SCSE Curriculum Committee

Step 1: Departmental Review and Approval

Departments should use the most up to date forms from Academic Affairs for course proposal submissions.  After departmental review is complete, proposals should be submitted by the department head, curriculum committee representative or departmental admin to the SCSE Course and Program Proposal form.  Proposals submitted by any other individuals will be returned without review. 

STEP 2: SCSE Curriculum Committee Review and Approval

Course proposals requiring SCSE curriculum committee  approval are reviewed at the weekly meeting.  Approved proposals are submitted to the Dean's Office for approval. Revisions or questions from the committee will be sent back to the originator. Revisions or questions must be answered prior to approval by the committee. 

STEP 3: SCSE Dean's Review and Approval

Course proposals approved by the SCSE Curriculum Committee will be reviewed by the SCSE Dean's Designee (AD Ellestad [email protected]). 

• It is highly recommended that department chairs notify/meet with the Dean's designee (AD Ellestad [email protected]) in advanced of new course proposals to save time in the approval process. 

Course proposals that do not need to be reviewed by the SCSE curriculum committee will be reviewed by the Dean's designee upon submission to the SCSE Course and Program Proposal form. 

After Dean's office approval, course and program proposals will be submitted to UMD Academic Affairs for Review. 

Step 1: Departmental Review and Approval

Program changes and sample plan updates should be submitted on the Fall 2027 Catalog Track Changes Documents and Sample Plans spreadsheet. Once program changes are complete, department head's should sign and date at the top of their program Google Document to signify that all changes are complete. After departmental review is complete, proposals should be submitted by the department head, curriculum committee representative or departmental admin to the SCSE Course and Program Proposal form.  The departmental submission for the program change should be downloaded as a word document and submitted to this form. Proposals submitted by any other individuals will be returned without review. 

STEP 2: SCSE Curriculum Committee Review and Approval

Program proposals requiring SCSE curriculum committee  approval are reviewed at the weekly meeting.  Approved proposals are submitted to the Dean's Office for approval. Revisions or questions from the committee will be sent back to the originator. Revisions or questions must be answered prior to approval by the committee. 

STEP 3: SCSE Dean's Review and Approval

Program proposals approved by the SCSE Curriculum Committee will be reviewed by the SCSE Dean's Designee (AD Ellestad [email protected]). 

• It is highly recommended that department chairs notify/meet with the Dean's designee (AD Ellestad [email protected]) in advanced of new program proposals, new subplans, or significant revisions to programs to save time in the approval process. 

After Dean's office approval, course and program proposals will be submitted to UMD Academic Affairs for Review. 

If a department is submitting a program changes for Fall 2027, the Sample Plan linked should be reviewed and edited accordingly. Changes to Fall 2027 sample plans must be completed no later than two weeks after the campus fall submission deadline. 

Graduate course and program proposals should follow the same process as outlined above. 

At the college level, graduate course and program proposals will be reviewed  by the SCSE Directors for Graduate Studies, the Dean and then submitted to Graduate Programs Committee for campus level review. 

NOTE: Dual listed courses will be reviewed by both the SCSE Curriculum Committee and the SCSE DGS's. 

1. New Course Proposals: Used for new courses, dual listed courses that include a new course, and new titles for topics courses

   • Form for new courses

     • Please refer to the UMD New Course Proposal Help Guide as you develop new course proposals. 

   • Form for dual listed courses

   • Form for new titles for topics courses

   • Additional addenda may be needed for certain cases

     • Online addendum (for hybrid or fully online courses)

     • Graduate Addendum (for 5xxx, 6xxx and 8xxx courses); 

       • NOTE: For 8xxx course proposals, you might also include a course syllabus. 

     • Community-Engaged Learning proposal

   • If the course will be proposed as a liberal education course, selection the option - you will be directed to complete additional information and include the Liberal Education proposal. Please see the Liberal Education Course Proposal and Review Procedures website for more details. 

2. Change to an existing course

   • There is no paper form that needs to be submitted with this request. A description of the change(s) can be submitted directly to the form. 

   • Department Guide to Course Changes

   • NOTE: The following changes can only be implemented in a fall semester: 

     • Course names

     • Course numbers

     • Course credits

     • Course’s Liberal Education Category Status

3. Second offerings of previously-taught topics titles

   • For the second offering, departments must supply the the following information to their college curriculum staff:

     • Topic title

     • Term that this topic was previously taught

     • Faculty member who will be teaching the course

     • The complete topic course description if it changed from the first offering of the topic title (4000-character limit)

     • All of the desired prerequisites for this topic if they changed from the first offering of the topic title (not just additions/subtractions based on the umbrella course)

   • If a topic has already been taught twice under a Special Topics umbrella course, it should be proposed as a separate course of its own, via a New Course Proposal. 

4. Inactivation of a course

5. Reactivation of a course

   • If a course has not been taught within the last 5 years, you are required to upload a New Course proposal along with this request. 

6. New program

   • New program proposal

     • Please refer to the UMD New Program Proposal Forms Help Guide as you prepare new program proposals. 

     • Please refer to Undergraduate Program Design Guidance as proposals are developed. 

7. Change(s) to an existing program

   • Programs should be redlined using the catalog track changes documents provided by Academic Affairs

     • Programs should review sample plans every time a program change is submitted. It is expected that a revised sample plan will be submitted along with a program change. 

   • Fall 2026 Catalog Track Changes Documents and Sample Plans spreadsheet [UPDATE WITH 2027 sheets]

   • New subplans for existing programs should be submitted as a change to an existing program.

     • New subplans require submission of a new sample plan. 

8. Discontinuation of a program

   • Discontinued programs form

• AY 27 Reviews and Approvals - current cycle 
• AY 26 Reviews and Approvals - Fall 2025/Spring 2026 submission cycle (closed)

CIP Code Summary Document

Campus Approvals for Course Changes - SCSE

• SCSE Fall AY 27 Curriculum Submission Process Memo

While is it best practice that dual listed courses share the last three numbers of a course number, it is not required. Sharing the last three numbers of a course number can minimize confusion for students seeking to enroll in these courses.