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McGill.CA / Faculty Curriculum Committee

Faculty Curriculum Reviews


OVERVIEW

The Faculty Curriculum Committee (FCC) evaluates the academic quality of proposals for new and revised credit‐based courses and programs. Any change to the information that is listed for a course or program in the eCalendar, or change to a Minerva form field, for example, credit weighting, requires FCC approval.

  1. Academic units (departments and schools) are responsible for preparing proposals for new, revised, and retiring courses and programs. These proposals must be approved by the respective unit's Curriculum Committee and unit Chair or Director before submission to the FCC. 
  2. Once the proposal forms are signed and approved at the departmental level, the proposal and any relevant attachments are then forwarded for FCC review to fcc.med [at] mcgill.ca.
  3. The FCC reviews curriculum changes to ensure that course and program proposals in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences comply with McGill University guidelines and are pedagogically sound. The FCC provides feedback, and either approves, conditionally approves, or disapproves proposals.
  4. Once approved by the FCC, the Associate Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies then approves proposals on behalf of the Faculty. The proposals are then forwarded to other offices for University level review and approval.

 

Changes to program offerings

  • For new programs, the proposers must first contact the leah.moss [at] mcgill.ca (subject: New%20FMHS%20program%20proposal) (Dean's Operations Committee), the bcc.med [at] mcgill.ca (FCC), cgps.gps [at] mcgill.ca (GPS) (for graduate programs), and the Associate Provost (Teaching and Academic Programs) to inform them of the new program in development and to obtain guidance on proposal preparation.
  • Program revision types:
    • Major program revisions include: changes to program’s title, more than 1/3 of program credits changes, changes that restructure the program in such a way as to have a significant academic impact on students or on the program’s professional accreditation, changes to project, thesis and special activity requirements in graduate programs, changes to Honours requirements in undergraduate programs, total revamping of the program [i.e., large number of existing courses are replaced]; or substantial program credit weight changes.
    • Moderate program revisions include: changes to required course lists in a program or changes that (slightly) increase the program’s credit weight.
    • Minor program revisions include: courses added to or deleted from list of Complementary Courses; list of Required Courses credit weight increased/decreased and Complementary Courses credit weight-adjusted appropriately so that the program total credit weight is not affected; changes to the minimum program GPA requirement for Honours programs (i.e., raised or lowered) as long as the GPA requirement remains at 3.0 or greater or program retirement.

  • For new programs and major program revisions, departments must prepare a 2-3-[maximum] page support document appended to a new or a revised program proposal form. This document should elaborate on the following:

    1. The rationale for the major revisions or the need for the new program, as appropriate.
    2. A description of any changes in learning outcomes/competencies [for major program revisions].
    3. For new programs, an explanation of how the proposed program meets the needs for what is lacking in current programs offered; the demand for the new program – surveys conducted, requests received; if a professional order will be involved; how the new program fits in the strategic plan for the University or offering faculty/school; and what similar program is offered at peer institutions [Canadian and North American].

  • For moderate and minor program revisions, departments must complete a program revision form and supporting documents.  

  • Proposals for all new programs, program revisions and program retirements must be approved by the academic unit chair and submitted with relevant supporting documents (i.e. the 2-page rationale, consultations, course proposals) to the FCC for approval. Proposal forms and executive summaries for new programs should also be sent to the leah.moss [at] mcgill.ca (subject: New%20FMHS%20Program%20proposal) (Dean's Operations Committee) for review and approval in parallel with the submission to the FCC.

Approval Sequence for programs: Department/Unit/School >> FCC / Deans Operations Commitee >> Associate Dean - Biomedical BSc, Graduate & Postdoctoral Affairs/Deanery >>GPS (for graduate programs)>> SCTP >> APC >> Senate>>BCI>>MEES

 

Changes to course offerings

  • All course proposals (new, revised or retirements) must be prepared in Minerva*. The Minerva online submission form for course proposals may be found at: www.mcgill.ca/minerva/ - SR Admin or Faculty tab, Catalog and Schedule Menu, Course Proposal/Revision. 
  • New courses: Proposals  for new courses must be submitted to the FCC with 1) completed consultations from other departments, 2) Course outlines, and where applicable, 3) Fee Advisory Committee approval for extra fees appended to the course, or financial consultations.

*NOTE- If you are proposing a new course with a new subject code, you will not be able to prepare a "new course" form in Minerva. In this case, use the Word or PDF course proposal form available here: www.mcgill.ca/sctp/guidelines.

  • Course revisions: All changes to a course description, credit-weighting, schedule type, prerequisites, and restrictions must be approved by the academic unit Chair and submitted to the FCC for approval.

Approval Sequence for courses: Department/Unit/School >> Faculty Curriculum Committee >> Associate Dean - Biomedical BSc, Graduate & Postdoctoral Affairs/Deanery >> SCTP/APB >>APC/Senate>> Enrolment Services (updates calendar, etc.)

 

Academic policies and regulations

For further information and guidance on curriculum development and revisions, please consult University and Faculty academic policies and regulations:

 

Approval committees and offices

APB= Analysis Planning and Budget Office

APC = Academic Policy Committee of Senate

AP(T&AP) = Associate Provost (Teaching and Academic Programs)

BCI = Bureau de coopération interuniversitaire

CGPS = Council of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

DOC- Deans Operations Committee

ES = Enrolment Services

GPS = Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office

MEES = Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement supérieur

PWG = Provost’s Program Working Group

SCTP = APC Subcommittee on Courses and Teaching Programs

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