General: Stages of Curriculum Development
The development of curriculum is a dynamic process, ever changing to stay current with new technologies and providing quality curricula for Maricopa students.
The Development section is the initial section of the Handbook containing information on course and program elements. These elements are critical components of the curriculum proposal. Additionally, this section of the Handbook includes curriculum information which helps guide faculty, administration and staff in the development of a course or program proposal. Curriculum development applies to various categories of curriculum
proposals such as the following:
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Consultation and Development Stage
The consultation and development stage of the curriculum development process takes place primarily at the college of the proposal initiator. The proposal
is developed informally in consultation with appropriate academic and/or occupational instructional faculty, administrators and advisory committees
through an internal process that emphasizes continuing feedback among all concerned instructional personnel.
The Vice President of Academic Affairs is the central figure in the consultation and development stage and may involve other individuals and groups from other colleges
and/or offices in the District in this stage.
The Curriculum Process Flowchart indicates the typical flow of communication among faculty, administrators and advisory committees in the development
of a curriculum proposal.
Recommendation and Approval Stage
The recommendation and approval stage of the curriculum development process is the formal part of the process that is initiated when the Vice President of Academic Affairs sends the recommended curriculum proposal to the appropriate district-wide Instructional Council(s). The Instructional Councils are responsible for
evaluating the course proposals and new occupational programs. For these reasons, and as part of transitioning to the new MCCCD student information
systems, the instructional councils will have a numeric code assigned to them. This is the same code that is currently on the University and College
Relations website entitled, Instructional Council Membership List. On that source document the code is identified as the Degree Audit Code. As of Fall 2004 the Degree Audit code will be referred to as the Instructional Council code.
This numeric code will be used in the new student systems functionality and will define the relationship of the subjects (prefixes) and academic plans
(programs) to the council(s) responsible for evaluation of the curriculum. The new functionality will allow the District Curriculum Office to maintain some
level of history of councils associated with subjects and academic plans, and changes such as new councils added, councils modified, and councils
inactivated.
Program modification and deletion proposals are sent to the Instructional Councils as informational items. This stage then consists of a series of
recommendations at both the college and district levels as indicated by the flowchart.
Dissemination Stage
Once the proposals are approved, the information is entered into the appropriate computer systems for maintenance and distribution purposes. The
course elements including the course descriptions and program requirements approved and released to the colleges CANNOT be altered. They constitute the official elements for the
Maricopa Community Colleges, processed and approved through the appropriate authorized agents. Modifications are processed via the course or
program modification curricular processes defined in the Handbook.
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.
