Course Proposals

• Types of Proposals
• Course Components & Classifications for more information on the mode of instruction, the number of students to be enrolled, and the Weighted Teaching Units (WTU) to be assigned to the instructor responsible for the course.
• Course Numbers 
• Field Trips 
• General Education Course Proposals
• Internships for Academic Credit (IACs)
• Service Learning Courses
• SJS4 New Learning Site
• Syllabus Information

All proposals for courses are submitted via Curriculog - A Brief Overview (includes general system instructions and some  video tutorials).

Frequently Asked Questions

• What is the approval process for courses?

  • All curricular processes are defined in the Curricular Review Process [pdf] was reviewed and approved by Curriculum and Research Committee.

• Why does the course proposal form ask for two different course titles?

  • The long course title is used in the academic catalog (recommended limit to 50 characters). The short course title is used for student's transcript and in the Class Schedules (maximum limit to 20 characters).

• What is the difference between the catalog description and the course description in the syllabus?

  • The proposal form asks proposers to identify the catalog description for the course—a brief description that should be more than two to three sentences (sentences should not start with "this course"). The description of the course in the syllabus is more appropriate for a longer and more detailed description.

• What if a course is not offered? Will it be inactivated?

  • Courses not offered in at least five calendar years will be inactivated. University Policy S00-6 [pdf] actually requires they be inactived in two calendar years. Departments are consulted prior to inactivation.

• If I make change, can I run an impact report to see if changes to my course affect other departments?

  • The Impact Report provides a report for a particular course, such as prerequisites, corequisites, cross-listings, and programs listing information. Impact reports are only available for courses. Impact Reports can be run in Curriculog using the New Course Proposal or Modify an Existing Course Proposal. You can also run individual impact reports per course in the Curriculog Reports section (instructions linked). 

• How do I develop course learning outcomes?

  • Strong and assessable Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) are connected to course assignments/requirements. CLOs should describe each outcome in terms of specific and measurable actions that students will be able to demonstrate through course activities/experience. Referencing Bloom’s Taxonomy of Action Verbs is highly recommended (also see The Bloom’s Taxonomy Revision Video - 8:46). These CLOs should then be clearly associated with the assignments/coursework through which they will be demonstrated. Reference the Center for Faculty Development's Authentic Assessment or the Seneca [pdf] resources.
    

    Examples of Weighting Grades

    Example #1

    Assignment/Activity	CLOs Assessed	Weight
    Reading presentations	CLO 1, 4	25%
    Quizzes	CLO 1, 3	15%
    Midterm	CLO 1, 3	15%
    Research proposal presentation	CLO 1, 3, 4	15%
    Final research proposal	CLO 1, 2, 3	30%

    Example #2

    Assignment/Activity	PLOs Assessed	CLOs Assessed	Weight
    Participation	5	CLO 1, 2	10%
    First Paper	1, 5	CLO 1, 3	15%
    Second Paper	2, 5	CLO 1, 3	15%
    Final Paper	1, 2, 4, 5	CLO 1, 3, 4	25%
    Weekly Questions	5	CLO 2, 3	25%
    Presentation	5	CLO 2, 3	10%

    If you require assistance, please schedule a meeting with your college's Assessment Facilitators.

• How do I develop a course syllabus? Is there a template?

  • Yes, all syllabi must be accessible and meet all guidelines in University Policy S16-9 [pdf]. You can find the accessible syllabus template at the Center for Faculty Development. You may attach a syllabus in PDF or Microsoft Word files or include a link to a syllabus website or GoogleDoc. 

    To maintain the accessibility features of this template it is imperative that faculty use the “heading style feature” in Word when developing content and the “merge formatting” option copying and pasting content from other documents (see Accessible Document Checklist - Is My Document Accessible? [pdf]).

    Common Issues with Grading Information. The grading information needs to be formatted appropriately so that it can be read by a screen
    reader for visually impaired students. For instance, a table should be formatted to read from right to left (across columns), words for “+” and “-“ should be used rather than symbols, and “to” should be used rather than a hyphen. Below are a few samples of accessible grading scale in table and non-table format.  You can use either one or create your own grading scale as long as it is accessible with logical reading order. 

