The proposal for a new course, either required or elective, can be submitted by a Department Chair, individual faculty member, or by the faculty of a department as a whole. The proposal must first be approved by the Department Chair, then the whole department before being submitted to the Curriculum Committee of the appropriate College. A Course Director will be appointed by the Dean (if it involves multiple departments) or the relevant Department Chair to develop a detailed outline of the course and then the course syllabus. The faculty as a whole must approve the syllabus.
Once final approval for the course and syllabus has been obtained from the department, the syllabus will be submitted to the Curriculum Committee at least one week prior to the meeting at which the proposed course is scheduled to be reviewed.
The Course Director for the proposed course will be invited to the Curriculum Committee to present the proposed course. The ensuing discussion will address the need for the course, resource implications, quality of course planning, planned assessment and CQI of the course, and the likelihood that the planned activities will achieve the intended outcomes.
The Course Director will make revisions to the syllabus and course as suggested by the curriculum Committee. The revised proposal and syllabus will be resubmitted, if necessary, until the course design and syllabus are approved. Internal Interprofessional Courses must be approved by all relevant Colleges’ Curriculum Committees.
Once initiated, the course will undergo intermittent assessment (to make real-time adjustments, as necessary) and the standard evaluation by survey of the students. These data, at minimum, will be used by the Course Director to assess and suggest improvements using an SII-PDCA form. The form, assessments and evaluations will be reviewed by the Curriculum Committee and additional revisions will be suggested as necessary. The syllabus will then be revised and approved. The Course Director will implement the suggested changes the next time the course is offered. This process will continue yearly as with all courses in the curriculum.