Undergraduate Curriculum Review Process

Undergraduate minor modifications are proposed through the Curriculum Management (CM) system and brought forward by the relevant Departmental Curriculum Committees for review by the appropriate Divisional Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences) before being presented to the UTM Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) for final approval.

Examples of undergraduate minor modifications include:
•    Adding new courses
•    Deleting courses
•    Renaming, renumbering or reweighting courses
•    Course description changes
•    Changes to instructional hours
•    Changes to pre-requisite/ co-requisite/ exclusion
•    Adding a course experience tag to courses
•    Delivery mode changes to courses
•    Minor changes to existing program requirements (no impact on learning
outcomes)

 

Divisional Undergraduate Curriculum Committees

Divisional Undergraduate Curriculum Committees are advisory committees of the Vice-Principal Academic and Dean and governed by the UTM Divisional Undergraduate Curriculum Committee Terms of Reference. The function of each committee is threefold:

  1. To receive and REVIEW proposals for minor modifications to existing undergraduate academic programs and courses under UTM authority;
  2. To ADVISE the Divisional Curriculum Committees Chair and Vice-Principal Academic & Dean on the content, quality, and feasibility of proposed curricular changes, ensuring consistency with UTM’s mission, policies, and educational goals; and
  3. To RECOMMEND proposed changes move forward for approval by the UTM Academic Affairs Committee (AAC), as appropriate.

Each Divisional Curriculum Committee meets a minimum of three times over the academic year (once per term).

 

Curriculum Review Process & Timeline

The Divisional Undergraduate Curriculum Committees (UG CC) typically meet in February, May, and late-October/ early-November of each year. Changes that have been recommended for approval from these meetings will proceed to the UTM Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) for final approval. Changes from the February and May meetings will typically be presented at the Cycle 1 AAC meeting. Changes from the late-October/ early-November meeting will normally be brought forward in Cycle 3.

Unit-level curriculum committees should meet as needed and appropriate for the requirements of their unit and programs, keeping in mind divisional dates and deadlines.
In preparation for divisional UG CC meetings, academic units are required to enter all changes to be considered in the Curriculum Management (CM) system by the stated submission deadline. This includes the identification of any resource implications associated with the change using the appropriate forms. New courses proposals must always be accompanied by a resource implications form (for new courses). To assist units in navigating the CM system, the PCU has prepared a CM Toolkit, which includes guidelines, tip sheets, walkthroughs, and video tutorials.

All change proposals are then reviewed by the Program & Curriculum Unit (PCU) to ensure completeness and readiness to proceed to the divisional level before the curriculum proposal reports are finalized and posted. At each divisional UG CC meeting, faculty curriculum representatives for each unit will have the opportunity to present their proposed curriculum changes to the Committee. A Speaker Notes resource is available to help faculty representatives prepare their proposal presentation.  

Approved changes can be implemented beginning September of the next calendar year and will be reflected in the accompanying Academic Calendar (i.e. approved changes presented in February, May, and November 2021 can take effect beginning September 2022 and will appear in the 2022-2023 Academic Calendar).

 

Resources

 


Contacts

Martha Harris
Acting Manager, Academic Programs, Reviews & Quality Assurance
martha.harris@utoronto.ca

Ahad Syed
Acting Curriculum Review Specialist
adoo.syed@utoronto.ca