How to Propose a New Course

Enter the name or user ID of the person responsible for developing the course. This person will serve as the primary faculty point of contact for the proposal throughout the review process. For Graduate level courses, this individual must be a member of the Graduate Faculty. Only one person can be designated as the Principal Faculty Member.

For best results when entering a name, type the faculty member's last name in the form field. As you begin to type, a list of suggestions from the Penn State directory will pop up, from which you can select. Once a name is selected, the person's email address will auto-populate in the Email field.

If other faculty members are responsible for the development of this course, select Yes.

Development Faculty Member(s)

If you select Yes, an additional Development Faculty Member(s) form field will appear for you to enter the name or user ID of the appropriate faculty member(s) who also are responsible for the development of this course.

For best results when entering a name, type the faculty member's last name in the form field. As you begin to type, a list of suggestions from the Penn State directory will pop up, from which you can select. Once a name is selected, the person's email address will auto-populate in the Email field.

To add another person, click the Green Plus Sign Button in the form field header to add a new row. Enter the name or user ID of that person.

To delete a row, click the Red X Button to the right of the row.

From the dropdown menu, select the home college of the Principal Faculty Member.

From the dropdown menu, select the home unit of the Principal Faculty Member.

From the dropdown menu, select the college that will initially offer the course. This may be the same as the Proposer's Home College but can be different. The college selected here will determine your choices for which Unit will initially offer the course.

Please note, cross-listed course information will be entered in a separate section of this form. At that time, you will enter the appropriate college and unit for all cross-listed courses.

From the dropdown menu, select the unit that will initially offer the course. The available Units are those that exist within the College you selected in the question above.

Please note, cross-listed course information will be entered in a separate section of this form. At that time, you will enter the appropriate college and unit for all cross-listed courses.

To import information from an existing common course template, click the green Templates for Common Courses Button in the upper right-hand corner of the proposal form.

The Copy Course selector tool will open in a new window.

Select the common course template you want to import into your proposal and click the Copy Course Button.

Information from the selected course will populate into your proposal's fields. Please note, any information already entered on the proposal form will be overridden and lost once you complete the Copy Course feature.

Once you have copied a course from the Templates for Common Courses, you can then modify the appropriate fields for your course proposal as needed.

From the dropdown menu, select the course abbreviation.

If you are proposing a course with a brand-new course abbreviation, scroll down to the bottom of the dropdown menu and select NEW - New.

If you select NEW - New, two additional form fields will appear:

Proposed Abbreviation

Enter the new course abbreviation.

New Abbreviation Justification

Enter the reason(s) why a course abbreviation needs to be created for this course.

Enter the proposed course number.

If you enter a course number that is currently in use, you will receive the error message: Course code is not unique. If this occurs, please enter a different, unused course number. While you may continue filling out the proposal form and save it with the intention to return to complete it at a later time, you will not be able to submit the proposal to the approval workflow process until you have entered a course number that currently is not in use.

To assist in finding a course number that currently is not in use, click the Course Numbers in Use button. Please note, the Course Numbers in Use button only appears once you have selected a course abbreviation.

A new pop-up window will open with the full listing of all course numbers in use for the selected course abbreviation. Courses that currently are active appear in white rows with normal while courses that have been dropped appear in grey rows with italic text. You can click on any course to open its latest course proposal in the Curriculum Management System (CIM).

Enter the proposed course title. Please note, there are no character limits for this field.

Enter the proposed abbreviated title. The abbreviated title appears on the student's official transcript and should be as descriptive as possible. Please note, this field is limited to 30 characters.

Prerequisite Courses are courses or other requirements that must be completed prior to the start of a given course.

Enter prerequisite requirements for the proposed course using the correct formatting as described in the Entering Prerequisites, Concurrents, and Corequisites User Guide.

If prerequisite courses are entered, describe the reasons the prerequisite courses are needed.

Concurrent Courses are similar to prerequisites except that they may be taken prior to, or in the same semester as, the given course.

Enter concurrent course requirements for the proposed course using the correct formatting as described in the Entering Prerequisites, Concurrents, and Corequisites User Guide.

