Skip to main content
WVU Home

Timeline

The purpose of this page is to state the timeline for committee actions and provide an overview of its operational procedures.

The WVU policy related to curriculum-related deadlines is posted here.

Submissions to the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee must be received by the Faculty Senate Office one week prior to the committee's monthly meeting. If a submission is received after the deadline, it will not be reviewed by the committee until the following month. Submissions received in a timely manner will be prioritized based on the date of receipt. Curriculum committee will make every effort to review submissions within one month; however, the ability for the committee to review the month's submissions will be based upon the quantity received. Please be advised that failure to respond to committee requests will delay the approval process.

While each proposal is reviewed by the entire committee, it is typically assigned to two members of the committee who serve as primary and secondary reviewers. At the meeting, each proposal considered is classified into one of the following categories:

  • Pass.  The proposal had all required elements and was determined to be acceptable.
  • Pass Pending. The proposal was generally acceptable but weak in a few areas. The initiator will be contacted by the primary reviewer to seek a revision or further information.  If the primary and secondary reviewer determine that the deficiencies have been resolved by the revision, then a recommendation will be made to pass without requiring further discussion by the committee.
  • Hold. Not enough information is provided or the proposal was not discussed at the meeting. More information will be obtained, and the proposal discussed in the next meeting.
  • Rollback. The proposal was missing elements or had significant weaknesses. It is rolled back, generally to the initiator level. The primary reviewer will contact the initiator to discuss the weaknesses and offer suggestions for improvement.

Once passed by the committee, the proposal is forwarded to the next Executive Committee meeting (generally the fourth Monday of the month) before it can be forwarded to the general faculty senate meeting for final approval.

New courses and course changes/alterations must be approved by the March Senate meeting to be effective in the Fall term, and by the October Senate meeting to be effective in the Spring or Summer terms.

New course proposals that miss this deadline can still be considered until the December, April, or June Faculty Senate meetings for the Spring, Summer, and Fall terms, respectively, but such courses will not be listed in the initial schedule of classes and will not appear in the catalog’s program requirements.

To make it on the agenda for a given Faculty Senate meeting, a course must be passed by the previous Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting.  To make it on the agenda for the Executive Committee meeting, it must be passed by the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee at least 10 calendar days prior to the Executive Committee meeting. 

Please take into account any additional time required for department and college committees to pass the course before it is forwarded to the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee.

Except for new degree programs, other new programs and changes to existing programs must be approved by the April  Senate meeting to be effective in the next academic year. To make it on the agenda of the April Faculty Senate meeting, it must be passed by the Curriculum Committee on or before its March meeting. New degree programs must be passed by the Board of Governors by April 30 and therefore must be passed by the Faculty Senate sufficiently before the corresponding BoG meeting. Program proposals often take the committee more than one meeting to deliberate.

All of the proposals pending approval at a given level in the workflow can be seen by logging in to this site. As with other future catalog sites, login using your WVU Login credentials typed in all lowercase. Once inside, use the dropdown menu besides “Your Role” to see the proposals under consideration for any approver in the chain. Unless you associated with the approver (e.g., on the particular curriculum committee), you will not be able to edit the proposal.