Course Proposals & Curriculum Committee

The University Curriculum Committee has primary responsibility for coordinating curricula across the University’s academic components.  Its role is based on the premise that primary responsibility for the curriculum rests with the faculty in each academic unit in each college. As a result, TWU’s curriculum represents a diversity of programs that meet student needs within a unified whole, which requires coordination among academic components.

The University Curriculum Committee Membership is composed of faculty members and a representative of the Library nominated by the Faculty Senate Committee Selection Committee and appointed by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. One undergraduate student is nominated by the Vice President for Student Life, and one graduate student is appointed by the Dean of the Graduate School. A representative of the Academic Council is designated by the Academic Council. Ex-officio members include the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Vice Provost for Curriculum and Strategic Initiatives, the Dean of the Graduate School, the Registrar, and the Director of the Office of Teaching and Learning with Technology.

The work of the University Curriculum Committee is facilitated by the Office of Curriculum and Strategic Initiatives. Committee members carry out Curriculum Committee Liaison Assignments to assist academic components with their proposals to the committee.

The TWU Curriculum Committee Handbook details the description and membership of the Curriculum Committee, guidelines for university curriculum management, review criteria for course proposals, instructions for submitting new or modified course proposals, and the course deactivation and reactivation process.

Round 2: Friday, December 6, 2024

• Curriculum Committee Agenda 12-6-24
• Curriculum Committee Minutes Draft 10-25-24

Round 1: Friday, October 25, 2024

• Curriculum Committee Agenda 10-25-24
• Curriculum Committee Minutes 9-27-24

Organizational Meeting: Friday, September 27, 2024

• Curriculum Committee Agenda 9-27-24
• Curriculum Committee Minutes 4-5-24

It is recommended that you log into the CIM Course Management system and click on the "Propose New Course" button.  This will pull up a complete blank course form with the required information that will need to be provided. There are Help Bubbles next to most fields that will provide you with additional information and guidance on the information to be entered. Note that if the course proposal includes a request for Texas CORE or Global Perspectives consideration, the form has additional questions that will open and need to be answered.

The CIM system allows users to save proposals before submission to the workflow for consideration. Saved proposals are accessible by all faculty and staff to allow for collaborative creation and modification before submission. Once submitted, a course proposal cannot be modified by faculty unless rolled back to the start of the workflow by the current approver in the workflow or the system administrator.

WARNINGS

Do Not Copy and Paste from Word documents, PDFs, or webpages.  Hidden formatting you cannot see can carry over and can cause issues with the CIM system's functionality and catalog PDF creation. Always type directly into the fields or past content as PLAIN TEXT, and then format the information using the tools in the form.

Coordinate Collaborative Work.  Only one person can edit a proposal at a time. If more than one tries to edit simultaneously, the edits of the first individual who saves their work will be recorded. All others working simultaneously will not be able to save their work.

• Guidelines for Well-Written Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs)
• TWU Course Inventory SQL Report
• THECB CIP Codes Website

All TWU courses should have approved Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) in the CIM Course Management system. 

• If a course does not have SLOs populated, the course has not been reviewed or approved by the university in over 10 years and needs to be submitted for re-review and approval.
• If the course has other missing data fields in the system, those will need to be added as well.
• If there are no modifications to the course title or description, select the "Immediate" Approval Type in the online course form. The proposal will not need to go to the Curriculum Committee for re-approval. SLOs added to the course form will be sent through the CIM system's workflow to the component's assigned leadership and then to Academic Assessment for review/approval.
• If the course title and/or description are modified in conjunction with the SLO updates/additions, select the "Full Review" Approval Type in the online course form. The proposal will need to be reviewed/approved by the full CIM Course Management Workflow and Curriculum Committee.

To update course SLOs, scroll to the bottom of this page and select the "Access the CIM Course Management System" button.

Faculty should review the Guidelines for Well-written Student Learning Outcomes. These guidelines are current and should be used when developing course SLOs to increase the likelihood of receiving SLO approval. 

The Office of Academic Assessment offers an occasional workshop, “Writing SLOs for Course Proposals,” to help faculty create well-written student learning outcomes (SLOs) statements when submitting new or modified course proposals to the TWU Curriculum Committee. You can request a workshop for your component by contacting the Director of Assessment (see below) or view a workshop recording on YouTube. You can also download the SLO Workshop PowerPoint and the SLO-Cooking Exercise handout, which were used in the recorded workshop to assist you in developing the SLOs.

If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Gray Scott, Director of Academic Assessment and Accreditation, at academicassessment@twu.edu or 81-2327.

All new and modified course proposals require approval from Academic Component and College administrators prior to being considered by the Curriculum Committee.  The system allows these administrators to approve, roll-back, make edits to, and/or comment on course proposals.   Administrators can receive one-on-one training on how to utilize the CIM system by contacting Scott Martin in OEVP at smartin4@twu.edu or 940-898-3508.

Pre/Co-requisite changes must be proposed via the CIM Course Management System. Any missing information (SLOs, assignments, texts, etc.) must also be updated if not populated.

• The justification for adding or removing prerequisites must clearly explain why the students either now need or no longer need the knowledge gained in the prerequisite course to meet the current SLOs successfully.
• The justification for adding or removing co-requisites must clearly explain why the knowledge in the two courses needs to be gained simultaneously or why the knowledge previously gained in tandem is no longer necessary.
• Undergraduate courses cannot be used as prerequisites for graduate coursework.
• Prerequisites are like dominoes. Only enforce the most recent prior course in the series.
• Pre/co-requisite grade requirements are generally not enforced. If they are noted to be enforced, grades will have to be posted before students can register, and students will not be able to register early. If grades are not enforced, the system will not check after grades are posted and will not remove students who do not meet the grade requirement from enrollment.  The faculty/component is responsible for running the Course Roster with Prerequisite Grades SQL report, completing Drop/Add forms for students who need to be removed from the class, submitting the forms to the Registrar, and notifying students that they have been dropped from the course.