If concurrent courses are entered, describe the reasons the concurrent courses are needed.

Corequisite courses are pairs of courses required to be taken together in the same semester (e.g., lecture/lab).

Enter corequisite course requirements for the proposed course using the correct formatting as described in the Entering Prerequisites, Concurrents, and Corequisites User Guide.

If corequisite courses are entered, describe the reasons the corequisite courses are needed.

Enter any preparatory skills or companion courses deemed useful, but not necessary, for successful completion of a course. Items listed here do not affect a student's ability to register for the course.

Explain how the Honors version of the course differs from the regular version.

Bachelor of Arts Designations

Select all designation(s) that apply by clicking the appropriate checkboxes.

Bachelor of Arts Designation Justification

For each designation selected, an additional field requesting justification for use of the selected will appear. In each field, please describe why the course should be designated with the listed Bachelor of Arts attribute.

US Cultures Complete Course Outline

Enter a complete course outline. The outline should include a statement of course learning objectives that reflect the US content and a listing of major topics with the approximate length of time for their discussion.

For this field, you can copy and paste the information entered in the Listing of Major Topics field above and bold the items relevant to US Cultures.

To bold an item, highlight the appropriate text and click the B button in the text editor.

US Aspects of the Course

Enter relevant information explaining the US aspects of the course in the long course description.

For this field, you can copy and paste the information entered in the Public Course Description for Bulletin & Schedule of Courses above and bold the elements relevant to US Cultures.

To bold an item, highlight the appropriate text and click the B button in the text editor.

United States Cultures Criterion

Select three or more US Cultures criterion that this course will encourage students to achieve. The listed criterion include:

• See nations, cultures, and/or social identities not in isolation, but in relation to each other
• Cultivate awareness of the pluralism and diversity within the United States and international cultures
• Increase knowledge of different cultural values, traditions, beliefs and customs
• Appreciate the diversity that exists among persons who share a particular social identity
• Increase knowledge about the range of cultural achievements and human conditions through time
• Recognize and be sensitive to the different ways social identities have been valued
• Re-examine beliefs and behaviors about social identities (ethnicity, race, class, religion, gender, physical/mental disability, or sexual orientation)
• Increase understanding of the nature of stereotypes and biases of other cultures and other nations
• Interact successfully with representatives of other nations and with persons of different social groups
• Increase ability to locate and evaluate information and gain knowledge about other peoples of the world
• Increase understanding of the nature of social justice, and equity at the societal, institutional, and individual levels

For each criterion selected, two additional fields requesting further explanation will appear. In each field, please describe how the course encourages students to achieve the selected criterion and how student learning of the criterion will be assessed.

International Cultures Complete Course Outline

Enter a complete course outline. The outline should include a statement of course learning objectives that reflect the IL content and a listing of major topics with the approximate length of time for their discussion.

For this field, you can copy and paste the information entered in the Listing of Major Topics field above and bold the items relevant to International Cultures.

To bold an item, highlight the appropriate text and click the B button in the text editor.

IL Aspects of the Course

Enter relevant information explaining the IL aspects of the course in the long course description.

For this field, you can copy and paste the information entered in the Public Course Description for Bulletin & Schedule of Courses above and bold the elements relevant to International Cultures.

To bold an item, highlight the appropriate text and click the B button in the text editor.

International Cultures Criterion

Select three or more International Cultures criterion that this course will encourage students to achieve. The listed criterion include:

• See nations, cultures, and/or social identities not in isolation, but in relation to each other
• Cultivate awareness of the pluralism and diversity within the United States and international cultures
• Increase knowledge of different cultural values, traditions, beliefs and customs
• Appreciate the diversity that exists among persons who share a particular social identity
• Increase knowledge about the range of cultural achievements and human conditions through time
• Recognize and be sensitive to the different ways social identities have been valued
• Re-examine beliefs and behaviors about social identities (ethnicity, race, class, religion, gender, physical/mental disability, or sexual orientation)
• Increase understanding of the nature of stereotypes and biases of other cultures and other nations
• Interact successfully with representatives of other nations and with persons of different social groups
• Increase ability to locate and evaluate information and gain knowledge about other peoples of the world
• Increase understanding of the nature of social justice, and equity at the societal, institutional, and individual levels

For each criterion selected, two additional fields requesting further explanation will appear. In each field, please describe how the course encourages students to achieve the selected criterion and how student learning of the criterion will be assessed.

