Courses: Course Modifications
Courses in the Course Inventory Audit (CIA) can be modified. The word of caution when developing these modifications is that the initiator does not change the course to the degree where the course content is affected. For example, deletion or addition of major content areas would require the course to be processed as a new course. Additionally, if skills or knowledge students are expected to acquire are significantly changed, this would require that the existing course be deleted and for the initiating college to submit the updated course as a new course.
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See Suffixed Courses section for more specific information on modularization of a course.
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Course Modifications Effect on Existing Curriculum (Back to Top)
There are several course elements that are monitored closely by the District Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation due to the effect of the change on existing courses, programs, class schedules, and the catalog building processes. These types of changes are noted below along with a notation on special deadlines for submission. The Curriculum Processing Calendar also contains specific information on these types of special deadlines.
Proposal must be processed and approved three months prior to the effective first year/term on the changes to:
Prefix/Number/Suffix
Credits
Periods
Prerequisites
Last/Year Term (course deletions)
In planning for changes on last/year term it is the responsibility of the initiating college to determine the impact of the deletion on other courses and their programs. The college should communicate their intent to delete courses to the other college curriculum personnel as soon as they become aware of the proposed change. This enables all parties affected by the deletion to proceed with the development of any additional proposals in order to align with the proposed change.
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Changes to Last Year/Term (Back to Top)
Changes to last year/term signals the deletion of a course from the Course Inventory Audit or course bank.
Note: the last year/term placed on the proposal means the last term the course can be offered. Example: if the last year/term on the proposal is 20052, the course in the MCCCD course bank will be good through this term and not available after year 2005, Spring semester (2=spring).
Changes to last year/term calls for two phases within the curricular processes. The two phases are as follows:
First Reading Requirement for Changes to Last Year/Term
Changes to a course’s last/year term require a First Reading
by the District Curriculum Committee. This means that when the course
is initially proposed as a deletion, the District Curriculum Committee
will receive a list of those courses on their agenda but no action will
be taken on them.
At the time the item appears on the agenda as a First Reading Item,
it is the responsibility of the colleges to analyze the impact of this
type of modification on their courses, programs, and their schedules
and communicate with the initiating college to determine if the course
should be removed from the agenda as a First Reading Item or change
the effective last year/term of the proposal. If agreement is reached
on the removal of the course from the agenda or change to year/term,
this should be communicated to the District Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation as soon
as possible. The college should not wait until the release of the courses
as Second Reading Items to communicate decisions made on changes to
the course proposal.
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If the approval of a new course is contingent upon changing last/year term for a current course in the CIA, the District Curriculum Committee may act upon the modification proposal when it is initially submitted, provided that no committee member objects.
Second Reading Requirement for Changes to Last Year/Term
Changes to last year/term require a second reading by the District
Curriculum Committee before action is taken. Action is taken the month
following the listing of the course on the District Curriculum Committee
agenda as a First Reading Item. The course is then listed on the curriculum
online agenda as a Second Reading Item.
An exception is the change to last year/term proposals submitted
in May as First Reading Items. The District Curriculum Committee may
take action on the May modifications to last year/term to facilitate
the maintenance of the curriculum.
Verification of the Effects of a Course Modification on Other Courses and Programs (Back to Top)
College Verification of Change in Last Year/Term’s Impact on Existing Course Requisites, Descriptions, and Programs
Changes in last year/term may affect the pre/corequisites of courses in the Course Inventory Audit (CIA) and the MCCCD Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation website. The college initiating the deletion should determine how the proposed modification will affect other courses’ prerequisites, corequisites, descriptions and programs by conducting searches on the MCCCD Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation website.
The web searches help the initiating college determine where the course to be deleted resides in the course requisite area, course descriptions, or occupational and academic programs. The impact of the course deletion on other MCCCD curriculum should be reported by the initiating college to the other college Curriculum Technicians and Curriculum Development Facilitators. This allows for discussion to occur and agreement to be reached on how impacted courses and programs will be dealt with by other colleges.
District Verification of Processed Proposals and “Blanket” Modifications
The MCCCD Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation also conducts a verification of the effects of proposed course modifications. The outcomes are reported on a monthly basis to the colleges through the Proposal Analysis Report. Follow up activities are conducted with the colleges to ensure that all courses and programs affected by the change are dealt with in a timely manner.
“Blanket” Modifications consist of anywhere from ten or more courses or programs being modified and processed simultaneously. “Blanket” modifications for programs are generally not problematic with regard to the effect of the modification on other curriculum. At course level, “blanket” modifications may affect other courses and/or programs depending on the proposed change.
The initiating college must communicate to the District Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation their need to process “blanket” modifications. This allows for the college and the District Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation personnel to discuss and determine best approach for determining impact of the changes on other courses and programs, communication required for informing colleges affected by the changes, and next steps. It is at this point that all colleges affected by the proposed curriculum proposal(s) will discuss and agree on how the changes will be processed for approval.
There must be at least three months lead time on “blanket” modifications for the colleges to safely conduct an impact analysis, communicate outcomes to appropriate groups and individuals, and ensure courses and programs are ready to move safely through the development process to align with the changes and be approved in time and available for offering.
