Course Proposal Submission Guidelines

An administrative committee reviews and approves proposals for new courses and changes to existing courses on an ongoing basis during the academic year. Any proposals that include non-standard elements (unusual credit hour requests, unusual plus components, etc.) are forwarded to the full Curriculum Committee for discussion and approval.

Course proposals are considered on a rolling basis. An administrative committee meets every two weeks during the regular semester to discuss proposals and provide a timely response. Complete proposals that are received by the deadline listed below and that do not require approval from the full Curriculum Committee are normally eligible to be taught in the next immediate semester.

** This schedule assumes that the course is approved without any revisions. If you believe your proposal may require revisions or review by the full committee, please submit it well in advance of the published deadline so that the discussion process with the administrative committee can begin.

To be considered a complete proposal the administrative committee expects to see the following documentation. All documents are required at the time of submission.

1. New Course Proposal Request, Course Deletion Request, or Change in Course Request
2. Course Syllabus
3. Letter of Support from the DUS (including course staffing information)
4. Additional letters of support (if applicable)

1. To propose a new course (or a course that was previously offered as Special Topics but is now being proposed for its own course number), please use the New Course Proposal Request Form.
2. To delete a course from the catalog, please submit the Course Deletion Request Form.
3. To make changes to an existing course, please submit the Change in Course Request Form.
4. To tag a course that is offered under Topic, Special Topics, or First-Year Seminars with the Race & Ethnicity tag, please submit the Race & Ethnicity: Non-Permanent Course Form. (To request the tag for permanent, new, and existing courses, use the forms above). 
5. Please note that the online forms must be completed in one sitting; fillable PDF templates of the New Course Proposal Request and Change in Course Request are available here to assist departments in preparing their submissions . Only online submission forms will be accepted. PDF templates with the new GERs are coming soon. 

The syllabus should include information on how the course is taught and graded, faculty office hours, an honor code statement (see below), and full references for any textbooks used for teaching.

The learning objectives of the course must be clearly listed on the syllabus. These objectives may be particular to the course or tied to the departmental learning objectives. If the course has a GER tag, the syllabus must list the GER learning outcomes that are relevant to the course.

The administrative committee will give particular attention to course grading. The syllabus should clearly explain how the course will be graded. Courses often assign a grade to participation. Although this is a normal practice, any participation grade above 20% will require additional justification and a description of the methods used to assign this grade. This justification may be provided in the syllabus itself or in an additional letter included with the submission.

Suggested Honor Code Statement:

The Emory Undergraduate Academic Honor Code is in effect throughout the semester. The Honor Code applies to any action or inaction that fails to meet the communal expectations of academic integrity. Students should strive to excel in their academic pursuits in a just way with honesty and fairness in mind and avoid all instances of cheating, lying, plagiarizing, or engaging in other acts that violate the Honor Code. Such violations undermine both the individual pursuit of knowledge and the collective trust of the Emory community. Students who violate the Honor Code may be subject to failure of the course, a reportable record, suspension, permanent expulsion, or a combination of these and other sanctions. The Honor Code may be reviewed at: http://catalog.college.emory.edu/academic/policies-regulations/honor-code.html.

Faculty may adjust this statement or include a different statement according to their needs but should always include a link to the Honor Code online.

Letters of Support from the DUS and Staffing Information

Every submission must include a letter of support from the leadership of the department offering the course (either the Chair or the DUS). For security and documentation purposes, this letter is required even when the proposal is submitted by the Chair or DUS. This letter should include information about how often the course will be taught and how it will count towards programs within the department.

The letter of support should also indicate how the department intends to staff the course. For example, will current faculty be teaching the course, or will the department require new hires to staff the course? If the course requires new hires, the submission should include a letter from the Dean of the College or the Senior Associate Dean of Faculty that outlines the College’s commitment to fund the new hire(s).

Additional Letters of Support

If you are proposing a permanent cross-listing or you are requesting a change to a course for which a permanent cross-listing already exists, you must submit a letter of support from the Chair or DUS of ALL departments included in the cross-listing.

The committee will look closely at the subject area of all new courses. Therefore, if you a proposing a new course in which the topic significantly overlaps with the academic endeavors of another College department, you must submit a letter of support from the Chair or DUS of that department.

For example, if you were to include the word “Film” in title of the new course, the committee would expect that the proposing department has consulted with the Department of Film and Media to ensure that there is no significant overlap with pre-existing courses in the discipline. A letter from Film and Media  supporting the creation of the new course would be required before the course is approved.

General Education Requirement Learning Outcomes

In reviewing an application for a General Education Requirement tag, the committee will consider the GER learning goals to assess whether the content of the course (as described in the syllabus) meets the standards of the learning goals. The syllabus must list any GER learning outcomes that are relevant to the course. If the course carries multiple GERs (e.g. an exploration GER and Continued Communication or Race and Ethnicity), the syllabus should list the outcomes for all the relevant GERs. Each area of the General Education Requirements has different requirements for the learning outcomes. Some require courses to meet a primary outcome and have optional secondary outcomes; others require a course to meet all outcomes. Pay close attention to the requirements for each area. View the Learning Objectives and Tagging Guidelines for the General Education Requirements.

Continued Communication Requirement

Courses proposed for the Continued Communication must meet several requirements. These are listed under Satisfying Communication Requirement Guidelines.  

Race & Ethnicity GER

The Race and Ethnicity Committee reviews all proposals to add the GER tag. 

The requirement focuses on understanding how historical, political, and cultural processes, as well as literary and aesthetic forces, among a range of factors, shape concerns about race, ethnicity, and immigration, both domestically and in the global arena. For more information, view the committee guidance document, faculty resources, and sample activities provided by the Race & Ethnicity Committee. 

Departments should submit the Race & Ethnicity: Non-Permanent Course form to tag specific courses that are offered under topics, special topics, or first-year seminar numbers. These types of courses will not receive a permanent tag but may be offered two times before needing re-approval for the tag. To add the tag to an existing permanent course, departments should submit a Change in Course Request form.

The committee will examine closely the proposed credit hours to ensure that the course complies with the Emory College and SACS accreditation guidelines regarding course credit and contact hours. Please see the Emory College Guidelines for Assigning Credit Hours to Courses.

The committee has written a brief guide that addresses common areas of confusion and terminology related to course proposals. If you have logistical questions about deadlines, schedules, or forms, or questions about the content of your proposal, please contact oue.facultysupport@emory.edu.