Each fall, departments and programs have the opportunity to review their program Guide pages and submit updates. These edits are typically made by faculty and staff in the departments who fill out the Lumen program proposal form. The Guide serves as an official document for the major, certificate, degree, and entrance requirements and therefore needs careful maintenance and review each year. The purpose of this document is to provide a basic overview on how to edit Guide pages to reflect updates or changes to your undergraduate programs.
Guide Content: Governed verses Non-Governed Content:
Content in Guide is divided into governed and non-governed content. There are separate processes to edit each type of content. The L&S Policy and Style Guidelines are a great resources for editors: https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/95362
Governed verses Non-Governed Content
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Governed Content Pages
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Non-Governed Content Pages
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| Pages |
- How to Get In/Admissions
- Requirements
- Policies
- Learning Outcomes
- Four or Three-Year Plans
- Accreditation
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- Overview
- Advising and Careers
- Funding
- People
- Professional Development
- Wisconsin Experience
- Resources and Scholarship
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| How to edit |
Through the Lumen Program Proposal form. All departmental faculty and staff have access to Lumen Programs. |
Guide editing environment: next-guide.wisc.edu (must be authorized) during the annual Guide editing window (Nov 1-Dec 6). Contact Meg Hamel to be designated as an Undergraduate Guide Editor for your department
For graduate programs, fill out the Guide authorization form or contact Kim Grocholski.
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| Who to contact for help |
Lumen Programs and general questions: Kim Grocholski, kim.grocholski@wisc.edu
DARS or how changes will be implemented (undergraduate proposals): Wyl Schuth, wyl.schuth@wisc.edu
If you are looking to start a new program, please consult the Associate Dean for L&S Academic Planning.
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Meg Hamel, Undergraduate non-governed Guide edits:meg.hamel@wisc.edu
Kim Grocholski, Graduate non-governed Guide edits: kim.grocholski@wisc.edu
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Editing Governed Content
The rest of this document gives tips for editing governed content.
Find the Program you wish to Edit
1. Go to the Lumen program proposal widget in Lumen
- Find your program by searching for it.
- One tip is to use the * for a wild card search. Put asterisks around the subject to find any proposal with that subject. Example: *biology* will find every program with the term biology in it.
2. Once you find the program you wish to edit, click on it and hit Edit program in green in the upper right-hand corner.
Guidance on Editing Key Lumen Program Proposal Fields
After you have found the program you wish to edit, you will go through the program proposal questions and answer them. The following table covers common questions and issues that arise when filling out the form.
Lumen Program Proposal Fields
| Question/Field |
Tips |
Notes |
| Proposal/Abstract Summary |
Brief description of changes |
- Used by reviewers to understand proposal
- 1-2 sentences is sufficient for minor changes (e.g. adding a few courses to course lists, clarifying edits)
- When more substantial program changes are being proposed, provide context and background for changes
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| Term |
Fall 2024 |
Term the proposal will go into effect; typically fall semester |
| Are the proposed changes minor, such as minimal curricular changes, small Guide language edits, red-box course corrections, etc.? |
Yes/No Field
Answer "Yes" for small edits |
Do your changes require a "short" or "long form?
"Yes" triggers a short form: Majority of proposal should answer this question as "Yes"
"No" triggers a long form: Typically, involving areas outside the "Requirements" page such as program name and learning outcomes
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| Rationale and Justification |
More information on change needed |
- Small changes: 1-2 sentences is sufficient
- Substantial changes: Provide more information on changes needed and why
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| Percentage of curriculum proposed to change |
Most common:
"No Change"
"less than 25%" |
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| Departments with a vested interest |
List of departments that should be notified of the changes; e.g. have courses being used in the curriculum. |
- Home department for the program does not need to be listed because there's a required department approval field on the form.
- If adding or removing courses from other units from the curriculum, should list those departments as vested interests.
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The
Lumen KB on program proposals is also available with instructions on editing fields.
Department Approval Process
Once the department finishes filling out the program proposal, it needs to be submitted and approved using the appropriate governance process. The goal of the College is to help departments successfully navigate the approval process so Guide accurately reflects what is occurring in units and students have an accurate source of information.
- Submit proposal by clicking on "Save and Start workflow" at the bottom of the proposal
- Department approval: two steps
- Click on "Edit"
- Enter a note with department approval process
- Template: Approved by XXXX (person/committee, depending on the governance process) on {date, if relevant}
- Enter name and date, Save
- Scroll to bottom, to Approvals field
- Enter any notes about approval here
- Click Approve in upper right hand corner.
College Approval Process
- Proposal will go to the College reviewer queue; staff in academic planning and AIM will review
- Small changes are reviewed administratively (most common)
- Substantial changes will need to be reviewed by L&S Curriculum Committee
- Substantial changes to graduate programs will also be reviewed by the Graduate School
- For clarity, staff will check that undergraduate changes align with the L&S Lumen/Guide Policy & Style Guidelines
- Once approved, L&S AIM will ensure DARS is updated for undergraduate programs
Deadlines
Deadlines for changes to be effective for Fall 2025:
Undergraduate program proposals: Friday, December 6, 2024
Graduate program proposals: December 20, 2024 for substantial changes. Minor curricular updates can be submitted until January 10, 2025.
For additional deadlines, please see L&S Deadlines for Course and Program Changes
Resources and Who can help
Workshop slides from Fall 2022 presentation on Updating Undergraduate Guide: LS Undergraduate Presentation
Help with Editing:
L&S Policy and Style Guidelines: https://kb.wisc.edu/ls/95362
Who can help:
Kim Grocholski, Academic Planner (kim.grocholski@wisc.edu): Help with Lumen Programs, "governed pages," governance or workflow questions, help with graduate Guide edits for "non-governed" pages
Meg Hamel, Academic Communications Manager (meg.hamel@wisc.edu): Help with undergraduate Guide edits for "non-governed" pages
Wyl Schuth, Policy & Planning Analyst (wyl.schuth@wisc.edu): Questions about how requirements will be implemented in DARS and whether requirements as articulated can be easily encoded.
