Course Policies, Procedures, and Guidelines
Policies
View the policies, procedures, and guidelines listed below when developing and revising courses. These policies are linked to the relevant sections of the course request instructions, where further guidance about their application is provided.
Credit hours
Course numbering
- Course numbering system
- Policy for re-using course numbers
Control and cross-lists
- Control of Courses Versus Collaborative Teaching
- Policies and procedures for permanent cross-lists
- Policies and procedures for temporary cross-lists
Course maintenance
- Policies and procedures related to units' periodic review of course information
- Policies and procedures related to the three-year drop of unoffered courses
Procedures and Guidelines Heading link
Sign-off procedure.
When an academic unit submits a new course proposal request, the submitting unit will be asked to identify all courses from other academic units with which the new course may overlap in content and to identify other units that may be significantly affected by the new course request in some manner. (Endorsed by the Senate Committee on Educational Policy on April 13, 1999.)
- For additional information, view the CRS Manual.
New versus revised guideline.
If a revision of a course is so significant that a student would be permitted by a department or college to take both the original course and the revised course and count them toward the degree, then the revised course ought to become a new course with a new number. (Endorsed by the Senate Committee on Educational Policy on April 13, 1999.)
Section-level prerequisite guideline.
Units may insert in the Schedule of Classes certain prerequisites associated with specific sections of a course (e.g., topics courses). Since the topic of a course may vary from term to term, it follows that the prerequisite may vary also. The Schedule of Classes can be a useful tool to advertise section prerequisites to topics courses. Units might also change the existing prerequisite for all courses for which section prerequisites may be inserted, to “Prerequisites may vary from section to section, depending upon topic.” (Endorsed by the Senate Committee on Educational Policy on April 13, 1999.)
Separate courses versus separate sections guideline.
The University encourages the creation of separate courses, rather than separate sections of the same course that have been adapted to meet the needs of different groups of students. For example, if a computer programming course is offered with two sections, each focused on different computer programming languages, then separate courses should be considered. This practice can reduce instances of students registering for the wrong section and ensure that accurate information is communicated on students’ transcripts. In some cases, this guideline may not apply, such as when the content of course sections do not vary or when the situation is temporary. (Endorsed by the Senate Committee on Educational Policy on April 13, 1999.)