Proposed catalog description

Achieving clarity and focus of catalog descriptions is of great concern to the committee. When revisions are necessary, the committee works with department to ensure the descriptions are clear and do not contain extraneous information. For example, information on frequency, meeting times, and how the course relates to others within the program are unnecessary elements.

Some suggestions to consider:

• Avoid complicated and lengthy sentences
• The purpose of the course description is to give students an integrated view of the content. Simply enumerating topics may not be helpful.
• Course structure information should be detailed in the accompanying syllabus.
• Avoid redundancy.

Rationale for a proposed course

All courses exist within the context of the program(s) offered by the initiating department. This contextual information should be provided in the rationale for the course.

Questions to address include:

• How does the course fit in the program(s)?
• Does the proposed course replace an existing course(s)?
• Will the course be a requirement for all or some students?
• How often will the course be offered?
• What is the expected enrollment?
• Is there overlap with another course(s)? If so why is the new course required?

Undergraduates may enroll in 500 level courses, while 600 level courses are restricted to graduate students. Please include the proposed course number in the rationale, as well as any intent to cross-list the course at the undergraduate level. Please consult with Student Records or the Graduate School to ensure a particular course number has not already been used.

Resource utilization

Factors to consider include:

1. Institutional Library Support: What holdings are required for this course? If holdings need to be acquired, what level of priority is requested?
2. Outside Library Support: What holdings are available from the department/college, faculty, off campus locations, etc.?
3. Space and Equipment: What classroom/laboratory space and equipment is available? Is new equipment expected to be purchased?
4. Computer Resources: What hardware is required and does it need to be purchased? Is software available? What are the online options?
5. Student Assistant Support: What support is required for grading, lab work, and other needs?
6. Instructor Availability: Who is the instructor(s)? Based on availability, is this course a regular catalog offering?

Course modification

Course modifications may be anything from a simple change in the number of credits to a major rewrite of the catalog description. Changes such as latter should be treated as a new course offering. A course outline, instructor, and rationale for the change should be included. The Graduate School asks for a rationale section for any courses presented to the Committee, regardless of the level of complexity of the change being requested.

Course elimination/sunsetting

For various reasons, there are courses still listed that will never again be offered in the form described in the catalog description. The committee asks departments to submit course elimination requests as they come across these courses.

Courses that are relevant but unable to be offered for the foreseeable future should be “sunsetted.” Sunsetted courses can be reactivated by contacting the graduate school or the Office of Student Records within 5 years of the sunset date.