Curriculum Committee Forms and Deadlines

Deadlines
DR Substitution Form
New and Revised Programs
Department Name Change
Microcredentials Proposals
Information about Submitting Course Proposals
SWS Courses
EXL 100 Courses
Special Topics Courses
Short Courses
New and Revised Permanent Courses (NOT part of a program proposal)
Sunsetting Courses
Information about Curriculum Committee Actions
Information about Evaluation and Feedback on Proposals

Curriculum Committee Deadlines for 2024-2025

Adherence to the deadlines as posted will, in most cases, allow approved proposals to go into effect on their intended timeline.
1. Proposals can be submitted early, and may be considered early as time permits.
2. Late proposals may be considered as time permits, although no assurances will be made as to their implementation timeline, if approved.
The deadlines listed below are identified with consideration of time for proposal revision/resubmission as needed, plus two readings/vote as needed.
Questions pertaining to submission requirements and/or designations (e.g. is this a “revision” or is it “new”?) can be directed to the Curriculum Committee at any time.

Monday, September 9, 2024

Spring 2025 EXL 100’s
Spring 2025 Special Topics (1st & 2nd offerings only)
Revised Courses (procedural changes only; e.g. removing/changing prerequisites or restrictions)

Monday, October 7, 2024

New Courses (to be offered no earlier than Fall 2025)
Revised Courses (LO and/or title/description changes)
Revised Programs
○ Revisions can range from revised PLO’s only, through more substantive changes like the inclusion of revised or new courses
○ Note that significant amounts of revision may, at the CC’s discretion, result in the recategorization to a New Program proposal.

Monday, November 25, 2024

SWS Topics for following academic year
Fall 2025 Special Topics
Fall 2025 EXL 100s

Monday, February 3, 2025

New Programs (majors, minors, microcredentials)
○ Note: any new courses that are part of the proposal cannot be of ered until the Spring 2026 at the earliest

New/Revised Global Learning Seminars (to be offered spring break 2026 or summer 2026)
○ Repeat GL’s can bypass curricular review
○ Note: proposals will be submitted to the Assistant Dean for Global Education by mid-January. Curricular elements of proposals will be forwarded to CC by this early February deadline.

Monday, February 24, 2025

New Courses (to be offered no earlier Spring 2026)
Spring 2026 Special Topics (3rd offerings)

Per the Academic Bulletin, “SWS courses (SWS 105, 200, and 205), Junior Seminars, Senior Projects and Internships may not be used to fulfill the Distribution Requirements” and “the Curriculum Committee has the final authority to determine the eligibility of these courses for fulfillment of the College Distribution Requirements.” The decisions of the Curriculum Committee in this area are individual and are not considered as establishing precedent. Please e-mail registrar@allegheny.edu if you have questions.

DR substitution form

Programs (Majors and Minors):

To make changes to an existing major or minor, or to add a new program to the curriculum, please complete the appropriate form below. Please consult the appropriate guidelines when developing your proposal.

If the new program proposal also includes new or revised courses, departments and programs should also be prepared to include the following information:

Course description (see guidelines for writing course descriptions)
Expected prerequisites
Distribution Requirements, if applicable
3-5 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)
- CLOs will be mapped to Program Learning Outcomes on this on this document (you will be asked to “make a copy”)
- If your course carries a DR, please note that one of your CLOs must either be the exact DR Outcome, or should clearly align with the DR Outcome. For the latter, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate that alignment via the LO Maps template.
- Tentative measurements and thresholds for each CLO.
A sample course outline that identifies tentative general course topics and identifies tentative assignments. Use the template provided by making a copy when prompted.

Please note that Chairs will be asked to acknowledge the submission as having been the product of a departmental discussion.

new program (major or minor)
Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025 for programs to take effect in AY 2025/26

Note: any new courses that are part of the proposal cannot be offered until the Spring 2026 at the earliest.

revised program (major or minor)
Deadline: Monday, October 7, 2024 for programs to take effect in AY 2025/26

Renovations can range from revised PLO’s only, through more substantive changes like the inclusion of revised or new courses.
Note that significant amounts of revison, may, at the CC’s discretion, result in the recategorization to a New Program proposal.

Department Name Change
To propose a change of name for your department or program, please complete the form below.

Proposal for a department or program name change

Microcredentials Proposals

Guidelines for Microcredential proposals:

A clear description, naming the skills, competencies, and/or strengths developed by the microcredential.
No more than 2-3 Learning Objectives.
Providing mapping of Program (Microcredential) Learning Objectives onto Institutional Learning Objectives and of Course Learning Objectives onto Program Learning Objectives as found on this document.
A microcredential is typically 12 credits trackable through the Registrar’s office.
If there are categories in the microcredential, each one should allow for a choice of no more than 3 times the number of credits in the category (e.g., if a category requires 4 credits, then the choice of courses should be no more tha a total of 23 credits-or more likely three different 4-credit courses).

Use this form to set up a consultation with the Assistant Provost of Academic Innovation prior to submitting your proposal to the Curriculum Committee. We will not review programs that have not been vetted through that office.