Development of a Course Modification Proposal (Back to Top)
College curriculum personnel in completing the Course Modification proposal must follow the steps listed below:
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On the first page of the proposal form, create the running header that will appear on all pages of the proposal. Do not leave spaces between the colon and the entry that follows:
Identify the Prefix, Number, and Suffix.
Provide the Development Date (the numeric date the proposal was finalized
by the initiating college).
Type the name of the proposal initiator and the acronym of the college
initiating the proposal. See the section entitled Proposal Standards
for a list of college acronyms.
Provide the name of the college Curriculum Development Facilitator,
the person who assisted the initiator in the development of the proposal.
Identify the first year/term of the course. MCCCD Terms are as follows:
Fall=6, spring=2, First summer session=4, Second summer session=5. Examples
of beginning or first year/term to be entered on the proposal are: 20006
to indicate fall 2000 or 20002 to indicate spring 2000.
If the course is cross-referenced, provide the prefix/number/suffix
for all courses that apply.
Type an X in the appropriate space after Course Type to identify
the course as an occupational course, or an academic course.
Enter the District Curriculum Committee Online Agenda Dates (numeric)
and the MCCCD Governing Board agenda date (numeric). These dates can
be found on the Curriculum Processing Calendar on the MCCCD Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation website for the respective months.
Provide a Maintenance Date if the proposal was revised after it was
finalized. Note: the Maintenance Date will be revised/updated by the
college and the District Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation staff as needed if the proposal
is modified anytime after the initial submission of the proposal to
the District Center.
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Provide the name of the Vice President of Academic Affairs who has given approval
to release the proposal to the District Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation. Comments
from the Vice President of Academic Affairs may be provided such as, "Approved for processing to the MCCCD Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation." This entry will allow the
District Center to begin the review and approval processes
in preparation for placement of the proposal on the different agendas
at District level.
Type the name of the Instructional Council(s) responsible for evaluating
the new course. Provide the numeric code for the Instructional Council
in parenthesis after the name of the Instructional Council. This code
is found on the Instructional Council Membership List on the Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation website.
It is referred to as the Instructional Council Code.
If the college receives an evaluation from the instructional council
prior to the deadline when the proposal has to be placed on the server
for MCCCD Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation processing, enter the outcomes of the evaluation
on the proposal.
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Provide a brief rationale for the modification and any additional
information to help clarify the development of the proposal and facilitate
the approval process. For example, if the development of the proposal
is an outcome of early articulation, describe how the proposal is in
response to articulation/transfer needs. These comments may be incorporated
into the proposal for course equivalency prior to submitting the course
for university evaluation purposes.
Identify the suggested university equivalents by prefix/number after
the university's name. If no equivalency exists, state that by typing,
"None".
In the Proposed section:
Provide all the required information for the running header following
the established format (see Course Modification sample for additional
information).
Provide the current 100-character course title.
Indicate if the current course has common competencies by entering
an X in the appropriate area.
Continue with the completion of the remainder of the proposal information:
Indicate the type of change. Note: If the only change to the course is a change to one of the following elements, no additional information is needed in the Proposed section of the proposal:
Prefix, number, load formula, cross-reference course, course type, activity type, credits, periods, Last year/term (course deletion)For the above elements, provide the current information in the “From” section, the proposed information in the “To” section.
If adding cross-reference(s), provide the prefix, number, suffix of the course to be added. For deletion of the cross-reference(s), provide the current prefix, number, suffix of the cross-referenced course to be deleted.
For courses proposed for deletion, the Curriculum Development Facilitator would provide the last year/term the course would be available for offering by the colleges.
If the course is being modularized, indicate if the modules are equivalent to the general course by placing an X in the appropriate area. This information is used in the processing of proposals for course equivalencies by the District Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation.
Following the same procedure, indicate if the modules will have common competencies.
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Special Note on Modularization of Courses and Information Required on Course Modification Proposal: When an existing course is modularized, the proposal developer would provide, under the Proposed section of the proposal, all of the proposed elements for the module. The addition of multiple modules would require continuation pages with the proposed information provided for each and every module.
In the Proposed section:
Provide the prefix, number, suffix of the module being added through the course modification proposal if appropriate.
If change in title, provide the proposed 100-character unabbreviated title, 36-character title, 30-character title and the 24-character title (characters also include spaces).
Note: the 36-character title will be truncated to 34 characters in the transcript processes. Curriculum Development Facilitators should keep this in mind especially when abbreviating titles with Roman numerals or some other critical identifier at the end of the title. In addition a 30-character title will be required as this title is used in the new Student Information Systems Course Catalog.
Enter the current description and Requisites with appropriate editing marks if changing.
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Provide proposed information for placement in Course Notes with appropriate editing marks if changing the course element. See Course Notes section for types of information that can be added to this area.
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List the competencies along with the reference points to the course content outline. Use appropriate editing marks if changing the course element.
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Provide the Content Outline for the modified course. Use appropriate editing marks if changing the course element.
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Sample: Complete Course Modification Proposal #1 Document - Revised May 21, 2007
Sample: Complete Course Modification Proposal #2 Document - Revised May 21, 2007
Template: Course Modification - Revised May 21, 2007
The Curriculum Procedures Handbook is a product of the Maricopa County Community Colleges District. Any and all changes to the Handbook are monitored and coordinated through the District Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation. Please give credit to the Maricopa County Community College District if the Handbook or sections of the Handbook are duplicated.
