Course and Program Modification
For TCVPA-specific procedures, please refer to the document titled “TCVPA Procedures - Curriculum and Curriculog Process.” Point of contact in the Deans' Suite: Assoc. Dean Andrea Bilkey.
Academic programs develop and change over time, resulting in a need add, change, or delete courses (OP 36.01) and programs (OP 36.04). Course and program proposals generally originate in the department, school, or area and then proceed to a college curriculum committee before moving through additional committees as necessary. The following information provides guidance for unit-level administrators related to facilitating curricular development and revision.
Course Addition/Change: General Information
- All course additions, changes, or deletions are submitted through Curriculog. Information about that program and how to propose and/or make changes to existing courses is available here. Access to (and training registration for) Curriculog is also available on the faculty tab of Raiderlink under faculty links on the right.
- Most proposals will move directly from the unit to the college to the Academic Council,
which is the curriculum review body at the institutional level. However, some types
of proposals require additional approvals after the college approval and before Academic
Council review, as described below:
- Online or hybrid courses: require approval by eLearning Council;
- Graduate courses: require approval by the Academic Programs Subcommittee of the Graduate Council and the Graduate Council.
- Approval by the Academic Council is required to (1) add or delete a course and/or (2) make changes in the prefix, number, contact or credit hours, and/or title for a course. The Academic Council meets on the third Tuesday of every month. Course proposals that are at the Academic Council step in Curriculog by the Friday prior to each Council meeting will be placed on the Council agenda for that month.
- Approval by Academic Council is not required to change a course description and/or add or remove restrictions (e.g., prerequisites) from a course.
- Important notes concerning course changes:
- Changes to existing courses can only be made prior to the first date of advanced registration for the academic term during which the change will be effective.
- Once a course has been deleted from the inventory, the course number cannot be used again for five years.
Course Addition: Specific Information
- To create a new course prefix, begin by contacting the Registrar's Office to receive advice as to whether the requested prefix meets university guidelines. If it does, the Registrar's Office will notify Official Publications and Academic Support & Facilities Resources prior to the college submitting a course approval request.
- Completing the request through Curriculog:
- Course descriptions are currently limited to a maximum of 25 words, excluding prerequisite information. This requirement will be eased as the paper catalog is phased out.
- CIP (Classification of Instructional Programs) code should reflect the course content, typically, but not always, the same CIP code as other courses in the department. You can find a list of Texas CIP codes here. Look over the list to find the most appropriate description for your course. The last two digits of the number at this site are 00. That should be changed to the funding code, which is listed in the column just to the right of the CIP code.
- Course hours (this is not the same thing as the course number) are expressed in four
digits (e.g., 2:2:0:0). The first digit reflects the number of semester credit hours
students will earn for completing the course. The second digit reflects the number
of contact hours per week associated with the primary activity type (lecture, independent
study, seminar, thesis, dissertation, clinic, simulation, field experience, private
lesson, ensemble, lab, studio, practicum) of the course. The third digit reflects
the number of contact hours per week required for credit-bearing lab associated with
the course. The fourth digit reflects the number of contact hours per week required
for a noncredit discussion/recitation/lab associated with the course.
- Example 1: PHYS 1408: Course hours are 4:3:1:0 (Four credit hours, three contact hours per week for the primary activity type (lecture), one contact hour per week for the credit-bearing lab, and no contact hours for non-credit lab or discussion.)
- Example 2: ME 3322:
- Example 3: HIST 2310
- Either the second or third digit will ALWAYS be zero, e.g.: 3:3:0:0, 3:2:0:2, or 1:0:2:0
- THECB will only allow one credit-bearing activity. The fourth digit is for any non-credit bearing activity such as discussion/recitation or a non-credit lab.
- In variable-hour courses, the credit hours are variable, and the contact hours are variable. As a result, all variable-hour courses MUST have a "0" in the second digit of the course number (e.g., HUSC 2000) because that digit indicates how much credit the student will get and the credit will change with each student. If a class is V1-3, then in the semester that class is offered, the department would build a section for the 1-contact hour version of the course, another section for the 2-contact hour, and another section for the 3-contact hour. Whichever section the student chooses is how much credit that student will get. For example, the student who chooses the section with 3 contact hours will get 3 hours of credit.
- Indicate whether the course has distance components or not. If the course is a distance one, activity type would be the same as if it were a face-to-face class (typically lecture but could have other components as described above). Distance courses are regular courses, but when the department assigns the sections, the section number is what will distinguish the course as being online.
Resources
J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual & Performing Arts
-
Address
School of Theatre & Dance Building | Box 45060 | 2812 18th Street STE 222 | Lubbock TX 79409 -
Phone
806.742.0700 -
Email
talk@ttu.edu