Microcredentials proposal
Deadline: Monday, February 3, 2025 for microcredentials to take effect in AY 2025/26

Courses

Use the forms below to submit changes to course offerings that are NOT part of a larger revision to the major or minor. Please keep in mind that only permanent courses (i.e., not FS, SWS, EXL or Special Topics courses) may count for Distribution Requirements. In addition DR tags cannot be changed once a course is approved. To change the DR tags you will need to sunset the course and submit a New course proposal. Please only assign tags that you expect to continue to apply through future iterations of the course.

Please consult the following guides, as appropriate, when developing your course proposals

Learning Outcomes for the Distribution Requirements
Curriculum Committee guidance on tagging courses for the Distribution Requirements
guidelines for SWS descriptions
guidelines for writing course descriptions

SWS Courses:
Use these forms to submit the topic of your section of an SWS class. Use these forms both for new and repeat topics.

SWS 105, 200 or 205.

Deadline: Monday, November 25, 2024 for AY 2025/26 courses.

EXL 100 Courses:
Use this form to let the Curriculum Committee know the topic of an EXL 100 that you have organized or will teach. You will need to submit this form for each semester that your EXL 100 section will be offered whether it is new or repeated.

EXL 100
Deadline: Monday, September 9, 2024 for Spring 2025 courses
Monday, November 25, 2024 for Fall 2025 courses

Special Topics Course (190’s, 290’s, 390’s, and 490’s):
These are courses that will be offered only once or twice. Typical uses for Special Topics courses are courses under development and courses taught by visiting faculty in their areas of expertise. Use the forms below to submit the description for a Special Topics course.

Departments and Programs should be prepared to include with their new and repeat special topics proposal the following information:

Course description (see guidelines for writing course descriptions)
Expected prerequisites
3-5 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)
- CLOs will be mapped to Program Learning Outcomes on this on this document (you will be asked to “make a copy”)
- If your course carries a DR, please note that one of your CLOs must either be the exact DR Outcome, or should clearly align with the DR Outcome. For the latter, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate that alignment via the LO Maps template.
- Tentative measurements and thresholds for each CLO.
A sample course outline that identifies tentative general course topics and identifies tentative assignments. Use the template provided by making a copy when prompted.

Please note that Chairs will be asked to acknowledge the submission as having been the product of a departmental discussion.

First time (new) special topics course (FYI to faculty after CC approval)
Deadline: Monday, September 9, 2024 for Spring 2025 courses (1st and 2nd offerings only)
Monday, November 24, 2024 for Fall 2025 courses
Monday, February 24, 2025 for Spring 2026 courses (3rd offerings)

Repeat special topics course (FYI to faculty after CC approval IF this is a second offering within a three-year period. Otherwise approval requires two readings and a vote of the faculty.)
Deadline: Monday, September 9, 2024 for Spring 2025 courses (1st and 2nd offerings only)
Monday, November 24, 2024 for Fall 2025 courses
Monday, February 24, 2025 for Spring 2026 courses (3rd offerings)

Short Course:
These are courses of less than seven week’s duration. They are typically offered to take advantage of a one- or two-week campus residence by a visiting scholar. The Curriculum Committee needs at least three weeks notice prior to the start of the short course to be able to consider the proposal.

Departments and Programs should be prepared to include with their short course proposal the following information:

Course description (see guidelines for writing course descriptions)
Expected prerequisites
3-5 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)
- CLOs will be mapped to Program Learning Outcomes on this on this document (you will be asked to “make a copy”)
- If your course carries a DR, please note that one of your CLOs must either be the exact DR Outcome, or should clearly align with the DR Outcome. For the latter, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate that alignment via the LO Maps template.
- Tentative measurements and thresholds for each CLO.
A sample course outline that identifies tentative general course topics and identifies tentative assignments. Use the template provided by making a copy when prompted.

Please note that Chairs will be asked to acknowledge the submission as having been the product of a departmental discussion.

Short Course

New and Revised Permanent Courses and Sunsetting Courses no longer taught:
These are permanent additions to the curriculum that will be published in the next Academic Bulletin if approved. Use the forms below if you are submitting a course that is NOT part of a larger program revision or new program proposal.

Departments and Programs should be prepared to include with their new course proposal the following information:

Course description (see guidelines for writing course descriptions)
Expected prerequisites
Distribution Requirements, if applicable
3-5 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)
- CLOs will be mapped to Program Learning Outcomes on this on this document (you will be asked to “make a copy”)
- If your course carries a DR, please note that one of your CLOs must either be the exact DR Outcome, or should clearly align with the DR Outcome. For the latter, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate that alignment via the LO Maps template.
- Tentative measurements and thresholds for each CLO.
A sample course outline that identifies tentative general course topics and identifies tentative assignments. Use the template provided by making a copy when prompted.

Please note that Chairs will be asked to acknowledge the submission as having been the product of a departmental discussion.

New Course
Deadline: Monday, October 7, 2024 for AY 2025/26 courses (to be offered no earlier than Fall 2025)
Monday, February 24, 2025 for 2025/2026 courses (to be offered no earlier than Spring 2026)

Course Revision. (retitle, re-describe, and or re/number an existing course)
Deadline: Monday, September 9, 2024 for AY 2025/26 courses (procedural changes only; e.g. removing/changing prerequisites or restrictions)
Monday, October 7, 2024 for AY 2025/26 courses (LO and/or title/description changes)

College Committees