Operating Procedures

 Requirements for Majors, Sequences, Minors, Certificates

Undergraduate

• All courses required for the major, sequence, minor, including courses from other disciplines and courses that may also satisfy general education or degree requirements (i.e. AMALI, IDEAS, B.S-SMT), must be included in the total hours.
• All required course prerequisites for required courses must also be included in the total hours, except courses that are required for all students regardless of their major (i.e. ENG 101 and COM 110).
• Refer to University Policy 2.1.9 which governs graduation requirements, hour limitations, and sets parameters for evaluation of proposals.

Required math courses and prerequisites
Required math course prerequisites should be included in the total hours starting with a General Education math course.
Examples:

1. Major/sequence requires MAT 146. MAT 146 is not a General Education Program Math Category course. MAT 145 is a General Education math course and is the prerequisite to MAT 146 so the major/sequence should include both MAT 145 and 146 as major/sequence requirements and both will count towards the total hours required in the major/sequence.
2. Major/sequence requires MAT 120. MAT 120 is a General Education math course. The major/sequence will require MAT 120 as major/sequence requirements and the hours will count in the total required hours for the major.

If you have questions about how to list required math courses email Curriculum@ilstu.edu 

Required language course for a major, sequence, or minor

• Majors/sequences (outside of the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures) should include the 112-level (4 credit hours) course in the total hours required for the major. Students who do not meet the qualifications to begin in 112 must take the 111 course prior to 112 but those (4 credit hours) do not need to be included in the total hours. Foreign language levels include:
  • Students with no previous study in a language begin with the 111-level course.
  • Students with 2 years of high school (or equivalent) normally begin with the 112-level.
  • Students with 3 years of high school normally begin with the 115-level.

  • All graduates of the College of Arts and Sciences must satisfy a foreign language graduation requirement that may be met in one of the following ways:

• • • 3 years of one foreign language in high school or successful completion of the second semester or higher of college-level foreign language (112-level) with a passing grade or equivalent proficiency as determined by examination
    • students who have successfully completed one semester of college foreign language credit (111-level) may elect to satisfy this requirement by studying abroad in an approved program in a country whose main language is the same as the one studied in college
    • American Sign Language may be used to fulfill this requirement by transfer credit or by proficiency

Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree language requirement

• A student pursuing the B.A. degree will acquire knowledge of a foreign language as demonstrated by successful completion of LAN 115 (or equivalent). Majors/sequences that offer only a B.A. degree do not need to include the hours in the required total hours because this requirement is an additional graduation requirement. The 115-level language course should be included in the Plan of Study as a requirement. Majors/sequences that offer both a B.A. and a B.S. degree option should indicate in the Plan of Study that either a B.A. language course (115-level) or a B.S. – SMT course is required for graduation.

Bachelor of Science – Science, Mathematics and Technology course requirement (B.S.-SMT)

• Students pursuing a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree must have one additional science, mathematics, statistics, and/or technology course (beyond the General Education requirements).
  Majors/sequences that offer a B.S. degree option only do not have to include a B.S.-SMT course in the total hours required because this requirement is an additional graduation requirement, but should include this requirement in the Plan of Study. Majors/sequences who give students an option to choose a B.A. or B.S. degree should indicate in the Plan of Study that either a B.A. language course (115-level) or a B.S. – SMT course is required for graduation.

Graduate 

Refer to the catalog for information about graduate level majors, sequences and certificates, including unique requirements by degree type, time limitations and limitations for general courses. Questions should be directed to the Graduate School 

Comments and Objections from the University Community

• Written comments or objections on the program proposals by concerned faculty must be received by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Chair (UCC), Graduate Curriculum Committee (GCC) Chair or the AVP for Undergraduate Education or Graduate Education before the proposal is approved by the UCC or GCC. Committee agendas are posted on the Curriculum website.
  Written comments or objections on course proposals by concerned faculty must be received by the AVP for Undergraduate Education or Graduate Education before the proposal is approved by them. 
• Proposals drawing objections due to overlap with other courses or programs will be returned by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or Graduate Curriculum Committee to the originating college curriculum committee. Proposals receiving other objections may be returned to the originating committee or may be addressed by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or Graduate Curriculum Committee. When proposals are returned, the originating committee or the originating college curriculum committee should call together the appropriate chairs, directors, faculty, and/or deans within 15 days in an attempt to resolve the objection. If the issue can be resolved, the originating college curriculum committee should resubmit the proposal to the Undergraduate or Graduate Curriculum Committee with an explanation of the resolution. Letters acknowledging resolution of the problem from the departments/schools that objected should accompany the resubmitted proposal. Unresolved issues may be forwarded by the originating college curriculum committee to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or Graduate Curriculum Committee for resolution.
• All proposals that have received expressed objections, including all those courses resubmitted by college committees, will be placed on an agenda of the next meeting as a discussion item. The proposals will then be placed on a subsequent agenda as an action item.

