Kapi‘olani CC Curriculum Process
A Proposerʻs Guide
The Curriculum Committee, in partnership with the General Education Board and the Foundations Board, intends this page to serve as a resource for course- and program-level curriculum processes. Find relevant timelines, resources/forms, and contact points to assist with the curriculum process.
The impetus of this resource was a campus-wide curriculum process mapping effort held on January 7, 2020.
Five-Year Curriculum Cycle
The curriculum proposal process is a 5-year cycle to maintain ACCJC compliance, maintain an accurate record, track requisites and Gen Ed designations, and map courses to programs (curriculum mapping). All existing courses must complete Course Learning Reports (CLRs) before submitting course updates in KSCM.
If you need help determining when a course and/or programs is up for 5-year review, refer to this chart.
Effective Start Term is always the Fall semester unless the course is an Experimental or an Independent Study course.
Review Submission Term refers to Year 5 when the course/program goes through the curriculum review process for inclusion in the next academic year’s catalog. (*Note: experimental and ? courses are approved for only three consecutive semesters, and must be renewed at least one semester prior to the expiration of the approval.)
The deadline for course/program proposal submission to the FS Curriculum Committee is the 4th Friday of the Fall Semester of Year 5 (one year before the new effective start date).
This deadline applies to proposals to create a new course/program, modify an existing course/program, deactivate an existing course/program, or retire an existing course/program with an effective start date the following academic year.
IMPORTANT: Applications for assignment or renewal of Foundations and/or Diversifications must be submitted and approved prior to submitting to the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee.
Course Based Designations
Course based designations appear in the course catalog, and therefore they are subject to the Faculty Senate approved curriculum workflow deadlines, and so the first thing a proposer needs to do is determine if the course has Foundations or Diversifications and needs to renew (existing courses) or request (new or existing courses). This should be done well in advance of submitting the course curriculum. Note: These Gen Ed designations are rarely applicable for CTE courses. If you are unsure, contact your department chair.
Approval Timeline: up to 1 year (contact the Foundations Coordinator for further information on submission/approval dates and timelines).
Sample timeline for a course with a Foundation and/or a Diversification
Course Timeline
Foundations
FQ, FG (A, B, C), FW
Foundation courses are intended to give students skills and perspectives that are fundamental to undertaking higher education. Students must complete their foundations requirement during their first year. Please see the UH Mānoa Foundations website for specific information on each of the three types to understand how the course is applicable for a Foundation.
- Julie Rancilio (rancilio@hawaii.edu)
Oral Communication
The Oral Communication designation is intended to assure that every student is able to communicate clearly and appropriately. The Oral Communication board accepts applications throughout the year. Submission deadline to be included in the academic year: 2nd Friday of the Fall semester. Course alphas that fall under an umbrella course are not required to submit a separate application if the umbrella course has been approved. For example, a DL approval for English 272 will also apply to courses such as English 272B, English 272G or any other course variation that falls under English 272. Applications are evaluated on the following hallmarks:
- Each student will conduct or participate in a minimum of three oral communication assignments or a comparable amount of oral communication activity during the class. In addition, at least 40% of the final grade for a 3-credit course will be a function of the student’s oral communication activities (30% for a 4-credit course; 60% for a 2-credit course; 100% for a 1-credit course).
- Each student will receive explicit training, in the context of the class, in oral communication concerns relevant to the assignment or activity.
- Each student will receive specific feedback, critiquing, and grading of the oral communication assignments or activities from the instructor.
- If instructor feedback primarily involves individual or paired students, enrollment will be limited to 20 students. If instructor feedback primarily involves groups of students, enrollment will be limited to 35 students.
Resources:
Section Based Designations
Section-based designations do not appear in the course catalog and instead appear in the schedule of courses. Therefore they are not subject to the approved Senate curriculum workflow and instead follow their own independent approval processes.
