Millersville University, Faculty Senate
Guidelines for Preparation and Approval of
Proposals
Prepared March 1984. Revised: June 1990, May 1997,
September 2001, March 2002 (UCPRC & GCPRC)
I. Course Approval Process (Governance Manual, section 3, under
Course & Program Approval Procedure)
- Initiation Each department (or group of
departments) may establish its own process to generate proposals,
provided that in the process:
- A single spokesperson is authorized to guide the proposal through
the approval process and negotiate minor (see I.C. below) changes in it.
- A course proposal is prepared according to the format described in
section II.
- Resource Implications To each copy of the proposal should be
attached either (1) the completed Resource Implications form, or (2) a
copy of the appropriate Dean's analysis of the resource implications of
the proposal. The proposal and accompanying Resource Implications form
should be submitted to the dean for analysis once the proposal has passed
the department. (A blank Resource Implications form is linked to the
Faculty Senate home page.) A copy of the Dean's analysis should be
attached to each copy of the proposal that is submitted to Faculty Senate.
- Intermediate Stages The spokesperson presents the proposal
first to the appropriate school committee(s) and council(s), then to
the Undergraduate Course and Program Review Committee (UCPRC, Section
I.F.), or Graduate Course and Program Review Committee (GCPRC, Section
I.G), as appropriate. One of three actions results at each stage:
- Approval of the proposal as presented.
- Approval subject to certain amendments agreed to by the
spokesperson & deemed as minor changes (see Section I.D.). Such
amendments shall appear at each stage as attachments to the original
proposal unless they are purely editorial.
- Disapproval. Reasons for disapproval must be clearly stated in
writing to the proposal spokesperson. Revised proposals must undergo the
complete approval process.
- Minor changes, Major Changes, and Disapproval Each committee,
council, or department involved in the approval process through any given
stage shall be notified of amendments by receipt of minutes and may object
to them as representing major changes. Such action will constitute
disapproval of the proposal (see Section I.C.3. above).
- Appeal (See Governance Manual, p. 86) Should a proposal be
twice disapproved by the same committee or council (other than
departmental) the initiating department(s) shall have the right to appeal
directly to Faculty Senate.
- UCPRC Procedures and Timetable When a proposal has been
approved for presentation to the UCPRC, the
spokesperson shall send 15 copies of the (amended) proposal, each with a
cover sheet, to the UCPRC chairperson. (Blank
cover pages are linked to the Faculty Senate homepage.) Proposals are
considered in the order of receipt. UCPRC meets on the second, fourth, and
fifth Tuesday (at 4:00 p.m.) when classes are in session during fall and
spring semesters. UCPRC normally considers up to four new proposals each
meeting. A current list of course proposals awaiting consideration is
available from the UCPRC chairperson on request. There often is a backlog
of courses. Normal procedure follows:
Before meeting 1-- Notification of the spokesperson of the time,
date, and location of the committee meeting. Distribution of the course
proposal to the members of the committee.
Meeting 1-- Introduction of the proposal by the spokesperson.
Discussion of the proposal by the committee with the spokesperson.
Indication of possible suggestions for revision.
Meeting 2-- Action by the committee. The proposal spokesperson will
be informed in writing of the recommendations of the committee, as well as
of any changes suggested or required.
- GCPRC Procedures and Timetable When the proposal has been
approved for presentation to the GCPRC, the proposal spokesperson shall
send 20 copies of the (amended) proposal, each with a cover sheet, to the
GCPRC Chairperson. (Blank
cover pages are linked to the Faculty Senate homepage). Proposals are
considered in the order of receipt. GCPRC meets on the last Wednesday of the
month from 3-4:30 PM when classes are in session during fall and spring
semesters.
Prior to meeting when the proposal is first introduced--
Notification of the Spokesperson of the time, date, and location of the
GCPRC meeting. The GCPRC Chairperson will distribute the proposal to the
members of GCPRC.
Introduction of the proposal for consideration--During the
appropriate time in the GCPRC Agenda, the spokesperson will be identified
and will introduce the proposal. Discussion of the proposal by the
committee with the spokesperson. During this meeting one of the following
actions may occur:
- Approval of the proposal as presented
- Referral of the proposal to the spokesperson to make suggested
amendments and resubmit for consideration during future GCPRC regularly
scheduled meetings
- Recommendation to the Senate If the proposal is approved, the
UCPRC or GCPRC chairperson will return the signed cover page of the
proposal with a copy of the proposal, and ask the spokesperson to provide
to Faculty Senate forty copies (reproduced double-sided, that is, front to
back) of the proposal each with accompanying cover page, and with all
amendments incorporated into the text. The proposal will be presented at
the next Faculty Senate meeting with the committee's recommendations.