Substantive Review by Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or Graduate Curriculum Committee

• Proposals that are technically acceptable will be reviewed on substantive grounds during the same time period or shortly after they are circulating to the University community. Proposals will be assigned to a two-member Undergraduate Curriculum Committee subcommittee or to the entire Graduate Curriculum Committee to be reviewed for substantive issues. The chair of this subcommittee may not be from the college initiating the proposal. Program proposals will list all course proposals that bear on the proposed new or revised program to provide a context of review of the program in supporting achievement of stated program outcomes. Course proposals bearing on a program must be submitted concurrently. However, these course proposals are not generally reviewed by UCC or GCC for the purpose of their approval.
• Particularly important is the place of course requirements within the curriculum of the University and of the department/school offering the course as outlined in policy 2.1.9 Baccalaureate Degree Programs  and the catalog.
• The initiator of the proposal has the responsibility to demonstrate clearly and convincingly that the proposed curriculum is valid and justified. Initiators, department chairs, school directors, and interested others are encouraged to attend Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or Graduate Curriculum Committee meetings. 
• Any objections to the proposal should be brought to the Undergraduate or Graduate Curriculum Committee in writing. All proposals that receive such objections will be placed on a subsequent agenda as a discussion item.

Approval Procedures

Proposals to which no objections have been raised by either the University community or by the subcommittee will be listed as an action items on the agenda of the next Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or Graduate Curriculum Committee meeting.
Voting procedures:

• The Undergraduate Curriculum or Graduate Curriculum Committee will act as a "committee of the whole" on each proposal in an open session. The date when specific proposals will be considered is announced as part of each Undergraduate Curriculum or Graduate Curriculum Committee meeting agenda.
• The Undergraduate or Graduate Curriculum Committee will vote on the proposal, with a simple majority of those voting deciding approval or rejection.
• If the proposal is rejected, it will be returned to the initiator for reconsideration and revision. The initiator may withdraw or submit the proposal after revisions have been completed and approved. There is no limit to the number of resubmissions an initiator may make. To help with tracking and requested changes, the electronic proposal system creates a new “version” of the proposal each time it is revised by the initiator.

Notification of Undergraduate Curriculum or Graduate Curriculum Committee Action to Departments/Schools: Minutes of the Undergraduate Curriculum or Graduate Curriculum Committee will serve as official notification to the departments or schools submitting proposals.

Appeals Process

One of the functions of the Undergraduate Curriculum or Graduate Curriculum Committee is to hear appeals from an academic department or equivalent whenever the academic department disagrees with a decision of a college curriculum committee or dean on curriculum matters.

1. Informal discussion between and among persons directly involved is strongly encouraged at all stages of the appeal. Such discussion may be initiated by any individual involved in the curricular process. An equitable solution to the problem should be sought before the respective persons directly involved have assumed official or public positions that might tend to polarize the dispute and render a solution more difficult. Every opportunity should be taken to settle the dispute within the college or among colleges.
2. Where informal recourse fails, the academic department, the department/school curriculum committee, the college curriculum committee, or the dean may petition in writing the Chair of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or Chair of the Graduate Curriculum Committee. The petition should specify the grounds and the nature of the appeal. The Chair will appoint two members of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or Graduate Curriculum Committee to act as mediators between the aggrieved parties. The appointed mediators will not be from the same college originating the appeal. The mediator's role is to seek a solution to the problem in an informal way.
3. If mediation fails, the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or Graduate Curriculum Committee shall receive recommendations from the mediation team, review the evidence presented, listen to relevant testimony, and ask questions of the individuals giving evidence. All parties are permitted to participate in the information-giving stage. After the information is presented, the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or Graduate Curriculum Committee shall review the evidence and reach a decision by majority vote.
4. After a decision is reached, both parties shall be notified in writing of the decision.
5. Any appeal beyond the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or Graduate Curriculum Committee shall be directed to the Academic Affairs Committee of the Academic Senate.

