Course Catalog Elements
University Policy
- Rationale/Purpose:
The review of course proposals is a shared responsibility, the intent of which is to broadly communicate curricula, offer feedback, enhance the quality of instruction, and meet certain standards. This policy outlines the elements required for course proposals.
- Definitions:
- Academic Division (School/College)
- An academic group of the university, defined in UW-803, Faculty Policies and Procedures Chapter 3, that serves as a school, college or like unit and is led by a dean or director who reports to the provost.
- Academic Unit
- The academic and administrative home for an academic program or subject listing, also known as an academic department, housed within an academic division (school/college). The academic unit originates all program and curricular changes through academic governance; ensures the curriculum is appropriate and that courses are offered regularly; provides student support services such as advising; prepares all content for the Guide and assures the program and subject listing is represented accurately at all times; oversees the course evaluation process; coordinates assessment and program review; and receives allocation for program enrollment, degrees, certificates and credits in the information systems. Three types of academic units exist at UW-Madison:
- Department
- A group of faculty with a common field of knowledge or closely related scholarly interests. A department serves as the tenure home for faculty, exercises a broad range of functions and duties in relation to faculty academic life, and may house academic programs and course subject listings. A department is approved as such by the University Academic Planning Council, the University Committee, and the Faculty Senate per UW-805 Faculty Policies and Procedures Chapter 5. In some cases, the academic division serves as the department.
- Department-like Unit with Tenure
-
A group of faculty who are not all in the same department but who share responsibilities for departmental functions. This unit exercises a broad range of functions and duties in relation to faculty academic life, and generally houses at least one academic program (degree/major or certificate) or subject listing. A department-like academic unit usually does not serve as a tenure home. When a department-like academic unit is approved to serve as a tenure home, each faculty member’s tenure home will be approved on a case-by-case basis by the University Committee.
An academic organization that has department-like status and serves as a faculty tenure home, sometimes with restrictions, is approved as such by the University Academic Planning Council and the University Committee per UW-805 Faculty Policies and Procedures Chapter 5.
- Department-like Unit without Tenure
- A group of faculty who are not all in the same department but who share responsibilities for departmental functions. This unit exercises a broad range of functions and duties in relation to faculty academic life, and generally houses at least one academic program (degree/major or certificate) or subject listing but does not grant tenure or act as a tenure home.
- Credit Hour
-
A credit hour is an amount of work represented in intended learning outcomes and verified by evidence of student achievement that is an institutionally established equivalency that reasonably approximates not less than:
(1)One hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and a minimum of two hours of out of class student work each week for approximately fifteen weeks for one semester, or the equivalent amount of work over a different amount of time; or
(2)At least an equivalent amount of work as required in paragraph (1) of this definition for other academic activities as established by the institution including laboratory work, internships, practica, studio work, and other academic work leading to the award of credit hours.
Alternatively, a credit hour is defined as the learning that takes place in at least 45 hours of learning activities, which include time in lectures or class meetings, in-person or online, laboratories, examinations, presentations, tutorials, preparation, reading, studying, hands-on experiences, and other learning activities; or a demonstration by the student of learning equivalent to that established as the expected product of such a period of study.
In all cases, learning in for-credit courses is guided by a qualified instructor and includes regular and substantive student-instructor interaction.
- Cross-Listed Course
- A course offered under multiple subject listings where every other aspect of the course is the same across subjects (title, credits, description, learning outcomes, etc.)
- Grade Point Average (GPA)
- The total number of grade points earned divided by the number of credit hours attempted.
- Guide
- The academic catalog for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- Mode of Instruction
-
A component of a course section’s format that indicates where course section meetings occur, e.g., in-person, online, etc.
All modes of instruction use a range of pedagogical methods, e.g., blended, flipped, etc. which are not indicated in the Student Information System (SIS) or in Course Search and Enroll.
- Subject Listing
- Structure for organizing groups of courses in a related subject area or topic that represents a coherent area of study.
- Scope:
University Curriculum Committee, academic divisions, and academic units.
- Policy:
A course proposal must include information to support the development of the course. The following elements are required, when applicable, and appear in the Guide and Course Search & Enroll. These elements must be consistent across all course offerings and can only be changed via the Course Proposal Form in Lumen.
Subject
Number
Cross-Listing
Course Title
Transcript Title
Course Description
Requisites
Grading Basis
Components
Directed/Independent Study or Thesis Course
Credits (Variable Credit)
Repeatability
Topic Title Eligibility
Course Attributes and Designations
Graduate Attribute
Honors
Breadth
LAS Credit
General Education (QR-A and B, COMM A and B)
Ethnic Studies
Foreign Language
Workplace
Learning OutcomesSubject
The subject must reflect the area of study and department offering the course. All proposals must be approved by the department that owns the subject listing and the school or college that owns the department. The same is true of any cross-list partners.
