Guidelines: Review of Course Proposals

Approval of credit and non-credit courses offered through Extended Education is a joint responsibility of that office and of the academic department reasonably congruent to the subject matter of the proposed course.

Extended Education determines need for the course, determines that the offering will not detract from enrollment in regular courses (credit courses only), determines facility and support availability, etc.

For Credit Courses the department approval indicates quality control over:

  • Course objectives and purposes (Is the course worthwhile?)
  • Are the course outline and methods of instructions adequate to reach objectives?
  • Are contact hours sufficient to meet the unit value requested?
  • Is the instructor competent to use the material and achieve the objectives?

    • For Non-Credit Courses the department review and comment indicates the:

  • Department has had the opportunity to review and comment
  • Course meets the intent for non-credit offerings
  • Faculty meets standards for teaching a non-credit offering

    • Material has been provided to allow a judgment on these issues. Decisions beyond those outlined above will be made by the Office of Extended Education.

    Please attach a note to any course not approved indicating which of the above criteria was the basis for the judgment and/or what additional evaluative material would be necessary, in your opinion, for an approval).

     

    University Policy/Faculty Handbook rev. 1987

    317: NONCREDIT COURSES

    Noncredit courses and institutes offered through the extension program shall be submitted for advice and/or comment to the appropriate college dean and/or department chair prior to the offering being scheduled by Extended Education. The utilization of university facilities and the use of university equipment are subject to approval by the dean or department chair. Should there be no reasonably congruent program or programs in a college, approval of the Office for Academic Affairs shall be required. Noncredit courses or institutes, as well as those offered for credit, will be reported to the faculty.

    320: EXTENDED EDUCATION CREDIT COURSES

    In keeping with University policy, courses offered for credit through the University's Extended Education program should be approved following appropriate consultive procedures and review. It may be that in some instances (particularly those involving interdisciplinary studies) no single department may be willing to assume responsibility to initiate such a review. In such a case, the Director of Extended Education should request the Dean of a School or Chair of a Division to take the proposal to his or her School or Division Curriculum Committee for a recommendation. The determination as to which School or Division should conduct the review should be made on the basis of programmatic similarity. If no School or Division Committee should be willing to assume responsibility for review, the Director of Extended Education should request the Vice President for Academic Affairs to take the proposal to the University Curriculum Committee for a recommendation.