NC State University: Academic Courses and Curricula

GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING OR REVISING UNDERGRADUATE COURSES

I. Authorization to offer

The disciplinary or interdisciplinary content of a course normally provides an obvious indication of which department(s) or program(s) should be authorized to offer that course. Where this is not the case, every effort should be made by the initiating department or program to obtain the explicit endorsement of any other departments or programs that have closely related disciplinary concerns. In the event of a lack of agreement among the concerned departments, it shall be the responsibility of the college curriculum committees in consultation with the College Deans, or the University Courses and Curricula Committee in consultation with the Provost, to resolve the disagreement.

II. Consultation with other departments

Need for Consultation:

When developing new courses, revising established courses, or dropping established courses, the initiating departments or programs should consult as widely as possible with other departments or programs and consultation should be sought whenever:

Duplication or significant overlap may occur.
The new course being proposed is intended to serve as a required course or qualified elective in the curricula of those departments.
The course to be revised (especially, revisions in content, credit/contact hours, or pre/co-requisites) has been serving as a required course or qualified elective in the curricula of those departments.
The course to be dropped has been serving as a required course or a qualified elective in the curricula of those departments.
The pre-requisite for a course would significantly impact enrollments in another department.

Requesting a Consult:

If consultation is needed, please send an email to the appropriate Associate Dean requesting a consult to determine if or how the proposed course action will affect the curricula and/or course offerings within that department. The email should provide a date by which a response is needed.

Departmental consultations within a college are assumed to have been completed when the course action bears the signature of the College’s Course and Curricula Committee and Associate Dean.

Please contact Registration and Records if assistance is needed in determining the curricula in which your course serves as a required course or qualified elective.

Response to Request for Consult:

A department has 3 weeks to acknowledge and/or fully respond to a request for consult. If the consulted department does not acknowledge the request within 2 weeks, the initiating department should attempt to contact the department by phone. If no acknowledgement or response is received after the 2^nd attempt and by the end of the 3^rd week, the action may move forward for consideration by the UCCC.

The response(s) received should be attached to the course action. If no response is received, please document the attempts to contact and attach to the course action.

Course Duplication:

In an effort to avoid duplication or significant overlap of course content between departments, a keyword search of the course catalog is available at https://packtracks.ncsu.edu/scripts/RegRec/crscat_s.pl to search for already existing courses that may have similarities in content to the proposed course. Duplication of courses on the same subject at the same level by different departments or programs should be avoided. Exceptions to this guideline will require special justification.

III. Duplication of courses and cross-listing courses

Duplication of courses on the same subject at the same level by different departments or programs should be avoided. Exceptions to this guideline will require special justification.

To prevent duplication, courses may be cross-listed by being given the same number with two or more course prefixes. Cross-listed courses must be identical in respect to number, title, abbreviated title, credit/contact hours, pre/co-requisite, and catalog description.

In order to be cross-listed, a course must be an appropriate and integral part of the course offerings of the involved disciplines or departments. A course should be cross-listed only when all involved departments contribute to the teaching of that course.

Because of the additional administrative processes involved with cross-listed courses, cross-listing should be undertaken only when it has a significant purpose (e.g., indicating that more than one department is involved in teaching a course). Creating multiple listing points in the course catalog is not considered to be sufficient justification for cross-listing. The rationale that a course should be cross-listed because the department requires the course for one of its majors is also not considered sufficient justification for cross-listing, since there is no restriction on requiring courses from other departments in a major.

A cross-listed course becomes the joint responsibility of all departments and colleges listing it. Scheduling of a cross-listed course involves the coordination of scheduling officers of all departments included in the cross-listing. All departments and colleges responsible for the courses must endorse proposals to cross-list courses or to revise existing cross-listed courses. Such endorsement includes signature approval by all relevant department heads, curriculum committees, and deans.

IV. Proliferation of courses and experimental offerings under Special Topics numbers

Proliferation of courses without consideration for student demand or strength of course offerings in related areas should be avoided.

Courses which have not been taught for two years and are not intended to be offered during a third consecutive year should be dropped. This is particularly important in order that course listings in the Catalog not contain courses which are not likely to be available to students during a three-year period.

Departments are encouraged to try out new course material on an experimental basis through the use of Special Topics before formally proposing new courses with permanent numbers.

The use of special topics numbers (and other general numbers in the 290 or 490 series) for the experimental introduction of new courses is encouraged under two conditions: (a) that the content of the course is manifestly appropriate to the department or program offering it and (b) that the experimental course be provided as a new course with its own title and number and be reviewed and approved through regular College and University procedures prior to its being scheduled for a third time.

V. Course level considerations

Course numbers should be assigned as follows:

· 001-099 courses solely in the Agricultural Institute

· 100-199 courses intended primarily for freshmen

· 200-299 courses intended primarily for sophomores [290-299 introductory seminars and special topics courses intended primarily for freshman or sophomores]

· 300-399 courses intended primarily for juniors

· 400-499 courses intended primarily for seniors [490-498 advanced undergraduate seminars and special topics courses; 499 advanced undergraduate research]

Revision of course level from 400 to 500 or from 500 to 400

Proposals to change a course level from 400 to 500 (or from 500 to 400) require the submission of Course Action Forms for dropping (or adding) the course to the Provost for review by the University Courses and Curricula Committee and concurrently Course Action Forms for adding (or dropping) the course to the Graduate Dean for review by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School. Neither action is complete until both have been approved.