Number
The course number must reflect the level of the course:
- Course numbers below 100 do not carry degree credit.
- Courses numbered 100-299 may be taken for credit only by undergraduates.
- Courses numbered 300-699 may be taken for credit by undergraduate and graduate or professional students.
- Courses numbered 700-999 are open only to graduate and professional students.
Specific course numbers are assigned to directed/independent study, undergraduate thesis, and graduate thesis and dissertation writing courses.
Cross-Listing
A cross-listed course must have the same elements in all cross-listed subjects:
- Course number
- Title
- Credits
- Requisites
- Designations, if applicable, e.g., breadth, level, etc.
Cross-listing is reserved for courses that are taught within an inter- or multi-disciplinary framework and that appropriately belong to multiple subject listings. There is no requirement that a course be cross-listed, even when it meets the following criteria:
- All participating units must work together to ensure the accuracy of information as it appears in each subject listing.
- All participating academic units must regularly contribute instructors to either team teach or rotate teaching responsibilities for the course.
- The course must benefit students across the cross-listed departments.
- The subject matter must be appropriate and relevant to fields represented by the participating departments.
Course Title
The course title, also known as the Long Title, must reflect the overall theme of the course description and must be unique except for independent/directed study and similar courses where the title simply describes the basic activity of the course (e.g., Research, Thesis, etc.). It is utilized in Course Search and Enroll, Guide, Canvas and other campus systems and publications where space is not an issue.
A topic title-eligible course has two titles: a course title that is generic title and a topic title. Each time a section of the course is offered, the additional Topic Title is assigned to the section indicating the specific topic. See Topic Title Eligibility for more information.
Transcript Title
The Transcript Title is an abridged version of the Course Title and appears on the student transcript. The Transcript Title must accurately reflect the course to external parties such as employers, other institutions, etc.
Course Description
The course description provides a summary of the course content. The text of a course description is used in the search features of Guide, Course Search and Enroll, etc. Students use key words and phrases in course searches. The description must be written such that the intended audience (students, advisors, transfer credit evaluators, and the public) knows what will be taught in the course.
A course description must:
- Be concise.
- Exclude elements populated through other means, e.g., course title, credits, how it fulfills requirements, planned offerings, requisites, modes of instruction, or how the course will be taught.
- Exclude phrases like "In this course", "The goal of the course is", or "Students will" as these are implied.
- When applicable, reference other courses with the correct subject short description in all capital letters and the catalog number (i.e.: MATH 202). If formatted correctly, Lumen will connect the sequenced course information to be displayed in a course bubble.
- When applicable, clarify that a course is taught in a language other than English. This excludes foreign language courses with the Foreign Language Attribute (FL1-5).
Note: In limited situations, information related to the enrollment of students in the course, such as “Consent of Instructor” may be included as the last sentence in the course description.
Examples:
Requisites
A catalog requisite is the academic preparation required of all students to be successful in a course. A requisite can take the form of a prerequisite (completed prior to the start of the course) or a co-requisite (taken concurrently with the course).
Each requisite must be transparent and inclusive of all ways a student can demonstrate preparation.
A requisite is not a means of managing enrollment. This is done at the section level with requirement groups and is not part of the course catalog. A section level requirement can be variable while a course catalog level requirement is constant. A section-level requirement group is determined when building the schedule of classes and may only be stricter than the catalog level requisite.
A requisite must, when applicable:
- Include all UW-Madison courses that provide the academic preparation needed for the course, including all course equivalents and all cross-listings. Courses must be formatted with the correct subject short description in all capital letters and the catalog number (i.e., MATH 202).
- Include specific GPA/grade requirements for prerequisite courses.
- Include placement exams. Advanced Placement and other third-party test results are automatically configured if the course they equate to is used in the requisite.
- Consider the audience for the course (i.e., class standing- junior standing, graduate/professional, etc. Students declared in a plan or subplan).
When a requisite is not enforceable in the enrollment system, ‘Consent of Instructor’ may be utilized by the academic department when developing the course description at the catalog level. See the list of standard requisites.
Grading Basis
The grading basis for a course determines what grade options are available to the course instructor on the grade roster.
Available grading bases include:
- A - F: The standard grading scale which includes the pass/fail grading option.
- Credit/No Credit (CR/N): A student who performs at a given standard receives credit for the course while those who do not receive no credit. This is not the same as the pass/fail grading option.
- Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U): Typically used for graduate or professional courses.
- School of Veterinary Medicine: Available only for School of Veterinary Medicine courses.
Note:
- Courses with a number ending in 98 (e.g.,198 or 698) are offered on a Credit/No Credit basis.
- Courses with a number ending in 99 (e.g., 199 or 699) are graded on the A - F basis.
