Criteria for Evaluation of Proposals
Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
UCC
will consider new and revised course proposals with the following criteria in
mind, in decreasing order of importance. Department
representatives submitting proposals should be prepared to answer questions
concerning these issues, and present/discuss evidence of fulfilling these
requirements.
1.
Needs of Students and Society
(a)
The new course, program or revision should satisfy an identifiable need
within the mission of the University.
(b)
The new or revised course should not duplicate curriculum already
available in the department.
(c)
For new course proposals that may have overlap with courses in other
departments, evidence should be presented that those departments have been
contacted and that the overlap is minimal or that the perspective is
significantly different to merit a new course.
Departments may want to consider enrollment restrictions and the
feasibility of course cross listing. Course
revisions that may result in
significant overlap with courses in other departments should be accompanied by
similar evidence.
(d)
The clientele of the program or course should be carefully considered
and include sufficient enrollment to merit the use of necessary resources.
(e)
The role of the course or program should be carefully considered,
including requirement in major or minor programs within and external to the
department. If the course will
significantly impact other departments or programs, submitters are encouraged
to include evidence of communication with the other programs/departments.
2.
Quality
(a)
The new course/program or revision should be well conceived and well
organized. Revisions resulting in
substantial changes to course content or new course proposals should include a
sufficient outline of the course material and pattern to demonstrate these
requirements.
(b)
The level of rigor should meet current standards for a university
course or program, and the number of credits awarded should be reflective of
the amount of work required in the course.
(c)
The new or revised course should have appropriate prerequisites.
3.
Ability of the Department and College to meet resource needs
While UCC recognizes that a signature on the
LX form certifies the Dean's willingness to support a course or program, there
are course design issues that can significantly impact the quality of a course
offering and the experience for the students. Therefore,
submitters may be asked to discuss the following:
(a)
The department must have sufficient faculty/staff expertise for the new
course or program or to make the proposed changes in an existing course or
program.
(b)
The department must have sufficient faculty/staff resources for the new
course or program or to make the proposed changes in an existing course or
program. Departments submitting
multiple proposals for new courses should consider whether there are
infrequently offered courses that could be deleted.
(c)
The support infrastructure must be adequate (sufficient laboratory
facilities, sufficient library resources, availability of required
internships, etc.) to offer the course/program in the long term.
4.
Record Keeping
(a)
The course number should be consistent with the level of work required
in the course.
(b)
The course or program description should be clear and accurate, and
programs should not have hidden requirements.
(c)
The instruction pattern should be appropriate and accurately described.
Questions involving course and/or program revisions will generally be limited to those sections of the LX form that are marked for revision. However, presenters should give consideration to how the proposed changes may impact the other aspects of the course or program that have not been selected for revision, and be prepared to address questions from UCC members as necessary.
Very minor changes may be handled through the Consent Agenda, which is presented to UCC members for expedited approval. However, any UCC member may pull any item from the consent agenda and request a full first reading for the next meeting. Generally only minor changes will be considered as possibilities for a consent agenda item.
1. Reasonable items for consideration on the consent agenda:
·
Changes in semester offered
· Course deletions
·
Changes in prerequisites within
the proposing department
2. Possible items for consideration on the consent agenda: Proposers may request these items to appear on the consent agenda if they feel the changes are trivial.
·
Course number
·
Changes in course description
·
Changes in course title
·
Changes in number of credits