Curriculum Proposals

Preliminary Review Stage

1. Identify the appropriate Proposal Template (see right-hand sidebar). Please note that the templates are "text PDFs," meaning that you may copy and paste the text into MS Word or similar software.
   
2. Develop a proposal that addresses all the questions asked in the template. Please take note of the “Order of Review” at the end of each template.
3. Refine the proposal through the Academic Unit’s internal processes until approved by the Dean of the Academic Unit.
4. Complete the Cover and Signatures Page, including the names of the individuals who will need to approve the proposal based on the order of review. For officials whose approval is not needed, enter NOT APPLICABLE.
   
5. a. If the proposal is a Minor Change, once approved by the EPC and Dean, send it directly to curriculum_services@american.edu.
   b. If the proposal needs full review, email it to either the Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Studies or the Vice-Provost for Graduate Studies and Research, as appropriate. He or she may give approval to move forward with the proposal, or make specific recommendations for revisions or clarifications.
6. • Units that will be directly affected should be consulted at this stage. Their comments, and applicable responses, should be included in the PDF.
     
7. Post the proposal to the Academic Unit's website, and submit a Today@AU announcement (audience: faculty) inviting all faculty to submit comments. The announcement should specify the duration of the comment period (at least one week) and to whom the comments should be sent.

Full Review Stage

6. At the end of the comment period, the Dean’s Office submits a PDF of the final proposal (including dean comments, community comments, and responses to comments) via email to facultysenate@american.edu. Please cc the deans of affected units and the provost on the email. The proposal should come as a single PDF file. The Senate Staff Assistant will upload the document to Sharepoint for the next level of review.
7. Vice-Provost and Senate Review
   1. Undergraduate proposals are reviewed first by the Vice-Provost for Undergraduate Studies, then by the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Curriculum. The Committee will be able to discuss the proposal through a secure discussion board.
   2. Graduate proposals are reviewed first by the Vice-Provost for Graduate Studies and Research, then by the Senate Committee on Graduate Curriculum. The Committee will be able to discuss the proposal through a secure discussion board.
   3. Should either Vice-Provost or Committee decide to send the proposal back to the Academic Unit for revisions, the Senate Staff Assistant will communicate their comments to the Academic Unit via email.
8. Proposals that have been approved by both the relevant Vice-Provost and relevant Curriculum Committee will either be sent electronically to the Office of the University Registrar, or routed to the Provost, President and/or Board of Trustees for approval, as appropriate.
9. Once fully approved, proposals will be sent to Curriculum Services.

Questions? Please contact Nathalie Marechal.

Proposing a new General Education course

For Wildcards and new Sophomore Seminars: Complete and return the relevant proposal (see sidebar at right) by either Feb 1 (for Fall) or May 1 (for Spring). Your proposal will be evaluated by the General Education Committee. Wildcards and Sophomore Seminars may run up to two times before going through the New Course Proposal process.

• What is a Wildcard?
• What is a Sophomore Seminar?
  

For new permanent courses: Complete and submit a New Course Proposal to your academic unit's EPC. The proposal will be evaluated according to the order of review outlined on the proposal template. In parallel, complete and submit the New GenEd Course form to gened@american.edu. The General Education Committee will certify the course as meeting at least two of the General Education Learning Outcomes.

For existing courses that departments wish to include in the General Education Program: Complete the Proposal to Add Existing Course to GenEd and submit it to gened@american.edu. The General Education Committee will certify the course as meeting at least two of the General Education Learning Outcomes.

Order of Review