Divisional Executive Committees, the L&S Curriculum Committee, the
L&S Academic Planning Council, and the Dean may all be involved in
the review of proposed curricular changes. The following guidelines may
help departments determine where to send such proposals.
New majors or certificates: A proposed new major or certificate
program must be approved by the Dean and the L&S Academic Planning
Council prior to review by the Graduate School (if appropriate) and
the campus Academic Planning Council. Proposals for new majors or degree
programs will also require approval by the UW System Administration
and the Board of Regents. Review at all levels will focus on cost implications
as well as academic issues. Submit proposals to the Dean.
The University Academic
Planning Council has outlined procedures
for approval of new academic majors or degree programs.
Members of the faculty who are interested in developing new academic
programs are encouraged to contact their Associate Dean and to consult
the Assistant Dean and Director of Academic Planning, Program Review
and Assessment (Elaine M. Klein, kleine@ls.admin.wisc.edu).
The process for approving new programs is a lengthy process that
involves several layers of approval for permission to plan and for
permission to field the new program. This process that can take
several years. Early consultation is essential to ensuring that
all parties involved have appropriate expectations about the approval
process and understand the proposal requirements.
Changes to Degree Program Requirements: Substantive changes in undergraduate
major requirements, including requirements for admission to the major,
must be submitted to the Curriculum Committee for review and approval
before being implemented. (Please refer to Section
1.3 for a summary of the Curriculum Committee's Duties
and Procedures in this area.)
Changes to Names of Existing Programs. As research
progresses and fields evolve, it is not unusual to find that the name
of a program no longer aligns with the program as it may currently exist.
There are simple procedures in place for obtaining approval for changes
in program names. These procedures are necessary to ensure that appropriate
oversight via faculty governance is pursued, and that all administrative
areas affected by the changes are duly informed (e.g., transcript, catalog,
degree audit). The proposal
content guidelines are set by the University Academic Planning
Council. Program faculty submit these proposals to the Dean. They are
then shared with L&S Departments and presented, with department
comments, to the L&S Academic Planning Council for college-level
approval.
Courses: Consistent with Faculty Policies and Procedures, the faculty hold primary responsibility for courses offered at UW-Madison, as groups of departmental faculty (FP&P 5.11) and as individuals (FP&P 8.02.A). Both individual and collective senses of faculty responsibility apply to courses: individuals create and teach courses, and do so as members of a larger group. Departments, not individuals, "own" the courses that appear in their department or program subject listings. Departmental faculties determine which courses must be taught to meet students' needs for completion of programs and degrees, and decisions about the course array are made by the faculty collectively (at the department, college, and university level) in consideration of student needs. (The course proposal process, paperwork required, etc are discussed in Chapter 1.3. The discussion below merely describes the role adding, changing, and deleting courses plays in curricular change.)
Creation of New Courses: All new courses must be approved by the
L&S Curriculum Committee and the Dean prior to submission to the
appropriate divisional executive committee. Dean's approval is ordinarily
routine, but is occasionally withheld because of budgetary or programmatic
concerns not considered by a divisional committee. The L&S Curriculum
Committee is responsible for deciding upon the appropriateness of any
breadth designation requested for all courses, including
new courses.
Requests for approval as a Communication A or B course will be submitted
to the Communication Liaison of the General Education Committee; requests
for QR A or B course approval will be submitted to the QR liaison;
requests for ethnic studies designation are reviewed by the Ethnic
Studies Subcommittee of the University General Education Committee.
(More information on General Education Courses is available on the
General Education Requirements website, www.ls.wisc.edu/gened.)
Non-L&S departments seeking approval for "Liberal Arts and
Science" (LAS) credit must submit the course proposal and an
explanatory memo describing how the course meets the "Criteria
for Liberal Arts and Science Courses" to the L&S Curriculum
Committee for review. The committee assumes that courses taught in
L&S departments serve a role in the liberal arts and sciences,
so LAS credit is assumed; however, there may be some courses for which
the department may deem that designation inappropriate; please feel
free to contact the committee chair or Elaine Klein (kleine@ls.admin.wisc.edu)
with questions.
Proposals should be sent to the L&S Curriculum
Committee in care of Elaine Klein (307E South Hall).
Changes to existing courses: Changes in existing course
titles, level, prerequisites, and numbers of credits follow a process
similar to that described above. They must be reviewed by the
L&S Curriculum Committee, which considers proposals for College-level
implications of the requested changes, prior to approval by the Dean
and subsequent submission to the appropriate divisional executive committees. Departments are reminded that any course that is intermediate or advanced
level should ordinarily have a prerequisite.
Proposals should be sent to the L&S
Curriculum Committee in care of Elaine Klein (307E South Hall).
Please note:
(1)
Curriculum Committee approval of proposals to add or change
courses connotes approval of the academic proposal only. Approval
of College resources, staffing levels, or class scheduling preferences should not be
inferred from approval of the course.
(2)
Changes in requirements and prerequisites affecting other departments
and schools or colleges should be made only after consulting
with the affected department. Successful proposals
will include letters of support from affected departments.
Budgetary Impact: Departments wishing to make changes
that will have a budgetary impact on another department (e.g.,
requiring large numbers of students to take a course that will require
additional staffing in another department) should recognize that an
adjustment in their own budgets may be necessary to help provide the
resources to enable the other department to accommodate this change.
Please keep the Dean's Office informed of any such plans and negotiations.
Honors: Special permission is not required for an existing
course to be designated as an Honors course, but the Honors designation
is suitable only for courses that meet the needs of the most able and
motivated students. These needs are typically met in courses that have
restricted enrollments, that involve students in writing and discussion,
or that offer a more accelerated or deeper treatment of the subject
than the standard curriculum. Departments that wish to offer new Honors
courses should ask the Director of the Honors Program about prevailing
College standards in Honors courses.
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