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Cañada College Curriculum Committee Handbook

CANADA COLLEGE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION AND PROCEDURES

ORGANIZATION

I. Statement of Purpose
The Curriculum Committee, a standing committee of the Academic Senate, in consultation with the Vice President of Instruction and College President, acts as an advisory body to the Board of Trustees. The by-laws of the Canada College Academic Senate state that:

"The primary function of the Curriculum Committee shall be to coordinate and monitor Cañada's curricular offerings so that they shall uphold the California Education Code, be consistent among the divisions and colleges of the District, be understandable to our students and staff, articulate with high schools and four-year institutions, and support goals and objectives of the San Mateo County Community College District and Cañada College. To these ends, the Curriculum Committee shall make recommendations to the Governing Council about general instructional policy and standards, degree and certification requirements, initiation and modification of programs and courses."

Specifically, the Committee is charged with recommending action on the following:

• New course proposals and course modifications
• Course banking and deletions
• Proposals for new programs (AA/AS degree and certificate) and program modifications
• Other curricular matters including graduation requirements, general education patterns, and audit list changes
• Special topics (680 and 880) courses (information)
• Course articulation with four-year institutions (information)

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II. Membership
In accordance with Title V Section 55002a(1), the Curriculum Committee shall be established by the mutual agreement of the college and/or district administration and the academic senate. At Canada College, the Curriculum Committee is composed of the following members, with membership limited to no more than three consecutive years:

Voting Members (12)

• Chairperson, appointed for a two-year term by the Academic Senate President, who consults the members of the Curriculum Committee for nominees and submits these names and any additional nominees to the Governing Council for acceptance. (1)
• Two faculty members from each of the three academic divisions and two from counseling chosen by the divisions in such a manner as deemed appropriate (8)
• One representative from the Library (1)
• One representative from the Office of Admissions and Records (1)
• One student representative (1)
  

Non-voting ex-officio member (1)

• Vice President of Instruction
  

A quorum will exist if a minimum of six members, including the chairperson, are present.

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III. Subcommittees
The Curriculum Committee may appoint subcommittees to make recommendations on specific items. The Library Committee and the Ethnic Studies Subcommittee are standing subcommittees.

The composition of the subcommittees shall be determined by the Curriculum Committee, which will also select the chairs of the subcommittees.

All recommendations of the subcommittees will be presented in writing to the entire Curriculum Committee.

IV. Meetings
Regular meetings will be held according to a schedule approved by the Curriculum Committee, generally on the 2"' and 4'" Tuesdays of each month, starting at 1:15 pm. Additional meetings may be held on an as-needed basis.

Minutes of all meetings shall be taken and maintained by the Administrative Assistant to the Vice President of Instruction.

A single majority vote is needed for approval. The Curriculum Committee follows Robert's Rules of Order.

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PROCEDURES

I. Curriculum Proposals
Proposals for new courses and modifications of curriculum must be sponsored by a faculty member. Courses placed on the agenda shall contain the following signatures: 1) faculty member proposing the course; 2) division dean or administrator for the discipline; 3) Technical Review signature (Administrative Assistant in the Instruction Office,) indicating that the course is free of technical problems. The signatures of the Curriculum Committee Chair and the Vice President of Instruction occur after the Curriculum Committee meeting, since they signify approval of the course.

Faculty members proposing new or modified courses or programs are expected to attend the Curriculum Committee meeting when their course is discussed. If unavailable, an alternate faculty member, who can describe the proposal and answer the committee's questions, should be identified. In the absence of an appropriate faculty member to support the proposal, the Committee may chose not to take any action.

In those instances where a Committee member is the faculty member making the proposal or his/her program is under consideration, he/she shall not participate in the deliberations or in making the decision. If the Committee deems it necessary, another faculty member shall be selected to replace the excluded voting member; the member being replaced shall not participate in the selection of the replacement.

Courses must meet the academic standards specified in Title V, Section 55002, Standards and Criteria for Courses and Classes, and other appropriate sections of Title V, as well as all other state, District, and College requirements. It is the responsibility of the Curriculum Committee to assure that these standards are upheld.

Curriculum proposals must be made on forms prepared by the Instruction Office. All information should be complete. Forms must have the appropriate signatures and be submitted in accordance with scheduled timelines.

Generally, new course proposals, requests for deletions, banking, and course modifications should be submitted during the Fall Semester of each academic year. These items normally require only one reading.

Recommendations for revisions made by the Curriculum Committee must be made by the appropriate Division and submitted to the Office of Instruction within ten (10) working days of the Curriculum Committee meeting. The proposal is not effective until the Curriculum Committee's recommended revisions have been completed and submitted. The Office of Instruction's Administrative Assistant enters the course data into the database.

