Course development and curriculum revision
Ongoing course and program review is integral to keeping curriculum current with industry needs in order to better serve our students as they progress through their program of studies to graduation. The information below outlines changes that may occur over time for both courses and programs, as well as the relevant approval processes.
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Course development
Course development is a part of the routine work of academic areas across the college, throughout the academic year. Courses are developed or revised as part of the New Program Development process, and as part of continuous quality improvement resulting from Five-year Program Renewal, Annual Program Assessment, and more. The development and approval of new or revised courses rests with the academic area.
Diploma and Certificate courses are developed by the program area and must contribute to the student’s ability to meet the Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs) from the Program Outline, as well as Essential Employability skills (EES). General Education and Communications courses for these programs are developed and approved by Liberal Arts, and ensure students meet the General Education Requirement and EES respectively.
Degree courses must be designed for students to achieve the PLOs from the Program Outline, and take into consideration PEQAB’s Degree Level Standard. Breadth courses are generally developed and approved by the Dean/Associate Dean of Liberal Arts; however, degree-level courses delivered by other program areas can sometimes be used as breadth, as long as they are not in the core area of study. In that case, they are developed by the original program area.
The following is designed to provide clarity and resources around the process of creating or revising quality course outlines. Please contact the Office of Academic Quality (OAQ) at any point for assistance with this process.
Curriculum revision
The following chart provides examples of possible curriculum changes and their level of impact (minor or major) as well as the required approvals. The specific process steps for the proposed changes are located under the table within the Course Revision or Program Revision. Changes that affect both the course and program require both course and program level approvals as noted below.
| Change required | Course-level change | Program-level change | Revision approval |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admission Requirements | Major program change | Dean/Associate Dean and Academic Council with consultation from the Registrar or Associate Registrar, Admissions | |
| Course grade mode | Minor* course change | Dean/Associate Dean and Registrar with consultation from the Office of of Academic Quality and the Office of the Registrar *review may result in major change | |
| Course hours | Major course change | Major program change | Dean/Associate Dean and Academic Council |
| Course resequencing | Minor program change | Dean/Associate Dean | |
| Course requisites (pre-, co-, concurrent) | Minor course change | Dean/Associate Dean | |
| Course title | Minor course change | Dean/Associate Dean | |
| Learning outcomes – greater than 25 percent | Major course change | Major program change | Dean/Associate Dean and Academic Council |
| Learning outcomes – less than 25 per cent | Minor course change | Minor program change | Dean/Associate Dean |
| Minor wordsmithing and/or correction of grammatical errors | Minor course change | Minor program change | Dean/Associate Dean |
| Program hours | Major program change | Dean/Associate Dean and Academic Council requires review of program costing | |
| Program standard release | Major* course change | Major* program change | Dean/Associate Dean and Academic Council *review may result in minor change |
| Program title | Major program change | Dean/Associate Dean, Academic Council, and Credential Validation Service |