Curriculum and academic policy proposals should be approved and submitted by the department chair to the CLAS Educational Policies and Curriculum Committee (EPCC). All proposals are submitted electronically to the Dean’s Office. Once a major, minor, certificate or option is approved, contact the CLAS Curriculum manager to start the process for catalog entry and assigning system codes so that it will appear on the transcript. All curriculum proposals, and their supporting documents/materials, must be submitted no later than 14 days prior to the scheduled EPCC meeting.
See below for information on which form to submit. If you are not sure which form to use, or if you have any other questions, please contact CLAS.EPCC@ucdenver.edu
Materials to Prepare for EPCC Curriculum Proposals
The EPCC has established guidelines for minors, certificates and options within majors/degrees, and proposals for these must conform to these guidelines to be reviewed by the committee. Meeting these minimum standards does not guarantee EPCC approval, since EPCC will still play the role of insuring the program quality: that it coheres as a whole; that it is an appropriate CU Denver minor, certificate or option; and that it does not duplicate other offerings. See below for a list of items to have prepared. All additional materials should be sent to CLAS.EPCC@ucdenver.edu
- Completed curriculum proposal form
- Cover letter from department, program, or unit head briefly outlining and explaining the need for the proposed change, addition, or deletion.
- Support materials needed to provide clarification. This includes a description of the program or proposed alterations, a fuller description of the proposed program (including lists of required and elective courses, residency, GPA, total number of credits required, etc.), data to justify proposed change, addition, or deletion, etc. All programs should have established learning outcomes and all degree and certificate programs must have assessment plans, including curriculum maps and evaluation rubrics, according to the requirements outlined by the Office of Assessment. If the program is available for all students, codes will be created for each level and career (undergraduate, graduate, and non-degree seeking graduate). Please specify in your proposal which students are eligible to complete your program.
- The committee may request that additional information or clarification be submitted in written form, or may invite the department chair or other representative to attend the EPCC meeting to expedite the approval processes.
Note: Graduate curriculum must also be reviewed and approved by the Graduate Council.
Curriculum proposals and revisions submitted for EPCC review may be effective the following academic year; depending on the time the proposal is reviewed and approved. Note that any curriculum changes submitted to EPCC after the October EPCC meeting are not guaranteed to be published in the upcoming catalog. Please see the Catalog Editing page for more details about this timeline. All students must follow and be able to complete the curriculum that was advertised in the catalog when they applied and were admitted to their program.
Curriculum Proposal Forms
New Program Proposals are required if you are requesting any of the following:
- An entirely new program (new degree, certificate, minor, or subplan)
- A change to an existing program's title - note that changing the title of a program is equivalent to starting a new program, and will require the same approval process as a new program
- Collapsing two or more existing programs into one
- Reactivating a program that has been deactivated
Program Revision Proposals are required if you are wanting to update any of the following existing programs:
- Degrees (BA,BS, MA, MS, etc)
- This includes updating degree requirements, policies, or non-elective program course lists
- Subplans, Tracks, Options, etc.
- This includes modifying requirements, course lists, etc. for existing degree subplans. Note that creating new subplans for a degree, or merging two subplans requires a New Program Proposal
- Undergraduate Minors
- This includes minor requirements, policies, and course lists
- Certificates
- This includes certificate requirements, policies and course lists
- Program Deactivation
- Note: Program reactivation requires a New Program Proposal