Approval vs editorial

Determining if a proposal requires approval or is editorial

This page details specific curriculum proposals and whether the proposal requires approval (committee governance path) or is considered, by Senate Undergraduate Council (SUC), editorial in nature.

The lists below are not all-inclusive – additional scenarios may be added. Editorial changes are defined as edits that are non-contractual in nature and have no academic impact on the requirements a student must follow.

Courses

Approval required

  • Creating a new course
  • Inactivating/retiring a course
  • Changing a subject code (e.g., BIOL, CIVE, HRTS, PSYCH)
  • Changing a number (and adding associated antirequisites)
  • Changing a title (long or abbreviated)
  • Changing a description
  • Changing a unit weight
  • Adding/removing components
  • Changing grading basis (e.g., numerical vs CR/NCR vs no credit)
  • Changing passing grade (e.g., pass 60)
  • Changing requisite field (adding, changing, removing any: prereq, coreq, antireq)
    Exception: removing inactivated/retired courses from a list (see Editorial)
  • Adding/removing cross-listings
  • Adding/removing add or drop consent – instructor or department
  • Adding/changing/removing contractual course notes (e.g., mandatory attendance during the first week of classes)
  • Adding/removing additional fees statement

Editorial

  • Correcting typographical errors
  • Removing inactivated/retired courses from requisites (after a recommended period of 5 years)
  • Creating or inactivating a subject code (e.g., getting HRTS coded in Kuali CM so proposals can be made in Kuali)
  • Changing the ownership of a course subject; faculty approval required before requesting the change
    • E.g., JS previously owned by Dean of Arts, now owned by Religious Studies

  • Office of the Registrar post-approval work: Updating course-related information that SUC has already approved:

    • Removing previously retired courses (5+ years) from requisites.
    • Changing rules used to display newly retired courses in requisites.
    • Updating course numbers in requisites lists for previously-approved renumbered courses.
    • Updating course titles in requisites list for previously-approved retitled courses.

Programs & plans

Approval required

  • Creating programs/plans
  • Inactivating programs/plans
  • Changing requirements for programs/plans (incl. co-op)
  • Program/plan name changes
  • Non-academic requirements that require tracking for degree completion (e.g., via a milestone, but not the “milestone” itself)
    • Note: Avoid including text that defines how the student information system will record completion of a requirement
  • Motions considered as “major modifications” by Quality Council, such as:
    • A significant change in learning outcomes
    • Introduction/removal of co-op
    • Adding/changing program/plan to offer fully online
    • Changing the location of offering for an existing program (Note: Program location information does not appear in Kuali Curriculum Management; changes of this nature can be explained in the rationale)
  • Study/work sequences (co-op): changing # of work terms/study terms
  • From the Office of the Registrar:
    • Academic dates (incl. Convocation dates) – Senate Graduate and Research Council approval also required
    • Terms in Glossary (if academic and University-wide)

Editorial

Note: Approval authority is delegated from SUC to the Registrar and/or faculties, as appropriate.

  • Add/change/remove terms in Glossary (if not academic)
  • Reorganizing existing content (incl. removing repeated text from several locations into one area)
  • Non-contractual edits to non-faculty owned content
  • Amalgamating or splitting up existing text
  • Fixing typographical errors
  • Changing the Table of Contents/navigation structure
  • Changing dates from year to year (e.g., 2018-2019 to 2019-2020)
  • Updating any Laurier information to remain current
  • Updating office/department names (internal or external to the University of Waterloo)
  • Updating form names
  • Updating hyperlinks
  • Office of the Registrar, post-approval work: Updating course-related information that SUC has already approved:
    • Removing previously retired courses from requirements.
    • Updating course numbers in requirements list for previously-approved renumbered courses.
    • Updating course titles in requirements list for previously-approved retitled courses.
    • Updating previously-approved cross-listed courses in requirements (e.g., add the new cross-list offering or remove the deleted cross-listing).

Other types of proposals

  • Administrative ownership changes to courses and programs/plans: Be submitted to Senate Undergraduate Council for information.
  • Academic unit/faculty name changes: Be submitted directly to Board of Governors (does not go through the Senate branch).

Submitting proposals

Approval path

If a curriculum proposal requires approval from Senate or its councils, a proposal must be submitted in Kuali Curriculum Management. To ensure the proposal is seen by all appropriate governance committees, users must correctly complete two critical fields:

  • Workflow Path: Choose "Committee approvals"
  • Faculty/AFIW Path(s) for Workflow: List all faculties and/or institutions that are in the governance path (e.g., Faculty of Engineering + Faculty of Mathematics, or Faculty of Arts + St. Jerome's University).

The designed automated workflow in the background of Kuali CM will ensure the proposal is shepherded to the correct individuals responsible at each governance step. If a user is unsure of which faculty(ies)/institutions to list, contact the faculty/institution rep or the Office of the Registrar for guidance.

Editorial path

If a curriculum proposal does not require approval from Senate or its councils (i.e., is editorial), a proposal must be submitted in Kuali Curriculum Management. Users must correctly complete two (or three) critical fields:

  • Workflow Path: Editorial
  • Faculty/AFIW Path(s) for Workflow: List all faculties/institutions that should see the change; each faculty/institution will have a designated reviewer to approve the change prior to the Office of the Registrar receiving the request.
  • For Programs & Plans form: Choose Editorial in the Quality Assurance Designation field

The designed automated workflow in the background of Kuali CM will ensure the proposal is shepherded to the correct reviewer. If a user is unsure of which faculty(ies)/institutions to list, contact the faculty/institution rep or the Office of the Registrar for guidance.