Understanding workflows

Jump to: System sequence of events | Workflow overview | Undergraduate workflow paths | Graduate committee approvals paths​​​​​​

Kuali Curriculum Management (CM) has functionality that allows for automating the approval path a specific curriculum proposal should take, based on information inputted into the proposal form. There are three distinct workflows in the system, one for each database (Courses, Programs & Plans, and Regulations) and these are designed to reflect the University of Waterloo's specific needs.

System sequence of events

  1. A proposer enters their curricular proposal on one of three forms: Courses, Programs & Plans, and Regulations. A proposal can be creating a new item, a change to an existing item, or retiring (inactivating) an existing item. At this stage, the proposal status is Draft. 
  2. When a proposer has completed their draft, they choose the Submit For Approval action, triggering the proposal to be sent to the designated automated workflow. The proposal status changes to Under Review.
  3. The individual(s) in the approval role for the workflow step (key employee or committee delegate) will receive an automated email notification and the proposal will be displayed in their Action List. A proposal will work its way through the designated workflow with each approver taking the appropriate action.
  4. Once a proposal has successfully been approved through the designated workflow, it becomes the active record (future dated). The newly approved record is added to the specified database (Courses, Programs & Plans, or Regulations), where it will be searchable and viewable.
  5. The record will then be added to the applicable academic calendar, pending publication.

Workflow overview

All users should gain some basic understanding of how the governance approval path is determined based on proposal form fields to ensure information is entered/submitted correctly.

The following are the specific form field questions that trigger the different workflow scenarios.

Form Field Options Workflow Scenario Details
All Career

Undergraduate

Will go to undergraduate-level steps.
Graduate Will go to graduate-level steps.
All Workflow Path

Committee approvals

Will go to governance committees.
Editorial

Will go to key employees only.

Notes: All changes being made must be deemed editorial in nature. In some cases, best option is to put through editorial changes before beginning other changes as the approval path is much quicker.
All Faculty/AFIW Path(s) for Workflow

Faculty

Will go to key employees and/or committees in that faculty. More than one can be selected.

Affiliated and Federated Institutions of Waterloo (AFIW) Will go to key employees and/or committees in that AFIW. Note: To be used in combination with a faculty, if applicable. Will be reviewed by AFIW before moving on to a faculty.
Blank Leave blank if the proposal does not get reviewed by any AFIW or faculties; will skip directly to Senate-level committees.
Courses Undergraduate Communication Requirement Identifier

Yes

Any proposal with this flag will be viewed by the Chair of the Undergraduate Communication Requirement (UCR) group and the Associate Vice-President, Academic (AVPA).
No Will skip UCR group and AVPA approvals.
Programs & Plans + Regulations Change to Undergraduate Communication Requirement

Yes

Proposal will be viewed by the Chair of the UCR group and the AVPA.
No Will skip UCR group and AVPA approvals.

In addition to the trigger questions, there are two other University of Waterloo academic support units that will play an integral role in the workflow:

  1. Academic Quality Enhancement (AQuE) Office: All program/plan proposals will be reviewed to designate it as a 1) major modification, 2) minor modification, 3) editorial. Delegates will populate the “Quality Assurance Designation” field within 1-2 business days.
  2. Secretariat: All program/plan and regulation proposals will be reviewed by senate-level committee secretaries to determine if the proposal continues to Senate for approval, or not. Delegates will populate the “Senate Workflow” field.

Undergraduate workflow paths

Jump to: Courses workflow | Programs & Plans workflow | Regulations workflow | Editorial workflow

Courses workflow

Once a proposal has been submitted, the Courses workflow in Kuali CM includes 10 total approval steps, detailed below. Steps 1 and 2 are dependent on the answer in the proposal to the "Undergraduate Communication Identifier" field. Steps 3 through 8 are dependent on the answer to "Faculty/AFIW Path(s) for Workflow" field. Steps 9 and 10 are for all proposals. 

  • Pre-workflow step: Proposer submission (UG office / RO)
  1. Undergraduate Communication Requirement Group
    • Skipped if not identified as a UCR course
  2. Associate Vice-President, Academic
    • Skipped if not identified as a UCR course
  3. AFIW Co-ordinator
    • Skipped if no AFIW affiliation
  4. AFIW #1
    • Skipped if no AFIW affiliation
  5. AFIW #2 (REN/SJU)
    • Skipped if no AFIW affiliation
  6. UG Office
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  7. Admin Council (HLTH)
    • Faculty of Health only
  8. Undergrad Committee(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  9. Faculty Council(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  10. Senate Undergraduate Council Curricular Subcommittee
  11. Senate Undergraduate Council
  • Post-approval steps:
    1. Automated Notifications
      • to the Proposer and Faculty/AFIW representatives
    2. Registrar's Office processing

Note:

  • The Proposer submits to workflow after departmental/school/board approval is received (if applicable)
  • The final step – Registrar's Office processing – is to finalize the proposal and prepare it for publication and to push into Quest.

