7-5 Technical courses
With some variations, the development of a technical course is similar to the development of an academic course. If further clarification is needed, refer to III.A.1 of this manual.
Colleges may offer a selected number of individual courses in the Workforce Education Course Manual, excluding external learning experience courses. A college may offer not more than 14 SCH of courses in an area where no program exists provided the following guidelines are met:
- No more than two courses or eight SCH is offered in any one semester, and no more than 14 SCH is offered in one year.
- These courses may be WECM courses, excluding external learning experience courses, but including special topics and/or local need courses.
- In compliance with SACS, the courses must be attached, at least as an elective credit, to some related program.
- Faculty teaching the courses must meet all THECB and SACS requirement.
This allows the college to measure the success of a potential program without developing the entire program.
A technical course may be developed on one or more campuses in the district. Any faculty, adjunct faculty and/or administrator can initiate the idea[11]. The process begins by discussing the idea with the department chair, associate dean, and other faculty in the program area. The idea is also posted on the curriculum Intranet for dialogue and an e-mail notification is sent to all district faculty and administrators by the initiating campus via DL-Curriculum. As the result of dialogue, the idea may be aborted, postponed, modified, or pursued.
As early as possible and before the proposal is submitted to the campus curriculum committee, cost/benefits of the course should be discussed with the associate dean and vice president of instruction.
If the program exists on more than one campus, faculty from the other campuses may serve on the curriculum proposal team. Faculty names the curriculum proposal team. The curriculum proposal team convenes and selects its curriculum facilitator. The curriculum facilitator leads the curriculum proposal team. An explanation of curriculum proposal team membership and the responsibilities of the curriculum facilitator responsibilities can be found in "Roles and Responsibilities".
The curriculum facilitator convenes the curriculum proposal team to discuss the idea. The curriculum proposal team addresses the "Considerations for Curriculum Proposals" (Appendix B) and keeps minutes of the meetings. "Resources for Curriculum Proposals" (Appendix B) provides a list of materials to be used in preparing a proposal and a format of the curriculum proposal. Technical Course Forms are located in Section E in Appendix A of this manual. The curriculum facilitator disseminates information via the Intranet and, with input from the curriculum proposal team, is responsible for responses to expressed recommendations. The Intranet is updated to reflect modifications.
The curriculum proposal team can decide to abort, postpone, modify or proceed. Upon review and favorable support by the curriculum proposal team, the curriculum facilitator will summarize the proposal[12], develop the syllabus, and complete the forms found in Appendix A. A curriculum proposal may also include student surveys, employer surveys, advisory committee recommendations[13] and budget impact. The curriculum facilitator will prepare and submit the summarized proposal on the curriculum proposal form (only) to the webmaster for placement on the curriculum Intranet.
When the curriculum proposal team completes the proposal, it should be reviewed by the associate dean(s), the registrar(s), and one of the following: technical dean (C), dean of institutional effectiveness and program development (N), or dean of instruction (S). They will indicate that the proposal has been reviewed by signing the routing slip that accompanies the proposal.[14] The curriculum facilitator forwards the proposal to the vice presidents of instruction and the chair of the campus curriculum committee. The curriculum facilitator also submits the proposal to all members of the campus curriculum committee(s). The vice president of instruction places the proposal on the campus curriculum committee agenda for review. The chair of the campus curriculum committee schedules the proposal presentation. Proposals should be submitted to the campus curriculum committee members two weeks, but no less than one week, before the scheduled proposal presentation.
The campus curriculum committee reviews curriculum proposals. Curriculum recommendations expressed by each campus curriculum committee are directed to the curriculum facilitator for response and possible proposal modification. Campus curriculum committee recommendations are reflected in the minutes. Minutes are posted on the Intranet. The campus curriculum committee minutes should include the name of the curriculum facilitator, the proposal, the motion and action. The campus curriculum committee secretary posts the minutes on the Intranet.
A technical course proposal must receive approval from the campus curriculum committee on those campuses where it may be taught. The campus curriculum committee approves, rejects, or requests revisions of curriculum proposals. If all participating campus curriculum committees approve the proposal, the proposal is submitted to the district curriculum committee by the chair(s) of the campus curriculum committee as an information item. Proposals should be submitted to the district curriculum committee no less than one week before the scheduled presentation.
The minutes of the district curriculum committee will be posted on the Intranet.
Any decisions may be appealed to the chancellor's cabinet.
Following acceptance by the district curriculum committee, the office of vice chancellor of instructional programs and services will distribute the approved proposal to the vice president(s) of instruction, the registrar(s), the academic dean, the technical dean(s), the associate dean(s), and the department chair(s).
Before the first day of classes, the course syllabus must be on file with the department chair, associate dean, the vice president of instruction, and the vice chancellor of instructional programs and services.
Associate deans compile the course descriptions and submit them to the person(s) responsible for catalog revisions.