Senate approval normally follows the one-meeting rule.
II. Body of a Course Proposal (A course is proposed and controlled
by a department, not by an individual. The use of first-person singular in
the proposal therefore is not appropriate.)
- Catalog Description with Prerequisites
- Rationale and Supporting Information--Discuss the following
briefly.
- Present curricular needs this course will meet.
- Projected enrollment/
- Relationship, if any, between this course and other courses in
this or other departments (consider interdisciplinary curricula, overlap
of content with that of course in other departments, etc.). If there is
the possibility that the content of a proposed course may overlap with the
content of a course in another department, the proposal should be
accompanied by a memo from the other department indicating that it has
reviewed the proposal. It is the proposer's responsibility to verify that
a proposal does not create difficulties with the curricula of other
departments. (As each proposal is received by the UCPRC chairperson,
possible conflicts will be checked by DARS. Any that are found will be
brought to the attention of the proposer and should be resolved.)
- Removal from the catalog of existing courses in the event of approval.
- Primary orientation. To what extent is the purpose of the course
to develop or provide relevant:
a. facts? |
b. analytical methods? |
c. technical skills? |
- Appropriateness of proposed title, number, and credit hours.
- Primary Course Objectives
- Comprehensive Outline of Course Content
- Criteria for Evaluating Student Performance Indicate the types of
items that will be evaluated: term papers, essay examinations, reaction
papers, artistic or craft projects, oral presentations, classroom
participation, etc. Course grading policies must be in accord with
guidelines in the current governance manual (section 3).
- Required Text and Bibliography (the latter to be four pages or
less)
- General Education Credit? (Not appropriate for graduate
courses.) If so:
- In which block? Humanities and Fine Arts (G1), Science and
Mathematics (G2), Social Sciences (G3) Attach a completed Liberal Arts
Core application form (linked to
Senate web page).
- Indicate the component of General Education
satisfied by this course: Liberal Arts Core, Perspectives, or Additional
University Requirements.
- Indicate whether the proposed course satisfies the criteria for
Lab, W (Liberal Arts core or otherwise), or Perspectives designations and
attach the appropriate General Education approval forms. (These forms
are linked to the Senate web-page.)
- Resources--How will the following needs be met?
- Staff: Does the department possess the expertise to teach the
proposed course or are new faculty needed? Please omit references to
specific individuals.
- Library: Does Ganser Library or the departmental library have
sufficient resources to support the proposed course? Explain what is
needed.
- Equipment: Does the department or the university possess the
equipment needed to present the course? Explain anything that is needed.
- Other Supporting Materials as Necessary
III. Timeliness of Proposals Proposers need to initiate proposals
early enough to make sure they are completely approved in time to be
included in the schedule of courses for a given semester. (1) The last
step in the approval process-approval by the Provost-can occur no later
than the very beginning of the semester before the course is scheduled to
be offered. Courses that have not been approved by the Provost will not
be printed in the published schedule of classes. (2) In turn, this means
that recommendation for approval by Faculty Senate must be complete by
the end of the previous semester. Proposals are considered for approval
by Faculty Senate the meeting after they are presented (or placed on the
agenda). (3) Therefore, courses must receive recommendation for approval
by UCPRC or GCPRC, no later than one month before the end of the
semester. UCPRC or GCPRC has the same procedure as does Senate, to
consider for approval the meeting after a course is presented. (4) This
means that a course must pass divisional curriculum committee no later
than two months before the end of that semester.
Therefore, a course will require a minimum of a semester
to receive the recommendations for approval of divisional curriculum
committee, UCPRC or GCPRC, and Senate. The approval process may take
longer, usually because the committees involved have a large number of
proposals to consider, or if the course is controversial and is challenged
or generates considerable discussion. It always is wise for the proposer
to contact the chair of the divisional curriculum committee and the chair
of UCPRC or GCPRC to determine how crowded their agendas are.
In summary, for a course to be offered in the spring semester, it should
be submitted to the divisional curriculum committee no later than the
start of the spring semester of the previous year. A fall semester course
should be submitted to the divisional curriculum committee no later than
the beginning of the fall semester of the previous year. Of course,
departments always may offer a course one time as an experimental course.