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CURRICULUM AND COURSE APPROVAL / CHANGE POLICY (Policy 2)

Approved By:

President Joyce Ester

Issued:

Revised:

12/03/1990, 04/01/2021, 04/17/2026

Last Reviewed:

Related Policies:

Policy Owner / Contact Person:

Provost's Office

Additional References:

Faculty Senate Bylaws (on the portal)

UPI Collective Bargaining Agreement (on the portal) 

Policy Categories:

Academic Policies

  1. Purpose
    This policy governs the development of new curricula and the modification of existing curricula at Governors State University (GovState). 
  2. Definitions
    1. Curricular Changes: Any course addition, revision, or deletion, program change (PCC), Request for a New Unit of Instruction (RNUI), Reasonable and Moderate Extension of an Existing Program (RME), Change in Annual Listing, and program elimination.
    2. Academic Program Review Committee (APRC): A Faculty Senate committee charged with reviewing proposals for new programs, majors, minors, concentrations, and certificates (RNUIs, RME, and Change in Annual Listings) and conducting the cyclical program reviews, academic reorganization (part of the RME process), and elimination of programs, majors, and minors. Its focus is on resources, stated need, financial viability, sustainability, growth potential, marketability and market competition, relation to the mission and strategic plan, and rationale. Its purpose is to fulfill the role of shared governance in addressing changes made to the University's curricular requirements (See Faculty Senate Bylaws and Standing Rules).
    3. University Curriculum Committee (UCC): A Faculty Senate committee charged with reviewing academic curricula on a periodic basis, including use of criteria on the scope, level, and sequence of work, internal and external evaluation, admission requirements, and culminating experiences. It recommends to the Provost’s Office the approval, modification, or rejection of all new courses and all changes to existing courses on a periodic basis. It is also charged with reviewing proposals for new programs, majors, minors, concentrations, and certificates (RNUIs, RME, and Change in Annual Listings). In conjunction with the Provost’s Office, UCC develops and publishes a list of mandatory and optional statements to be included in all syllabi on the UCC portal page. Its purpose is to fulfill the role of shared governance in addressing changes made to the University's curricular requirements (See Faculty Senate Bylaws and Standing Rules).
    4. General Education Council (Gen Ed): A joint Faculty Senate and Provost’s Office committee charged with procedures and assessment of general education courses. The Gen Ed Council focuses on general education outcomes and requirements, the assessment of general education, and other issues related to general education requirements. 
    5. Academic Program Elimination Review Committee (APERC): The sole purpose of the Academic Program Elimination Review Committee is to provide recommendations to the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs concerning academic programs being considered for elimination that would result in the layoff of an Employee (see GSU-UPI Collective Bargaining Agreement).
    6. Course-Level Proposals: Syllabi proposals that address 1) modifications to existing courses, including adding or changing modalities; 2) cyclical reapprovals of existing courses that include no substantive changes; 3) course deletions; and 4) new course offerings. 
    7. Curriculum Degree requirements, instructional plans and practices, and learning experiences associated with all credentials (including degrees, certificates, diplomas, endorsements, and minors) earned in credit-bearing educational programs at GovState and to those programs’ constituent elements, including course syllabi, Program Learning Outcomes, admissions requirements, prerequisites, and assessments. 
    8. Cyclical Course Reviews: An accelerated process that entails reviewing previously approved course syllabi that do not include any substantive changes.
    9. Division Curriculum Committee (DCC):  Standing committees comprised of Unit A faculty from each division in the degree-granting colleges. These division-based or college-wide committees conduct the initial reviews of all course- and program-level curricular proposals according to the standards set by the University Curriculum Committee (UCC).
    10. Substantive Changes to Syllabi: Proposed changes in any of the following structural elements of course syllabi constitute substantive changes: Course Title; Course Number; Credit Hours; Course/Catalog Description; Prerequisites; Corequisites; Restrictions; Student Learning Outcomes.
    11. Program Changes 
      Program changes include:
      1. Special admission requirements
      2. Recommended preparation
      3. Admission to candidacy, if applicable
      4. Program Expected Student Outcomes
      5.  Degree requirements
      6.  Core requirements
      7.  Additional requirements
      8. Concentration requirements
      9. Electives
      10. Other areas as appropriate.
  3. The Policy
    1. Scope
      1.  This policy applies to any curricular change for credit-bearing educational programs at GovState.
      2.  For the avoidance of doubt, for purposes of the interpretation and implementation of this Policy 2, in the event there is any conflict between the terms and conditions of this Policy 2 and the GSU-UPI Collective Bargaining Agreement, the terms and conditions of the Bargaining Agreement shall control. In the event of any conflict between the terms and conditions of this Policy 2 and the Board of Trustees Regulations, as same may be amended from time to time, the terms and conditions of the Board of Trustees Regulations shall control. In the event of any conflict between terms and conditions of this Policy 2 and applicable law including, but not limited to, policies and procedures implemented by agencies regulating the University pursuant to applicable law such as the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the terms and conditions of applicable law or those policies and procedures implemented by those agencies shall control.
    2. General Principles
      1. All requests for curricular changes must be initiated through the curriculum management system. 
      2. The Provost’s Office, in conjunction with the Faculty Senate, will develop procedures consistent with this policy, including notification and viewing access, and timelines for curricular change requests.
      3. Participants involved in the workflow for reviewing and approving program and course change requests are provided below. Assistant/Associate Deans may be added to the workflow where appropriate, but will have view access only.
      4. The curricular change review process will include: 
