Curriculum Policies

• Universities should have a policy that enables the creation of new courses and the modification of existing courses in a way that ensures quality assurance

• It is common in American and European Universities for curriculum to evolve with changes in the discipline and in the interests of faculty members within the department

• American and European Universities commonly use faculty committees and formal guidelines to evaluate proposed new courses or modifications to existing courses

Curriculum Development

• Typically, curriculum committees will exist at the department, and college (faculty) levels

• New or modified courses will be evaluated to determine:

– Where does this course fit within the existing curriculum

– What student population will be served by this course

– What are the learning objectives of this course

– How is this course different from existing courses

Curriculum Development

• The handout from Temple University (a public university in the U.S.) shows what questions will be asked of a faculty member submitting a proposal for a new or modified course

• The form is typical of what faculty at American and European universities would be asked to provide when submitting a new or modified course