Curricular Changes
Requests for new majors, minors, and interdisciplinary certificate programs, as well as requests for revisions to existing majors, minors, and certificate programs, are submitted to the Office of Curriculum and Course Development, and reviewed by the faculty Committee on Curriculum, a standing committee of the Arts & Sciences Council. The Committee on Curriculum consists of representatives from the divisions of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Natural Sciences, as well as the associate dean and director of the Office of Curriculum and Course Development, who is an ex-officio member of the committee. For curricular revisions, final approval rests with the Committee on Curriculum. Final approval of all new majors, minors, and certificate programs rests with the Arts & Sciences Council, which considers the recommendations of the committee.
Requests for new majors, minors, and certificate programs are made by the sponsoring academic units, and require letters of support from relevant chairs and directors of undergraduate studies, as well as from the dean of Trinity College. All proposals for curricular changes should adhere to the templates provided here for making requests.
Prior to submitting requests, faculty should feel free to consult with the associate dean and director of the Office of Curriculum and Course Development (waltheri@duke.edu).
Curricular Reviews
Undergraduate Program Reviews
Because implementing the educational philosophy and general education learning objectives of the Curriculum has implications for undergraduate majors and minors, a review process has been developed for undergraduate education in the major. In addition, the intellectual inquiries and methodologies of disciplines and fields change continuously which also necessitates periodic review and, at times restructuring, of both curricular and pedagogical approaches in the major.
The review of undergraduate education in the major has thus been incorporated into the existing external review process for departments. A detailed self-study, done in iterative interaction with the Arts and Sciences Curriculum and Course Committees, is part of the overall self-study presented for external review. Including an enhanced undergraduate education review component as part of the external review of the department provides an opportunity for integration across the essential elements of the intellectual life of the department.
Guidelines for Self-study
Certificate Program Reviews
In the year 2000, the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee instituted a “sunset law” in which Certificate Programs are approved for a term of three years and can be renewed upon successful review by the Committee, or inactivated if they do not pass the review. Certificate programs that are renewed after the first three years are reviewed every five years thereafter. As a part of this normal review, Program Directors lead a Self-Study of their Certificate Program. The results of this Self-Study will form the core of the Curriculum Committee’s discussions and decision concerning continuing program approval.
In 2006, the Curriculum Committee created a template for self-study by certificate programs as part of a normal review of all certificate programs by the committee. The self-study template was updated in 2009, and can be accessed on the link below. Certificate programs must use the template provided in the Guidelines for Self-Study when preparing their materials for review.