Instructions: Items 1-5

A rationale must be entered in this section for course drops or course revisions. It is optional for new courses. In this section, you should describe why the new course is needed, or why the existing course needs to be revised or eliminated. To help reviewers at the department, college, and university levels understand the rationale for revisions, briefly describe in this section why the course is being changed and what is being changed. View examples of general reasons for requests in website procedure sections related to adding, changing, or dropping a course.

If any other course request(s) or academic program request(s) are related to this course request, and need to be processed at the same time as this request, identify each such request by entering the name of the courses (course subject and number) and/or name of the program(s). An academic program may be a major/degree program, concentration, certificate program, or a minor.

Note that Academic Programs (AP) will hold the course request until the academic program request/revision is approved by the campus and, if necessary, the Board of Trustees or Illinois Board of Higher Education. You must notify AP if the course request needs to be available prior to the approval of the new or revised program.

Example of related course request

1. A number of courses in the Department of English were updated as part of a larger revision to the degree program. Please process together all revisions to ENGL 200-259 and the new course request for ENGL 340.

Example of related academic program request

1. We are establishing a new degree program, the PhD in Disability Studies. All courses associated with that new degree should be approved when the degree is created.

In most cases, you should select “permanent.”

Although “temporary” approval is an option, it should only be used for courses offered on an experimental basis or when final approval of a permanent course is pending. A temporary course receives approval for only one term. If a unit decides that a course that received temporary approval should be approved permanently, it must submit another course request for permanent approval.

Enter the term and year when the add, drop, or change should be effective. Discussions about the appropriate effective term and year should take place at the department level. If the course is affiliated with a program proposal, the proposal and course should have the same effective term/year.

Keep in mind that course requests must be submitted well in advance to allow for processing by Academic Programs (AP), the Office of Classroom Scheduling, and the Office of the Registrar before students can register for the course. The official effective date is assigned by AP and may differ from the date that you enter. Please note the following:

• Course drops. A course cannot be dropped retroactively.
• New courses: If a new course is approved for a specific semester, it does not mean that the unit is obligated to offer it that semester. Rather, beginning with the effective term, the course is now available and may be offered by the unit.

The approval timeline for courses, and therefore the effective term, is impacted by several factors, including the type of course (e.g., general education, elective, selective, required, and/or collateral). Elective courses, as well as some courses proposed for elimination, do not require review and approval beyond AP; however, other course requests require approval at one or more levels of campus governance.

View the steps necessary to prepare courses for registration and the deadlines associated with each step.

If a course is associated with the creation or revision of a larger program, it will not be available until the program action is approved. View the approval timeline for programs and units.

• View the deadlines associated with the steps to make courses available.
• View the timeline to approve programs and units.

Enter the relevant course subject code (e.g., CHEM, NURS, UPP, etc.). Follow the appropriate procedures to create a new course subject.

• Related resources: View a report with course subject codes and a list of all courses at UIC (which includes the corresponding course subject codes).

Enter the proposed 3-digit number. This number may be from 001 to 699, without the addition of alpha prefixes or suffixes. The course number must be appropriate for the course level.

• Related resource: View the course numbering system.

Additional notes:

• If the system will not accept a number that you entered, that usually means that a course with that number currently exists or has existed within the last six years. A course number cannot be reused within a period of six years. The six-year timeframe begins with the first term the course number is no longer listed in the catalog. View the policy.
• Certain course numbers are reserved for specific types of courses. For example, in general, the course number X94 is reserved for topics courses. The course number X96 is reserved for independent study courses.
• Only 100- and 200-level courses are eligible for general education credit.

• View the course numbering system.

Course title (limited to 100 characters). Choose a title that reflects the course content and that will attract students. Course titles can influence students who are deciding whether or not to come to UIC, as well as current students who are deciding which courses to register for. Course titles are also used by other institutions to understand the coursework that UIC students have completed.

When creating course titles, use capital and lower case letters. Do not use abbreviations, acronyms, or ampersands (“&”). The full title will appear in the course catalog and Schedule of Classes.

Transcript title (limited to 30 characters). This is an abbreviated version of the course title. The transcript title is used in the Banner system and appears on student grade reports, schedules, and transcripts.

The transcript title can be identical to the full course title. If, however, the transcript title must be shortened so that it falls within the character limit, edit carefully so that the title is easily comprehended by those not in your discipline. Note that the character maximum includes spaces between words. Abbreviations, acronyms, colons (:), dashes (-), and ampersands (&) are acceptable. To save space, do not use periods after abbreviations and when appropriate, use numbers (1, 2, 3) rather than Roman numerals (I, II, III).

Examples

1. Course title: Introduction to Clinical Medicine I – Chicago
   Transcript title: Intro to Clin Med I
2. Course title: Museum Exhibitions: Theory and Development
   Transcript title: Museum Exhib:Thry&Develop
3. Course title: Western Civilization: 1750 to 1890
   Transcript title: Western Civ: 1750-1890

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