Eight-Year Review of Interdisciplinary Minors

At Illinois State University, primary responsibility for quality of academic programs resides with faculty; review of existing interdisciplinary minors resides with the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, an external committee of the Academic Senate. Formal review of interdisciplinary minors encourages the development and maintenance of high-quality academic programs that are administered efficiently and are consistent with the University 's mission.

Principles of the Interdisciplinary Minor review process at Illinois State University

• The Program Coordinator/Director and faculty members determine the student learning outcomes and quality measures that are appropriate for driving improvement in the interdisciplinary minor.
• Program faculty should fully participate in the self-study process.
• The review document should be outcomes based and provide evidence the minor is meeting established goals to allow a more accurate determination of program quality.

Self-Study Report Guidelines

Please include the following 8 sections in the program review document. Please limit your review to no more than 8 single spaced pages.

1. Name and title of individual(s) submitting the report
2. Description of the self-study process
   1. Provide a description of the process used to conduct the self-study including faculty and student involvement and timeframe for the self-analysis and review.
3. Program and Curriculum Overview
   1. Include student learning outcomes
   2. Coherence and overall design of curriculum and course offerings
   3. Availability of required and recommended courses
   4. Student learning outcome assessment plan for the minor
4. Enrollment Data and Summary
   1. Data will be provided by the Office of the Provost. Additional data may be sought from Policy, Research & Policy Analysis
   2. Address any low enrolled minors and how enrollment could be increased.
5. Faculty Associated with the Minor
   1. Lead faculty in each of the disciplines
   2. Overview of faculty participation in curricular review and update process
6. Academic Advisement
7. Recommendations for Program Improvement
   1. Including short and long term goals as well as recommendations for improvements to the minors over the next 8 years.

Interdisciplinary Minors and Review Years

Program	Review Years
Cognitive Science	December 1, 2025
Peace and Conflict Resolution Studies	December 1, 2025
European Studies	December 1, 2026
Urban Studies	December 1, 2026
African Studies	December 1, 2027
Civic Engagement and Responsibility	December 1, 2027
Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino/a Studies	December 1, 2027
Entrepreneurship	December 1, 2028
Food Studies	December 1, 2028
Children's Studies	December 1, 2029
Social Aspects of Aging	December 1, 2029
African-American Studies	December 1, 2030
Global Studies	December 1, 2030
Ethnic Studies	December 1, 2031
Middle Eastern and South African Studies	December 1, 2031
Native American Studies	December 1, 2031
Water Sustainability	December 1, 2032
Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies	December 1, 2032
Studies of Global Asia	December 1, 2033

 

IDS Review Timeline

Date	Activity	Responsibility
April 1	UCC Contacts IDS Minor coordinator/director and Milner with Enrollment information and self study format.	Curriculum Coordinator and provost's representative
December 1	Self study report due to UCC	Minor coordinator and faculty
May 1	UCC summative report and recommendations, including possibility of requesting follow-up reports to address issues identified prior to next 8-year review.	UCC reviewers and provost's representative

Changes to the General Education Program

Structural changes to General Education, from modest revisions to new program designs, are complex initiatives that require campus-wide participation. Principles of such changes are as follows:

A call for revisions may be initiated by the Provost, Academic Senate, or other appropriate constituency. The formal charge to the General Education Task Force will come from the Provost who will announce the initiation of the process to the university community at large.

The Provost will appoint a task force to review the effectiveness of the existing curriculum with authority to make recommendations for program changes. The task force will consult widely with campus constituencies (faculty, staff, students, chairs/directors and deans, the University Assessment Office, the Council on General Education, the Academic Senate), and will assure multiple means of gathering campus-wide feedback. The task force will take into account that feedback as well as the relevant context for the changes, including the University 's strategic plan, statewide transfer programs, and any other internal or external factors that may be pertinent.

The task force will make recommendations for change to the Provost.

The Provost will consider the merits of the recommendations and also the feasibility of implementation, including staffing implications and other costs. The Provost may refer recommendations back to the task force for further consideration or may recommend changes to the Council on General Education.

The Council on General Education, a standing external committee of the Academic Senate, will conduct its review. CGE will involve, as appropriate, campus constituencies in its review. CGE will forward its recommendations to the University Curriculum Committee.

