Consultation and Development Stage: The consultation and development stage of the curriculum process takes place primarily among and between instructional faculty, administrators and advisory committees at the proposal initiator’s college. Preliminary input may also come from members of the relevant instructional councils.

The Vice President of Academic Affairs or other college administrators usually plays a central role in the consultation and development stage and, depending on the type of proposal, 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 provides for the formal review of curriculum proposals from the perspective of faculty in the relevant discipline(s) through District instructional councils, from the perspective of the colleges, through college curriculum committees, and, finally, from the perspective of the District, through the District Curriculum Committee (DCC). The recommendation and approval stage is initiated when the Vice President of Academic Affairs sends the recommended curriculum proposal to the appropriate district-wide Instructional Council(s)  Instructional Councils are responsible for evaluating the all course proposals and new occupational programs proposals. Program modification and deletion proposals are evaluated by the participating colleges, in the case of shared or District-wide programs, and are sent to the Instructional Councils as informational items.
After approval by DCC, curriculum proposals are forwarded by CCTA to the MCCCD Governing Board for final approval.

Dissemination Stage: Once the proposals are approved by the MCCCD Governing Board, the information is entered into the appropriate computer systems for maintenance and distribution purposes. Course and program information established and approved through the official curriculum process constitutes official curriculum elements for the Maricopa County Community Colleges. No course or program element formally approved and released to the colleges may be altered except through official course or program curriculum modification processes as defined in the Curriculum Procedures Handbook.