Curriculum Changes

Covers changes to course title; course calendar descriptions; prerequisite and corequisite language; number of credits; number of student hours in lecture, seminar or laboratory and course equivalencies.

1. Fill the Faculty Council Curriculum Submission Checklist and Summary form (“pragmatics form”).
2. Review the pragmatics form and the new Course Outline with the department and vote on the change(s).
3. Complete the proposed changes in Course Management System (CMS). VIU username and password required. Include the date of the department vote. Upload the new Course Outline to the new CMS course variant.
4. Send the pragmatics form (#1) and new Course Outline to the Administrative Coordinator with the Subject Line: "Faculty Council Submission - DEPT NAME" so that it can be added to the next Faculty Council agenda.

Further details:

Do you need to submit a Program Change (Request for Program Change Form) alongside any course changes?

• As of the April 4th, 2024 Senate Motion, the Office of the Registrar is empowered to update the official Calendar pages “with any program changes that are resulting from course changes. The changes resulting from course changes will be considered housekeeping changes and will not require Request for Program Change submissions to Curriculum Committee. “The intention here is to capture small changes like credit value or changes to a course title, whereas the addition of a new course to a program would still require a program change form be completed.”
• With this change in practice, it is very important to be able to discuss the impact of any change to VIU programs (that is, if any changes will be needed to be made by the Office of the Registrar) at both Faculty Council and Curriculum Committee. Note that the Course Management System asks the following question with every course change: “Is this course a requirement of any program(s), and if so, which one(s)?”
• Note: only one user may create or edit a new variant of a course in CMS, so you cannot have someone else start the process with the intention of another user taking over, or joining in.

Covers changes to calendar language as seen on the viu.ca/programs/ pages (i.e. The Calendar) including changes listed in the Program Outline and Admission Requirements accordions. Changes on scitech.viu.ca are managed by S&T and do not require Faculty Council approval, but any information posted must align with approved Calendar information. 

1. Fill the Faculty Council Curriculum Submission Checklist and Summary form (“pragmatics form”).
2. Fill the Request for Program Change form capturing all details that need to be changed with ‘Tracked Changes’, following the directions in the form (see ‘Further details' below).
3. Review the form(s) with the department and vote on the change.
4. If needed (see ‘Further details’ below), complete any proposed course changes in Course Management System (CMS) including the date of the department vote.
5. Send the forms (#1, #2) to the Administrative Coordinator with the Subject Line: "Faculty Council Submission - DEPT NAME" so that it can be added to the next Faculty Council agenda.

Further details:

• Do you need to submit any Course Changes through the Course Management System?
  
  
  • The most common examples of these types of changes are changes to the number of credits for a course, or changes to the title of a course. Both of these details are tracked in a Program Outline if the course is a required program course. If the course is an elective, this information is often not tracked, in which case a program change is not needed. 
    If the only changes to the Program are changes to Courses, then the Course Change process (above) should be followed. The impact of these changes on the Program should be tracked for discussion purposes. Note that CMS asks the following question with every course change: “Is this course a requirement of any program(s), and if so, which one(s)?”
  • Program changes require completion of a Request for Program Change form, found on the Curriculum Committee website. This form requires one to copy and paste the official Calendar language (viu.ca/programs/) that one wants to change into the form, and then to use Tracked Changes to show specifically what changes are being requested. This includes all details, both to language and any credit values showing on a Program Outline.

New Program: Anyone interested in developing a new program should first consult with the Dean.  Additional information can then be found on the Curriculum Committee site.

Each new course in a program will also need to be created following the process below.

New Course:

1. Discuss the new course as a department, including course and program learning objectives, and the financial details of the course (credit, total student contact hours, class size, mode of delivery).
2. Complete the Faculty Council Curriculum Submission Checklist and Summary form (“pragmatics form”) and email the Administrative Coordinator to request a meeting with the Dean to discuss the budgetatry impacts.  
3. Create a detailed Course Outline and the first variant of the course in the Course Management System (CMS) where you will also upload the Course Outline.
4. Complete the Request for Program Change form unless the new course is an elective and elective options are not listed in the program.
5. Send the form(s) to the Administrative Coordinator with the Subject Line: "Faculty Council Submission - DEPT NAME" so that it can be added to the next Faculty Council agenda.

• Guiding Principles for Program Redevelopment
• Course Management System (CMS) – only accessible by Chairs, Faculty Council members, and Dean’s Office
• Faculty Council Curriculum Submission Checklist and Summary form (“pragmatics form”)
• Request for Program Change form.
• Course Outline template
• Faculty Council agenda deadlines