        1. Opportunities for substantive faculty and administration input and review at the division,  college, and university levels; 
        2. Compliance with University procedures; 
        3. Compliance with IBHE policies and procedures; and
        4. Compliance with HLC Assumed Practices. 
      5. When a curriculum/course request receives a negative recommendation from the UCC, a copy of the decision, including the reasons for the decision, shall be returned to the originator and the program coordinator.
      6. The UCC shall forward to the Provost all curriculum/course requests received from the colleges with recommendations for approval or disapproval. Each recommended request for curriculum/course addition, change, or deletion shall be reviewed by the Provost (or designee) and either approved or disapproved. The Provost will consult with the UCC regarding recommendations prior to making the final determination on such requests. If the Provost denies a request or approves a request that had a negative recommendation from the UCC, that decision and its explanation shall be forwarded to the UCC and the originator.
    3. Program Change Requests
      1. New or Substantial Program Change Requests include the following: 
        1. Request for New Unit of Instruction (RNUI)
        2. Reasonable and Moderate Extension (RME)
        3. Change in Annual Listing 
        4. For specifics on these requirements, see Academic Program Approval Levels, the IBHE’s Definitions for Approval of New Programs and the associated request forms. 
        5. The workflow for program requests will be as follows:
          1. Initiator
          2. Division or College Curriculum Committee
          3. Division or Department Chair
          4. Dean of the College
          5. The Graduate College, if applicable
          6. APRC
          7. UCC
          8. Provost and Staff
          9. University Board of Trustees
          10. IBHE
          11. HLC, if necessary
          12. Notification of Archivist
        6. Program Curriculum Changes (PCC) 
          1. These are changes to program outcomes, changes in course requirements, selective courses, the total number of electives, the total number of hours required for graduation, changes in admissions requirements and deadlines, graduation requirements, and/or candidacy requirements for graduate programs. 
          2. Except for program elimination resulting in faculty job loss, which shall be considered pursuant to subsection C below, the workflow for program requests will be as follows:
            1. Initiator
            2. Division or College Curriculum Committee
            3. Division or Department Chair
            4. Dean of the College
            5. The Graduate College, if applicable
            6. UCC
            7. Provost and Staff
          3. Program Elimination - When academic programs are considered for elimination that would result in faculty job loss, the University shall follow the collectively bargained Academic Program Elimination Review Committee (APERC) process in the GSU-UPI Agreement.
        7. Course Change Requests
          1. Courses to be offered for academic credit at the University must be approved by the procedures outlined herein. Courses may be approved in one of two categories:
            1. Category 1: Required, selective, and elective courses that are a part of an approved academic program.  These courses shall be approved initially for seven years and must be reapproved every seven years thereafter.
            2. Category 2: Provisional Course Approvals are courses that are being run to determine their viability to be offered as a category 1 course, these may be granted temporary approval so that they may be offered. These courses shall be approved initially for two years and shall be subsequently retired or resubmitted for Category 1 course approval.
          2. The UCC shall participate in the review and recommend approval/disapproval of all Category 1 and Category 2 courses for initial approval and any substantial changes. Course changes characterized as minor (e.g., changes in terms offered, instructor, course assignments, reading materials, topical or courses outline, and grading scale), non-credit courses, and course deletions do not require UCC participation in the curricular change review process.
          3. New Courses and Substantive Course Revisions
            1. New Courses include any course that has never previously been offered or is a renumbered course.
            2. Substantive revisions include substantive revisions to the course title, course description, credit hours, prerequisites, corequisites, restrictions, and student learning outcomes. 
            3. The workflow for new and substantive requests will be as follows:
              1. Initiator
              2. Division or College Curriculum Committee
              3. General Education Council, for general education courses only
              4. Division or Department Chair
              5. Dean of the College
              6. UCC
              7. Provost and Staff
            4. Limited Course Revisions and course deletions
              1. Limited revisions include changing or adding an instructional modality 
              2. The workflow for limited revision and course deletion requests will be as follows:
                1. Initiator
                2. Division or College Curriculum Committee
                3. General Education Council, for gen ed courses only
                4. Division or Department Chair
                5. Dean of the College
                6. Provost and Staff
            5. Course for Cyclical Review with Limited Revisions 
              1. All courses must be reviewed in a minimum of a 7-year cycle. 
              2. Limited revisions include changing or adding an instructional modality
              3. Course deletion is the permanent deletion of a course from the catalog or the deletion for a new prefix and number
              4. The workflow for cyclical review will be as follows:
                1. Initiator
                2. Division or College Curriculum Committee
                3. General Education Council, for general education courses only
                4. Division or Department Chair
                5. Dean of the College
                6. Provost and Staff
            6. General Education Courses Additional Requirements - Any course that is being considered or reconsidered for general education, including the Human Relations courses, will be reviewed by the General Education Council.
            7. If the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI) designation is requested, the IAI documentation must also be submitted.
    4. Acknowledgements - The University acknowledges and credits documents from the following in the rewriting of this document: University of Idaho additional information at General Education | University of Idaho.