Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, in some cases, the proponent can be invited to the CCPS meeting in order to speak for their proposals and answer any questions the committee might have.

Yes, it will be considered a minor change to the course. The proponent needs to submit a CEC proposal in which they need to explain three questions in the academic rationale: whether the change affects the course learning outcomes; how the academic honesty issue will be adjusted in the alternate mode; and how technology and course design will be used. Please refer to the memo.

Yes, in that case, the proponent needs to submit a minor change to course proposal along with a consultation form from the respective unit.

Please contact your unit’s Subject Librarian for collecting a library statement. For a new course proposal, it is obligatory to collect a library statement.

It is recommended that for a course there should be 4/5 learning outcomes. 

The proponent needs to submit a CEC explaining how a 3.00 version will be adjusted in terms of course learning outcomes, evaluation, course description (if needed), and reading list. The proposal needs to clarify the difference between the two versons In that case, a new course with a new credit value will be created.  

Please submit the proposal by using Gen ed NCP. Please refer to the new Gen Ed criteria for LAPS.

Six departments in LA&PS (English, Anthropology, Information Technology, Sociology, History, and Administrative Studies) can submit directly their proposals through Kuali. The Registrar Office and the curriculum team are working together to onboard the rest of the departments into CMS by the end of Winter 2024 so that all can submit proposals through CMS. Until now, the rest of the departments submit curriculum proposals through the Mach Form in curriculum toolkit website.

An NCP needs to be submitted for creating the new credit version and a CEC has to be attached in order to retire the 3.00 version. Also, the proposal needs to clarify how a new credit version will be adjusted in terms of course learning outcomes, evaluation, course description (if needed), and reading list.

The curriculum team usually prioritize the proposals that come through by June deadline each year and the proposals submitted by the new faculty members. Any proposals that were submitted after the deadline will be in the queue and will be scheduled when the in-time proposals are approved.

Every course that is proposed needs to be available in the course repository system. After a unit submits a proposal through Mach Form, the curriculum teams submit the proposals into CMS/KUALI on behalf of the unit.

If the course is based on a specific geographical location, then the proposal should specify the location in the proposal as well as the learning outcomes should reflect the geographical connection. Therefore, if the proponent ever wants to change the geographical location of the course, it will require governance approval since the course content and learning outcomes require updates.

If the course is thematically connected to one or multiple geographical locations, then specifying location in the proposal is not required. In that case, the learning outcomes will remain generic and will not change if the geographic context changes from year to year. Given that, changing the geographic context does not require any governance approval. In the second scenario, it is recommended that the proponent should not specify any geographical locations in the course proposal.

1. Course contents
2. Learning outcomes should reflect that
3. Evaluation strategies should reflect that as well.

If a course is approved in Faculty Council, that means it is ready in the system and to be offered from the effective date.

After a proposal is submitted, it is vetted by a curriculum developer. If the proposal is complete and requires no further information, then it will be in the queue for CCPS review. If it requires more information and clarification, the curriculum developer communicate the feedback with the unit and wait for the revised version. Once the revised version is received, the proposal gets into the queue.

The information that is required in order to complete the proposal form is mandatory to provide, without which the curriculum team cannot submit the proposal into CMS and CCPS cannot review the proposals. For example, the information on the departmental approval, current mode of delivery, brief course description, pre-requisites, learning outcomes, cross-listing information etc. are obligatory. 

Some of the feedback is based on the York Quality Assurance Framework such as suggestions on shaping the learning outcomes, which are recommended. The faculty members are free to accept or ignore suggestions on the learning outcomes. However, these questions may be asked again by the CCPS committee members later, which might cause a delay in the curriculum approval process. 

Any technical error can be corrected from the end of the curriculum team. No curricular approval is required for that. Please reach out to the curriculum team regarding any technical errors or editorial corrections.

Yes, a CEC would be required in order to add course pre-requisite information to the brief course description.

• Cross-listing 
• Course Credit Exclusion 
• General feedback on content 
• Sometimes it’s a provision of notice 
• It’s not a license to veto 
• It’s not an ideal forum for mediating relationship breakdowns. 

In order to submit a complete proposal, it is always encouraged to navigate the curriculum toolkit website for further clarification on the proposal writing or to contact with the curriculum team to consult the proposal ahead of the time. If a proposal received is in good shape, it is highly likely that the proposal will get through the review process smoothly. Also, please consider the time of the year the proposal is submitted. If we receive any proposal in Winter, it is highly unlikely that it will be approved for the following Fall.

