The Campus Curriculum Committee (CCC) is appointed by, and is advisory to, the provost. The CCC was developed in 2012 to address curricular questions and issues that arise between/among colleges on the Twin Cities campus, and to provide central guidance for the undergraduate curriculum by reviewing new undergraduate course proposals.
The CCC is comprised of 12-14 faculty members, and has broad representation from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities academic community. Representatives are selected by the college undergraduate associate deans. Although CCC members are selected from colleges and departments across campus, they do not represent their individual units in this role. CCC members are charged to represent the best interests of students and the University of Minnesota as a whole, rather than their departmental or collegiate units.
Course Review
The CCC reviews new Undergraduate Courses on the Twin Cities campus.
- "Undergraduate" is defined as any course marked "UGRD" in the "career" field in Coursedog.
- New “Undergraduate” courses previously approved at the “Graduate” level. These should be submitted with the new UGRD career as a new course in Coursedog, rather than an edited GRAD course.
- The following types of courses are excluded from CCC review:
- New topic shells, except under unusual circumstances
- Proposals for new topic titles within already-existing topic shells
- Study abroad courses conducted completely off-campus
- Freshman seminars and Honors seminars (courses that are not permanently part of the curriculum)
- Honors (H) versions of courses that meet the same requirements as the standard course
- New course numbers that are cross-listings with current undergraduate courses
- New courses that are solely changes to the designator of an existing course
- Courses for graduate students only (i.e., courses marked "GRAD" in the "career" field in Coursedog)
- Courses for professional school students only (i.e., courses marked "MED, PHAR, LAW", etc. in the "career" field in Coursedog)
- Independent or Directed Study courses that do not meet Liberal Education or Writing Intensive requirements
- Non-credit courses (e.g., MOOCs, non-credit workshops)
Review timeline
Once the complete course proposal reaches the provost queue in Coursedog, it is distributed to one of several CCC review teams. Courses are sent to the review teams weekly. When the review team arrives at a decision (typically within one week), the proposer is notified. The CCC meets to review any proposals that require full committee discussion.
Types of CCC decisions:
- Approval - Course is approved
- Provisional Approval - Course has minor revisions that must be made prior to full approval. Once requested changes are made, the course will be administratively approved.
- Revise and Resubmit - The CCC has concerns that must be addressed and reviewed prior to full approval. Revisions will be re-evaluated by the CCC.
Consultation
Cross college consultation must take place prior to sending a new course to the Campus Curriculum Committee. Steps in consultation should include:
- The collegiate approver should sends new course proposals to all undergraduate associate deans on the Twin Cities Campus.
- After receiving responses from the associate deans, copy the compiled responses to Coursedog in the Strategic Objectives - Consultation with Other Units field. If the text is too large for Coursedog, it may be sent as a PDF with the proposal to the CCC.
Consultation Sample email
Send email to: [email protected]
Subject: New undergraduate course consultation for COUR XXXX (TIME SENSITIVE)
Dear Associate Deans,
Please see the attached course materials for COUR XXXX. This is a new course.
BRIEF COURSE DESCRIPTION
INTENDED AUDIENCE
Please respond immediately if you have no concerns. If you have any concerns, please let me know by DATE so that we may address them prior to the course being submitted to the Campus Curriculum Committee.
Sincerely,
Disciplinary Overlap and Disputes
- Given the increasing interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum, the CCC expects there will be some overlap in content across the curriculum. For example, different units may see similar topics through distinct lenses or may approach similar learning goals using different methods and/or at different levels. For cases where these differences are distinct and the content is appropriate to more than a single unit/department the CCC will approve the new course even if overlap is found.
- For cases of overlap where there is no compelling argument that the new course is distinct, the CCC will discuss the merits of the new course and make a recommendation to the Provost.
Frequently Asked Questions
What types of new courses does the CCC not review?
- New topic shells, except under unusual circumstances
- Proposals for new topic titles within already-existing topic shells
- Study abroad courses conducted completely off-campus
- HECUA courses
- Freshman seminars
- Honors (H) versions of courses that meet the same requirements as the standard course
- New course numbers that are cross-listings with current undergraduate courses
- New courses that are solely changes to the designator of an existing course
- Courses for graduate students only (i.e., courses marked "GRAD" in the "career" field in Coursedog)
- Courses for professional school students only (i.e., courses marked "MED, PHAR, LAW", etc. in the "career" field in Coursedog)
- Independent or Directed Study courses that do not meet LE or WI requirements
- Non-credit courses (e.g., MOOCs, non-credit workshops)
What type of consultation is required?
- The Campus Curriculum Committee is charged with ensuring that the proposing unit consults with units in other colleges as appropriate. Consultation is advised even if units believe that the content of the proposed course falls squarely within their mission and expertise.
- Units proposing new courses should verify through a course catalog search that another college does not already offer a substantially similar course at the undergraduate level.
- Documentation of the consultative process (for example, email correspondence with consulted units) should be submitted in the "Strategic Objectives and Consultation" section of the course proposal in Coursedog.
- Consultation should be completed prior to submitting a course to the Provost level in Coursedog.
What if there is overlap with another course?
Given the increasing interdisciplinary nature of the curriculum, the CCC expects there will be occasional overlap in content across the curriculum. For example, different units may see the same content through distinct lenses or may approach similar learning goals using different methods. For cases where these differences are distinct, the CCC will recommend approval of the new course even if overlap is found. For cases of overlap where there is no compelling argument that the new course is distinct, the CCC is likely to not recommend approval of the new course. The final decision regarding approval is made by the Provost.
How soon will I hear from the CCC regarding its decision?
After the course proposal reaches the provost queue in Coursedog, the CCC staff person distributes course materials to one of several CCC review teams on a rolling weekly basis. Review teams confer weekly to consider the course proposals that came in that week. When the review team arrives at a decision (typically within one week), the proposer is notified that day. The CCC meets as needed to review any proposals that require full committee discussion.