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Office of the Faculty Senate

Committee on Curricula & Courses

The Committee on Curricula & Courses meets monthly during the academic year. 

Curriculum and Course form submission and approval are handled electronically by the Academic Program Proposal System (APPS). Visit Academic Programs Office for more information.

Chair

Michael Dickson (dickson@sc.edu)


Calendar

C&C Meeting Date

Proposal Deadline for C&C Meeting

Faculty Senate Meeting

September 11, 2024 September 1, 2024 October 9, 2024
October 9, 2024 October 1, 2024 November 6, 2024
November 6, 2024 October 20, 2024 December 4, 2024

 

Note:  No course changes or program changes presented to C&C in Spring 2024 will appear before the Fall 2025 bulletin.  New courses and minors must be through the preliminary steps by April 1 to make our April 10th meeting to appear in the Fall 2024 bulletin.

If you have a new program requiring BoT/CHE approval (that is trying to make BoT/CHE deadlines in late 2024) where April 1 will be problematic, please contact us by March 1 to see what arrangements are possible.

Curriculum Changes

When reviewing course proposals, the Committee on Curricula and Courses employs a form comprising the questions listed here. New courses (including new cross-lists) and courses that involve a significant change in course description, a change in Carolina Core or GLD designation, or a change in delivery mode to >50% online require a syllabus. Other proposals do not.

Review of the following is required for all course proposals.

Is the course designator unique and properly formatted, e.g., AFAM 201?

Is the course title properly formatted, e.g., AFAM 201 – Introduction to African American Studies: Social and Historical Foundations?

Is the bulletin description properly formatted and free of extraneous information (e.g., restrictions, cross-lists, pre-reqs)?

If no:
Does the proposal indicate "Prerequisite: None"?

If yes:

Is the minimum letter grade of the pre-requisite included (e.g., "Pre-requisite: PSYC 101, minimum grade of C or higher required.")?

Will changes to the pre-/co-requisites affect a program of study (major or minor)?

Have corresponding program changes been submitted?

Do the pre-/co-requisite changes involve another department/program? If so, has a letter of concurrence been submitted?

If the course hours are variable:

Are maximum and minimum credit hours specified?

Is a grading scale and assignments for each credit hour provided? For example, if the course is offered for 1-3 credits, a grading scale and assignments must be provided for 1 credit, 2 credits, and 3 credits.

Is the number of times this course may be taken for credit greater than 1? (The statement is asking how many times it can be counted on the transcript as part of the program of study--not whether it can be repeated if failed. Only special topics courses or possibly internships should have a number greater than 1. Is this one of those?)

New courses (including  new cross-lists) and courses that involves a significant change in course description, a change in Carolina Core or GLD designation, or a change in delivery mode to >50% online require a file syllabus. The following checklist items apply.

Does the course title in the proposal match that in the syllabus?

Does the syllabus indicate the instructors' name as well as course meting days, times, and location (or equivalent)?

Does the bulletin description in the proposal match that in the syllabus?

Are the pre/co-requisites included in the syllabus and do they match those in/proposed for the bulletin?

These course are often variable credit and can be taken multiple times. The proposal should include the range of hours, number of times the course can be taken for credit and the maximum number of credit hours that can be applied to the degree. The Number of times the course can be taken for credit is not how many attempts a student can have to pass the course, but is how many times it can be taken, usually under different topics or studies. Example: Credit hours minimum for a single offering is 1. Credit hours maximum for a single offering is 6. Number of times the course can be taken is 6. Number of credit hours if course can be taken multiple times is 12. Is this all correct in the proposal?

Does the syllabus include "Learning Outcomes" and use that exact phrase (as opposed to "Learning Objectives" etc.)?

Do the Learning Outcome describe significant and essential learning that students will achieve and can reliably demonstrate at the end of a course, e.g., "By the end of the course, students will: ...."?

