UNDERGRADUATE COMMENT DICTIONARY

  1. During planning and priority-setting stages of long range planning, the several curriculum committees should be kept informed of proposed new programs and priorities.

 

  1. Appropriate ACIS-1 procedures are to be coordinated with the Associate Vice Chancellor.

 

  1. A submajor is a program of study that consists of fewer credits than a major but that is officially recorded on the transcript, including minors, emphases, tracks, certificates, and modules. Submajors require only campus approval, but must be reported as an information item to UW System.

 

  1. A college degree requirement is defined as a requirement common to all students pursuing a common degree within a college. All college degree proposals that are complete and have been approved by a college are to be forwarded to the deans of the other colleges for special attention concerning cross-college and university-wide impacts.

 

  1. If a proposal to change a degree or major involves a "substantive redirection" as determined by the Associate Vice Chancellor, it requires System action subsequent to campus approval. A change in the name of a submajor must be reported to System as an information item.

 

  1. The first page of the curriculum proposal for a new course must be sent by the sponsoring department to the deans of the non-sponsoring colleges for information. The sponsoring departments should send the complete curriculum proposal to those academic units that might be concerned. If the course will be required in a major or submajor, or included as an option within a category of required courses, a Change of Major/Submajor ( form 2 ) must be submitted in order to implement inclusion of the course; if the course will simply be a general elective in the program, no further action is necessary.

 

  1. Program Changes, Course Changes, and some "other" actions (Forms 2, 4, and 6 respectively) require a curriculum impact review; i.e., before submitting proposals to the CCC, send first page of proposal to the Registrar's Office for this review. Any other program affected by a proposal must be consulted before the proposal is submitted to the CCC (see "Undergraduate Consultation Procedure").

 

  1. In dual listed courses there should be a clear distinction between undergraduate and graduate course prerequisites and restrictions, as well as in the level and the amount of work required (see "Graduate Level Requirements in Dual-Listed Courses" in "Other" section of Handbook). To add a graduate component (dual listing) to an existing undergraduate course, a New Course Proposal (Form #3) must be submitted for the graduate course only, following the procedures for graduate courses.

 

  1. All proposals relating to non-departmentally based university-wide courses (INTRAUNV prefixes except General Education Core courses and those offered through specific departments) are to be sent directly to the UCC. Before consideration by the UCC, the Associate Vice Chancellor sends copies of proposals to the deans of all four colleges; the deans have five class days to request consultation (see "Undergraduate Consultation Procedure"). Consultation must be completed prior to consideration by the UCC. If concerns are not resolved, a written statement of concerns will be presented to the UCC for consideration together with the proposal. All proposals relating to non-departmentally based college-wide courses are to be sent by the proposer(s) directly to the appropriate CCC, then to the dean and the UCC for approval.

 

  1. Courses, other than those numbered in the 490's, that have not been taught for the four calendar years immediately preceding the issuance of a new catalog will be dropped from the list of approved courses. Exceptions to this policy must be approved by the UCC by using Form 9, Continuation of an Inactive Course. Specific information is sent out during each Currency of Bulletin exercise prior to the publication of each new catalog.

 

  1. All course deletions must be preceded by a thorough impact study by the Registrar's Office and require consultation with any other programs affected.

 

  1. All courses proposed for inclusion in General Education must be forwarded to the General Education Review Committee after approval by the CCC and before being sent to the UCC. Each course proposal must identify specifically only one appropriate General Education category. All inclusions and exclusions of courses from General Education must specify the academic term, which will determine whether the course is or is not credited as a General Education course on a student's record. The proposal should include a detailed statement of how the course relates to specific core courses and how it meets the stated goals of the General Education Program in providing breadth. Courses should be broadly based rather than technical or narrowly focused.

 

  1. Colleges must channel proposals through the Diversity Committee after approval by the CCC and before submission to the UCC. The Diversity Committee forwards its written recommendation to the UCC, which considers the recommendation but acts independently. All inclusions and exclusions of courses from the list of Diversity options must specify the first academic term that the proposed change will take effect, which will determine whether the course is or is not credited as a Diversity course on a student's record.

 

  1. A Change of Credit implies a substantive revision of a course (Form 4) and should be proposed as such.

 

  1. Course Number Change guidelines include:
    1. If two or more courses are combined into one, a different number must be used for the new course.
    2. If one course is subdivided into two or more courses, a new number must be assigned to each.
    3. If a course is deleted or renumbered, the former course number cannot be used for at least ten years.

 

  1. Course Description Changes are excused from the curricular process if the change does not reflect a substantive change in the course. Requests for description changes are submitted on Form 5 by the departments, through their college dean, and sent to the Associate Vice Chancellor for approval. If the proposed change appears to involve substantive changes in the course, the Associate Vice Chancellor rejects the change and asks the sponsoring department to proceed with a course revision action (Form 4). Course descriptions are limited to 400 characters including spaces (approximately fifty words).

 

  1. Any revision of General Education (Form 6) must follow these guidelines:
    1. Proposals to change General Education requirements should be initiated through the General Education Review Committee.
    2. Proposed changes must be presented to each CCC for recommendations (not approval or disapproval).
    3. A revision of General Education requires an affirmative vote from a minimum of two members of the UCC from each of the four colleges. Inclusion/exclusion of individual breadth courses in General Education does not constitute a revision of the program and requires only a majority vote.

 

  1. To effectively involve the University Licensure Officer with those university curricular actions dealing with DPI and other state licensure provisions, the University Licensure Officer:
    1. Serves as a non-voting resource person of the UCC and as such receives copies of all agendas, all proposals being submitted for action, and all records of the UCC actions.
    2. Addresses all licensure-related actions originating within the University and coming before the UCC. It is understood that originating bodies will seek consultation with the Licensure Officer consistent with general consultation practices.

a.       In matters of minor significance, the Licensure Officer notes approval directly to the UCC and the action of the UCC is forwarded to the Faculty Senate.

b.      In matters regarded to be of major importance to the Licensure Officer and requiring further study, the Licensure Officer can request the UCC to refer action to a third body for purposes of recommendation. The matter is subsequently returned to the UCC for formal action.

    1. Presents curricular matters originating outside the University, such as DPI or legislative mandates, to the UCC with a recommendation for approval, further development, or referral. Subsequently, all matters are returned to the UCC for formal action.

 

  1. Administrative Actions (Form 8) are those that concern primarily the fiscal, personnel, and/or record-keeping aspects of program delivery, although they may impact curriculum secondarily. Examples include, but are not limited to, deletion, restructuring, or renaming of departments; change of course prefix; and establishment or change of college/program admission or graduation requirements. GPA and other such requirements that are intended primarily to control enrollment in a program are considered administrative matters; GPA and other similar requirements that are intended primarily to assure a certain level of student competence or achievement are considered curricular and are processed through the normal curricular procedure. Administrative actions should be disseminated to appropriate bodies for information.

 

  1. Curricular approval/disapproval decisions by College Curriculum Committees or College Deans may be appealed to the UCC. These appeals may be made by resubmitting the proposal along with a cover letter explaining the rationale for the appeal to the UCC and, if unsuccessful with the UCC, to the Faculty Senate.