The following resources have been compiled to help instructors, department chairs, and staff consultants navigate the course change process in ICMS.
Overview
Requests to create, modify, or discontinue a course will be submitted using the Integrated Curriculum Management System (ICMS). All course changes submitted in ICMS will undergo a rigorous review process before they can be included in the General Catalog. Per College and Academic Senate policies, this process will require approval by the L&S College Committee on Courses of Instruction and the Academic Senate's Committee on Courses of Instruction.
ICMS Workflow
Instructor (Originator) → Department Chair → COCI Pre-Review → College Committee Analyst → College Committee Members/Chair → COCI Analyst → COCI Members/Chair/Support → Office of University Registrar Processing → Publication in General Catalog
*Note: for specific exceptions to this workflow see GE Removal and Prerequisite Changes below
Policies and Procedures
Preparing a Submission
Before beginning the process it highly recommend that submitting departments review the "Before You Start" guide linked below to understand the important elements of a proposal and to avoid common issues that can slow down the review process.
Important Topics
In addition to the course information, there are specific topics that departments should consider when drafting a proposal. In many cases lack of specific information or documentation for these topics can result a in a proposal being returned to the Chair or Originator level for clarification or correction.
- Titles and Descriptions: Review Section III Course Specifications on requirements for titles and descriptions
- Course Overlap: Potential overlap with existing courses must be listed and justified, by citing significant differences in prerequisites, emphasis, disciplinary perspective, or depth of coverage. It is required to consult with the relevant faculty/department in cases of substantial overlap and to note such consultations here in the Expanded Course Description. If no overlap is foreseen, state “no course overlap.
- Prerequisites: Review the enforcement of prerequisites and consider their appropriateness for an individual course. See also Prerequisite Entry for help writing a prerequisite statement.
- General Education: Review the detailed faculty/staff guide to GE to ensure proposal meets the required elements for GE attributes.
- Credit Hours: Understand how credit hours are determined for courses to ensure course activities and hours align with the intended number of units for a course.
- Virtual and Hybrid Courses: Review the specific guidelines regarding the creation of virtual or hybrid courses at UC Davis.
Useful links
Review Process
L&S College Courses Committee
The committee receives proposals from department chairs in the College of Letters and Science. They provide the first substantive review and evaluation of these courses. Proposals are either returned to the submitter for revision or clarification or, if deemed approvable, forwarded to the Committee on Courses of Instruction (COCI) for further evaluation and final approval.
Academic Senate COCI
After review and approval at the College level, proposals will be sent to COCI for final review and approval. Visit the COCI Committee Website for membership information, meeting dates, and committee reports.
Special Processes
GE Removal
Requests for removal of existing GE attributes may be submitted through an expedited process. See the Expedited Approval of General Education Literacy Removal. Once the request MOU has been approved and signed by the Department Chair and Chair of College Courses Committee, it will be sent to the COCI Analyst prior to processing and publication.
Prerequisite Changes
Changes to the prerequisites for an existing course only may be approved at the College Committee level and do not need to be reviewed by COCI. Once approved by the College Committee they will be sent directly OUR for processing and publication.