- The First in 2 Course Sequence grade option is for administrative use only, and is utilized for courses that are connected, e.g., 681/682 (Senior Honors Thesis) or 691/692 (Undergraduate/Senior Thesis).
Components
A course component reflects a category of course meeting and is not intended to describe the instructional method.
Lecture: A commonly used component for group instruction.
Seminar: A small discussion-oriented course, usually in a specialized topic.
Field Study: A course that takes place in a work setting.
Discussion: A component that is an attachment to and subset of a lecture.
Laboratory: A component used to reflect hands on learning. A laboratory may be attached to a lecture or stand alone.
Directed/Independent Study or Thesis Course: A one-on-one learning experience where student learning is directed by an instructor and the student learns independently of other students.
Some course components may be used in combination:
Lecture/Discussion
Lecture/Discussion/Laboratory
Lecture/Field Study
Lecture/Laboratory
Lecture/Laboratory/Field Study
Laboratory/Discussion
Credits
Each course must abide by the Credit Hour policy, including a course offered for variable credit.
A variable credit course may take several forms:
- Different credits across terms (e.g., 3 credits in fall, 4 credits in spring); or
- Different credits across sections (e.g., topics courses where each section is a different topic with a set number of credits); or
- Different credits across students.
- For group instruction, each student selects the number of credits representative of their workload.
- For group instruction, a student selects to enroll in an additional, optional credit. For individual instruction, the student and instructor together determine the number of credits representative of the workload.
Repeatability
A course may be designated as “repeatable” which allows a student to successfully complete the course for credit more than once.
Topic Title Eligibility
The content of a topics course varies with each course offering. A topics course must not be used to circumvent the course proposal and approval process. A topic title that becomes a regular offering in the curriculum must be proposed as a new course.
A topics course is used to pilot and refine an idea for a new course, address a timely issue of special interest, or be offered for a limited time, and must:
- Fall under a disciplinary area of closely related course content; and
- Align with the approved catalog-level components for the course, including learning outcomes, component type(s), and course designations; and
- Include at least one learning outcome common to all offerings of the course; and
- Appear on students' transcripts with the specific title of the topic; and
- Allow for repeat enrollment with different topics; and
- Follow the same requirements for credit hour, instructor qualifications, syllabus information, etc. that pertain to all courses.
A topics course is not to be cross-listed unless there is a specific programmatic and scholarly reason.
Course Attributes and Designations
All attributes and designations are set at the catalog level and apply to all sections of a course, unless otherwise noted.
Graduate Attribute
The graduate level course attribute is assigned to a course that meets graduate-level standards and contributes to the requirement that at least 50% of credits applied toward a graduate degree must be in courses designated for graduate work.Honors Designation
The honors designation may be used at the course catalog or section level. When designated at the course catalog level, every section of the course must be offered every time with the honors designation. When designated at the section level, oversight is the responsibility of the school/college honors program and is addressed each semester when developing the Schedule of Classes.Breadth Attribute
The breadth attributes are administered by the College of Letters and Science and indicates a course has been reviewed to meet the requirements for the L&S undergraduate degree (Natural Science, Humanities/Literature/Arts, and Social Studies requirements). Many schools and colleges also use the L&S breadth designation to indicate to students how they may meet their general education requirements.LAS Credit Attribute
A course designated LAS Credit must encourage students in one or more of the three “habits of mind” of liberal arts education, as specified by the College of Letters and Science:- Skilled written and verbal communication, excelling in formulating and expressing a point of view, reflecting, and questioning current knowledge through reading, research, and consideration of the views of others.
- The ability to drew flexibly upon and apply the modes of through of the major areas of knowledge.
- Knowledge of our basic cultural heritage as a multifaceted and often contested history.
General Education Attribute
Consideration of course eligibility for a general education attribute occurs after all department and school/college approvals are granted.Communication A
Communication B
Quantitative Reasoning A and BEthnic Studies Attribute
The ethnic studies requirement is overseen by the Ethnic Studies Subcommittee of the University General Education Committee, which reviews all requests.Foreign Language Attribute
The foreign language course attribute differentiates courses where the primary focus of the course is teaching a method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way, from courses that focus on the culture, literature, history, and polity or other aspects of language learning.Workplace Attribute
Workplace experience encompasses internships, clinical work, cooperatives, practica, student teaching, and other simultaneous credit-bearing experiences based on immersive workplace experience that is linked to an academic program.Learning Outcomes
Course learning outcomes state what students are expected to know or be able to do upon completion of a course and may contribute, or map to, program learning outcomes. Each course is expected to have three to five course learning outcomes.
Learning outcomes must be common to each offering of a course regardless of instructor, mode of instruction, etc. An instructor may have additional learning outcomes for a specific offering of a course, but these must not be in place of the approved and established course learning outcomes.