New courses that do not require approval by the Catamount Core Curriculum Committee, the Graduate College, or other units on campus should be proposed by Friday, December 22, 2023 for inclusion in the 2024-25 catalog. The deadlines for courses that need those additional approvals have already passed.
To propose a new course, use the new/changes side of CourseLeaf, UVM’s course inventory management system. Using a browser other than Internet Explorer is recommended.
A style guide is available on the Associate Provost’s Teaching & Learning site here.
ELEMENTS OF THE COURSE ACTION FORM:
Course Number. Check with your chair or departmental administrator before choosing a number.
Credit Hours. One credit hour should be the equivalent of one hour in class (50 minutes counts as an hour) plus at least two hours of work outside of class. Be sure to check the box that indicates “This course meets the University’s definition of a credit hour.” Leave the next section blank; it is the curriculum committee chair’s role to toggle the confirms/not necessary question and sign in the “completed by” box.
Prerequisites or Co-requisites. If there are no prerequisites or co-requisites for a course, leave those fields blank. A reminder that students can register for all classes with instructor permission; it is therefore only necessary to include “instructor permission” in the prerequisites if such permission is the only way into the course. Banner can enforce prerequisites if they are specific courses (MATH 1234 as a prerequisite for MATH 1248, for example) or if they are registration restrictions (Art History majors only, for example; or minimum Junior standing.) The system cannot enforce more generic prerequisites, such as “Three hours in History.”
Course Description. The current limit is 75 words. Some important guidance:
- Do not begin your description with the words “This course”
- Do not include quotation marks or other special characters, as these do not display properly in the catalog.
- Do not include prerequisite or Catamount Core information in the description; the computer will pull that information from other fields in the form for display in the catalog.
- For clarity and stylistic consistency, please use an Oxford comma for lists of three or more items (i.e., apples, pears, and bananas) and conclude your description with a period.
- Topics In courses must include the following language at the end of the description: May repeat for credit with different content. Topics vary by offering; periodic offering at intervals that may exceed four years.
Syllabus. Include a syllabus/course design aimed at faculty members and written in English. This does not have to be a student-ready syllabus, but the committee needs to be able to look at a single document and answer the following questions in the affirmative:
- Is the number of credits for the course listed on the first page of the syllabus?
- Are there learning objectives?
- Are there assignments (type and weight) and a schedule? A working list of readings is strongly encouraged.
- Is there enough information on the syllabus to determine whether the workload matches the credits, and, assuming there is enough information, is there a match?
- Is the content of the course appropriate to the discipline/prefix in which it is being offered?
Companion Documents. These are not required, but if there are materials that would help the curriculum committee better understand the intent, content, and/or structure of the course, feel free to include them here. We strongly encourage you to combine any companion documents into a single PDF file.
Rationale. Sentence- or paragraph-length statements on the proposed course’s academic merit, potential overlap with other courses, the types of students likely to register, and the course’s place in the curriculum as either required or elective.
If the new course you are proposing affects any catalog tables for majors, minors, etc., please be sure to submit a memo through your chair/director to request relevant updates to the tables. Ideally, a chair/director would submit one memo toward the end of the catalog season that covers everything. For the 2024-25 catalog, that deadline is Friday, December 22.
Seats and Sections. The number of seats and sections to be offered. What you put in here is definitely not written in stone, but try and be as accurate as you can be.
Impact on/Consultation with Others. Information on the effects of the proposed course on other departments, including those outside CAS. In addition to sentence- or paragraph-length statements on potential overlap and any other issues, you need evidence that potentially affected departments have been consulted. Letters of support from chairs/directors of potentially affected departments should be attached as .doc, .docx, or .pdf files. If you need assistance negotiating with other departments, programs, or units, consult Abby McGowan.
Fees, Facilities, Library Resources. If applicable, include information on any additional fees, facilities needs, and library resources.
Cross-listings. In general, the goal is to avoid cross-lists in the catalog. If you feel one is appropriate, please contact Nicole Phelps for guidance.
Catamount Core Curriculum Designations. Please consult these directions.
WHEN THE FORM IS COMPLETE
After you have entered the required information into CourseLeaf and hit the green “Save & Sumbit” button, your chair/director should review the material and approve it in CourseLeaf. To access the approval side of CourseLeaf, follow the second link on the Provost’s Course Action Form page.
A reminder that the chair or another representative from the department or program must be in attendance at the CAS faculty meeting when the new course is being considered by the faculty to answer questions from the floor. If no departmental representative is present, the course will be tabled until the next meeting.