Course Actions

The Senate Course Review system is intended for UCSF faculty, staff and administrators who prepare, modify or review course information.

The following is helpful information for course form preparers. For more detailed information about preparing course forms, the course review process and the Course Review system, refer to the Course Review Manual.

Select a category on this page:

Course Form Review Process
Course Form Submission Deadlines and Course Catalog Update
Unit Calculation
Interprofessional Course Guidance
Getting Started - Registration and Preparing Course Forms
Contacts and Links

Course Form Review Process

Course forms have 5 review steps;
Office of the Registrar > Department Chair > Curriculum Committee > School Dean > Committee on Courses of Instruction (COCOI) Chair
Additional steps: New Courses are reviewed by the COCOI Chair and two COCOI members. Interprofessional Education (IPE) courses are reviewed by a designated IPE reviewer.
Minor and Inactivate course forms are reviewed and approved by the Office of the Registrar.

Why three school levels of review?
Per Standing Order of the Regents 105.2. b "No change in the curriculum of a college or professional school shall be made by the Academic Senate until such change shall have been submitted to the formal consideration of the faculty concerned." The process established for curriculum review in the schools includes review by the course Department Chair, School Curriculum Committee (or equivalent) and the School Dean.

Course review by the Academic Senate Committee on Courses of Instruction
Following review and approval by the Office of the Registrar, Department Chair, Curriculum Committee, Interprofessional Education (if applicable) and School Dean, COCOI will review your proposed course action on behalf of the Academic Senate. Review by COCOI will commence prior to the course catalog update deadline to allow time for revisions. After a course form is approved by COCOI the course form preparer will receive email notification.

Course actions are published to (or removed from) Schedule of Classes and the online Course Catalog every quarter starting on the date listed in the chart "Course Catalog Update" column.

Why does the proposed course action require this review?
Per Standing Order of the Regents 105.2. b, "The Academic Senate shall authorize and supervise all courses and curricula…"

Course Form Submission Deadlines and Course Catalog Update

Quarter Available (effective quarter)* Removed (effective quarter)* New/Substantial/Reactivate Change Deadline** Minor/Inactivate Change Deadline** Course Catalog Update***
Winter 2023 6/10/22 3/31/23 9/30/22 3/30/23 10/13/22
Spring 2023 9/3/22 6/15/23 12/21/22 6/14/23 1/19/23
Summer 2023 12/22/22 9/1/23 03/7/23 8/31/23 4/4/23
Fall 2023 3/31/23 12/22/23 6/23/23 12/21/23 7/21/23

*Date the Effective Quarter is available and removed for course actions. The submission dates listed are Committee on Courses of Instruction (COCOI) deadlines; department and school deadlines may be earlier than those listed here.  Please check with your school and department for their timelines.

**Date new course, substantial change and reactivate course actions must be initiated and submitted for review within the Course Review system. Course forms submitted after the deadline are sent to the COCOI Chair to approve or deny acceptance of the course form for submission. Minor change and inactivate course actions may be submitted prior to the end of the quarter, but the change must be fully approved by your department and school prior to the last day of the current term or the change will not be implemented.

***Start date the Office of the Registrar updates the online Course Catalog and Schedule of Classes for course forms approved for the quarter.

Unit Calculation

Per the University of California Academic Regulation 760, "The value of a course in units shall be reckoned at the rate of one unit for three hours' work per week per term on the part of a student, or the equivalent."

All activities are 30 hours = 1 unit. Below is a chart listing each activity for UCSF courses.

Activity:
30 hours = 1 unit
Direct Online Contact/Instruction Hours
+
Student Preparation/Homework/Study Hours
=
Sum of hours of direct contact/instruction & student preparation/homework/study
Discussion          
Lab-Skills          
Lab-Science          
Project          
Independent Study          
Lecture          
Seminar          
Field Work          
Conference          
Web-based course work          
         
Total

*Refer to Course Review Manual for more information about activities and unit calculation.

Interprofessional Course Guidelines

Guidance regarding designation of interprofessional course status and inclusion in the interprofessional passport

Interprofessional education (IPE) occurs when learners or practitioners from two or more health and/or social care professions engage in learning with, from and about each other to improve collaboration and the delivery of care.

At UCSF, there are two facets of interprofessional designation for courses.  The first facet is having a course designated as interprofessional in the online course catalog.  This designation will enable students to search for and enroll in it by IPE status.  To be considered for this, course directors should apply via the Course Review system as described below:

At UCSF, courses submitted for consideration of interprofessionalstatus in the course catalog must meet all of the following criteria:

  • The course must specify an explanation for the request for interprofessional status (describe in the “justification” field on the course form).  This explanation should specify learners/practitioners involved by field
    • If the course includes learners from at least two schools and these should be specified (describe in the “course intended for what type of student” field on the course form)
    • The prerequisites, if any, for the course should not be specific to one school (describe in the “prerequisites” field on the course form)
  • At least one of the course objectives should be related to interprofessionalism (describe in the “course objectives” field on the course form.) For more information on course objectives, please refer to Bloom's Taxonomy.

The second facet of interprofessional designation is having the course or activity within a course mapped according to the UCSF interprofessional education rubric.  This will enable students to count the course/activity toward their programmatic requirements as part of the interprofessional passport.  The passport assigns values to courses and activities based on the following factors:

  • # of health professions involved
  • # of sessions
  • context and interactivity
  • faculty qualifications in IPE
  • explicit IPE learning objectives
  • IPE graduation milestones addressed
  • reflection on interprofessional learning
  • assessment

To be mapped on the rubric, course directors should complete the survey from the link below:
https://ucsf.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_03COw5APJwCNLRH

Additional information about IPE work at UCSF is available from interprofessional.ucsf.edu.

Getting Started

Registration - Access to the Course Review system requires registration approval. Go to https://courseactions.ucsf.edu to activate your account.

  1. Go to https://courseactions.ucsf.edu or login to MyAccess (https://myaccess.ucsf.edu) and click the Course Review link. If you do not have a MyAccess account, click "Get MyAccess" link to register.
  2. Preparing course forms;
    1. New Course Form: Click "New Course" tab.
    2. Minor, Major and Inactivate Forms: Click "Catalog" tab, locate the course and click "Edit course" link. Select Minor, Major or Inactivate from the "Course Review type" drop-down menu.
    3. Reactivate Course Form: Click "Edit Course" tab, select "Advanced criteria" and click "Inactive courses" check box. Use search to locate and select the course.
  3. Course forms under review: Click the "Reviews" tab, then "Active Reviews" and click "I've prepared" check box to view your course form(s). All forms that require revision will be marked in red under the "Queue" column. If a New Course Form is under COCOI review you can mouse-over "COCOI" to view review status.
  4. Course form reviewers: Click "Reviews" tab and then "For Me To Review". All courses for review will be listed.

Contacts

  • For questions about MyAccess, contact ITS Customer Support at (415) 514-4100.
  • For questions about the Academic Senate Course Review system, contact Laynie Stephens.
  • For questions about the course catalog or related to the Office of the Registrar, contact Jeff Harter, Associate Registrar (415) 476-3001.

Links