1. What does it mean for a course to be a part of the permanent curriculum?

Permanent courses, which are listed in the Course Catalog, are taught on a regular basis — every year, every other year, every third year. A course becomes part of the permanent curriculum when it has been approved by the Curricular Policy Committee (CPC) and assigned a permanent course number. 

If you do not plan to teach a course on a regular basis, it would be preferable to offer it as a Special Topics course. Any course that has not been taught for seven years, ceases to be part of the regular curriculum and must be resubmitted to CPC before being offered again.

Every permanent course has a unique course number chosen by the department. When a permanent course is no longer taught by the department, that number cannot be reused until seven years have passed since the course number was last used. 

It is possible, and even desirable at times, for a course to be designated by a relatively general title and description to be taught in turn by several members of the department. Minor changes to the curriculum of these general courses need not be approved each time a new faculty member takes over the course. So, for instance, Introduction to Geography might be taught in very different ways by different members of the department, but it is still the same course for the purposes of curriculum management. There is no need to have a separate course for every faculty member.

2. How do I propose a course for permanent addition to the curriculum?

You may propose a permanent course by submitting the appropriate form in Etrieve. See Faculty Forms for a link. The form should be completed by the faculty member who will teach the course or a proxy, if necessary. The proposer must upload the course syllabus. Although the syllabus may be tentative, it should include all of the required components as listed in “Anatomy of a Syllabus.”

After the faculty instructor submits the proposal, the department chair/program director will be prompted to complete their approval form in Etrieve. CPC does not receive and will not consider a proposal until both forms and the syllabus are submitted.

3. What is the deadline for permanent course proposals?

To be listed in the Course Catalog, completed forms for permanent course adoption to the curriculum must be received by the chair of CPC by the deadline. See Course Proposal Deadlines. The faculty member proposing a course should allow sufficient time for the department chair/program director to complete their approval form prior to the deadline. In all cases, we urge all faculty to submit their proposals as early as possible and well in advance of the deadlines. 

4. What if a department wants to have a permanent course whose topic will change from year to year?

It is possible to create as a permanent course a generic course — say a senior seminar or a first-year seminar — whose topic might vary from year to year but whose pedagogical aims would remain consistent and should be indicated in the course description. The department would not need to seek new approval for each iteration of the course. CPC would approve the pedagogical aims of the course rather than the specific content. The title and description (e.g. Senior Seminar) listed in the catalog should be general enough to cover what is likely to be taught.  However, the course title and description listed on the course schedule may be adjusted each semester to reflect the current content by contacting the Registrar’s Office.

5. Are there any courses a student can take more than once? How many times can a student repeat a course for credit?

In some cases, courses are designed to be repeatable. These courses should be designated by an unchanging number and a general title, with the course description clearly indicating that the course is repeatable for credit. Faculty wishing to designate a course as repeatable may make the request as part of a course proposal or as a change to an existing course. Faculty should offer a clear rationale and indicate on the form how many times a student may repeat the course. The catalog description should also state how often the course may be repeated.

6. If I have not taught a course for a number of years, can I revive it?

If a course has not been taught for seven (7) years, it is no longer a part of the permanent curriculum and must be resubmitted to CPC as a permanent course.

7. What policies or resources does CPC recommend faculty consult when working on a proposal?

CPC recommends that faculty review the policies in the Course Catalog.  Faculty should give special attention to the “Conduct of Courses” and “Credit Hour Policy” sections of the catalog.  The committee also offers guidance through the documents “Anatomy of a Syllabus” and  “Anatomy of a Course Description.”