New Course Development
The following guidelines are designed to assist FMHI faculty who are creating a new course. The process for developing proposals and submitting them for approval by the FMHI Curriculum Committee is described and links are provided to websites for the Undergraduate Council and Graduate Council, the official university groups that give final approval to new courses. All new courses must be approved by the relevant curricular bodies prior to being listed in the University Catalog.
Step 1
Determine whether a similar course is offered in another college. Identify colleges/departments where similar courses might be offered and review the department’s course listing in the University Catalog. If an existing course seems to be similar to or have substantial overlap with the proposed course, obtain a copy of the existing course syllabus from the host department to make this determination. If there is substantial overlap between an established course and the proposed course, the Undergraduate/Graduate Council may not approve the FMHI course or may require documentation of distinctiveness.
Step 2
Prepare a course syllabus. Required elements of a syllabus are listed in the Provost’s Office Course Syllabi Policy
You may want to use
boilerplate language
in your syllabus to refer
to academic dishonesty, plagiarism, cheating, disruption of the academic process, attendance at the first
class meeting, academic assistance for students with disabilities, Incomplete grade policy, and religious
observation.
Step 3
Prepare a course proposal using either the undergraduate course proposal form or the graduate course proposal form.
Typically, FMHI courses adopt the
MHS course prefix
.
However, prefix alternatives may be found by reviewing the
Statewide Course Numbering System.(see Associate Dean)
It is recommended that faculty have their syllabus and course proposal reviewed by other faculty who have submitted courses through the curricular approval process. Larry Thompson, MHLP, has volunteered to assist with undergraduate course proposals. Bruce Levin, CFS, has volunteered to assist with graduate course proposals.
Step 4
Submit seven copies of the course syllabus and the course proposal to the Chair of the FMHI Curriculum Committee, Dr. Bruce Levin. Questions that may be asked by the Curriculum Committee include: Is this course consistent with FMHI’s mission? Is this course a reasonable course to be offered by FMHI? Does this course fit into a program of study/certificate program?
Step 5
After receiving approval from the FMHI Curriculum Committee, submit the proposal to the FMHI for approval.
Step 6
Submit the course to the Undergraduate Council or Graduate Council for review following their procedures.
Step 7
After the class has been approved by the Undergraduate or Graduate Council, contact Patty Cleveland (4-4694) in the Dean’s Office to have the class scheduled in Banner, the USF course registration system.