The process must then
be repeated.
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Step 5: NYSED Repository [IS NOT OPTIONAL]
Once the Program File is approved by ICC or Grad Council, the ICC or Grad Council Chair will
relocate the program file to NYSED Repository.
The NYSED Repository is a separate shell. Access is limited to the ICC or Grad Council Chairs who
deposit the program files into the repository (delineated by college) and the office of the Senior
Associate Provost for Academic Affairs.
The Senior Associate Provost’s office will intermittently prepare and send packages of completed
program files to NYSED for review and approval. The Senior Associate Provost’s office will track
the status of documents sent to NYSED.
NYSED REPOSITORY
CAST Program Files
CIAS Program Files
COLA Program Files
COS Program Files
GCCIS Program Files
KGCOE Program Files
NTID Program Files
SCOB Program Files
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