Policy & Procedures for Approval of Special Topics Courses (11/7/2005)

Special Topics courses provide the opportunity to offer emerging material not covered in existing courses or to make effective use of a traditional classroom setting for development of a new course. Special Topics courses provide a more timely and flexible response than is afforded by the process required for approval of standard course offerings through the UCC.

Special Topics Course Policy

It is the policy of the Computer Science Department that Special Topics courses (CS 204, CS 404, CS 504, and CS 604) must receive approval by the CS faculty prior to being offered. Approval by the faculty authorizes the department to offer the course during the requested term only. Special Topics course offering must also abide by University policy as defined in the Faculty Staff Handbook. FSH Section 4130 C-6 provides the following limitations on Special Topics courses: ?A separate special-topics course should not be offered under the number 204, 404, 504, or 604 more than twice; after the second offering, it should be assigned its own number, title, and description so that with few exceptions the official descriptions of courses students take will be in the catalog.

Special Topics Course Approval Procedure

The following procedures shall be followed:

1. The person seeking to have a special topics course approved completes the Special Topics Course request form. This form documents information such as the proposed instructor, course description, a brief outline of topics to be covered, proposed text, resources required, work required of the students, and grading plan. The request form can be found here. Requests should be submitted early in the semester prior to the semester in which the course is to be offered. The intent of early submission is to allow adequate time for proposal review by the Curriculum Committee and the CS Faculty prior to initiating semester planning and time schedule publication.
   
2. The completed Special Topics Course request form is submitted to the CS Curriculum Committee for processing.
   
3. The CS Curriculum Committee reviews the proposal. The committee may request additional information if such information is necessary to evaluate the merits or efficacy of the proposed course. In some situations in may be necessary to evaluate the credentials of the proposed instructor.
   
4. The Committee votes on the request. A simple majority of the Committee members in attendance at a committee meeting shall be required for approval.
   
5. The results of the Committee's action is forwarded to the CS Faculty for consideration at a regular meeting of the faculty.
   
6. The CS Faculty votes on the course proposal. A simple majority of those faculty eligible to vote and in attendance at a regular meeting of the faculty shall be required for approval.
   
7. The chair of the Curriculum Committee shall maintain records documenting actions of the committee.
   

Supporting Material

Special Topics Course Request Form