Course/Program Credit Assignment Procedures

This policy is addressed partially in the following web addresses:

• https://www.okhighered.org/admin-fac/academic-forms/ 
• https://bulldog.swosu.edu/publications/policies/index.php 

New Course Procedure

1. All courses follow SWOSU Credit Hour Policy. Therefore, all credits are earned in semester hours.
2. The faculty member creating the course submits a request to add a course to the department chair or associate dean.
3. The department chair/associate dean makes the decision to approve or deny the request based on input from department faculty and, if needed, the college’s Curriculum Committee.
4. If the decision is made to approve the new course, the department chair/associate dean completes a Catalog Master Screen form. The form requires the following information:
   1. Course prefix, course number, and course title
   2. Justification for the course
   3. Course description
   4. Additional information such as method of delivery, prerequisites, equated load, and grading scheme
5. The faculty member creates a course syllabus that adheres to the university course template.
6. The Catalog Master Screen form and accompanying syllabus is signed by the department chair/associate dean and sent for review and approval to the dean of the appropriate college.
7. During the course review, the Dean may have the college’s Curriculum Committee review the proposed course to determine if the appropriate credit is assigned.
8. After approval by the Dean, the form is sent to the Vice President for Student Affairs, who then forwards to the Provost.
9. If the Provost approves the course, the course is added to the Course Catalog.
10. Faculty teaching hybrid or online courses must also complete the steps to teach an online course as outlined by the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning, including completion of the Certification to Teach Distance Education Courses. These courses must follow the University Policy for Distance Education Instruction.

New Program Procedure

1. Departments shall submit New Program and Program Modification requests to the Provost who will review and submit the changes to the President. The President submits them to RUSO and OSRHE. The President’s Office will notify the Provost, Vice President for Student Affairs and the department chairs of approved program requests from OSRHE.
2. Departments shall submit New Program and Program Modification requests by October 1 to allow sufficient time for requested changes to be effective the following fall.
3. Departments shall submit Catalog Master Screen requests along with a copy of the OSRHE approval letter to the Vice President for Student Affairs office.
4. Departments shall submit Course Modification requests after Catalog Master Screen data is in the catalog report.
5. New Program and Program Modification requests that impact course numbering shall follow this sequence. Every program course four digit number shall be unique and not duplicate the first three digits.
6. COURSE NUMBER CODING SCHEME:
   1. First Position is the Class Level:
      1. 1xxx = Freshmen Level;
      2. 2xxx = Sophomore Level;
      3. 3xxx = Junior Level;
      4. 4xxx = Senior Level;
      5. 5xxx = Graduate Level
   2. Next two position indicate the type of class:
      1. x00x = Individual Study Course. This is a non-existing course used on a one time, instructor approved basis.
      2. x01x = Seminar
      3. x02x, x03x, x04x…, x10x x11x, x12x…, x20x, x21x, x22x…, =Departmental course sequencing. This is for sequencing of courses within the department. The first three numbers have to be unique within the departments. DO NOT REUSE COURSE NUMBERS.
   3. The last position indicates the number of Credit Hours the course has.
      1. xxx0 = The ‘0’ indicates a Variable Credit Course and the credit hours it is offered will vary for each time the course is offered. Currently our Catalog has a ‘0’ record, but then also has individual records for each separate credit hour for which it can be offered. Only the ‘0’ record will be flagged to send to the Regents if they ever request our Course Inventory.
      2. xxx1= the course is a one credit hour course
      3. xxx2 = the course is a two credit hour course

7. IT Dept. has to change the Course ID Number if two courses with different course numbers have identical courses and one course counts for another. (i.e. lower level and higher level) This is not an easy task so please avoid this whenever possible.
8. The Provost office will notify the IT Dept. when OSRHE approves program changes if a department is making prefix changes.

Process for updating programs and catalogs:

Creating new catalogs

Main responsibility: Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs

• The Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs will create the Catalog by October 1 of each year.
• Catalogs should be created two years in advance. For example, the 2021 catalog should be created by October 1, 2019.
• The Executive Assistant VPSA should consult with the Colleague Curriculum committee to determine if any programs should be removed during the copying process from the previous catalog.

Creating new programs

Main Responsibility: Executive Assistant to the Provost

• When the paperwork for creating a new program has been completed, the Executive Assistant to the Provost will add that program to one or more catalogs.
• The program will be added to any future catalogs that have already been created. For example, a program that is created in 2019 will be added to the 2020 and 2021 catalogs if they are already created.

Deleting programs

Main Responsibility: Executive Assistant to the Provost

• When the decision to delete a program has been finalized, the Executive Assistant to the Provost will determine an end date and final catalog for the program after consulting with the Provost, Academic Records, and Associate Provost.
• The Executive Assistant Provost will work with ITS and the Academic Records to determine if any students are associated with the program and what steps need to be taken to ensure the students are accommodated.
• Upon deletion of a program, the Executive Assistant Provost will contact the Executive Assistant VPSA to ensure that the deleted program will not be copied to any future catalogs.