Dual-Level ("Piggybacking") use of certain 400 and 500 level courses

The practice of a department teaching a 400-level course and a 500-level course in the same subject matter in the same room at the same time is called "dual-level" use, formerly "piggybacking." Approval must be obtained on a course-by-course basis from the Dean of Undergraduate Academic Programs after review by the University Courses and Curricula Committee and concurrently from the Graduate Dean after review by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School. Both courses should bear the same last two digits at each level (example: PY 414/514). Such proposals are expected to reflect the different needs and abilities of students taking the 500-level version of the course and students taking the 400-level version. Therefore, all requests for dual-level use must address how the performance expectations will be greater and performance evaluation more rigorous for students taking the 500-level course.

VI. Credit hour/contact hour guidelines

A. One credit hour should involve an input of approximately three hours per week for the average student (e.g., one hour of class and two hours of out-of-class preparation). For example:

one contact hour of lecture, discussion, or seminar constitutes one credit hour.
three hours of completely self-contained laboratory or problem/exercise periods constitute one credit hour.
two hours of laboratory or problem/exercise periods which require outside preparation on the part of the student constitute one credit hour.
1.5 hours of studio constitute one credit hour.

B. Other proposed credit hour/contact hour combinations will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis using "A" above as the guideline. One hour of supervised problem/exercise period in which no new material is introduced may be added when appropriately justified.

C. Internships, field work courses, and practica should use the following upper limits as guidelines:

"1/4 time" internship, field work course, or practicum that requires approximately 10 hours/week/semester constitute 3 semester credit hours.
"1/2 time" internship, field work course, or practicum that requires approximately 20 hours/week/semester constitute 6 semester credit hours.

D. Credit offered for courses of less than a semester's duration should be commensurate with the above guidelines.

E. A course offered for 0 credit hours cannot be required as part of a degree program.

VII. Courses for non-degree certificate programs

Courses included in non-degree certificate programs shall in every case be existing academic courses.

