Proposing New Courses

To request a new course, prepare a New Course Outline form and obtain the necessary department, college, (and where appropriate, Graduate College) approvals.

The following information is provided to assist in completing the New Course Outline form. Specific questions regarding the form should be directed to the Office of the Provost at 244-9096.

Note: the field lengths in the New Course Outline form are locked. Certain fields lengths are determined by the number of allowable characters in Banner. When applicable, the field limit is noted in parentheses.

Additional information for specific items on the Course Outline Form is detailed below. Numbers below correspond to the form.

Item 1. Banner Subject and Course Number - (e.g., HIST 101)

Course Numbering System

000-099 Noncredit, preparatory course
100-199 Lower level undergraduate courses, typically taken by freshmen
200-299 Lower level undergraduate courses, typically taken by sophomores
300-399 Upper level undergraduate courses, typically taken by juniors
400-499 Upper level undergraduate and graduate courses, typically taken by seniors and beginning graduate students (may be designated for undergraduates only, or both)
500-599 Graduate courses
600-799 Professional courses (Law and DVM courses only)

 

Re-Using Course Numbers

Course numbers may not be re-used for a period of six years from the last time the course was offered. Please consult with the Office of Facility Management and Scheduling to determine the availability of course numbers.

199 Courses (Undergraduate Open Seminars)

The 199 course is a special course for independent study or for use as a testbed for topics not treated by regularly scheduled courses. Credit for 199 courses applies toward graduation (generally, to a maximum of 12 hours); however, credit toward satisfying particular college or departmental requirements is contingent upon approval by the appropriate college or departmental bodies.

Special Topics Courses

In addition to 199 courses, a number of 200-, 300-, 400- and 500-level courses also serve as special topics courses, and are typically identified as such by their titles. As in the case of 199 courses, topics offered under such courses are necessarily temporary; they are not listed in the Courses Catalog. A specific topic may be offered twice under a special topics listing; the same topic may be offered a third time only if a proposal to establish it as a permanent course has been submitted through the usual channels.

Item 2. Course Titles may include abbreviations to stay within the 30 character limit. However, try to use standard abbreviations and avoid hard-to-interpret ones. In difficult situations, consider using fewer words and the special characters (&), (:).

Item 3. Course Catalog Descriptions should read like an abstract. An excellent example is given at http://www.grad.uiuc.edu/policies/approvalguide.htm

Item 4. Prerequisite Statements are advisory in nature and are not enforced through the Banner System.  The following bullets are suggested for clarity to the students who may be registering for the course:

  • list highest level course only if there is a string of sequenced prerequisites
  • explicitly list courses found in the Catalog (not, e.g, "a course in chemistry")
  • do not tag courses with "or equivalent" or "or consent of instructor" as those are always assumed to be the case.

Item 6. Audience Restrictions are enforced through Banner and should be separate from the prerequisite statement. These restrictions typically limit registration to a group of students, 'majors only' for example.

Course Justification

The information provided in Items 6 - 8 is used by the department and college to better understand the course content in the broader context of other courses offerings. If this course is similar in content to other offerings on campus, please provide information that illustrates the uniqueness of this offering.

Course Detail

Item 13. Course Credit

Item 13. B. Both Undergraduate and Graduate credit

Credit statments for 400 - level courses will appear in the course description as follows:

  • X undergraduate hours. X graduate hours.

OR

  • X hours. *

OR

  • X undergraduate hours. No graduate credit.

*Course is available for the same number of undergraduate and graduate hours.