University of Richmond

Course and Program Approval Requirements

The following must be approved by Academic Council:

New or Revised Course Proposals

Any new or revised course that meets the following criteria must be submitted for approval to Academic Council using its guidelines.

Any change in subject, number, title, and credit hours constitutes a revised course because these four items appear on a student’s transcript. (A reminder about course numbering: every effort is made not to re-use course numbers for at least five years; the Registrar's Office can serve as a resource for numbering taxonomy.)

Because it is assumed that course descriptions naturally change over time to reflect changes in the field, it is not necessary to submit a revised course proposal to Academic Council (AC). Nor is it necessary to submit a change in prerequisites for a course. Changes in course description and prerequisites can be sent directly to the Registrar for entry in the system and the catalog.

Process: Course proposals should be sent electronically to the Associate Dean for Academic Operations, Dona Hickey, who signs off on staffing, with copies to: Susan Howson (classrooms), Kevin Creamer (technology), the departmental library liaison, and the Dean of International Education, Uliana Gabara (if the course includes study abroad). After the associate dean receives e-mail confirmation from the previously listed people, the proposal will be forwarded to the Academic Council agenda. Proposals should be completed at least one week before the next scheduled meeting.

General education course approval

If the course is also proposed as a new (or revised) general education offering, chairs should submit thier course directly to the chair of the General Education Committee, following the Committee's guidelines for approval.

For minor changes in title and/or a change in number for a course

Unless the proposal is for a new course, or a substantively revised course, it is no longer necessary to request sign-off approval from the Registrar (Susan Howson), your library liaison, Technology Resources (Kevin Creamer) or Dona Hickey. If it is a minor change to the course title, or changing the number of the course, you need not include signoffs. 

Additionally, it is not necessary to complete an entire course proposal form for minor changes in title and change in number. Simply send a statement of the change, including the course description with a change in title, to Dona Hickey, who will forward it to the Academic Council agenda.

Although it is not necessary to have the Registrar’s written sign-off, faculty are strongly urged to talk with Susan Howson or Susan Breeden to make sure that the new number chosen for the course can be used.

Cross-listed Courses

Courses cross-listed between departments within a school

  • All versions of the course must be offered for the same number of credit hours and fulfill the same requirements (General Education or departmental)
  • Registration restrictions and prerequisites must be the same for all versions of the course.
  • Total enrollment must be open to all versions of the course (students will not be allowed to switch subjects/versions of the course after add/drop).
  • The home department “owns” the course and can determine the cross listing or not cross-listing (That is, it can extend the initial invitation to other departments who can, in turn, determine if they’d like to participate). The chair can simply send a statement of fact about inter-departmental agreement and about the specific cross-listed courses. Cross-listed courses are informational items, but must pass through AC

Courses cross-listed between schools

  • The cross listing must be approved by the appropriate dean in each school.
  • Instructor must meet appropriate school deadlines for each version of course, including enrollment, add/drop dates and grade due dates (NOTE: If one version of a course cross-listed at the undergraduate level has a “5-day add” restriction, that restriction will be applied to all versions of the course).
  • If cross listing involves a level difference (graduate and undergraduate, law and undergraduate), plans on handling level differences (separate requirements demonstrated by separate syllabi) must be submitted to the registrar’s office before the course is scheduled outside its home school.

New or revised major/minor programs

Please see examples of such proposals available in previous Academic Council minutes. These proposals require no sign-offs, but are sent directly to the associate dean for academic operations and are then forwarded to AC for approval. If the new or revised programs include new or revised courses, the course proposals must be sent separately for approval with the usual sign-offs.