UNC Charlotte Academic Procedure: Course, Curriculum, and Catalog Review

I. Executive Summary

Official listings of degree programs and courses are displayed in Banner, DegreeWorks, and the Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs. This procedure defines how to make revisions to degree program admission requirements, curricula, and existing courses, as well as how to develop new programs and courses.

II. Procedure Statement

Approval of Items through Course and Curriculum Approval Process

According to the Constitution of the Faculty, the faculty has primary responsibility for degree requirements, admission standards, curricula and new program development. For academic departments and colleges, degree requirements, programs and courses require faculty approval at various levels. This is necessary to allow faculty review of changes within their purview, to ensure that changes do not impact curricula, resources, or students in unanticipated ways, and to provide necessary notification to appropriate offices and units following modifications (i.e. Office of the Registrar, Office of Admissions, advisors, etc.). Items that must be approved by the faculty through the faculty governance process via Curriculog include but are not limited to:

  1. Establishing a new degree program/major
    1. Establishing a new dual or joint degree
  2. Establishing a new minor
  3. Establishing a new concentration
  4. Establishing a new certificate program
  5. Establishing a new course
  6. Changes to existing courses (such as):
    1. Course title
    2. Course description/content
    3. Course prerequisites
    4. Course number
    5. Credit hours
    6. Grade type (i.e., repeatable for credit, pass/no pass)
  7. Discontinuation of an existing course
  8. Discontinuation of an existing degree program/major, minor, concentration, or certificate
  9. Changes to existing degree program (such as):
    1. Program requirements, including pre-requisites, and changes to total number of hours required for the degree
    2. Graduation requirements
    3. Entrance/admission requirements (college and departmental)
    4. Progression requirements (college and departmental)

Items not needing to go through the Course and Curriculum Approval Process

In the Catalog, only the following can be handled outside of the above process:

  1. Descriptions of the program, department, college, or other unit
  2. Typos
  3. Faculty and administrator listings

Responsibility and Authority of Faculty Curriculum Committees

The responsibilities and authority of the faculty curriculum committees (department-level, college-level, and University-level, including Undergraduate Course and Curriculum Committee and Graduate Council) include but are not limited to:

  1. Approval of new or altered academic programs and courses
  2. Sensitivity to proliferation and duplication of courses and programs
  3. Assurance of adherence of curricular changes to University policies
  4. Establishing and enforcing academic policy related to the quality and delivery of instruction
  5. Assurance of pedagogical rigor
  6. Consideration of University-wide impact of any changes and appropriate consultation with departments, units, advisors, and/or faculty
  7. Consideration of discipline-specific accreditation implications

Responsibility and Authority of the Office of Academic Affairs

The Office of Academic Affairs is responsible for analyzing, facilitating, monitoring, and approving proposed changes and the implementation of those changes as approved by governing bodies. In addition, while the faculty curriculum committees are responsible for curriculum development and maintenance, many changes to curriculum have resource implications. The Office of Academic Affairs has oversight over the distribution of resources as well as a role in monitoring curriculum changes that impact overall enrollment and student outcomes at the institution as well as our relationships with partners (including transfer institutions). The responsibilities and authority of the Office of Academic Affairs related to curriculum include but are not limited to:

  1. Monitoring and approving curriculum changes in consultation with faculty curriculum committees with respect to implications for resource management, student learning outcomes, inter-college impact, time-to-degree, and impact on transfer articulation
  2. Serving as a consultant to academic units on the curriculum process and University and state academic policies and regulations
  3. Processing of all course and curriculum approvals including campus-wide notification of changes
  4. Reviewing and working with departments to amend unintended errors or omissions within proposals
  5. Production of the annual catalogs
  6. Maintenance of course and program inventories
  7. Maintenance of Catalog website
  8. Maintenance of Faculty Council Course and Curriculum website
  9. Maintenance of Academics website
  10. Maintenance of Acalog, the University’s catalog management software
  11. Maintenance of Curriculog, the University’s curriculum management software
  12. Maintenance of Academic Plans of Study
  13. Maintenance of course descriptions in Banner
  14. Preservation of curriculum archives in consultation with Atkins Library
  15. Coordination of new degree requests, discontinuations or other changes requiring notification or approval by the Provost, Chancellor, University of North Carolina System Office, U.S. Department of Education, and/or the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
  16. Coordination of U.S. Department of Education reporting including but not limited to:
    1. All Substantive Changes approved by SACSCOC
    2. All closures (site and program) approved by SACSCOC
    3. CIP code changes (graduate certificates only)
    4. Program name changes (graduate certificates only)
  17. All new degree programs, including new bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, and all graduate certificates except those that lead to licensure
  18. Analyzing data and researching trends on the nature and processing of proposals

