Curriculum Development

Curriculum Management System

Helpful Information for first-time users:

• Complete Tutorial (112 KB - PDF)
• The Curriculum Management System (CMS) will allow you to enter requests for new courses, requests for changes to existing courses, and requests for deletion/removal of existing courses. CMS may not work on the Firefox browser for MacOS devices. Recommended browsers are Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, or Safari.
• One person is chosen by each college/academic unit to act as their College Administrator within the system. Each College Administrator has the ability to add other users from their college.
• Users are classified as "Observers" or as "Initiators." An observer can view and comment on all courses in the system. An initiator can enter and modify their own requests.
• Request information is (1) entered, (2) reviewed, and finally (3) saved into the system. Requests may be re-opened and modified after the first submission/save until the information is "Approved" by the appropriate College Administrator.
• Course initiators should know what they plan to enter for 4 important fields on a request entry form. They are the course prefix, course level, 3-digit course number, and course title (30 characters or less). 
  
  Please note: For new courses, there must be a suggested 3-digit course number in CMS. However, when putting this course in program information for the catalog copy, the suggested 3-digit course number must be represented with an XXX. For example, the level and suggested 3-digit course number of 4123 would be represented as 4XXX (4123) in the catalog copy for any programs that would include this course. 
  Read the 3 page Statewide Course Numbering Guide.
  Learn more about how to arrive at your suggested course number.  
• Initiators can go back and make as many changes as necessary to their own saved requests in the CMS. The only thing that will prevent an initiator from making changes is final approval by their College Administrator. Once the College Administrator approves a course, it is closed to further modification, and presented to the appropriate Curriculum Team for review and approval.

 

Curriculum Development Guidelines & Procedures

Curriculum Development Guidelines 

Effective as of November 2021 - Describes general procedures for the planning and approval of academic programs. 

 

Curriculum Development Procedures - Describes general procedures for the planning and approval of academic programs (Superseded in part by the Curriculum Development Guidelines).

Curriculum Development Guidelines Submitted as part of the Reaffirmation of Accreditation Report in August 2014 - (Superseded by Revision effective November 2021).

Curriculum Proposal Forms

Below are the Curriculum Proposal forms for proposing revisions to Graduate and Undergraduate programs, for proposing new and revising existing Certificates, and for proposing new and revising existing Minors. These forms should be submitted by May 31st for review by the University Curriculum Teams each academic year.

• Undergraduate Degree-Major Revision Proposal Form
• Graduate Degree-Major Revision Proposal Form
• Minor Revision Proposal Form
• New Minor Proposal Form
• New Certificate and Certificate Revision Proposal Form

  

The following is the Curriculum Development calendar for items that do not require Board of Trustees approval

Deadlines for Submission of Curricular Materials

For implementation in Fall 2024

Timeline A (for items that do not require Board of Trustees approval)
This timeline applies to the following categories:

1. Revisions to existing degree programs and existing program majors
2. New minors and revisions to existing minors
3. New certificates and revisions to existing certificates
4. New courses and revisions to existing courses

The review and approval process for curriculum to be implemented Fall 2024 for the 2024-2025 catalog year includes the following steps:

1. It is strongly recommended that program/department representatives meet with Lucero Carvajal from the Office of Academic and Curriculum Support (ACS) prior to preparing paperwork for submitting program revisions to the appropriate college curriculum teams.  This will help ensure that all state and university policies and procedures are being followed and all program requirements are clear and concise.  Please contact Lucero Carvajal via email or at 239-745-4368 to schedule a meeting.
2. Colleges review and approve proposals. Each college has its own internal review process and associated deadlines. Each proposal must be approved by the:
   1. Department or program chair or director,
   2. Chair of the college curriculum team, and
   3. College dean.
   4. Proposed courses with general education designations must be submitted to the General Education Council for review after approval is granted by the college.
3. May 31, 2023, is the deadline for submission of approved proposal documentation to the Office of Academic and Curriculum Support (ACS) - Attention: Lucero Carvajal.
   Note: Please submit the proposal forms for course revisions through the Curriculum Management System (CMS) only - copies of course forms are not needed.
4. The university-wide Undergraduate Curriculum Team (UCT) or the Graduate Curriculum Team (GCT) reviews and approves proposals.
5. The Office of Academic and Curriculum Support coordinates the next steps, which includes reviewing suggested course prefix/number assignments and updating program major information on the FGCU website and in the catalog.

Timeline B (for items that require Board of Trustees approval)

Contact Lucero Carvajal through email or at 239-745-4368 for the timeline that applies to new program majors, new degree programs, and other curricular actions that must be approved by the FGCU Board of Trustees (BOT). These items must be approved at the college level (see steps 1 and 2 above) and ready for UCT or GCT review no later than 90 days prior to the scheduled BOT meeting. Faculty and colleges are advised to work closely with ACS and Academic Affairs to ensure that proposals have received appropriate strategic planning and budgetary review.