Administrative number: 3-4
Responsible office: Academic Affairs
Responsible officer: Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs

Curricular Changes Policy

Purpose:

This policy describes the approval process to be used to accomplish all curricular changes at Winona State University (WSU), while recognizing the responsibility and right of the WSU Faculty Association (FA) to propose such changes. Curricular changes include proposals for the growth, reduction, revision, or discontinuation (banking) of an undergraduate or graduate program or course.

This policy applies to all proposed curricular changes involving:

  1. New/revised undergraduate/graduate courses and programs,
  2. Courses submitted for inclusion in the WSU General Education Program,
  3. Courses and sections receiving additional designations in the registration system, academic transcripts, and/or co-curricular transcripts, and
  4. Discontinuation (banking) of a course or program.

All approved course and program proposals are subject to policies on curriculum published by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities central offices and Higher Learning Commission requirements.

Policy:

A. Principles of Curricular Change at Winona State University

  1. Proposals for curricular change originate from a faculty member in a department under the supervision of an academic college dean. The department chair (acting on behalf of the department) and the dean must approve a proposal before it can be considered by a faculty curriculum committee.

  2. Notifications are reviewed by faculty curriculum committees only to ensure that the proposal qualifies as a notification using the stated criteria. Notifications do not require review by the FA Senate or the Chief Academic Officer before being implemented in the Registrar’s office. A notification accepted by a major curriculum committee is an approved proposal.

  3. After the FA Senate has accepted a recommendation on a proposal from a major curriculum committee, it is presented to the administration as an FA recommendation. After an FA recommendation has been accepted by the Chief Academic Officer, it is an approved proposal.

  4. The effective date of approved proposals for new or revised programs is typically the first fall semester after the proposal has been approved. The effective date of approved proposals for new or revised courses is typically the first semester after the proposal has been approved.

  5. Regarding the actions of its subcommittees and its processes for making an FA recommendation, the FA is not bound by the details of the accompanying procedures and retains the authority to determine how they will proceed.

  6. The FA Senate shall maintain and control a list of exceptional situations, and the FA President will be responsible for the maintenance and control of this list. Any exceptions shall be confirmed in the Meet and Confer process.

B. Principles of the Curricular Change Process

  1. The Academic Affairs office maintains the CMS, working in conjunction with the CMS faculty administrator. All proposal forms in the CMS are under the purview of the Faculty Association.

  2. The proposal originator and department chair approval roles in the CMS must be occupied by faculty members in the IFO bargaining unit.

  3. By default, all proposals and comments about them within the CMS shall be accessible to all faculty and administrators. The CMS faculty administrator shall grant “view-only” access to the CMS to all interested WSU staff members upon request.

  4. The CMS faculty administrator shall implement the approval processes defined in this policy and its accompanying procedures. The CMS faculty administrator shall implement all exceptional situations in the CMS after they have been confirmed. The CMS faculty administrator is empowered to move proposals to different approval levels when necessary; the administrator shall notify all affected parties when intervening in approval processes.

  5. When the accompanying procedures require one party to notify another, CMS proposal comments are not sufficient; correspondence should be sent directly.

  6. Faculty curriculum committees should distribute their agendas widely in advance of their meetings. The portions of these meetings considering curricular changes are open to all members of the university community. All curriculum committees make recommendations about proposals to their parent assemblies.

  7. A2C2 and its subcommittees review undergraduate proposals; Graduate Council reviews graduate proposals. The major curriculum committees make their recommendations directly to FA Senate; they do not take action on each other’s recommendations. When proposed curricular changes affect courses and/or programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, separate proposals should be submitted to both A2C2 and Graduate Council (and any relevant subcommittees).

  8. When a curriculum committee is reviewing a proposal, its chair shall have editing privileges so long as these edits do not significantly change the purpose and content of the original proposals. All edits are automatically recorded in the CMS “track changes” feature.

  9. The Academic Affairs office maintains the mailing list(s) of college deans, department chairs, and administrative assistants for the purposes of distributing curriculum committee agendas. The Academic Affairs office works with the CMS faculty administrator and the curriculum committee chairs to ensure that the proposal forms, approval processes, and approval roles in the software accurately reflect these policies, procedures, and the handling of exceptional situations.

Related definitions:

[3-4] Academic Colleges:

The College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences, and the College of Science and Engineering.

[3-4] Approved Proposal:

A proposal for curricular change that has received all necessary approvals from faculty, administrators, and curriculum committees before being implemented in the Registrar’s office.

[3-4] Chief Academic Officer (CAO):

The WSU administrator, normally the Vice President for Academic Affairs, vested with the authority to approve curricular changes.

[3-4] CMS:

See curriculum management system.

[3-4] CMS Faculty Administrator:

A faculty member, normally the A2C2 chair, who works with the Academic Affairs office to maintain the CMS.

[3-4] Curricular Change:

An addition to, revision of, or deletion from the university’s catalog affecting programs, courses, and sections of courses reflected in a student’s academic and/or co-curricular transcripts.

[3-4] Curriculum Committees:

A2C2, Graduate Council, and their relevant standing subcommittees.

[3-4] Curriculum Management System (CMS):

A software and database package reflecting the approval processes defined in this policy and its accompanying procedures.

[3-4] Department Chair:

Normally the faculty member designated as such in the IFO Master Agreement or recognized as such by the Faculty Association. For the purposes of this policy, when a program is not directly administered by a formal department the “department chair” role shall be occupied by the faculty member serving as the program’s director or coordinator.

[3-4] Editing Privileges:

The ability to correct minor errors, clarify intentions, provide more information, or attach additional documentation to a proposal in the CMS.

[3-4] Exceptional Situations:

Deviations from the normal approval roles and processes described in this policy and its accompanying procedures.

[3-4] FA:

See Faculty Association.

[3-4] FA Recommendation:

A proposal for curricular change presented to the administration by the Faculty Association. A recommendation accepted by the Chief Academic Officer is an approved proposal.

[3-4] FA Senate:

The governing body of the Faculty Association.

[3-4] Faculty and Faculty Members:

WSU employees represented by the Inter Faculty Organization (IFO) and its local chapter, the WSU Faculty Association.

[3-4] Faculty Association (FA):

The local WSU chapter of the Inter Faculty Organization (IFO).

[3-4] Graduate Council:

A standing committee of FA Senate consisting of faculty representing each academic department with a graduate program.

[3-4] Higher Learning Commission (HLC):

An independent corporation that accredits degree-granting postsecondary educational institutions in the North Central region of the United States.

[3-4] HLC:

See Higher Learning Commission.

[3-4] Major Curriculum Committees:

A2C2 and Graduate Council.

[3-4] Notify:

An action of passing on communication in writing, as opposed to stating something in a meeting, in an informal setting (such as a face-to-face interaction or a phone call), or in a proposal comment.

[3-4] Notification:

A proposal for curricular change that does not significantly alter the purpose and/or content of a program or course and has no impact on other WSU departments or programs.

[3-4] Program:

A course of study leading to a degree, major, minor, or certificate. For the purposes of this policy and its accompanying procedures, any set of courses associated with a unique major code— including a pre-admission or a pre-professional sequence—is considered a distinct program.

[3-4] Proposal:

A form initiating some type of curricular change submitted by a faculty member using the CMS.

Subsequent Procedures:

History:

Adoption date: 05/15/2019
Implementation date: 07/01/2019