Policy Statement - 12-05 Multisection and Sequential Courses, Coordination of
Policy Statement
12-05
May 10, 2012
Coordination of Multi-Section and Sequential Courses
(This policy statement supersedes 79-08)
This policy statement was recommended by the Academic Senate on April 12, 2012
and approved by the President on April 24, 2012.
For the purpose of this document, multi-section courses are those with the same prefix and course number offered in the same semester. Sequential courses consist of two or three, rarely more, courses that follow one another, must be taken in sequence, and together cover a field or topic.
I. Standard Course Outline
A. All multi-section and sequential courses shall have a written standard course outline that details the content and student learning outcomes expected for all sections and, where appropriate, the entire sequence.
B. Departments/programs are responsible for assuring that all faculty teaching multi-section and sequential courses adhere to the content and student learning outcomes set forth in the standard course outline. Instructors teaching multi-section and sequential courses may vary in their pedagogical approach to the course, providing it is consistent with the standard course outline.
II. Departmental/Programmatic Responsibility
A. Departments/programs have responsibility for course content, for assuring continuity in sequential courses, and for assuring that multiple sections of a course have common student learning outcomes.
B. Departments/programs may adopt a policy that requires use of the same text(s) (or one of a small number of designated texts) for all sections of a multiple-section course or all semesters of a sequential course.
C. The department chair/program director is responsible for the coordination of multi-section and sequential courses and may delegate their responsibility to an appropriate faculty member or committee.
III. Course Coordination
Course coordination may include but is not restricted to:
A. Management of the standard course outline;
B. Distribution of common course materials;
C. Coordination of course assessment efforts;
D. Provision of guidance and resources to faculty new to teaching the courses (including the review of the content and student learning outcomes set forth in the standard course outline);
E. Efforts to enhance achievement of the student learning outcomes;
F. Provision of advice to course faculty when their practices deviate widely from the guidelines in the standard course outline;
G. Facilitation of information sharing among course faculty;
H. Maintenance of a catalog of best practices; and
I. Revision of the standard course outline as appropriate.
EFFECTIVE: Fall 2012