The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, a standing external committee of the Academic Senate, will conduct a review of the proposed structure. Following its usual process, proposed revisions or new structure will circulate to the University community for comment. UCC will forward its recommendations to the Academic Senate.

The Academic Affairs Committee of the Academic Senate will conduct a review of the proposed structure. It will make recommendations to the Academic Senate for discussion and action. If necessary, the Academic Senate, or its internal committees, may send the proposed structure back to the Council on General Education for further review and revisions.

If questions arise regarding feasibility, staffing implications and costs, or other budgetary matters, the Administrative Affairs and Budget Committee will review the budgetary implications of the proposed structure and report to the Academic Senate on its findings and recommendations. If necessary, the Academic Senate, or its internal committees, may then send the proposed structure back to the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee for further review and revisions.

Upon approval by the Academic Senate, program changes will be published in the Undergraduate Catalog and will be implemented by appropriate academic and academic support units.

Changes to Graduation Requirements

Changes to Graduation Requirements are rare but important events that require campus-wide participation and thoughtful deliberation. Principles of such changes are as follows:

A call for revisions may be initiated by the Provost, Academic Senate, or other appropriate constituency. The formal charge to the Council on General Education will come from the Provost who will announce the initiation of the process to the university community at large.

The Council on General Education (a standing external committee of the Academic Senate) shall be in charge of investigating the call for revisions. A subcommittee of the Council on General Education will consult widely with campus constituencies (faculty, staff, students, chairs/directors and deans, the University Assessment Office, the Council on General Education, the Council for Teacher Education, the Academic Senate), and will assure multiple means of gathering campus-wide feedback. Ordinarily, the subcommittee will:

• Administer a campus-wide electronic survey
• Conduct campus-wide public forums and student focus groups
• Request that chairs/directors discuss possible or proposed changes to the requirements at a department/school meeting and collect and return feedback as a department/school
• Identify cohorts of faculty with specific expertise in the area being reconsidered and reach out to those faculty in one-on-one and/or group meetings for specialized advice (e.g. U.S. politics and history faculty for changes to the Constitution requirement; writing program faculty for changes to university-wide writing requirements; global studies and international studies faculty for changes to the global studies requirement; LLC faculty for changes to the foreign language requirement for the B.A.)
• Analyze the results of relevant available assessment data and/or initiate the design and collection of such data
• Compare the existing graduation requirement(s) to those at aspirant institutions

The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee as a whole may augment or narrow these decision-making instruments as appropriate.

The subcommittee will take into account the feedback thus collected, as well as the relevant context for the proposed change(s), including the University 's strategic plan, statewide transfer programs, and any other internal or external factors that may be pertinent. They will make recommendations regarding the proposed change(s) to the Council on General Education.

The Council on General Education will conduct a review of the proposed change(s) and the subcommittee 's recommendations. Proposed change(s) will circulate to the University community for comment. The UCC may refer recommendations back to the subcommittee for further consideration. If any changes are approved, the UCC will then forward its recommendations to the Provost and the Academic Senate.

The Provost will consider the merits of the recommendations and also the feasibility of implementation, including staffing implications and other costs. The Provost may refer recommendations back to the Council on General Education for further consideration.

The Academic Affairs Committee of the Academic Senate will then conduct a review of the proposed change(s). It will make recommendations to the Academic Senate for discussion and action. If necessary, the Academic Senate may send the proposed change(s) back to the Council on General Education for further review, revisions, or reconsideration.

If questions arise regarding feasibility, staffing implications and costs, or other budgetary matters, the Administrative Affairs and Budget Committee will review the budgetary implications of the proposed change(s) and report to the Academic Senate on its findings and recommendations. If necessary, the Academic Senate may then send the proposed change(s) back to the Council on General Education for further review, revisions, or reconsideration.

Upon approval by the Academic Senate, the changes will be published in the Undergraduate Catalog and will be implemented by appropriate academic and academic support units.

_Request for New Course Subject Code

Course subject codes are the characters used to identify courses in addition to the course number. Most courses have a subject code that is the same as the department/school code (i.e. AGR for the Agriculture courses). A strong rationale must be associated with a request for a new course subject code. Submit a request for a new course subject code using the Request for New Course Subject Code form in the Coursedog curriculum management system. The request will route to the  department/school, College Dean, and the Office of the Provost. Questions should be directed to Curriculum@ilstu.edu