III. Definitions

  • Faculty – All persons who hold Professorial Rank (Professor, Associate Professor, and Assistant Professor) or a Special Faculty Appointment (Visiting Professor, Adjunct Professor, Instructor, Assistant Professor (Library), Assistant Professor (Military), Lecturer, Assistant Research Professor, or Artist-in-Residence).

IV. Procedure Contact(s)

V. History

  • Endorsed: March 30, 2015 [Undergraduate Course and Curriculum Committee and Graduate Council]
  • Revised: July 15, 2019 [added Department of Education under Office of Academic Affairs responsibility]

VI. Related Policies, Procedures, and Resources

VII. Frequently Asked Questions

  • Where is this procedure referenced?
    The procedure is published on the Academic Policies & Procedures webpage of the Provost website.
  • I have a lot of questions about revising a course or degree program. Where can I find out the most information about using Curriculog, How-To and Best Practices, and signing up for Training?
    The Faculty Governance website has an FAQ page that answers a lot of questions about Courses and Curriculum, including using Curriculog, signing up for training sessions, and when to submit proposals.
  • When should proposals be submitted in Curriculog in order to get them into the next catalog and in Banner for registration?
    See the current deadlines posted here.
  • At what point are my requested changes approved?
    New courses and program/course revisions will not be made to the Catalogs, Banner, or DegreeWorks until they have been approved in Curriculog by the Undergraduate Course and Curriculum Committee (UCCC) or Graduate Council. (i.e., getting approval from the requestor’s department or college does not mean they have been officially approved for implementation; that is one step of the approval process.)
  • If course and curriculum changes are approved throughout the year, when do they appear in the catalogs?
    Course and curriculum changes approved by the Undergraduate Course and Curriculum Committee (UCCC) or Graduate Council will not be added to an existing or current catalog, but will rather appear in the next available catalog to be published.

Examples:

  • A course reaching final approval in October 2020 will have a Fall 2021 implementation date, will appear in the 2021-2022 Catalog, and will first be available for student registration in Banner for the Fall 2021 semester.
  • A course reaching final approval in February 2021 will likely have a Fall 2021 implementation date, will appear in the 2021-2022 Catalog, and will first be available for student registration in Banner for the Fall 2021 semester because it met the posted deadlines.
  • For rare exceptions where a new course is approved in October 2020 for a Spring 2021 implementation date, the course will still not appear until the 2021-2022 Catalog. While the course may be offered in Banner for students to register for Spring 2021, the new course will not appear in the next published catalog, which would be 2021-2022.
  • When should course and curriculum changes be submitted in order to be included in the next available catalog?
    Short answer, as soon as possible. It can take 3-4 months for a typical proposal to make its way through Curriculog. (New programs take even longer, as they require UNC System approval.) As a general rule, all proposals should be launched and approved by the originator no later than the end of the Fall semester to be included in the next available catalog (which starts with the following Fall semester).
  • How are non-curricular sections of the Catalogs reviewed and updated?
    This type of content typically does not require approval through the Course and Curriculum Approval Process. It includes such text as introductions for colleges or schools/departments or student resources such as parking, financial aid, health services, admission information, athletics, and student activities. This content is typically sent via email from the Catalog Editor to the respective units for review and updates in the Spring semester.