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Policies and Procedures

Criteria and Procedures for Review of Proposed New and Revised Courses that Carry Graduate Credit

December 2005

As one mechanism for fulfilling the statutory function of the Graduate College to "develop and safeguard standards of graduate work," the Dean of the Graduate College and the Executive Committee review all proposed new courses and revisions of courses that carry graduate credit. Detailed review of proposals is handled in one of two ways, which are outlined in Section III.B and Section III.C of this document.

Criteria by which proposals for graduate courses are judged and procedures by which they are reviewed are described below. Faculty members are encouraged to consult with Graduate College deans to get advice in preparing course proposals. The checklist of criteria is minimal, and is not intended to be exhaustive. The diversity of programs and the wide variety of courses necessitate, in many cases, judgments based in part on the standards of an individual discipline and usually made by faculty in that discipline. There is no intent to eliminate judgment by reducing the criteria to an inflexible set of rules. However, proposers are encouraged to offer specific explanations whenever their proposals deviate from the general criteria.

I. Criteria

  1. Course content should be intellectually challenging to graduate students.
  2. Course subject matter should have a strong emphasis on the literature of the discipline(s) and/or should draw actively from the latest relevant research and scholarly activity.
  3. A course for graduate credit should usually build on knowledge previously gained or, unusually, on equivalent experience. Admission criteria should be carefully specified as to background required (e.g., prior study, courses completed, level of creative accomplishment). The prerequisites will also be evaluated as to appropriateness to the content and rigor of each course.
  4. A graduate course must bear a logical relationship to the total offerings of a department or to other courses in an area of specialization within the discipline.
  5. Course content should not needlessly duplicate or overlap substantially that of other courses in the department or in other departments. Advice of other departments will be sought when that seems desirable. Other factors will be considered, such as level of the course, background of the students, and the emphasis of the course in evaluating duplication and overlap of course content.
  6. The graduate credit offered should be appropriate to the nature of the course and to the extent of work required of graduate students.

II. Guidelines for Graduate Course Credit and Contact Hours

  1. Credit
    1. Course proposals should justify why the course should award graduate credit in terms of level of content, previous knowledge required, relevance to current research, methodology, etc. (See Criteria, above)
    2. If variable graduate credit is to be offered, e.g., 3 or 4 hours, the higher credit should be justified by describing the extra work required.
  2. Contact hours

    The Graduate College has not established rigid ratios between course credit hours and class contact hours.* However, in recognition of desired variability associated with subject matter and modes of teaching, the following points may serve as guides:

    1. The number of class contact hours in organized instruction between instructor and student is one factor affecting the quality of instruction. It is customary for 400-level courses to meet in organized instruction for 43 to 58 contact hours per term (3 to 4 contact hours per week in fall or spring) courses that carry either 3 or 4 hours of credit. Three to four contact hours per week is also conventional for 500-level courses carrying 4 hours of credit. These ratios should be observed for organized instruction, which excludes laboratory, independent study, special problems, and thesis research courses.
    2. Substantial deviation from these ratios should be justified by the department proposing the course. Each case will be judged on its merits as detailed in the course proposal.

    * The distinction between a contact hour and a clock hour is frequently misunderstood. A class contact hour is defined as one 50-minute session, that is, the traditional meeting time within a clock hour, allowing for the mandatory 10-minute passing period beginning at X:50 of the hour. If a class session extends past one clock hour, or meets “off-clock,” the total session minutes divided by 50 determines the contact hours for the session. Thus, three 50-minute or two 75-minute sessions per week constitute three contact hours per week.

III. Review Procedures

  1. Role of the department, school, and college courses and curricula committees

    Review and approval of all appropriate committees is required before a course is proposed for review by the Graduate College.

    1. The course proposal must be approved and signed by the head of the department. The faculty members who prepared the request and will teach the course should be identified.
    2. A courses and curricula committee in the school (if applicable) and college must have reviewed and approved the course proposal.
    3. The college courses and curricula committee must provide a report of its evaluation on the form provided by the Graduate College, or a similar form generated by the college, as part of the submission to the Graduate College. If the substantive review of courses is conducted by a unit other than the college, (e.g., certain independent schools and institutes), those units should submit the report of evaluation.
  2. Administrative review in the Graduate College

    If the college-level courses and curriculum committee verifies that a course meets the six Graduate College criteria A through F (see Section I above), then the course may be approved administratively by an assistant or associate dean at the Graduate College.

  3. Review by the Program Subcommittee of the Graduate College Executive Committee

    Courses that have not gone through a two-tiered approval process will be reviewed by the Program Subcommittee of the Graduate College Executive Committee.

Course Outline Form

For new course proposals, use the New Course Outline form. For revisions to existing courses, use the Course Revision form.

Policies and Procedures

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