Writing Across the Curriculum Justification

Provide a justification explaining how this course fulfills the Writing Across the Curriculum designation.

Writing Across the Curriculum Criteria

Provide succinct descriptions of how the course meets each of the following Writing Across the Curriculum criteria:

• Writing Assignment Design
• Treatment of Writing as a Development Process
• Instructor Written Feedback
• How will writing be evaluated?
• What percentage of the grade will come from writing?
• What will be the maximum class size?

Detailed descriptions of the criteria requirements can be found in the Refer to the Faculty Senate Guide to Curricular Procedures.

Writing Across the Curriculum Sample Assignment

Provide an example of one or more assignment(s). The sample assignment can be pasted into the box below if it is in plain text only. Alternatively, you can attach the sample in the Supporting Documents section below using the Attach File button. Instructions on how to add an attachment to the proposal form can be found below.

Provide a justification explaining how this course fulfills the First-Year Seminar designation.

Click the appropriate checkboxes to select between 2-4 of the listed General Education objectives that this course meets. Learning Objectives include:

• Effective Communication
• Key Literacies
• Critical and Analytical Thinking
• Integrative Thinking
• Creative Thinking
• Global Learning
• Social Responsibility and Ethical Reasoning

For each objective selected, two additional fields requesting further explanation will appear. In each field, please describe the component(s) of the course that will help students achieve the selected learning objective and how student attainment of the learning objective will be assessed.

Use the dropdown menu to select the appropriate General Education designation. Designations include: Single Domain and Inter-Domain.

Once a designation is selected, an additional set of fields based on your selection will appear requesting more information.

Open General Education Designation - Single Domain Form Field ToggleClose General Education Designation - Single Domain Form Field Toggle View General Education Designation - Single Domain Form Field Instructions

Single Domain

Click the appropriate checkbox to select one of the listed General Education Categories. General Education Categories include:

• General Education: Arts (GA)
• General Education: Health and Wellness (GHW)
• General Education: Humanities (GH)
• General Education: Natural Sciences (GN)
• General Education: Social & Behavioral Scien (GS)
• General Education: Quantification (GQ)
• General Education: Writing/Speaking (GWS)

Once a General Education Category is selected, an additional field will appear with a list of the category's student learning criteria. From the list, click the appropriate checkboxes to select at least three of the criteria that this course will help students achieve.

As each criterion is selected, an additional text field will appear (one for each criterion). In these fields, describe what components of the course will help students achieve the selected criterion.

Open General Education Designation - Inter-Domain Form Field ToggleClose General Education Designation - Inter-Domain Form Field Toggle View General Education Designation - Inter-Domain Form Field Instructions

Inter-Domain

Click the appropriate checkbox to select two of the listed General Education Categories. General Education Categories include:

• General Education: Arts (GA)
• General Education: Health and Wellness (GHW)
• General Education: Humanities (GH)
• General Education: Natural Sciences (GN)
• General Education: Social & Behavioral Scien (GS)
• General Education: Quantification (GQ)
• General Education: Writing/Speaking (GWS)

Once the General Education Categories are selected, additional fields will appear requesting more information. From the lists of each selected category's student learning criteria, click the appropriate checkboxes to select at least three of the criteria that this course will help students achieve.

As each criterion is selected, an additional text field will appear (one for each criterion). In these fields, describe what components of the course will help students achieve the selected criterion.

Integrative Studies

The Inter-Domain designation includes two additional questions. Enter your responses to the following questions:

1. Explain how the intellectual frameworks and methodologies of the two categories will be explicitly addressed in the course and practiced by the students.
2. Describe the assessments that will be used to determine students' ability to apply integrative thinking.