Curriculum Change Forms and Instructions

When introducing curriculum changes, additions, or deletions, please note the following:

Undergraduate
For 2025-2026, submissions will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. Please upload your changes to the SharePoint Curriculum folder for Senate Curriculum Committee review.

As per the June 18, 2025 Senate motion, the following changes may be uploaded directly to the Unit-Level Approvals folder (found in your faculty folder).

  • clerical errors in course descriptions
  • course title changes
  • deletion of courses not offered in 10 years

The final deadline for undergraduate curriculum submissions to the Senate Curriculum Committee is December 19, 2025. Please confirm with your faculty curriculum committee their deadline for submissions. Typically, they are set in October, allowing the committee adequate time to prepare for the November faculty council meeting.

Graduate
Graduate curriculum changes must be approved by:
1. The dept/school;
2. Heads/Directors; then
3. Faculty Council.

Upon approval by Faculty Council, copies of the curriculum forms are to be emailed to the Graduate Studies Officer who will circulate them to the Senate Graduate Studies Committee.

Changes for 2025-2026
The 2025-2026 Curriculum Change forms can also be found on the Curriculum Committee SharePoint. For one-off and bigger changes, all former six curriculum forms have been combined into one smart form. The form has built-in tools (macros) that will show you only the sections you need, based on the type of change you're making. For bulk changes, an Excel sheet is available. Remember to submit a Summary of all changes submitted.

How to use new smart form:
1. Download file called Curriculum Change Form – Template.
1a. Unblock the form by right clicking the file → Properties → click "unblock" box at bottom.
2. Open with Microsoft Word (desktop) in either Windows or Mac.
3. Enable Macros – when you first open the form, Word will show a yellow bar at the top (if using Windows) or a popup (if using Mac) – asking you to Enable Macros. Macros MUST be enabled for form to function.
4. In Section 2, select the type of change you’re making. After selecting your option, click anywhere outside the box. The form will adjust to show you only the sections required for that type of change.
5. Fill out the Form – complete all visible sections.
6. Save your completed form by going to File → Save As → Save your document as a CourseCode_Revision.docx (not a .dotm).
7. Upload your form to the 2025-2026 SharePoint Curriculum folder.

Tips
- If you don't see the yellow Enable Macros bar (or popup in Mac), check that you opened the .dotm version of the form.
- If the form isn't responding, close it and reopen, making sure to enable macros.

Forms used prior to 2025 will still be accepted by the SCCA:
Form 1 - New Course Proposal
Form 2 - Proposed Course Deletion
Form 3 - Proposed Modification to an Existing Course
Form 4 - Proposed Modification to a Program
Form 5 - New Program Proposal (MPHEC approval required); Information Requirements for New Undergraduate Program Proposals; Tables for New Undergraduate Programs
Form 5A - New Program Proposal (MPHEC approval not required)
Form 6 - Creation and Closure Form
 

Guidelines for Faculty
  1. In developing proposals for curriculum changes, ensure the proposed changes consider existing degree requirements of your program to avoid contradictions and inconsistencies. You are required to submit your curriculum proposals for a vote in your department or school before sending them to your faculty curriculum committee.

  2. The deadline posted above is the date by which all curriculum change proposals must be submitted to the Senate Curriculum Committee. The date by which you need to complete the initial preparation of your forms is the date established by your faculty curriculum committee, typically a date in October. The date will be chosen to allow adequate time to process faculty submissions, arrange for authors to make revisions if necessary, and to present the finalized submissions to a meeting of your faculty council. Your faculty curriculum committee should specify its deadline for receiving proposals early in the fall term.

  3. The details and complexity of the submissions vary according to the changes being proposed. Several of the forms have questions about consultations with students, other academic units, and the library. To gather the necessary information, this means you need to start the process of preparing your submission well in advance of the deadline set by your faculty curriculum committee.

  4. The calendar is accessed by many people for a variety of reasons. It is the document that informs the public and students about our course and program offerings, so it should be an accessible document that provides accurate information expressed in clear, concise language. As new courses and program changes are considered, courses no longer offered and with little chance of being offered in the foreseeable future should be deleted so that the calendar remains an accurate reflection of current course and program offerings.

  5. Course descriptions may not exceed 60 words. Course descriptions should be expressed in clear, grammatically-correct language, and to the extent possible, avoid jargon and excessively technical language. It is also important to note that course titles must be easily converted to a ‘short’ course title of no more than 30 characters, a requirement for university transcripts. If the course title for the calendar entry exceeds this length, you must supply a shorter version for transcript use.

  6. The Head/Director or delegate will be asked to compile all proposals from their academic unit to be considered by the faculty curriculum committee. Please follow the procedures of your unit, ensuring that whoever is responsible for collecting and submitting proposals for consideration by the faculty curriculum committee has the most current versions of forms.
Guidelines for Faculty Curriculum Committees
  1. All the information you needed to process curriculum proposals is provided here or within the constitution of your faculty. Your faculty curriculum committee is responsible for ensuring curriculum proposal forms are completed accurately. Familiarize yourself with the information required to complete proposal forms, and the process your faculty constitution sets out regarding how curriculum proposals should be presented to your faculty for review.

  2. All proposals from your faculty must be presented at a meeting of your faculty council for information or approval prior to being submitted to the Senate Curriculum Committee - Administrative (SCCA). Please note the deadline for submitting proposals to the SCCA stated above, setting your deadline for receiving submissions from your faculty accordingly. Allow plenty of time for your committee to do its work, including the potential need to have forms revised and resubmitted.

    The deadline for the receipt of submissions from your faculty should probably be at least three weeks prior to the date of the November faculty council meeting. Circulate this date to all departments (or all colleagues) as soon as possible in September. In the same message provide the URL for the webpage where they can access the necessary forms.
  1. When you receive curriculum submissions from your faculty, the job of your committee is to review each one ensuring that it has been completed accurately. This includes, but is not limited to; (i) ensuring course and program descriptions are clear and expressed in language that is grammatically correct, (ii) where required, canvassing student opinion, consulting with other academic units affected by proposed changes, and consulting with the library, and (iii) confirming the number of characters used in the short course title and the number of words in the course description adhere to the limits of 30 characters and 60 words respectively.

    If you find that there are problems in these or other areas of submissions, it is not your job to make the corrections.  Rather you should return the forms to the academic unit that submitted the proposal, requesting they address the problems you have identified.
  1. It is important that faculty curriculum committees compare the proposed changes they receive to established calendar descriptions for all course and program requirements affected, directly or indirectly. This task is essential to ensure faculty proposing changes have not inadvertently overlooked any of the consequences of their proposal(s). Check that the changes, if initiated, will not result in any contradictions or inconsistencies within programs.  If you come across something that seems unclear or problematic, consult with the relevant academic unit(s) for clarification.

  2. Once all the submissions have passed your inspection, prepare a document for presentation to your faculty council based on the guidelines in your faculty constitution. Once the proposals have been presented to and, if necessary, approved by your faculty council, they are to be submitted to the SCCA for review.

  3. SharePoint is the platform used to submit proposals to the SCCA. Submissions are organized by faculty, and by an academic unit within each faculty. The Associate Registrar will provide access to the SharePoint site for all Deans, Directors, Heads, and their delegates as instructed. The Head/Director or delegate should submit digital versions of the final, approved versions of all proposals from their academic unit no later than the SCCA deadline, including a summary document outlining all curriculum changes from the unit. Each faculty should also provide a copy of the minutes of the faculty council meeting(s) that curriculum proposals were considered