Provost Guidelines for New Course Proposals

In order to submit a new course for approval to the Academic Senate Review Committee the New Course Proposal Checklist needs to be completed. Please put a check next to each box on the checklist to indicate you have provided information for that area. Once complete, submit all materials to the Registrar. 

When considering credit units, please refer to the credit hour policy below. It is assumed that the department chair and the instructor of the course have consulted on the appropriate amount of credit to offer for each course prior to submitting any proposals. If the new course is approved, the Registrar will ensure that the course meeting times confirm to this standard for each course offering. 

If you have any questions on this process, please contact the Registrar. 

Definition of a Credit Hour
Credit hours represent the amount of student work required to accomplish stated student learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement. 

A credit hour is equivalent to at least 3 hours of work each week over the period of the 15 week instructional term, inclusive of exams, individual work, and in-course instructional time. In-course instructional time for traditional lecture courses is based on a standard of 50 minutes per week per credit, inclusive of exams. Labs, performance ensembles, private lessons, physical education courses and other experiential based instructional settings often apply varying ratios of in-class instructional and individual preparation time to meet this standard as appropriate to the individual course.