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Course Approval and Revision Process (CARP)

New Course Approval Process

Purpose

The intent of the process laid out below is to delineate the sequence of events needed to create a new course offered by Grand Rapids Community College.

Workflow Timeline Notice

In the interest of getting new courses approved and placed into printed materials it is essential that a timeline be adhered to as follows:

Previous academic year

Present idea to department and Assistant Dean

Summer - Early Fall

Work with the Learning Academy to develop course and its accompanying CARP documents

October

Department Approval

November

AGC Course Approval Committee

December/January

Provost / Interdisciplinary Studies and Instructional Support (ISIS) sign off / ready for catalog

Process

  1. Ideas for new courses may come from Advisory Committees, individual faculty members, departments, deans or students. The new course process may be initiated by a faculty member or requested by a Dean or Assistant Dean. A narrative rationale for the new course should be presented to the respective department.
  2. The department or involved departments should have a discussion and decision about the new course before any further work on it begins. Such a discussion should include:
    • consideration of the market for the new course
    • value of the class to student
    • whether a similar course is offered elsewhere in the institution
    • how the course would help meet department goals
    • how the course fits in the department's plans
    • how a course would fit in the total curriculum offered
    • how the course aligns to the college's mission, vision, values and ends.
  3. The faculty member who will be writing the course should communicate that intention to their Assistant Dean before beginning work. The Assistant Dean consulting with the faculty member and any other appropriate individuals will assess budgetary, transferability, and technology implications, and decide whether the course should move forward at this time.
  4. Once it is decided if the course will be developed, the faculty member who is writing the course will work with the Learning Academy to design the course following the Course Approval and Review Process. www.grcc.edu/carp. As this process begins, the narrative describing this course will be posted to the Academic Governing Council web page for awareness and review. The Learning Academy must validate that the college's instructional design standards have been met as evidenced by the CARP document before the course is considered ready to proceed to the next step.
  5. When the CARP form is completed, the course must be presented for approval to the department or program. If changes are recommended, the author would make those changes and resubmit the course to the department. The Department Head will submit the course documents to the Assistant Dean.
  6. The Assistant Dean will notify the AGC that a course is ready for approval and include a link and electronic copies of all supporting documents.
  7. The AGC Course Approval Committee will consider the course. If revisions are necessary, the Committee will notify the author of the course and the Department Head/Program Director of suggested changes.
  8. When revisions are completed the AGC Course Approval Committee sends their recommendation to the AGC Executive Committee who sends it on to the Provost.
  9. The Provost will make a decision in accordance with the AGC bylaws.

Internal Processing

  1. Upon Provost signing, the Instructional Support and Interdisciplinary Studies (ISIS) office and the Registrar will be notified that the CARP form of the course has been approved. ISIS will inform the Registrar when everything is complete with the electronic CARP form, The Registrar will input the course information into the PeopleSoft catalog taxonomy.
  2. This will initiate all necessary college functions including:
    • Activation of the course for scheduling by the Registrar
    • Maintenance of the degree audit system by the Registrars Office
    • Prerequisite enforcement and room needs identified - Registrars Office
    • Funds attached to a course by the Provost Office
    • ACS code assigned by the Provost Office.
  3. The Registrar will send notification of the approval to the Dean, Assistant Dean, and Department, as well as to the College Leadership Council, Counseling and University Relations
  4. University Relations will notify external organizations.


Updated on 20-SEP-07
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