Course Addition, Modification, and Deletion Policy

Academic units have primary responsibility for determining the University's undergraduate course inventory. Upon review, the University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee approves proposals for new courses and for modifying or deleting existing courses from the inventory. However, proposals for new courses may raise academic concerns or potentially duplicate in one or more respects the course offerings of other academic units. The modification or deletion of existing courses may affect other academic units, including degree requirements. The following policy is intended to facilitate appropriate levels of communication between academic units and the university-wide review of undergraduate courses. In addition, new course proposals must meet general university guidelines, such as appropriate level of course offering and academic rigor, course prerequisites, and, when applicable, Wright State Core requirements and integrated writing requirements.

A proposal for a new course or proposal for modifying/deleting an existing course must be reviewed and approved by the appropriate department and college or school curriculum committee, the college or school faculty if required by that unit, and the University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. The Faculty Senate delegates to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee the authority to approve new course proposals and course modification requests, except where additional review and approval by the Faculty Senate is requested or determined necessary (i.e.: in the mediation of undergraduate curricular disputes between colleges or schools that cannot be resolved by the UCC). Courses approved prior to the date of this policy are assumed to have been approved for recognized Wright State University term lengths and delivery by appropriately credentialed WSU faculty, unless otherwise specified in the course approval workflow. Any prior approved courses that depart from those conditions, must submit a course modification for approval. Approved additions or modifications to existing courses will be implemented in the semester for which they are requested unless registration for that semester is either completed or in progress. Otherwise, they will be implemented the following semester. A unit may offer (one time only) a pilot of an existing course in a not previously approved method of instruction after giving prior notice to the appropriate college curriculum committee and University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. However, the unit will provide no subsequent offerings of the course in a nonstandard mode until approved through the course modification process.

New courses being proposed at both the undergraduate and graduate levels (i.e. 3XXX/5XXX and 4XXX/6XXX) must be put through the workflow separately using the undergraduate number (3XXX or 4XXX) and the graduate number (5XXX or 6XXX). Proposals for new courses and for the modification/deletion of existing courses carrying both undergraduate credit and graduate credit must be submitted to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee following the procedures contained herein and to the Graduate Council following the procedures established by that Council.

1. Submit a workflow request to add a new course
2. Include Course Syllabus information based on the following guidelines*:
   1. Course Information:
      • Course Title and Abbreviated Title
      • Course Number
      • Course Credits
      • Course Description
   2. Course Materials (specify required and recommended):
      • Textbooks
      • Articles, Readings, etc.
      • Computing and/or Internet Resources
      • Other
   3. Student Learning Outcomes
   4. Course Prerequisites/Co-requisites
   5. Restrictions
   6. Method of Instruction, including:
      • Mode of Instructional Delivery
      • Location of Instruction
      • Time frame (including but not limited to number, length, and frequency of class meetings)
      • Faculty who will teach the course (including minimum credentials, specific institutional affiliation and rank, etc.)
   7. Evaluation Methods:
      • Tests (numerical points or percentage)
      • Quizzes (numerical points or percentage)
      • In-Class Writing (numerical points or percentage)
      • Out-of-Class Writing , Papers, or Research (numerical points or percentage)
      • Individual Projects or Group Projects (numerical points or percentage)
      • Attendance Policy (numerical points or percentage)
   8. Grading Policy:
      • Standard Letter Grade, Pass/Fail, etc.
   9. Assignments and Course Outline:
      • Textbook, Journal Articles, Internet Resources, etc.
      • NOTE: Organized by topic and date or week of meeting times.
   10. Other Information:
       • Office of Disability Services (guidelines to accommodate students)
       • For Wright State Core Program Courses: Wright State Core Goals in general and specifically how the course is part of the program; specific attributes such as multicultural, integrated writing, or honors, integrated writing
       • For Integrated Writing Courses: IW Goals and specifically how the course meets the requirement.
       • For Honors Courses: Goals and specifically how the course meets the requirement.
       • For Service Learning (SRV/SRVI): Goals and specifically how the course meets the requirement.

 

* Some courses may differ significantly from traditional offerings or may be more loosely structured and, therefore, not be appropriate to this guideline. In such cases, a course syllabus format suitable to that course should be developed and submitted.

To Modify an Existing Course:

1. Submit a workflow request to modify an existing course indicating what course changes are being proposed.

2. Include new course syllabus information that outlines requested changes to the course.

3. Inform other academic units that may be impacted by changes.

To Deactivate or Delete Existing Course:

Submit a workflow request to deactivate or delete a course. Proposals should include reasons for deactivation or deletion.

Note: An academic unit may wish to deactivate a course so that it remains in the University's inventory of courses for possible future offerings but does not appear in the Undergraduate Catalog. Annually, the Registrar will review all courses that have been deactivated or have had no enrollment for the past 6 years. The list of these courses will be sent to academic units for review to confirm accuracy of deactivation/enrollment history. Academic Deans will have until the end of the next semester after they are contacted by the registrar’s office to take action to justify why the course should still be listed in the inventory or initiate a workflow process to delete the course so a record of the deletion is documented.

NOTE: This policy replaces Course Addition and Deletion Procedure (Feb 2002), Course Modification Implementation Policy (Feb 2006), and Course Modification Procedure (Feb 2002).