Curriculum ManagementAcademic units engage in continual review and evaluation of curriculum as they assess its effectiveness in meeting traditionally accepted standards, the degree to which it is informed by current developments within the discipline, and its potential for addressing new areas of study. When planning curriculum changes, academic units need to be aware of the required internal and external reporting procedures.
This process commonly addresses individual courses, as they may be initiated, revised, or deleted, and it may also address degree programs, as majors, minors, and/or concentrations are initiated, revised, and or terminated. Any of these actions must take into account not only curricular logic and coherence, but also potential student demand, ways that the curriculum relates to programs in other units across the university, and anticipated effect that the action would have on resources within the university.
An action that affects an individual course is a Course Action. Depending on the nature of the action that is proposed, it may require approval by department chair, any other units directly affected by the action, registrar, curriculum committee of the school or college, dean, graduate school curriculum committee, dean of the graduate school, and Office of the Provost before returning to the registrar for entry into the Banner system and inclusion in the catalog.
Actions that affect undergraduate degree programs are processed in a variety of ways, depending on the nature of the action. Small revisions to the requirements of existing majors or minors (e.g., single course additions or deletions) are approved by the dean and entered by the dean's office into the Banner system for the purpose of degree audits. Any other revision (e.g., a change to a basic degree requirement or a name change) is processed on one of several forms.
Each of these forms specifies two layers of review by the Office of the Provost. The first review is intended to allow the Office of the Provost to identify any particular areas of interest or concern so that these may be addressed prior to the second Provost review. The first review also provides a check for any substantive changes that may require notification or approval by SACS.
Proposals for new graduate majors or degrees are processed on the New Graduate Degree Program Proposal routing form. The double review process specified on this form serves the same purpose as that described above with respect to undergraduate degree program routing forms. All other proposals for actions affecting graduate degrees, including termination of specific majors or degree programs, or revision of the requirements for existing programs, are made by submitting a letter describing the proposed action to the Dean of the Graduate School; the proposed action will then be considered by the graduate school curriculum committee.