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II. Special Topics Courses (680 and 880)
Special topics courses are numbered either 680 (degree applicable) or 880 (non-degree applicable). Special Topic 680 courses do not meet general education associate degree requirements although, in certain instances, they may meet a specific major requirement. Similarly, while 680 and 880 courses are CSU-transferable as units, they do not meet specific CSU requirements. Special Topic 880 non-degree credit courses are not eligible for major or elective credit in an associate and/or certificate program.

Special Topic courses may be offered a maximum of three times only, after which they must be dropped or receive approval from the Curriculum Committee as a new course. In order to be placed in the Schedule of Classes, an outline for a special topic course must be submitted by the appropriate Dean to the Vice President of Instruction who must approve it before inclusion in the Schedule.

At the end of each academic year, the Vice President of lnstruction reports to the Curriculum Committee on all 680 and 880 Special Topic courses offered that year, including an evaluation of each course and a recommendation for continuance or discontinuance.

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III. Curriculum Development Process
1. Role of the Initiator

a. Research and coordinate information
b. Discuss course with appropriate faculty; modify as necessary
c. Prepare all documents using forms provided by the Office of Instruction
d. Submit outline for approval to the appropriate Division Dean and Division

2. Role of the Division Dean

a. Review and proof all documents for completeness, accuracy and adherence to Title V standards. Insure courses/programs have been reviewed by the appropriate Advisory Committee, where necessary.
b. Contact appropriate Dean at Skyline and/or CSM and articulate outline(s) if coursework in the same area(s) is offered at the other college(s).
c. Submit outline to the Office of Instruction for technical review and discuss with faculty initiator any modifications recommended by the Vice President.
d. Upon return of outline from the Vice President of Instruction, submit outline with the three necessary signatures (Proposer, Dean, Technical Review) to the Office of Instruction for placement on the agenda. Outline must be submitted at least ten working days preceding the next Curriculum meeting.

3. Role of the Vice President of Instruction

a. Review all curricular material received from Division Deans and make recommendations.
b. Place material on appropriate agenda.
c. Attend all Curriculum Committee meetings.
d. Advise Curriculum Committee members on curricular matters, as appropriate.
e. Insure that approved curriculum receives final signatures of Curriculum Committee Chair and Vice President of Instruction
f. Annually submit to the SMCCD Board of Trustees all new course and program approvals and banked and deleted courses actions taken by the Committee.

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4. Role of the Curriculum Committee members

a. Read all outlines and other agenda items prior to each Curriculum Committee meeting.
b. Attend all Curriculum Committee meetings; inform the Chair in advance of any absences.
c. Recommend action.

IV. Curriculum Approval Timelines
All curriculum actions - new courses, modifications and banking or deleting courses - take effect at the beginning of the academic year in the fall semester. Curriculum must be approved in sufficient time to be included in the college catalog and in the class schedule and, in many cases, to be submitted for transfer articulation. There are several different deadlines determined by the intended use of the course (i.e., fall, spring or summer course offering, UC transferable, CSU-GE approval, or IGETC approval). At the start of each academic year, the Vice President of Instruction and the Articulation Officer will inform the Committee of these deadlines. Courses should be submitted for the earliest of the applicable deadlines.

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V. The Agenda
The Chair of the Curriculum Committee and the Vice President of Instruction prepare the agenda for each meeting. The agenda and back-up materials will be distributed to members of the Committee at least four working days prior to the scheduled meeting.

Agenda items with completed supporting materials are due in the Office of Instruction at least three weeks preceding the regularly scheduled meeting. The Instruction Office will review the course for technical considerations. The Vice President of Instruction and the Curriculum Committee Chair will provide feedback to the Dean, who will prepare material for submission, incorporating any necessary changes, and submit to the Instruction Office at least ten working days prior to the meeting.

Agenda items submitted after the deadline will be placed on the next regularly scheduled meeting agenda.

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Vl. Required Documentation for Proposals
The most recent versions of the Curriculum Committee forms are available as Excel files on the Cañada College Website. These files should be downloaded and used in preference to older versions of the forms.

Upon completing the forms, the initiator should submit the files electronically to his/her division dean and/or staff assistant for review. After this review, the division dean and/or staff assistant place the file electronically into the Instruction Office shared folder (access to the shared folder is only available to instructional division staff; directions are available from the Office of Instruction).

New Courses: Course Outline Form (Form A: Course Outline, Form A-as: Administrative Sheets, Form A-bsl erw: Basic Skill Advisories English-Reading-Writing, Form A-bsl m: Basic Skill Advisories Math, Form A-pccr: Validation of Prerequisites and/or Corequisites)

Course Deletion/Banking: Course Modification Form (Form B)

Course Modifications: Course Modification Form (Form B + Form A)

Program Deletion: Program Modification Form (Form C)

Program Modification: Program Modification Form (Form C)

New Programs: New Program Approval Form (Form D) Application for Approval of a New Program (form required by the State Chancellor's Office) Course outline for each course in the program

Distance Education: Distance Education Form (Form E, Form E-co)

The course modification form may be used for a variety of different kinds of modification. However, where several modifications are proposed, leading to extensive changes and/or a new focus, then the proposal should be considered as a new course proposal.

