Course Approval Process

Proposing, Changing, or Deleting a Course

There are several actions that can be taken regarding the courses Miami offer. Each action has a particular set of guidelines and approval processes.  These course actions include:

• New permanent course proposals
• New temporary course proposals
• Proposed additional or minor change(s) to existing course
• Proposed change(s) to existing course
• Deletion of a course

New Permanent Course Approval

Note: You should follow this process if you wish to offer the course three or more times.

• Complete the New Course form
• Departmental approval
• Divisional curriculum committee approval
• Council of Academic Deans
• University Senate Consent Calendar

Any permanently approved course may have modifiers to allow students to register for the course more than once or to focus on specific content (hence, different titles) within a very large body of material.

New Temporary Course Approval

Note: Temporary courses can only be offered no more than four consecutive terms/semesters.

• Complete the Temporary Course Proposal Form
• Department approval
• Dean approval
• Graduate dean approval (if graduate course)

Additional or Minor Course Changes

This includes any of the following:

• Change in title
• Change in course number
• Change in semantics of Bulletin description
• Change in prerequisite, co-requisite or concurrent courses
• Cross-listing of courses*
• Change in instructional type (lecture, seminar, online, etc.)
• Change in grading mode.

The approval steps are:

• Complete the Additional or Minor Course Change Form
• Department approval (*Need both or all departments if the change is cross-listing)
• Divisional curriculum committee approval

Significant Course Changes

Significant course changes are any of the following:

• Change in student learning outcomes
• Course content modification
• Change in credit hours
• Permanently deleting course (see below)

The approval steps are:

• Complete the Significant Course Change Form
• Department approval
• Divisional curriculum committee approval
• Council of Academic Deans
• University Senate Consent Calendar

Deleting Courses

Courses may be deleted via submitting the proposal for significant course change (described above) or via the procedure articulated below:

• In the fall semester of each academic year, the Office of the Registrar will notify via an electronic report the appropriate chair or director and dean of any courses that have not been offered for the past four academic years. No action will be taken on these courses at this point in time.
• If the courses on this list are not offered by the start of the fifth academic year, they will be removed from the Bulletin listing of courses. 
• In this fifth year, the chair or director with the approval of the appropriate academic dean may submit to the Office of the Registrar a written justification for retaining the course on the list of active University courses for one additional year. The course will remain active for an additional (sixth) year and be deleted during the following year, if not offered.
• Failure to supply such justification by the stated deadline of the fifth year of a course not being offered will result in the deletion of the course from the Bulletin list of active University courses.
• A department or program wishing to offer a course that has been deleted must follow the procedures for approval of a new course before the course may be offered again.

For more information on adding, revising or deleting degree courses, see Miami University Policy Library - Section 11, Curriculum.