The following section based designations share a common deadline of the 2nd Friday of the semester for both Fall and Spring:
- Writing Intensive Section Based Process, WISB Application
- HAP Application
- Sustainability Application
- ‘Āina-Based Learning Related Application
- Research Application
These deadlines were selected to provide course coordinators and department chairs with the time necessary to include the designation information in the schedule of courses.
Diversifications
DA, DH, DL, DB, DP, DS, DY
The diversification requirement is intended to assure that every student has broad exposure to different domains of academic knowledge, while allowing flexibility for students with different goals and interests. Please see the UH Mānoa Diversifications website for specific information on each of the seven types to understand how the course is applicable for a Diversification.
The board accepts applications throughout the year. Submission deadline to be included in the academic year: 2nd Friday of the Fall semester. Course alphas that fall under an umbrella course are not required to submit a separate application if the umbrella course has been approved. For example, a DL approval for English 272 will also apply to courses such as English 272B, English 272G or any other course variation that falls under English 272.
- Faculty Senate Diversification Board via Reid Sunahara, Chair
(rsunahar@hawaii.edu)
Course Proposal
All proposals (except Experimental, Independent Study, and Topic courses with an approved umbrella) must be approved by the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee. The course proposal is reviewed and approved through multiple nodes. It takes about one year for the proposal to become active.
Deadline: The 4th Friday of the fall semester – one year prior to the fall in which the course is to be active and in the catalog.
Proposer Checklist
Please be sure to check off each item on the Proposer Checklist prior to submission. This will ensure the proposal is as complete as possible before submission and approval.
- KSCM (UH login required)
- Point of Contact: Curriculum Chair or your department curriculum rep (confirm with your chair).
Course How-To Videos
Program Proposal
All proposals must be approved by the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee. The program proposal is reviewed and approved through multiple nodes. It takes about one year for the proposal to become active.
Deadline: The 4th Friday of the fall semester – one year prior to the fall in which the course is to be active and in the catalog.
Contact your Department Chair and Dean prior to submitting a new program to ensure viability and institutional support will be provided. When updating a program, confer with academic counselors about course updates and changes to ensure all active courses are included in the current program and necessary updates to requirements are made.
The program form requires a Semester Template for STAR Building. This item is referred to in the General Catalog section of the program form.
The link below is Google doc of the Semester Template with a forced copy. Follow the examples shared in the template, then use page 2 to create your Semester Plan. Once completed, download ONLY page 2 into a Word document to be uploaded into Item #22 in the program form.
Program How-To Videos
Assessment
The course assessment process is a 5-year cycle to maintain ACCJC compliance, map courses to programs (curriculum mapping), and continuously improve courses. Programs are assessed annually to identify improvement opportunities and resource requests.
Course Assessment
The Course Learning Reports (CLRs) are used by course coordinators (or the individual responsible for collecting assessment data for a course) to assess student learning outcomes for each course. In the CLR, there is a list of the student learning outcomes for the course, a description of the assessment strategy, resources needed and the benchmark or specific level of performance expected as a point of reference by which performance is measured. The CLR includes a section of curricular alignment, showing how the course student learning outcomes align with general education, program and institutional learning outcomes. Assessment results across all levels are analyzed and the data used to inform next steps to improve student learning.
Program Assessment
Academic Programs are assessed annually using data from the UH Community College system on program quantitative indicators in 5-6 areas: Demand, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Distance, Perkins (if, applicable), and Performance. These data are used to indicate overall program health. Programs analyze the data and program learning outcomes results to complete the Annual Report of Program Data (ARPDs), which is posted on the ARPD webpage. Administrative Services, CELTT, and Continuing and Community Education are responsible for tracking their own data.
The CI + ARPD form was created to ensure that programs use student learning outcome results at the course level to assess program learning outcomes for the purpose of making program improvements. Administrative services and several areas in student affairs monitor the assessment of service area outcomes (SAOs) results for the purpose of program improvement. The CI + ARPD form also tracks requests for resources for program improvements and the impact of the resource allocation in subsequent program outcomes assessment.