Move directly to: Instructions for Preparing Course Action Forms


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General Education Requirements Degree Requirements Curricula Actions Course Actions Forms Academic Minors Academic Program Review Office of Undergraduate Courses and Curricula Homepage	GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING OR REVISING UNDERGRADUATE COURSES I. Authorization to offer The disciplinary or interdisciplinary content of a course normally provides an obvious indication of which department(s) or program(s) should be authorized to offer that course. Where this is not the case, every effort should be made by the initiating department or program to obtain the explicit endorsement of any other departments or programs that have closely related disciplinary concerns. In the event of a lack of agreement among the concerned departments, it shall be the responsibility of the college curriculum committees in consultation with the College Deans, or the University Courses and Curricula Committee in consultation with the Provost, to resolve the disagreement. II. Consultation with other departments Need for Consultation: When developing new courses, revising established courses, or dropping established courses, the initiating departments or programs should consult as widely as possible with other departments or programs and consultation should be sought whenever: Duplication or significant overlap may occur. The new course being proposed is intended to serve as a required course or qualified elective in the curricula of those departments. The course to be revised (especially, revisions in content, credit/contact hours, or pre/co-requisites) has been serving as a required course or qualified elective in the curricula of those departments. The course to be dropped has been serving as a required course or a qualified elective in the curricula of those departments. The pre-requisite for a course would significantly impact enrollments in another department. Requesting a Consult: If consultation is needed, please send an email to the appropriate Associate Dean requesting a consult to determine if or how the proposed course action will affect the curricula and/or course offerings within that department. The email should provide a date by which a response is needed. Departmental consultations within a college are assumed to have been completed when the course action bears the signature of the College’s Course and Curricula Committee and Associate Dean. Please contact Registration and Records if assistance is needed in determining the curricula in which your course serves as a required course or qualified elective. Response to Request for Consult: A department has 3 weeks to acknowledge and/or fully respond to a request for consult. If the consulted department does not acknowledge the request within 2 weeks, the initiating department should attempt to contact the department by phone. If no acknowledgement or response is received after the 2^nd attempt and by the end of the 3^rd week, the action may move forward for consideration by the UCCC. The response(s) received should be attached to the course action. If no response is received, please document the attempts to contact and attach to the course action. Course Duplication: In an effort to avoid duplication or significant overlap of course content between departments, a keyword search of the course catalog is available at https://packtracks.ncsu.edu/scripts/RegRec/crscat_s.pl to search for already existing courses that may have similarities in content to the proposed course. Duplication of courses on the same subject at the same level by different departments or programs should be avoided. Exceptions to this guideline will require special justification. III. Duplication of courses and cross-listing courses Duplication of courses on the same subject at the same level by different departments or programs should be avoided. Exceptions to this guideline will require special justification. To prevent duplication, courses may be cross-listed by being given the same number with two or more course prefixes. Cross-listed courses must be identical in respect to number, title, abbreviated title, credit/contact hours, pre/co-requisite, and catalog description. In order to be cross-listed, a course must be an appropriate and integral part of the course offerings of the involved disciplines or departments. A course should be cross-listed only when all involved departments contribute to the teaching of that course. Because of the additional administrative processes involved with cross-listed courses, cross-listing should be undertaken only when it has a significant purpose (e.g., indicating that more than one department is involved in teaching a course). Creating multiple listing points in the course catalog is not considered to be sufficient justification for cross-listing. The rationale that a course should be cross-listed because the department requires the course for one of its majors is also not considered sufficient justification for cross-listing, since there is no restriction on requiring courses from other departments in a major. A cross-listed course becomes the joint responsibility of all departments and colleges listing it. Scheduling of a cross-listed course involves the coordination of scheduling officers of all departments included in the cross-listing. All departments and colleges responsible for the courses must endorse proposals to cross-list courses or to revise existing cross-listed courses. Such endorsement includes signature approval by all relevant department heads, curriculum committees, and deans. IV. Proliferation of courses and experimental offerings under Special Topics numbers Proliferation of courses without consideration for student demand or strength of course offerings in related areas should be avoided. Courses which have not been taught for two years and are not intended to be offered during a third consecutive year should be dropped. This is particularly important in order that course listings in the Catalog not contain courses which are not likely to be available to students during a three-year period. Departments are encouraged to try out new course material on an experimental basis through the use of Special Topics before formally proposing new courses with permanent numbers. The use of special topics numbers (and other general numbers in the 290 or 490 series) for the experimental introduction of new courses is encouraged under two conditions: (a) that the content of the course is manifestly appropriate to the department or program offering it and (b) that the experimental course be provided as a new course with its own title and number and be reviewed and approved through regular College and University procedures prior to its being scheduled for a third time. V. Course level considerations Course numbers should be assigned as follows: · 001-099 courses solely in the Agricultural Institute · 100-199 courses intended primarily for freshmen · 200-299 courses intended primarily for sophomores [290-299 introductory seminars and special topics courses intended primarily for freshman or sophomores] · 300-399 courses intended primarily for juniors · 400-499 courses intended primarily for seniors [490-498 advanced undergraduate seminars and special topics courses; 499 advanced undergraduate research] Revision of course level from 400 to 500 or from 500 to 400 Proposals to change a course level from 400 to 500 (or from 500 to 400) require the submission of Course Action Forms for dropping (or adding) the course to the Provost for review by the University Courses and Curricula Committee and concurrently Course Action Forms for adding (or dropping) the course to the Graduate Dean for review by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School. Neither action is complete until both have been approved. Dual-Level ("Piggybacking") use of certain 400 and 500 level courses The practice of a department teaching a 400-level course and a 500-level course in the same subject matter in the same room at the same time is called "dual-level" use, formerly "piggybacking." Approval must be obtained on a course-by-course basis from the Dean of Undergraduate Academic Programs after review by the University Courses and Curricula Committee and concurrently from the Graduate Dean after review by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School. Both courses should bear the same last two digits at each level (example: PY 414/514). Such proposals are expected to reflect the different needs and abilities of students taking the 500-level version of the course and students taking the 400-level version. Therefore, all requests for dual-level use must address how the performance expectations will be greater and performance evaluation more rigorous for students taking the 500-level course. VI. Credit hour/contact hour guidelines A. One credit hour should involve an input of approximately three hours per week for the average student (e.g., one hour of class and two hours of out-of-class preparation). For example: one contact hour of lecture, discussion, or seminar constitutes one credit hour. three hours of completely self-contained laboratory or problem/exercise periods constitute one credit hour. two hours of laboratory or problem/exercise periods which require outside preparation on the part of the student constitute one credit hour. 1.5 hours of studio constitute one credit hour. B. Other proposed credit hour/contact hour combinations will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis using "A" above as the guideline. One hour of supervised problem/exercise period in which no new material is introduced may be added when appropriately justified. C. Internships, field work courses, and practica should use the following upper limits as guidelines: "1/4 time" internship, field work course, or practicum that requires approximately 10 hours/week/semester constitute 3 semester credit hours. "1/2 time" internship, field work course, or practicum that requires approximately 20 hours/week/semester constitute 6 semester credit hours. D. Credit offered for courses of less than a semester's duration should be commensurate with the above guidelines. E. A course offered for 0 credit hours cannot be required as part of a degree program. VII. Courses for non-degree certificate programs Courses included in non-degree certificate programs shall in every case be existing academic courses. Move directly to: Instructions for Preparing Course Action Forms
Questions: acadprog@ncsu.edu Division of Undergraduate Academic Programs policy disclaimer \| Copyright © 2006 North Carolina State UniversityT All rights reserved. Last updated: July 24, 2008

OFFICE OF UNDERGRADUATE COURSES AND CURRICULA