Approval of New Common Core Courses

Proposals for new common core courses should be submitted using the prescribed form "Approval of Undergraduate Course". The new course proposal is subject to an elaborated process of approval, which applies to all common core course proposals, regardless of what the course offering unit is, or which common core area they are listed under. The course approval process is shown below.

The course offering school submits the new course proposal to Undergraduate Core Education (UCE) Team, Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies, after it is endorsed by the course offering school and concurrences from all schools are cleared.

Studio arts courses are subject to review and endorsement by the Arts Curriculum Panel (ACP) of the Division of Humanities, before they are endorsed by the Division and the School of Humanities and Social Science. The ACP reviews the proposals with reference to the guidelines established by the Division of Humanities.

All course proposals will be reviewed by relevant Course Review Panel (CRP). Courses proposed to be listed under more than one common core area will be reviewed by all relevant CRPs concerned. The role of a CRP is to ensure that the course design and content meet the general criteria for common core courses and are aligned with the stated learning outcomes. Comments or suggestions from the CRP for clarifying or making improvements, if any, will be communicated to the course offering school for consideration of revising the proposal. The CRP will provide a final recommendation for each proposal for consideration of approval by the Committee on Undergraduate Core Education (CUCE). Read more about Course Review Panels.

The authority of the CUCE is to approve a proposed new course as common core course. A new common core course can be added to the common core course list and be offered only when it is also approved by the Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies (CUS) as an undergraduate course.

Proposals not recommended by the ACP or the CRP, or not approved by the CUCE or CUS will be returned to the course offering unit for consideration of the next step. The proposals may or may not be re-submitted.

Provisional Approval of Common Core Courses

In view of the elaborated approval process for common core courses which normally takes about two months to complete, the course offering school may request for provisional approval for new common core courses that are to be developed by newly appointed faculty.

The School will submit a course proposal for vetting by the CRP at least one month prior to the delivery of the course. It should be accompanied by a request to seek provisional approval and a brief explanation of the reason for making the request. The submission may take place while the instructor’s formal appointment is being processed.

The proposal needs to be at the level of details equivalent to what are expected of a regular new course proposal. The School is encouraged to have supporting staff facilitating the write up of this proposal.

The CRP (at least two members) will give an evaluation of the proposal, provide comments (if there is any), and make a provisional approval (subject to the final submission of amendment at least two weeks before the delivery date).

The CUCE and CUS approval will be sought at a regular meeting or by circulation within two weeks prior to the delivery date.

The course is allowed to be offered based on the provisional approval given by the CUCE and CUS. Formal approval by the CUCE and CUS will be sought as soon as possible after this provisional approval has been granted.

It is expected that only a small number of courses will be reviewed under this vetting protocol. After this process has been run through in a reasonable number of cases, a review of this mechanism will be conducted to ensure that the academic rigor of courses has not been compromised by this alternative fast track process.