Please submit a proposal through RRC form to request for reactivating the course in the system.

In COS- if the course has not been offered for the past (7) years or a program closure, the course will be retired.  In Kuali CMS- this is equivalent to making the course ‘inactive.

Retired courses in Kuali CMS were loaded as such due to poor data quality of these courses in COS. E.g. these were Lapsed courses without an expiry date in COS, and older courses with overlapping terms which Kuali CMS system does not permit.  However, all the newer versions were brought in as either active or inactive in Kuali CMS depending on the status in COS.

After receiving a proposal from a unit, the curriculum team vets those proposal to check whether the proposals are complete and have addressed the CCPS requirements and York University Quality Assurance framework. If the proposals require further information or work, the curriculum developers send feedback to the respective units and ask for further clarification or information. This happens before the CCPS committee review the proposals so that proposals are in good shape when they are scheduled for CCPS review and have the highest chance of getting approved. 

The curriculum team communicate the CCPS review result of the proposals through email. The proposals can be approved with or without recommendations, or friendly suggestions; conditionally approved; returned or tabled with recommendations.

Kuali is the vendor that the curriculum management system (CMS) uses at York as a course repository system. Kuali/CMS is used for submitting course proposals, reviewing, and approving them in the system. Anybody who has York passport can access Kuali/CMS to access information of any courses that are available in the system.

Mode of delivery refers to the mode/s in which a course is offered. A course can be fully online or in-person or blended. There are multiple forms of mode of delivery that York University offers. Please refer to the CMS list.

Learning objectives are written for the instructors and learning outcomes are written for students.

Faculty members are welcome to provide their rationale behind not accepting the suggestions, which will be forwarded to the CCPS committee members when the proposal will be scheduled for review.  It is always recommended to respond to the curriculum feedback from the curriculum team in order to let them know how you would like to proceed with without addressing some of the feedback so that the proposals are not stalled for long.

When a new course proposal includes some Experiential education components (see the checklist), that requires consultation with EE coordinator to determine whether it requires a support letter or not. It is recommended that the proponent contact the EE coordinator at eelaps@yorku.ca before they submit the proposal in order to save the curriculum development time.

If a course includes substantial number of contents that are connected or based on Indigenous Peoples, it requires consultation with Indigenous council. Please refer to York University’s Indigenous Framework. For a consultation letter, please email lapsindigenous@yorku.ca.

If the newly proposed course brings any change to the degree requirement or the existing course list (adding the course to the list), then an MCP along with an NCP would be required.

To prevent students from counting credit twice for courses with similar content. Strengthen course and degree integrity.

When to consider: 

• If consultee requests it 
• When you propose a new version of an existing or retired course (e.g. 3.00 to 6.00 credits) 
• If you are duplicating a similar offering in exercising your right to academic freedom 
• If you answer yes to the question: Is there potential for a student to earn twice the credit for repeated exposure to overlapping content? 

Questions to consider: 

• Who is your course open to?  
• What level of skills and knowledge would an average student need to succeed in the course? 
  • “students must have completed x number of credits prior to enrolling” 
• Is there foundational content on which your course relies that isn’t covered in the proposed course? In which courses are students expected to acquire this knowledge prior to enrolling in the proposed course? 
  • “Pre-requisites: Course 1000, Course 2000” 
• In most cases, it’s inappropriate for 3000- and 4000-level core/major courses to be introducing disciplinary knowledge or concepts for the first time

When a course may be used to fulfill credit in another program or for students outside your program, when another program may want to reserve seats for their students.

In large units, for courses that play role in more than one program or when a new, program specific rubric is created to help students find relevant courses. 

The curriculum team encourages the faculty members to submit their proposals by June deadline each year in order them to be offered or implemented in the next Academic Year.

You can contact the Curriculum Team or Teaching Commons.

When a new course proposal affects any other programs such as cross-listed programs or has content overlap with an existing course in another programs or departments or Faculties (keyword search), consultation with the respective unit is required. In some cases, consultation is also required for minor change to courses as well. For example, adding or removing a cross-listing may require a consultation form. 

• To demonstrate your awareness of the wider context in which you are proposing curriculum
• To ensure your curriculum proposal responds to gaps or duplication in existing programming 
• To communicate with and inform your colleagues 
• To ensure consistency in COS and Calendar 
• To provide additional context to CCPS