    Sample Non-Table Grade Format:

    A plus = 1000 to 970 points
    A = 969 to 940 points
    A minus = 939 to 900 points

    B plus = 899 to 870 points
    B = 869 to 840 points
    B minus = 839 to 800 points

    C plus = 799 to 770 points
    C = 769 to 740 points
    C minus = 739 to 700 points

    D plus = 699 to 670 points
    D = 669 to 512 points
    D minus = 639 to 600 points

    F = 599 points or lower

    Sample Grading Table

    Grade	Points	Percentage
    A plus	960 to 1000	96 to 100%
    A	930 to 959	93 to 95%
    A minus	900 to 929	90 to 92%
    B plus	860 to 899	86 to 89%
    B	830 to 859	83 to 85%
    B minus	800 to 829	80 to 82%
    C plus	760 to 799	76 to 79%
    C	730 to 759	73 to 75%
    C minus	700 to 729	70 to 72%
    D plus	660 to 699	66 to 69%
    D	630 to 659	63 to 65%
    D minus	600 to 629	60 to 62%

• Can I include "participation" in the course grade?

  • If “participation” factors into the students’ grade, then a clear and explicit description as to how participation will be assessed and valued should be provided so that students can understand what is expected and exactly how it will contribute to their overall course grade.

• How do I justify faculty and student workload in courses exceeding 3 units?

  • Provide as much clarity as possible about the faculty and student efforts associated with the course units so that it is clear that the unit load is accurate for both the faculty and students.

    Example #1 

    1. Course Component: 3 units (9 hrs./wk.)
       1. Student Work: Readings, Reading Responses, Group
          Presentations, Final Project (including Proposal; Peer
          Review; Performance, Paper, or Presentation; and Critical
          Reflection.)
       2. Instructor Engagement: Class contact hours; prepare in-class activities; evaluate student work and provide specific and actionable feedback; and, meetings with students about Group Presentations and Final Projects.
    2. Activity: 1 unit (3 hrs./wk.)
       1. Student Work: Performance Reviews (five), Writing workshop
       2. Instructor Engagement: Plan and lead small group
          writing workshops; evaluate student work and provide specific and
          actionable feedback.
          
          

    Example #2

    1. Regular: 3 units (9 h/wk)
       1. Student Work
          1. Readings: This course involves reading the Nobel Prize lectures of the winners for the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. Students are expected to be familiar with and discuss the content in class. In addition, students will find supplemental readings from the textbooks listed in the course schedule.
          2. Weekly Questions: Students are expected to submit three questions on each week’s reading and attempts to answer each question. Students will be graded on a three-point scale on the thought they put in to both the question and answer.
          3. Presentations: Each student will sign up to present on a Nobel Prize Winner in class throughout the semester. Each student will be expected to give a 5 to 10-minute presentation on the winner, including a summary of the reading, the major ideas that they won the prize for, and anything else of particular interest.
          4. Seminar Discussion: Each class will include a traditional seminar discussion format, facilitated by the instructor. Students will be expected to speak in a round table format about the readings and their weekly questions.
          5. Final Paper: As the cumulative exercise in this class, each student will write a final paper which discusses and connects ideas from at least two of the different sections.
       2. Instructor Engagement
          1. Prepare and deliver weekly material for in-class sessions; prepare prompts for discussions;
          2. Prepare applied activities such as in-class exercises;
          3. Grade all student work (papers, questions, and presentations);
          4. Provide student support for creation of presentations;
          5. Provide specific, measurable and actionable feedback to students such that they can continually improve;
          6. Facilitate seminars with an introduction for each week’s winners and
             discussion prompts on the papers and ideas covered; and,
          7. Evaluate final project and presentations based on defined criteria / rubric.
    2. Activity: 1 unit (3 h/wk)
       1. Student Work
          1. Thought Papers: As part of this course, each student will write two short papers on economic thought. The first paper will reflect on and discuss the ideas covered in Section 1, “Microeconomics”. The second paper will reflect the ideas covered in Section 2, “Macroeconomics”.
       2. Instructor Engagement
          1. Provide guidance to students with designing qualitative thought papers; 
          2. Assist students in designing
             the final paper; and
          3. Hold writing workshops.