Curriculum Approval Process and Important Dates
Approval Process
Course submission and review is facilitated via Smart Catalog, the electronic curriculum management system maintained by the Office of the Registrar. Follow this link for more information about the Curriculum Workflow.
All courses submitted for inclusion in the Liberal Arts Curriculum must first be approved by the respective college's curriculum committee and Dean. If approved by the college, the course proposal is then routed to the appropriate LAC Curriculum Committee who makes a recommendation to the full Liberal Arts Council. If approved by the Liberal Arts Council, the course is routed to Provost's Office for final approval before being recorded by the Office of the Registrar for inclusion in the catalog.
Below you will find documents, information, and deadlines to help you with preparing your course curriculum packet for the LAC and State Guaranteed Transfer Pathways (gtP).
Deadlines
November 1, 2022
LAC Stage Deadline
Deadline for courses to reach the Liberal Arts Council for review.
Plan ahead! Proposals must be approved by the preceding levels (from the unit through the College Dean) before the Liberal Arts Council will review them. Check with your Dean's office for college-specific deadlines.
December 31, 2022
Curriculum Deadline
All new, revised, and deactivated courses must reach the Provost level of the workflow by this deadline.
All required approvals must be documented in the Curriculum Workflow (Chair/Director, Curriculum Committee Chair, & College Dean; if applicable, LAC Chair and/or PEC Chair).
NOTE: Courses that do not receive full LAC approval by the December 31st curriculum deadline will automatically roll to the next curriculum cycle. These courses, as well as courses that have been denied for inclusion in the LAC, may still appear in the course catalog, be used to fulfill non-LAC requirements, and serve as university-wide electives.
LAC Syllabus Requirements
All course syllabi submitted for inclusion in the Liberal Arts Curriculum must meet the minimum university requirements described in Board Policy 2-3-501 Course Outline:
- the course objectives/outcomes.
- the general strategy, topics, subject matter, materials and tasks to be employed to
meet those
objectives/outcomes. - evaluation criteria and weight to be applied to each assignment/activity in determining
the final
grade. - a list of tentative deadlines for accomplishment of assignments.
Since UNC’s Liberal Arts Curriculum requirements align with statewide gtPathways requirements, courses submitted for inclusion must also illustrate how they fulfill CDHE content and competency requirements for the relevant general education category (and UNC-specific learning outcomes if also submitted for either the U.S. Multicultural Studies or International Studies designation). To facilitate this, faculty are encouraged to use the templates below to create course syllabi. A template is available for each LAC category and designation.
While submitters may choose alternate syllabus formats, courses proposals must illustrate how the course fulfills the appropriate content and competency requirements to be considered for inclusion. Please note: for a course to remain eligible for LAC/gtP status, every instructor of every section of the course must include the following in their actual teaching syllabus each term:
- Required GT Pathways content criteria and competencies (copied & pasted verbatim into syllabus). Please note, CDHE numbering must be preserved.
- The statement, “The Colorado Commission on Higher Education has approved [Course prefix, number] for inclusion in the Guaranteed Transfer (GT) Pathways program in the [GT-@@#] category. For transferring students, successful completion with a minimum C‒ grade guarantees transfer and application of credit in this GT Pathways category. For more information on the GT Pathways program, go to http://highered.colorado.gov/academics/transfers/gtpathways/curriculum.html”
Every year the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) will randomly audit course syllabi for compliance with the above. Course instructors will be contacted directly by CDHE staff and asked to provide a current course syllabus. If the syllabus does not meet the requirements, the institution will have an opportunity to address the problem. If the problem persists, the course (not just the section, but the entire course) will be removed from GT Pathways until it meets the requirement.
Additionally, courses approved for LAC/gtPathways:
-
- must be offered at least once every two years
- must have a challenge exam option, whether through standardized test or departmental exam
- may not be repeatable for credit (may not be variable title courses)
More information about Guaranteed Transfer Pathways.
Recommended Syllabus Statements
Faculty may wish to include any or all of the University's recommended syllabus statements.
To ensure accurate and consistent messaging about UNC policies and student-support
services, faculty are encouraged to use the statements found on the CETL syllabus
statements page, or simply include the link to the page on their syllabi and course
websites.
https://www.unco.edu/center-enhancement-teaching-learning/teaching-resources/syllabus_statements.aspx
