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Procedures and Strategies for Adding or Subtracting Something to or from the Curriculum

 

The Committee on Curriculum and Teaching (C&T) oversees the curriculum generally. Any new minor or major programs must be approved by C&T. At the individual course level, C&T really only has power over the Core curriculum.

 

Submitting a New Major or Minor

 

If a new major, minor, concentration, or certificate program at King’s College, is to be established, the following procedure is to be followed:

1. Prepare a brief initial proposal to submit to C&T. The initial proposal should cover the aim of the program, its general curricular and assessment requirements, its connections to current academic programs (both Core and majors), its possibility of success in the marketplace (both recruiting students, hiring faculty, and potential success for graduates), and its relevance to the College’s mission. In preparing the proposal, relevant departments and offices, including Admissions and Academic Affairs, must be consulted. If the proposal is for a post-Bachelor’s degree or certificate program, the Director of Graduate Programs must be consulted, because of relevant procedures required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.

2. Submit the proposal to C&T. The Chair will schedule an opportunity to present and discuss the proposal. C&T may offer recommendations and suggestions.

3. Upon approval from C&T, continue the development, working with relevant departments and offices. You must gain the approval of Academic Affairs before submitting the final proposal to C&T.

4. Submit the final proposal to C&T. The final proposal should cover the same areas as the initial proposal, but be more detailed and explicit in how the program will be implemented and administered. Catalog and course descriptions, master and sample syllabi (which include goals, objectives, and assessment criteria), and advising procedures should be included. The Chair will schedule an opportunity to present and discuss the proposal. C&T may offer recommendations and suggestions.

5. Upon final approval from C&T, the Chair of C&T will inform Faculty Council of the new program. Then Faculty Council will have final review and approval over the proposal.

 

6.  Those who submitted the proposal should be sure to contact relevant offices, especially Academic Affairs, Admissions, and the Registrar, so that they may implement and integrate the new major, minor, concentration, or certificate program into College publications, materials, and curricula.

 

 

Submitting a New Core Course

Anyone may submit a Core course to C&T via one of its members or may even ask the Chair for time during a meeting to make the presentation in person. To be approved, C&T must have a catalog description and a sample syllabus which contains clear goals and objectives for the students. If the Committee likes the proposal and is satisfied it fits where it is to be placed in the Core, then it is approved. It is then sent on to Faculty Council which will likely agree, but may send it back with further questions, suggestions, etc.

 

How can you best prepare a proposal for C&T?

  1. Discuss the course with fellow faculty members who teach similar courses or courses in the same Core area. A good place to go for this would be the appropriate CART. This is important because C&T is likely to have only one or at most two members intimately familiar with this area of the Core. The first logical question the unfamiliar ones will ask is, “What do the experts have to say about this?”  Perhaps a letter from the CART Coordinator would be a good piece of support to have.
  2. The course will utilize faculty or resources from one or more departments. What is the feeling of the department chair(s) regarding this use of resources? If there’s little chance the course could be offered, it is unlikely that C&T would bother approving it. Perhaps a letter from the department chair(s) involved would be a good piece of support to have.
  3. Will students be interested in such a course? Your answer may be pure speculation, and that may be OK. We won’t really know until we try. But, if you have some way of gauging interest, let us know.

The process is not set in stone, but this gives you a good idea of what likely will be discussed during a proposal.

 

 

Submitting a New Course Within a Major

 

Currently, C&T does not have to be consulted on courses within majors. These are the sole responsibility of the department(s) involved and, ultimately, the Vice President for Academic Affairs. If the course does not have a CORE catalog entry, it does not concern C&T.