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Curriculum Policies

Adding New Courses (5/12/87) and (10/9/97) (revised 2/5/08) (Syllabus is required)
A department proposes a new course when it wishes to revise the curriculum and to reflect new areas of study within the discipline.  Criteria for evaluating a new course are:
 

  1. Does the course fit well with the existing curriculum?
  2. Does the course represent a net increase in departmental credits?  Does the department explain course deletions, combinations, credit reductions and/or increased teaching resources that accompany the proposal?
  3. Does the course have internal coherence and clear focus?
  4. Does the course duplicate courses in other departments? If so, have conflicts been resolved?
  5. Is the course proposed by a tenured or tenure-track faculty member?  If not, does the department chair or director make the proposal and stipulate that the course will be taught with existing resources at least once every three years?
  6. Has the course been taught experimentally? An X95 course taught three times must be reviewed and approved by ASCRC or Graduate Council and the Faculty Senate prior to inclusion in the catalog.
  7. Has the course been assigned a number that is not already in use or has not been used for the past 10 years?  If the course is cross-listed, does the course have a consistent number across departments?
  8. If the course is UG, has it been assigned a 400 number?

Although course content should be appropriate to its proposed level, it is not the role of ASCRC or Graduate Council to judge the instructor's choice of texts, assignments, or grading methods.

Course Cross-Listing Policy (Revised by ASCRC 11/26/85; revised by ASCRC 2/9/93)

Drop Policy (Autumn, 1999)
Dropping a course taken in a previous term is not allowed. The only exceptions are for students who have received a grade of NF (never attended) or have ceased attendance before the sixteenth day of instruction and can provide to the Registrar's Office instructor verification of non-attendance.

Course Number Reuse (Approved by ASCRC 9/24/96)
Changed courses may retain the same course number if, in the judgment of the unit, the subject matter remains substantially the same. If the same course number is retained, it is assumed that the old and new courses are equivalent. If, in the judgment of the unit, the subject matter is substantially different and/or old and new courses cannot be considered equivalent, a new number must be assigned.
Course numbers once used cannot be used again for different subject matter for a period of at least ten (10) years.


Dormant Courses (Approved by ASCRC 12/1/75)
Courses in the catalog that have not been taught for three years will be deleted.
A course not offered for three years will be deleted from the catalog unless the unit provides a written statement that the course will be offered the fourth year (revised ASCRC 2/19/80).
If a unit wants to retain a course that will not be offered the fourth year, it must send a memo justifying why the course must stay. ASCRC will appoint a committee to review requests on a case-by-case basis (revised ASCRC 2/23/99).


Reserved Course Numbers: (Approved by the Provost in 1988; Issued by Semester Transition Committee, January 1989)


Special Topics Courses: (revised 2/23/99, 9/9/08) At the third offering of an X95 course, the Registrar will notify the department that curriculum forms should be submitted to establish a permanent course number.  In the case of compelling special circumstances, ASCRC will consider exceptions and allow a fourth offering. 

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