Curriculum Approval Guidelines

Type

Procedure

Category

Academics

Department

Academic Affairs

Phone

(541) 463-5344

Primary Contact

Shelley Tinkham

Contact Email

Responsible Executive Authority

Vice President of Academic Affairs

Purpose

The purpose of this procedure is to describe the approval process for academic departments to follow when developing or revising curriculum. Curriculum approval shall be aligned with the state Higher Education Coordinating Commission’s approval guidelines and criteria and with Board Policy 030: Educational Programs - Global Directions. Approvals must also adhere to timelines and standards set forth by the Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC), and Lane’s accrediting body, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU).

Narrative

Academic departments, in collaboration with internal stakeholders and the Office of Curriculum and Assessment (OCA), may initiate proposals for new or revised credit-bearing courses, for new credit-bearing Career-Technical Education (CTE) or transfer programs. In the case that a relevant department does not exist, the VPAA will bring the proposal for the creation of a new area to the Curriculum Committee. Courses and programs* approved by the catalog due date will be included in the catalog effective for the next academic year, which begins each summer term. For more information about approval stages, see the visual Curriculum Approval Workflow. For non-credit courses and programs, contact the Curriculum Team for assistance. Courses and programs may not be marketed or offered until all approvals are completed. 

*Programs are subject to approval by the HECC and NWCCU; approval by a certain date cannot be guaranteed

New and Revised Courses

To offer a new or revised course, the following approvals must be completed:

  1. Approval by the Division Dean
  2. Review by Office of Curriculum and Assessment (OCA)
  3. Review by the Curriculum Committee (CC)
  4. Approval by the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs for the initiating division
  5. Approval by the Vice President of Academic Affairs
  6. Approval by the Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development (CCWD).

Internal college review and approval includes the following:

  1. Complete and submit the requisite documentation by the published due date prior to the next scheduled CC meeting
  2. The faculty proposal developer and the division dean are responsible for ensuring that proposals are complete prior to submission and should verify there is no overlap of existing courses and programs
  3. The faculty proposal developer and the division dean are responsible for discussing and working out any issues with potential course overlap prior to submitting the proposal
  4. Course proposals should include all course details as requested in the course forms
  5. ​Evaluation of new courses within the suite of current curriculum offerings
  6. Evaluate the impact of a proposal on the resources of the college
  7. Additional considerations:
    1. Special fees form(s), to be submitted via the appropriate process upon course approval
    2. Minimum course qualifications form to be submitted via the appropriate process upon course approval
  8. The CC will review course proposals and will make recommendations for proposal modifications and whether proposals are ready to move on in the process; see the Curriculum Committee procedure for more information about Committee review of proposals
  9. Approved documents become part of the formal public college record; proposal developers should edit carefully

New Program Development 

Note that it can take one to two years, or more, to move a new program through the full approval process. Programs should not be marketed or offered until they are fully approved.

New Program Approvals:

  1. Approval by the Division Dean
  2. Review by OCA
  3. Review by the CC
  4. Approval by the appropriate Associate Vice President or equivalent for the initiating division
  5. Approval by the VP of Academic Affairs
  6. Approval by the Lane Board of Education
  7. Approval by the State Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC)
  8. Approval by Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
  9. Other
    1. Some programs may need to have federal financial aid approval in place prior to offering
    2. Some programs may also need initial or conditional approval by either a professional accrediting agency or a licensure agency in addition to NWCCU

Internal college review and approval includes the following:

  1. Complete and submit the requisite documentation by the published due date prior to the next scheduled CC meeting.
  2. The faculty developer for a curriculum proposal and the division dean are responsible for ensuring that proposals are complete prior to submission
  3. OCA will review to ensure the proposal meets state and college degree or certificate requirements and will check for accuracy of other course or program data in the proposal
  4. The CC will review course proposals and will make recommendations for proposal modifications and whether proposals are ready to move on in the process; see the Curriculum Committee procedure for more information about committee review of curriculum proposals
  5. The Vice President/Provost has responsibility to review the proposal upon the CC’s recommendation
    1. The VP/Provost determines whether to approve a proposal
    2. In the event that the VP/Provost does not concur with the recommendation of the CC, they will communicate to the curriculum developers and their dean about the decision and will work with the department on improving the proposal

Program proposals must include the following:

  1. Substantive responses to all state standards and criteria, including rationale and statement of need
  2. ​Evaluation of new programs within the suite of current curriculum offerings
  3. Evaluate the impact of the proposal on the resources of the college
  4. Inclusion of required industry and occupational data
  5. Indication of internal and external collaborations in program development
  6. List of active advisory committee members
  7. All other required elements for internal and external approvals
  8. Additional considerations:
    1. Special fees form(s), to be submitted via the appropriate process upon course approval
    2. Minimum course qualifications form to be submitted via the appropriate process upon course approval

Date Adopted

Saturday, May 1, 1999

Date Last Reviewed

Monday, November 20, 2023