Note that changes in course number or discipline must be treated as a new course proposal since a new course must be created in the database.

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Vll. Action of the Curriculum Committee
After reviewing all materials and engaging in appropriate discussion about the curriculum proposal, the Curriculum Committee shall take one of the following actions:

1. Recommend approval as submitted
2. Recommend not to approve
3. Recommend to approve with revision(s) specified
4. Table the proposal and return to originator for additional information.

Vlll. Follow-up of Procedures After Curriculum Committee Action

Vice President of Instruction

New Courses and Course Deletions

a. Obtain signatures signifying approval from the Curriculum Committee Chair and Vice President of Instruction.
b. Prepare material for the annual Curriculum Report to the Board with the signatures of the Academic Senate President, Curriculum Committee Chair, College President and Vice President of Instruction.
c. If the Vice President of Instruction's recommendation is not to approve an action of the Curriculum Committee, she/he will forward the material to the President of the Academic Senate and the College President, who will recommend approval or disapproval.
d. Enter data into the curriculum and course database, catalog, and schedules.

New Programs

a. For new programs, coordinate with the District Instruction Council and Chancellor's Council and Regional Occupational Deans, if appropriate, and then forward to the President of the Academic Senate and College President for review and signature.
b. Forward to the Board of Trustees for approval.
c. Forward to the State Chancellor's office for approval

Course and Program Modifications

a. Incorporate changes into the database, college catalog and schedules.

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IX. Orientation and Training of the Curriculum Committee
The Vice President of Instruction and the Curriculum Committee Chair will provide each member with an updated locally-prepared Curriculum Handbook. The Handbook includes the Curriculum Committee Standards Handbook prepared by the State Chancellor's Office for use at all California Community Colleges.

As necessary, additions or modifications to the Handbook will be distributed to each member or person holding the handbook.

At the beginning of each academic year, the Vice President of Instruction and the Curriculum Committee Chair, using the Handbook, will conduct an orientation session for all curriculum committee members. Topics covered will include the following:

Title V standards and requirements o Role of the Curriculum Committee

Responsibilities of Curriculum Committee members

Degree credit and non-degree course criteria

Prerequisites and corequisite requirements and validation process

Basic skills advisory system

Course repetition o Course articulation

General education courses and patterns

How to use Curriculum Committee forms

New programs

The Vice President of Instruction and Curriculum Committee Chair will conduct follow-up sessions with new Curriculum Committee members as deemed appropriate. Further, these two individuals will provide handouts and clarification regarding areas needing further discussion through the course of each academic year. They will inform members of any Title V revisions being considered at the state level.

The Vice President of Instruction and Curriculum Committee Chair will provide advice and assistance in the preparation of curricular items to individual faculty, to departments, and to divisions as requested.

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CURRICULUM FORMS

INFORMATION FOR COMPLETING THE COURSE OUTLINE OF RECORD FOR NEW COURSE PROPOSALS AND COURSE MODIFICATIONS

I. Courses Offered at More than one District College
If the new or modified course is taught at either CSM or Skyline, the division Dean needs to consult with his/her counterpart to articulate the course.

If the course is taught at more than one college in the District and a modification is being proposed, agreement must be reached regarding the following items or the college initiating the change must create a new course number and title and submit as a new course:

Change in units

Course title

Repeatability

Course pre- or co-requisite

Contact hours

Objectives (significant change)

Content (significant change)

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II. Completing the Course Outline of Record
1. Course number
For a new course, the number will be assigned by the Office of Instruction in conjunction with the Division Dean.

2. Method of instruction and semester hours
For information on how to calculate semester hours, see the section titled "The Carnegie Unit: How to Calculate Student Contact Hours."

3. Grading method
Grading method must be specified. Three options are available: Letter Grade only, Credit/No Credit, or Grade Option. If the course is designated as Grade Option, this means that the instructor issues a letter grade for all students; students have the option of having the letter grade converted to Credit/No Credit if they submit a request to Admissions and Records by the appropriate deadline. It should be noted that for certain majors, degrees and certificates, and for many four-year institutions, only letter grades are acceptable.

4. Catalog description
The Catalog description should consist of brief, direct statements of course purpose and content, preferably no more than 50 words. It should be written in concise language that is intelligible to the reader and should describe the course in terms of its primary objectives. Descriptive phrases rather than sentences are acceptable; the course title should not be repeated; and the description should employ the present verb tense.