Do the statements follow best-practices, particularly with respect to action verbs that identify quantifiable or measurable actions? See https://www.sc.edu/about/offices_and_divisions/cte/teaching_resources/coursedevelopment/learning_outcomes/ and www.apu.edu/live_data/files/333/blooms_taxonomy_action_verbs.pdf

If this is a 500/600 level course is there at least one learning outcome specific to graduate students? This should connect to an assignment specific to graduate students.

If this is a Carolina Core Course:

Does the proposal specify one or more learning outcomes from the Carolina Core?

If this is proposed as an overlay course, does it include at least one learning outcome from CMS, INF, or VSR?

Is the offering colleges/department expert in the content pertaining to the learning outcome?

If course content potentially overlaps with content offered by another program, has a letter of concurrence been provided?

Does the syllabus include a suitable statement regarding academic integrity?

Does the syllabus include a suitable statement regarding attendance policy?

Does the syllabus include a suitable statement regarding students with disabilities?

Does this syllabus specify assignments, projects, quizzes, and/or exams with brief descriptions of expectations and points/weights assigned to each activity?

Does the syllabus clearly indicate the grading scale, weight of each assignment (points or percentage), and how grades will be assigned?

If standard grades are used, does the syllabus indicate how letters A-F will be assigned (by points or percentage)? (Note: the grades of B+, C+, D+, and F+ are permitted but A+ and "minus" grades are not.)

If pass/fail grades are an option does the syllabus indicate the minimum grade (points, percentage) required for a "pass"?

If this is 500/600 level course:

Does the syllabus indicate separate grading scheme for graduate students?

Does the syllabus include one or more requirements for graduate credit that are clearly differentiated from undergraduate assignments? Graduate work is normally evaluated on a more rigorous basis than that of undergraduate work.

Does the syllabus provide different grading criteria for graduate students (typically based on distinct assignment) equivalent to one letter grade if not done (e.g., student cannot earn an A if not completed)?

Does the syllabus include a citation for required reading/material?

Does the syllabus include information about how to access any third-party software or tools that may be required?

Does the syllabus include a statement of compliance with copyright polices, e.g., "All readings/materials comply with copyright/fair use policies"?

Does the syllabus include an appropriate module-by-module or unit-by-unit schedule for course topics and activities?

Does the syllabus include a statement such as "All learning outcomes in this Distributed Learning course are equivalent to face-to-face (F2F) version of this course." ?

Does the syllabus include an overview of how the course will be conducted--e.g., "This course is an asynchronous online course. Students will work at different times from different locations and will not be required to attend any face-to-face (F2F) or synchronous meetings at the same time. The Project Alert software must be utilized for the projects in this class. All students must download if from the publisher’s website at https://project.alert.software/download.html"?

Does the include a statement of expectations regarding communication/feedback turnaround time on discussion board postings, emails, assignments, etc.?

Does the syllabus include a statement regarding the specific platforms/technologies/software used in the course--e.g., "online lectures will be provided through Adobe Connect Professional. Therefore, students must have access to the Internet to view/hear lectures. No special software is required. Students will also submit all assignments and take all quizzes/tests through Blackboard"?

Does the syllabus indicate the minimum student technical requirements/skills required by the course?

Does the module outline demonstrate that students will be expected to expend approximately the same amount of total time and effort per credit hour as they would in a traditional face-to-face version of the course? (Note: for a traditional course the expectation is 700 minutes--14 hours--of classroom instruction with twice that amount--at least 28 hours--of supplementary academic work outside the classroom per each credit hour).

If so:

Have all cross-listed courses been uploaded in time to be considered within a single review cycle?

Are the course bulletin descriptions identical?

Are the learning objectives identical?

Are Carolina Core, GLD, etc. designations identical?

Are the grade modes identical?

Are the schedule types identical?

Are pre/co-reqs the same?

Is there a letter of concurrence from each department?

Is there a syllabus from each department?


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