Course Change Process and Deadlines

Curriculum deadlines for the College of the Environment can be found on the College
Curriculum Committee website.

Faculty who wish to have their course applications approved by those deadlines must share a completed CM application with the committee chair and ESS Student Services in time for discussion at the last ESS Curriculum Committee meeting prior to those deadlines. Since the committee typically only meets 2-3 times per quarter, faculty are encouraged to contact the committee chair and ESS Student Services well in advance to avoid missing deadlines. Note that the College of the Environment’s curriculum deadlines are typically about 2-3 quarters in advance of the desired effective quarter for any changes.

Approval by the ESS Curriculum Committee is only the first step in the curriculum approval process; if the ESS Curriculum Committee approves a change, the application is then routed to the College of the Environment Curriculum Committee for approval, followed by any relevant university committees. Changes to the course application may be requested at any stage in this process. It is the initiating faculty member’s responsibility to make those changes in a timely fashion; delays in making requested edits may result in missed deadlines and, as a result, a later effective date for the course changes.

Submitting Courses for Approval in CM

ESS faculty, including the ESS Department Chair, should not acknowledge courses or submit courses for approval in the CM system, unless asked to do so by the ESS Curriculum Coordinator. The ESS Curriculum Coordinator will confirm that courses have been approved via our departmental curricular processes before acknowledging courses or submitting courses for approval in CM.

Course Fees

While the College of the Environment’s deadlines for course fee paperwork are typically the same as those for course applications, the course fee process is separate and does not involve the ESS Curriculum Committee. The general process for adding or changing course fees is outlined on the College of the Environment website. Faculty with questions regarding course fees should contact the ESS administrator.

Tips for Faculty on Using the Curriculum Management (CM) System

Access CM by clicking the “Access UW CM” button on the UW CM website.

Uses/Benefits of CM

• As of 10/2018, CM is currently in use for new course proposals, course changes, course retirements/reactivations, distance learning applications, and edits to program descriptions in the degree catalog
• CM is not yet used for new program proposals or program changes; these still require the old paper forms
• Proposals can be viewed by anyone by emailing the proposal URL
• Proposals can be edited by anyone who you share the proposal with (by clicking the “Sharing” button in CM)

Course Application Tips

• Syllabus and Evaluation Details
  • Attach a syllabus that includes all the sections in this sample syllabus along with the items described below
  • The College of the Environment requires that the sample syllabus include a disability accommodation statement and an academic integrity statement
  • For courses with field trips, the syllabus should state the field trip location, dates, means of transportation, information regarding toilet stops, objective information regarding the field trip conditions and demands (e.g., “involves hiking 2 miles on steep trails with regular stops/breaks over the course of 2 hours”; “includes standing for extended periods of time”), and whether the field trip is required or
    optional. If the course is approved, instructors should also submit field trip information to the Time Schedule Coordinator for inclusion in the course notes before registration opens to students (see the ESS Department Field Trip FAQs).
  • State law mandates that faculty must include specific language about religious accommodations in syllabi
  • To encourage more concrete learning goals, the College of the Environment Curriculum Committee recommends that syllabus learning goals follow the format, “By the end of this course students will be able to . . .”
  • Grading on attendance is not allowed; if participation is more than 15% of the grade, the UW Curriculum Office requires “information in the syllabus listing the objective measures by which participation will be evaluated”
• Activities and Hours
  • For the credit hours breakdown, for every 1 credit, students are expected to do about 3 hours per week of work (both in class and outside of class combined); so, for example, if a class is 3 credits, the hours/week should total 9 hours
  • If “Other” hours are included in the total, an explanation and justification of those hours must be provided
• Be sure to note any potentially affected departments in the “Curricular Relationships” section of the CM application. Common examples include departments that jointly list a course, use a course as a prerequisite for one of their own courses, or allow a course to count towards their degrees.
• Other common application issues are described here

You can find more detailed information about CM with screenshots on the UW CM website.

After drafting the proposal, click “Sharing” and share the proposal with ESS Student Services and the current ESS Curriculum Committee Chair. Please do not submit the course for approval in CM unless directed to do so by the ESS Curriculum Committee Chair or Curriculum Coordinator; the course proposal must be approved by the ESS Curriculum Committee before submitting for approval, and the ESS Curriculum Coordinator will submit the course proposal for approval in CM after it has been approved by our ESS Curriculum Committee.

Update History

February 3, 2020.