5. Class schedule description
The Class Schedule description should be shorter than the Catalog description.

6. Prerequisite(s)
Course prerequisites are those courses which must be completed satisfactorily (grade of C or better) prior to enrollment in the course. Title 5 regulations require that prerequisites be justified with, at the minimum, a Content Review. The establishment of prerequisites in communication skills (English, reading, writing, mathematics) and prerequisites in a different discipline requires the highest level of scrutiny involving appropriate research. See the Curriculum Handbook for more information on prerequisites.

7. Course corequisites.
Same as for prerequisites.

8. Basic skills advisories.
See Cañada's Catalog for a full description of our system of basic skills advisories. Through this system, those levels of Reading, Writing, and/or Math which are required for successful course completion are recommended for each course, when applicable. Advisories are not mandatory.

9. Course objectives/Exit standards
Course Objectives/Exit Standards are those behaviors which students will be able to demonstrate upon successful completion of the course. The list of objectives should contain the major objectives in terms of the observable knowledge and/or skills to be demonstrated as a result of completing the course. Instructors should complete this section in a manner that demonstrates students' use of critical thinking, (e.g., apply principles to new situations, formulate and assess problems and solutions, analyze, synthesize, evaluate, compare/contrast concepts/information learned).

10. Course content
Course Content should consist of a detailed topical outline that shows how the students are led to reach the course objectives and that also shows the emphasis placed on the topics.

11. Methods of evaluation
Methods of evaluation should describe the procedures used for evaluating student performance appropriate to the course. The procedures must be consistent with the objectives and content as specified in the outline. Degree credit courses must base a student's grade on demonstrated knowledge or proficiency in the subject matter and the ability to demonstrate that proficiency, at least in part, through essays employing college-level standards. An essential component of evaluation is the demonstration of students' critical thinking skills. (See the Critical Thinking Skills section of the Curriculum Handbook.)

In describing evaluation procedures, instructors should detail the kinds of assignments and tests given and examples should be cited. The examples are especially important for courses to be submitted for CSU or UC articulation. The outline of record should be clear regarding the standards students must meet and the methods used to determine if these standards have been met. Students should know what to expect, and there should be a reasonable degree of comparability of student outcomes across different sections of the same course.

Students will be graded, at minimum, in at least one of the following two categories. If category a) is not included in the evaluation, the initiator must explain why substantial writing assignments are an inappropriate basis for at least part of the grade (Title 5, 55002 (a).

a. Substantial writing assignments, including essay exam(s), term or other paper(s), laboratory report(s), written homework, reading report(s), or other (specify).

b. Substantial writing assignments in this course is inappropriate because: (1) the course is primarily computational in nature; (2) the course primarily involves skills demonstration or problem solving; (3) other rationale (explain).

12. Representative Text Materials
Include a short list of representative text materials using the MLA method of citation. For courses which are transferable, texts should be comparable to those used at the transfer institutions.

MLA Citation Method: Author (Last name, first name, middle initial), Title of text, Publisher, City/Country of publication, Date of publication.

Example: Loudon, Marc C., Organic Chemistry, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Menlo Park, California, 1998.

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THE CARNEGIE UNIT: HOW TO CALCULATE STUDENT CONTACT HOURS

Students are awarded credit for classes on the basis of the Carnegie unit. This defines a semester unit of credit as equal to a minimum of three hours of work per week for a semester. California's Title V code, section 55002, also defines student credit in this way. While the length of a semester may vary, the Carnegie definition is based upon a minimum length of 16 weeks. Thus, a unit of credit equates to three hours per week for 16 weeks or 48 hours of work. In certain circumstances, it is possible to have more hours, but not less. The Cañada College Catalog lists the total class hours required per semester.

Lecture Classes
For a lecture class, one unit is considered to be one hour of lecture class time and two hours per week of homework. For the typical three-unit class, a student spends three hours per week in class and should do six hours per week of homework. The total semester hours are calculated by multiplying the weekly hours by 16.

Laboratory Classes
For a laboratory class, the hours per week are considered to be all in class with no outside assignments. Thus, one unit is three hours per week of laboratory time.

By Arrangement Lab Hours
Where a course includes by arrangement lab hours, these generally take the place of the hours assigned to homework, since the student is required to use supervised college facilities to do assignments related to homework. An example might be a 3-unit lecture course which requires the student also to work two hours per week in the computer lab. There would be only four hours per week of additional homework required.

Examples:

Short Courses

Short courses are prorated so they contain the same number of hours as if the course were scheduled for a full semester. To maintain the integrity of the instructional program, care must be taken when scheduling short courses so that there is adequate time for students to complete homework assignments or by arrangement laboratory assignments.

Workload or Faculty Load Credits (FLCs)

Faculty are assigned workload or faculty load credits (FLCs) according to the Contract, Appendix J. (See attachment). Faculty workload credits are not necessarily the same as student Carnegie units.