L&S: Governance review of course proposals

This page describes governance and review process for course proposals

Course components require faculty governance review

Course components are governed by faculty, and must be reviewed by faculty department, school/college and campus curriculum committees. Governed course components include:
  • Subject, Catalog Number, Title, Course Description
  • Learning outcomes
  • Number of credits
  • Requisites 
  • Attributes: e.g. breadth, level, graduate attribute, general education, etc.
  • Other components: Grading basis, course components to be scheduled, repeatability

Review Process

Department review/approval: The department must approve a course proposal in Lumen Courses to advance it to L&S review. When the department approves a course, they are indicating:
  • It has been reviewed and approved via the department’s governance procedures
  • The department has completed administrative review of the proposal, and has ensured the syllabus includes all the required syllabus components listed here.
L&S Administrative review:
L&S Curriculum Committee review: The L&S Curriculum Committee reviews all course proposals. Review includes whether requests for breadth designations meet criteria, identifying any course components that might be missing or confusing to students once offered, discussing potential overlap concerns, and generally affirming that the course meets L&S quality standards.
University Curriculum Committee review: The University Curriculum Committee has final review. Generally speaking this is a higher order review to ensure the course meets quality standards, campus policies and the federal credit hour definition. If the syllabus is missing required components listed here the proposal will be returned to you for revisions. Double check your syllabus to avoid delays.

Additional committee review: Depending on the particular course, additional committees may also review it. This includes all cross-listing department curricular committees, other school/college committees if a course is cross-listed with a department in another college, and General Education committees, if a general education designation is selected.
Questions? Contact the L&S point person for course proposals, Sara Stephenson (sara.stephenson@wisc.edu).

Check the status of your course proposal

See where the proposal is in the review process at any time by searching for your course in Lumen Courses and looking at "workflow."
visual image of the search page in Lumen Courses