Curriculum
Subject to approval of the VCAA and the final authority of the Board of Regents, departments and colleges have the authority to establish their curricula and the requirements for majors and minors, and to add to or remove courses from both in accordance with rules established by the college or campus.
A program curriculum should reflect the courses and course sequencing required in order for students to complete the program having developed the stated learning outcomes. Analysis, discussion and program revision based on assessment results assures that a program remains current and viable.
There should be a balance among the amount of change in program requirements from year to year, the role of advising in course selection, the way in which the program is defined in university systems, and the demands on staff time to reconcile systems for individual students. As curricular changes are planned, faculty should consider how the change will be implemented and its impact on students currently in the system. Impacts of curricular change.
Curriculum Review Process
The curriculum review process for proposed new or modified courses and programs begins with the faculty. All curriculum must be approved at the department and college level before submission to VCAA.
Special Credit Registration Proposals
Course Mappings
This course mappings (Excel) file references programs that require specific courses. When course change proposals are considered, departments whose programs require the course should be consulted about impact on individual programs.
Electronic Systems
When proposals reach VCAA, they are entered into systems designed to track the approval process, to provide current information about the curriculum, and to track changes in the curriculum over time. The Electronic Course Approval System (ECAS login ) maintains course information; the Program and Curriculum Approval System (PCAS login ) maintains program information. Both are accessible using X.500 login/password. These systems, in turn, feed information into registration, degree audit, catalog, graduation planner, class schedules, etc. A Systems Diagram represents these connections.
Once changes are processed in ECAS, the change is immediate in PeopleSoft and the current on-line catalog. Normal processing time on a course changes is 4-5 work days; new courses are typically available in the system within two weeks of receipt in VCAA.
Changes in PCAS are reviewed by the Registrar, the Office of the Provost at the system level, and by Twin Cities staff for catalog copy. Program changes may take up to three weeks to be processed. New programs may be in the system for up to two months before final Board of Regents approval.
Scheduled Cleanup
The following processes will be conducted during summers on the schedule indicated:
- Course inactivation - every summer using a course list generated by PeopleSoft query (UMSR_ACTIVECOURSES_NOCLASSES) in line with the Inactive Courses policy.
- Course rotation data will be sent to departments every summer for review and update.
- Data on course prerequisites, equivalencies, and registration requirements codes will be sent to departments for review as needed.