Regulations workflow

Once a proposal has been submitted, the Regulations workflow in Kuali CM includes 8 total approval steps, detailed below. Steps 1 and 2 are dependent on the answer in the proposal to the "Change to Undergraduate Communication Identifier" field. Steps 3 through 5 are dependent on the answer to the "Faculty/AFIW Path(s) for Workflow" field. Steps 6 and 7 are for all proposals. Step 8 is dependent on the answer to the "Senate Workflow" field.

  • Pre-workflow step: Proposer submission (UG offices or RO only)
  1. Undergraduate Communication Requirement (UCR) Group
    • Skipped if UCR field is answered No
  2. Associate Vice-President, Academic (AVPA)
    • Skipped if UCR field is answered No
  3. Admin Council (HLTH)
    • Faculty of Health only
  4. Undergrad Committee(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  5. Faculty Council(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  6. Senate Undergraduate Council Curricular Subcommittee
  7. Senate Undergraduate Council
  8. Senate
    • Consent agenda
    • Regular agenda
  • Post-approval steps:
    1. Automated Notifications
      • to Faculty representatives
    2. Registrar's Office processing

Note:

  • The Proposer = UG Offices/RO only
  • The final step – Registrar's Office processing – is to finalize the proposal and prepare it for publication.

Programs & Plans workflow

Once a proposal has been submitted, the Programs & Plans workflow in Kuali CM includes 12 total approval steps, detailed below. Steps 1 is for all proposals. Steps 2 and 3 are dependent on the answer in the proposal to the "Change to Undergraduate Communication Requirement" field. Steps 4 through 9 are dependent on the answer to "Faculty/AFIW Path(s) for Workflow" field. Steps 10 and 11 are for all proposals. Step 12 is dependent on the answer to the "Senate Workflow" field; some proposals will end at Step 11.

  • Pre-workflow step: Proposer submission (UG office / RO)
  1. Academic Quality Enhancement Office
    • Determines modification category
  2. Undergraduate Communication Requirement (UCR) Group
    • Skipped if UCR field is answered No
  3. Associate Vice-President, Academic (AVPA)
    • Skipped if UCR field is answered No
  4. AFIW Co-ordinator
    • Skipped if no AFIW affiliation
  5. AFIW #1
    • Skipped if no AFIW affiliation
  6. AFIW #2 (REN/SJU)
    • Skipped if no AFIW affiliation
  7. UG Office
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  8. Admin Council (HLTH)
    • Faculty of Health only
  9. Undergrad Committee(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  10. Faculty Council(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  11. Senate Undergraduate Council Curricular Subcommittee
  12. Senate Undergraduate Council
  13. Senate
    • Consent agenda
    • Regular agenda
  • Post-approval steps:
    1. Automated Notifications
      • to the Proposer and Faculty/AFIW representatives
    2. Registrar's Office processing

Note:

  • The Proposer submits to workflow after departmental/school/board approval is received (if applicable)
  • The final step – Registrar's Office processing – is to finalize the proposal and prepare it for publication.

Editorial workflow (all forms)

The Editorial workflow in Kuali CM includes 2 total approval steps, detailed below. Step 1 is dependent on the answer  to the "Faculty/AFIW Path(s) for Workflow" field and/or if the associated AFIW Co-ordinator field is empty. Step 2 is for all proposals.

  • Pre-workflow step: Proposer submission (UG Offices/RO only)
  1. AFIW Office or UG Office
    • Skipped if no AFIW or faculty affiliation
  2. Registrar's Office
    • UG Calendar Editor

Note: Editorial status can be revoked by either the faculty/AFIW reviewer or the Registrar's Office. In this case, the reviewer should Send Back the proposal to the proposer, to change the "Workflow Path" field from "Editorial" to "Committee approval" and re-submit.

Graduate committee approvals paths

Courses workflow (graduate)

Once a proposal has been submitted, the Courses workflow in Kuali CM includes 5 total approval steps, detailed below.  

  1. Department/School/Program Approval
    • Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs - Editor
  2. Admin Council (HLTH)
    • Faculty of Health only
  3. Grad Committee(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  4. Faculty Council(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  5. Senate Graduate and Research Council 
  • Post-approval step: Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs - Editor

Regulations workflow (graduate)

Once a proposal has been submitted, the Regulations workflow in Kuali CM includes 6 total approval steps, detailed below.  

  1. Department/School/Program Approval
    • Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs - Editor
  2. Admin Council (HLTH)
    • Faculty of Health only
  3. Grad Committee(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  4. Faculty Council(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  5. Senate Graduate and Research Council 
  6. Senate
  • Post-approval step: Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs - Editor

Programs & Plans workflow (graduate)

Once a proposal has been submitted, the Programs & Plans workflow in Kuali CM includes 7 total approval steps, detailed below.  

  1. Academic Quality Enhancement Office Review: Major/Minor
  2. Department/School/Program Approval
    • Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs - Editor
  3. Admin Council (HLTH)
    • Faculty of Health only
  4. Grad Committee(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  5. Faculty Council(s)
    • Skipped if no faculty affiliation
  6. Senate Graduate and Research Council 
  7. Senate
  • Post-approval step: Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs - Editor

Editorial (graduate)

All editorial changes in Kuali CM will be submitted and approved by the Editor, Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs.