Curriculum and Undergraduate Affairs Group Handbook

Preparing curriculum items for approval 

Research and consultation

• Even a seemingly minor curricular change at the department level can have far-reaching consequences.  
• Any changes which may have an impact on other units or which are shared with other units (departments, affiliated and federated institutions of Waterloo, other faculties, Co-op Education, etc.), or introductions of new courses or plans in which other units may have an interest, should be communicated to those units prior to submission to UGAG. It is the responsibility of the department making changes to contact the affected discipline(s) within the Faculty of Arts. 

Consultation is essential because: 

• It clarifies potential impacts of curricular decisions and changes (for all units involved), including ownership, timetabling, instructor availability, room caps, course reserves, budget, etc. 
• Related curricular business must all move forward at the same time to the subsequent approval bodies. E.g., courses that are cross-listed between two faculties must be presented at the same SUC meeting.

IMPORTANT: 

If your submission involves or affects another faculty, contact the AUO curriculum team prior to submission to the AUO, as inter-faculty co-ordination is required. This includes cross-listed courses. 

When is consultation required? Some examples: 

• If adding courses to a plan (required or elective) from another discipline, consultation with the other discipline, and their approval, is required. 
  • Before agreeing to an addition, disciplines should consider: 
    • Will there be an increase in the demand for the course? Can this be accommodated? 
    • Will enrolment reserves be needed to accommodate these students? 
    • Do the requisites of the course need to be modified? 

• If removing courses from a plan (required or elective) belonging to another discipline, consultation with the other discipline is required. 
• When courses or plans are shared between main campus academic units and AFIW academic units.
• When inactivating a course that is listed in a plan(s) outside the originating academic unit.
• When adding or removing a cross-listing.
• When making any type of change to a course that is already cross-listed.
• When changing requisites for a course that is listed in a plan(s) outside the originating academic unit.
• When creating a course that other academic units might be interested in teaching/cross-listing or deemed to have research expertise.

Composing rationales

• Rationales, whether for simple course changes or significant plan changes, are vital at every approval stage. 
• Rationales should reflect the need for the proposed curricular change in terms of the plan and/or discipline to which the course belongs and anything about the process that might affect decision-making by UGAG or SUC members (e.g., consultation, demand, student experience). 
• Rationales should be composed with the members of SUC in mind. They are less familiar with individual disciplines or departments than members of UGAG or AFC, and value process, consultation, academic excellence and coherence, pedagogical effectiveness, and student experience.

General guidelines for Rationales

• Explain any new courses and all changes to courses and plans in terms of the academic, administrative, pedagogical, strategic, or student-centered reasons and their impacts.
• Explain how the changes will affect students currently enrolled in a plan (for instance, a prerequisite change, course inactivation, or plan requirement change), and how those effects will be managed.  
• Mention any consultation that occurred and its outcomes.  
• Make no mention of UGAG or AFC meeting dates, as these are not informative to members of SUC. 
• Make no reference to faculty member changes, whether new hires or retirements. 

Rationales for courses

• Mention everything but write succinctly. (The course report will cut off at approximately 1,400 characters.) 
• Consider the audiences you are addressing. These include students and prospective students, colleagues in your department and faculty, and members of AFC and SUC. 
• If you report demand for a course, please substantiate. Remember we are looking for net new student numbers, not just moving students from one Arts elective to another. OAT (Online Advisor Tools) has queries that can help you with this question.
• Consult other departments or faculties if the subject area of a course falls within their purview or if it can fulfil a requirement within their plan(s). Minimally, consultation and any ensuing changes should result in acceptance of new course or the changes by all concerned.
• Use paragraph style writing. Don’t use bullet points (they cannot be reproduced in Quest, and SUC won’t allow it).
• Do not mention possible cross-listings in the rationale. 
• Include extra changes that aren’t visible in the current report, to provide the committee. The following course fields do not appear on the report and require SUC approval, thus pertinent information should be included in the rationale.
  • Grading basis
  • Repeat rules
  • Examination rule
  • Short title
  • Fee structure changes
  • Original requisites when a number changes
• Check effective dates.
• New courses: anything else germane to its creation (e.g., strategic objectives, plan-level learning outcomes (see below), demand in a previous form (e.g., topics course)).
• Course changes: why is the change being made (e.g., accessibility, improved relevance, essential for success in program)?
• Course inactivations: why is the course being inactivated (e.g., low enrolment, new course being developed to take its place, no longer have expertise)?
• Avoid specific reference to faculty member changes (hires/retirements) or areas of expertise. Although it might be relevant, new courses should be created because of the unit's curriculum and student desire/demand.

Effective dates for courses and plans

• Most courses and plans (new, changes, inactivations) have a September 1 effective date of a future year (normally 1.5-2 years from UGAG submission date), which aligns with the start of a new academic year in the Undergraduate Calendar. 
  • Exception: when a specific course does not appear on any page in the undergraduate calendar (any departments/academic units’ plan pages, any other calendar pages), it may be possible to have an earlier effective date. This is often the case when only the subject code is listed (e.g., “any INDG course”) with no specific course numbers anywhere in the calendar. Consult with the AUO curriculum team if you are unsure about effective date options for a particular course or plan.
• See UGAG Flowchartfor a complete list of submission deadlines, meeting dates, and effective dates. 

Curriculum approval process, timeline and overview

1. Discuss curriculum changes in the department: courses, plans (new/changes/inactivations).
2. Consult with other academic units that will be affected.
3. Prepare curriculum submissions for UGAG approval. Refer to the following sections of this handbook:
   • Composing Rationales
   • Courses
   • Plans 
   • Summary of changes and extra information (for large submissions)
4. Submit items to AUO by the due date for each meeting:
   • See UGAG Flow-Chart: effective dates and details.
   • See procedures for How to submit Curriculum Items. 

5. AUO curriculum team reviews submissions, referring to Plan-level Learning Outcomes. Discuss questions, edits, and comments.

6. Review AUO feedback, make further edits. Turnaround: a few days.
7. ​​​AUO curriculum team finalizes the UGAG agenda, posts to the UGAG Meetings folder one week before meeting.

8. UGAG Members attend meetings and present motions to approve their unit’s curriculum items.

   • See UGAG Meeting Procedures and Agenda section.

9. AUO team forwards UGAG-approved curriculum items to AFC for approval.

10. AUO team forwards AFC-approved curriculum items to SUC for approval.

11. AUO sends you further questions and edits from SUC members that need to be addressed before the meeting. Turnaround: 1-2 days.

12. Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs (Kathy Acheson/Martin Cooke) presents Arts items for SUC approval.

13. After SUC approval:

    • Courses coded by Registrar's Office in Quest.

    • Plans edited by AUO curriculum team in ACMS (Academic Calendar Management System).

14. Staff curriculum reps are given instructions and asked to check updated courses and plans for errors. 

15. Early December - final Undergraduate Calendar Proofing. See UG Calendar - Proofing and Edits channel files in the UGAG & Curriculum MS Team. 

16. February: Undergraduate Calendar published for next academic year. 

Types of academic plans

In addition to majors, several other types of credentials are offered across different faculties.

NOTE: The Faculty of Arts currently only offers Majors, Specializations, Minors, and Diplomas. It does not offer any Options or Certificates.

See Plan Definitions and Guidelines for additional details regarding plan definitions, parameters, student audience, range of courses, average, parchment listing, and titling conventions.

New undergraduate programs or majors

Note: This does not include credentials such as new minors, diplomas, certificates, and specializations. Although they can be referred to generally as 'academic programming' in a particular area of study, they do not meet the definition of 'academic program', which refers to a defined set of requirements (honours or general, regular or co-operative) common to a particular degree. 

• Approval processes for new undergraduate programs and majors are governed by Waterloo’s Institutional Quality Assurance Process. Quality Council evaluation criteria stipulate key areas to be addressed in any proposal. 
• The New Program Proposals webpage provides essential information regarding what constitutes a “brand-new” undergraduate plan, and especially, the conditions under which an external review of the proposed plan following Faculty approval but prior to Senate approval might be necessary.
• In addition, the Undergraduate Degree Level Expectations (UDLEs) continue to provide the framework within which program design and learning outcomes are to be devised.  
• Both of these resources should be carefully reviewed prior to embarking on any development of a new undergraduate program. New programs may take two to three years from conception to implementation.Please consult the Associate Dean of Arts – Undergraduate Programs before proceeding. 
• Visit the New Program Proposals webpage for more information about: 
  • New program approval flowchart
  • Phases of new program development
    • Statement of Interest, including required elements and template
    • Proposal Brief (Volume I); Volume II (Faculty CVs) and Volume III (Proposed Reviewers)
    • Approval stages
    • Implementation and follow-up

New minors, diplomas, certificates

New non-major credentials in the Faculty of Arts (e.g., plans requiring eight courses or fewer) are proposed using the following process:

1. 1. Faculty of Arts Statement of Interest for New Diploma, Minor, Certificate (NOT for specializations). 
      • Template to be completed and submitted to the AUO in the early stages of planning.
   2. IAP reviews relevant financial and resource information sections in the Statement of Interest, to inform the creation of a short financial assessment.
   3. Academic unit meets with IAP to address any outstanding questions for the assessment, if required.
   4. Faculty of Arts Statement of Interest + IAP Financial Summary provided to Dean of Arts for review and approval.
   5. New plan proposal (including structure and requirements) submitted to UGAG to begin curriculum approval process.

Structure of minors, diplomas, certificates – things to consider:

• Is the area of study meant to be broad, with a few courses for a basic foundation, and many options for electives?
• Or is it meant to be very structured and focused, with a specific set of required courses and limited electives?
• Requirements should generally limit the number of 100-level courses, for a few reasons:
  • To provide students with some depth beyond the introductory level in the subject area.
  • To ensure students could fulfil degree requirements, which include a minimum number of courses at the 200-level or above, without needing to take many additional courses.
• Including 400-level courses as core requirements may limit students’ ability to complete the credential. This may be due to scheduling, study/work sequences, high enrolment demand, and barriers to enrolment. If 400-level courses are considered pedagogically necessary to the credential, consider whether they can be offered frequently, whether there may be at least a few alternatives, or whether they can be included as electives. 
• Generally, a mix of 200-level and 300-level courses could strike a balance between the depth of the content, the appeal of a credential, and the ability to complete it in a reasonable amount of time.
• Foundation (e.g., 100-level or introductory) courses should be offered frequently enough for students to be able to progress through the credential, especially if those courses are prerequisites to other required intermediate or advanced courses.
• If upper-year courses with prerequisites are included in a credential, and if there are few or no alternatives, the essential prerequisites to those upper-year courses should also be included in the requirements. This provides additional transparency to students, limiting too many hidden prerequisites that would be needed before the student can even begin working towards the credential requirements.
  • E.g., A credential that requires ECON 201 should also require ECON 101, its prerequisite. 
• Diplomas and certificates are declared at graduation, unlike minors, majors, and specializations. This makes it challenging to identify students who are completing a diploma or certificate, because they aren’t officially registered in it during their studies. This issue has been communicated to the Registrar’s Office, but there is no immediate solution.

New 2 plus 2 agreements

All new 2+2 agreements must be approved by Senate and the Ministry. However, these agreements do not go to UGAG for approval. They must first be approved by the Admissions Committee, and from there will go to Arts Faculty Council and onward. If you have any questions about 2+2 agreements and their approval process, please contact the Associate Dean of Arts – Undergraduate Programs. 

New articulation agreements

All Waterloo/College Pathway articulation agreements must be approved by Senate Undergraduate Council. However, these agreements do not go to UGAG for approval. They must first be approved by the Admissions Committee, and from there will go to Arts Faculty Council and finally to SUC. If you have any questions about articulation agreements and their approval process, please contact the Associate Dean of Arts – Undergraduate Programs. 

Plan changes

• Academic units should aim to submit their group of plan changes only once per academic year cycle (September to April). 
  • If you know multiple plans (e.g., four specializations and a minor) will be changing, submit them to the same meeting instead of spreading them out over multiple meetings. 
  • If there are known multiple changes to the same plan, compile and submit them to only one meeting. This reduces the potential for errors as items progress through the approval stages and calendar text editing. 
    • e.g., If a new course is being proposed and needs to be added to diploma requirements, but you know two more such courses will be proposed at a later meeting, submit the corresponding plan change with all course additions to the later meeting.  
  • If changes are being made as a result of work done by other units (removing inactivated courses, updating cross-listing information), it's normally best to submit to one of the last two meetings. These types of clean-up changes would be considered editorial unless you are also changing requirements in other ways. Editorial changes still need to be noted to ensure the calendar text is updated accurately. 
  • If plan requirements change, students who began working towards that plan in an earlier year must either 1) still be able to complete the original requirements, or 2) be able to switch to the more recent requirements, without being disadvantaged.

Plan Changes - Elements and Format

• Use the most recently approved version of the plan. This may not necessarily be the version in the published undergraduate calendar.
  • If recent changes have been made but they have not yet been approved at AFC and/or SUC, (i.e., they may not have been fully approved/edited/proofed), contact the AUO curriculum team to obtain the most recent version of the plan. 
  • If unsure which calendar copy to use, contact the AUO. 
• Copy/paste the body of the plan text into the Plan Changes section of the Plan Submission Template. 
• Show changes by using strikeout for deletions and bold underlined text for new additions. 
  • DO NOT simply delete text that’s being removed, or type in new text without bold/underline emphasis. That makes it difficult to discern what's actually changing. An SUC audience is likely not familiar with the details of a specific plan, so we need to indicate changes very clearly. This also minimizes the risk of post-approval editing errors. 
• If adding courses to a plan, include a list of course numbers and corresponding course titles, since course numbers alone don’t give any indication of content. This also ensures the correct courses are included – e.g., if there is a typo in the course number, the title will help to verify the intended course. 

Changing a plan title 

• While this seems straightforward, the desired intent determines the correct approval procedure: 
  1. Will students currently enrolled in the plan with the existing title be allowed to complete requirements under the existing title? 
     • In this case, the submission must include an Inactivation of the existing plan and the Creation of a new plan. For example, English – Rhetoric and Professional Writing to English – Rhetoric, Media, and Professional Communication. 
       OR
  2. Will students currently enrolled in the plan with the existing title all be moved into the new plan upon creation? 
     • Students must have been heavily consulted and approve of the name change. 
     • In this case, the submission can proceed as a plan Change. For example, Drama to Theatre and Performance. 

Plan inactivations

• How will students currently enrolled in the plan be able to complete it? 
  • Will courses continue to be offered until no longer needed? 
  • Is there a need for a course substitution plan? 
• How will the academic unit/department handle inquiries to enrol in this plan until the inactivation becomes effective and the plan is removed from the next publication of the Undergraduate Calendar? 
• How will the department handle inquiries to enrol in this plan after the inactivation becomes effective, since it is listed in the Undergraduate Calendar requirement term the student is following? 

Plan inactivations – elements and format

• Include the plan title and rationale in the Plan Submission Template  
• You don’t need to include calendar text for a plan that’s being inactivated.

Plan submission template for UGAG

• The template can be found in the UGAG & Curriculum MS Team -> Training, Resources, Documentation channel files.
• It includes fields for the information needed for new plans, plan changes, and plan inactivations:
  • Earliest effective date - usually predetermined, but can be later.
  • Plan title(s) – since sometimes the same changes are made to multiple plans.
  • Rationale
  • Consultation
  • Calendar text – for new plans and plan changes; not needed for plan inactivations.
  • New plans require additional steps prior to the curriculum approval piece:
    • Majors – See New Undergraduate Programs and Majors.
    • Minors, Diplomas, Certificates – Faculty of Arts Statement of Interest must be completed and approved first. Once the plan is approved in principle, the curriculum submission can move forward.

Submitting curriculum items to UGAG

WHEN: Please submit curriculum items as early as possible, but definitely by the due date for that meeting (see UGAG Flow chart for important dates). Larger submissions take longer to process, so lead time is appreciated! You're welcome to contact the AUO curriculum admin team ahead of time to discuss your submission.

HOW: See instructions for How to submit curriculum items to UGAG.

WHO: Please submit curriculum items to UGAG members and corresponding staff curriculum reps for each department/academic unit.

WHY: All plans and courses (new, changes, inactivations) that appear in the Undergraduate Calendar must proceed through all the stages of the curriculum approval process: Department/academic unit to UGAG to AFC to SUC to Senate (if applicable) to proofreading and accuracy checks to Undergraduate Calendar edits and publication to Effective date.

How to submit curriculum items to UGAG Meetings

 After you have:

• Discussed changes within your academic unit.
• Checked due dates, and effective dates in the UGAG Flow chart.
• Consulted with departments affected by changes:
  • Essential and should occur if the proposal will impact another unit (either cross-listed courses, or your courses in other departments’ plans).
• Reviewed how to prep, and details to consider for:
  • Guidelines for Composing rationales– Important information for all course and plan changes
  • Courses
  • Plans

Next steps – courses:

• Use the following WCMS web forms - fill out one form per course:
  • New courses
  • Course changes
  • Course inactivations
• OR use the Course Submissions - Excel Forms template in Teams for larger submissions (e.g. when the same change is being made to many courses).

Next steps – plans:

• Use Template – plan submission to UGAG.dotx in Training,Resources,Documentationchannel Files tab.
• Note department/academic unit, corresponding plan titles. Don’t include plans that aren’t changing somehow.
• One 'global rationale' can be used if same changes apply to multiple plans.
• Include a rationale for all plans, plus:
  • New plans: 
    • Undergraduate Calendar text. See New Plans – Elements and Format.
    • New majors or undergraduate programs require additional steps and comprehensive planning. See the New Undergraduate Programs or Majorssection details. 
  • Changing plans: 
    • Requirements & text: show what’s being added in bold underlined text, deletions in strikeout text.
    • Copy text from most recently approved version in ACMS (ask AUO team if unsure).
  • Inactivated plans: plan title and rationale only. No need to include calendar text.
• Email the completed plan template to ugagadmin@uwaterloo.ca.
• For large submissions, count of items: for a significant number of courses and/or plans, please include a count of how many items there are of each type (New, Changed, Inactivated courses/plans). We’ll use this as a checklist to ensure all changes are captured. 

• Extra Information
  • Rationales should be succinct, providing sufficient context and detail for SUC and Senate members to make informed decisions when approving curriculum items. However, at the start of the approval stages it’s helpful for the AUO to have additional background info for changes being proposed. If you would like to include this, please email it to ugagadmin@uwaterloo.ca.
  • This will be for AUO internal use only, so rationales should not refer to it directly. Examples include:
    • Information from a department/external review.
    • Discussions with other units about cross-listed courses or courses that appear in another unit’s plan pages.
    • The discussions and meetings that lead to larger program changes.
    • Any student discussions/polls about the changes.
    • Data to strengthen the rationale.

When you have submitted material, the AUO curriculum team:

• Reviews materials (about 1 week).
• Provides feedback and questions re: content and/or editorial details.
  • Normally this is done in the form of a PDF annotated with comments for your review. See Comment Tool in PDFs - A Brief Guide for more details on how to view and respond to comments. 
• Communicates with UGAG member and staff rep:
  • Work together to clarify, fine-tune, make further edits that address any questions.
• AUO team finalizes agenda & distributes 1 week before UGAG.

Post-UGAG approvals

Following UGAG, the AUO Curriculum team prepares materials for the next stages of approval, to be presented by the Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs at the meetings of:

• Arts Faculty Council (AFC)
• Senate Undergraduate Council (SUC)

The complete approval process normally takes 1.5-2 years from the time a proposal is first approved at the academic unit/department level, proceeds through UGAG to AFC and then to SUC, and then appears in the published calendar with an effective date of September in the following academic year. See UGAG Flowchart for meeting dates and corresponding effective dates.

Proofreading and accuracy checks

Once curriculum items have progressed through all of the approval stages, edits are made to reflect the final versions approved.

• Courses are coded in Quest by the Registrar's office.
• Plans are edited in ACMS by the AUO Curriculum Team.

Staff curriculum reps are then asked to check the revised courses and plans for accuracy. This may happen throughout the year, several months after the corresponding UGAG approval (because subsequent approvals and edits take time).  

December final proofing:

The Undergraduate Calendar is published in February, with all changes effective September 1 of that year.

Curriculum items approved at UGAG and subsequent stages during the previous year are edited in the draft calendar.

These changes must be proofread during November and the start of December each year, before the calendar goes live. This proofing stage is crucial because the Undergraduate Calendar is a contractual document. Only critical edits may be made once it is published, and only with permission of the Registrar. 

Proofreading involves:

• Checking that the draft calendar text matches what was approved at SUC throughout the past year, and
• Checking for standard edits, typos, writing style conventions, etc.

Each staff curriculum rep is responsible for proofreading the following for their respective disciplines:

• All academic plan pages
• All other pages in your section of the Calendar, e.g., Overview, Admission, etc.
• All courses

The AUO curriculum team provides instructions to staff curriculum reps and all of the materials needed to complete proofing. See UG Calendar - Proofing and Edits channel.