V.5 CURRICULAR CHANGES

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.

1. 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.
     
   • The University Academic Planning Council has also established guidelines be followed in the development of proposal to establish new certificate programs. Guidelines are in effect regarding both undergraduate and graduate certificate programs. Furthermore, the L&S Academic Planning Council has established a policy for periodic review of certificate programs, to ensure that programs meet projected goals.
     
2. 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.)  
   
3. 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.
   
4. 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.)
   
1. 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).    

2. 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).    

Effective December 21, 2011, this document will be superseded by the new L&S Administrative Gateway. If users cannot find what they seek, or if links are broken, please visit:

https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/

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