1. Writing, Modifying, and Reviewing Curriculum Using CurricUNET
AY (updated from )

2. Getting Started:
Get an account from the Curriculum Committee Faculty Co-Chair. PT faculty will need the approval of their department/program coordinator or division chair/dean. Please inform the CC Chair of the discipline(s) in which you will need originator access.
Your username is your first initial and last name (all lowercase)
The default password when you’re first given an account is: changeme (all lowercase). Please change it to a unique password after you log in for the first time. (Passwords are case sensitive. Please make note of your password. The Curriciulum Faculty Co-Chair and the Curriculum Analyst can reset the password to the default if you forget your password.)
Go to CurricUNET to get started: You can also get there using the A-Z Directory as well as “Employee Login” in the Faculty & Staff dropdown menu from NVC’s homepage.
Note: You do not need an account to search for/look at CORs. They are public documents. Blue = Active, Black = draft in progress, Red = historical

3. After logging in, you will see this page:

4. The Basics
CurricUNET has 3 essential functions when it comes to accessing curriculum.
It allows the public to Search our courses and programs, including active, pending, and historical versions.
It allows faculty authors to Build courses and programs (creating and modifying them).
It allows curriculum committee members as well as faculty authors, division chairs/deans to Track courses and programs undergoing review.
Curriculum Committee Members will select “My Approvals”
Faculty Authors will select “My Proposals”
Anyone (with login credentials) can select “All Proposals” to discover where a proposal is.
Faculty may play multiple roles and will need to select the relevant role in that instance (curriculum committee member or course author, etc.).

5. To write or revise curriculum:
Always start at Build.

6. To Write or Revise Courses:
Select Courses.
Then this page will appear:
Note: The page may be empty. Or if you’ve already been working on proposals, those drafts will be listed here, and you can simply continue editing them by clicking on the pencil icon.

7. Next, select the function you want:
Create Course = create a new course from scratch.
Edit Course = continue working on a draft you already started.
Course Modification = begin modifying an existing course (possibly created by a different faculty author).

8. To modify an existing course (the most common use):
Select “Course Modification” and this page will appear.
Next select the Discipline from the dropdown menu. You may also specify the Course Number.
Note: You will only be able to access courses in disciplines to which you have been given originator access.

9. To begin a course modification:
Click on the copy icon to create a copy you can edit without overwriting the existing draft.

10. Select the Type of Course Modification:
Once you click the copy icon next to a course, this page will appear:
Next you need to choose the type of Course Modification from the drop down menu:
Modified Course Proposal
Course Archive
New Course formerly Special Topics
Course Reactivation
Noncredit Course Modification

11. Modifying the Course Proposal:
The first step is to input the rationale for the type of proposal, in this case for modifying the course.
This step helps the faculty author, faculty chair/division dean, articulation officer, and curriculum committee chair know whether the changes are substantive, which may require rearticulation or resubmission to the Chancellor’s Office in addition to local approval, or nonsubstantive.

13. Course Modification
After you’ve input the rationale and selected enter, you will see this page:
From here you go into each of the items in the checklist and make the necessary changes.
Note: Please also check for and provide missing or update information where necessary.

14. Go Through the Checklist:
Be sure to click “Save” and then “Finish” after you make changes.
If the draft has already been copied or created, go back in using “Edit.” In that case, you may need to “unlock” pages to edit them.
The Checklist:

15. The Cover Page

16. The Course Description
The Catalog Description is the most public aspect of the COR and thus arguably the most important.
Make sure the description provides a clear indication of the focus and requirements of the course so that it serves as an effective guide for students.
The description should be written in complete sentences.
The description should provide more than a simple restatement of the course title or topic.
We’re in the process of removing the Schedule Description, which is unnecessary and can/should be the same as the Catalog Description.

17. The Discipline Page
Notice that the page needs to be unlocked in order to change or add a discipline. This is because I left and returned to edit the course. When you first copy a course and if you start modifying it right then, it will offer you the chance to add a discipline.
Most likely, you won’t need to add a discipline unless you’re creating a new course.
Advance without saving by selecting “finish” or “cancel.”

18. The Course Standards Page
This page is particularly important.
The type of Semester Hours (contact type) in Credit Classes will determine the number of contact hours in relation to the number of outside of class hours.
Both the Total Contact Hours and the Total Student Hours (contact hours + outside-of-class hours) are calculated.

19. Calculating Contact Hours Based on Units and Contact Types (for Credit Classes)
For a 1-unit, 18-week course:
Lecture = 1 hour contact: 2 hours outside of class X 18
Contact Hours = 18
Outside of Class Hours = 36
Total Contact Hours = 18
Integrated Lab (typically called Activity): 2 hours contact: 1 hour outside of class X 18
Contact Hours = 36
Outside of Class Hours = 18
Total Contact Hours = 36
Lab = 3 hours contact: 0 hours outside of class X 18
Contact Hours = 54
Outside of Class Hours = 0
For all types, Total Student Hours = 54 (Contact Hours + Outside of Class Hours)
Note: Noncredit courses require only Total Contact Hours. There are no Outside-of-Class Hours and no units. (Noncredit COR’s will be covered separately.)

20. Also on the Course Standards Page
Assign the TOP Code
There is a dropdown menu from which you will select the TOP Code.
If you’re unsure, check existing/comparable courses in the same discipline.
You may also refer to the TOP Code Manual on the Curriculum Committee’s home page.
Also, identify:
Maximum Enrollment
Grading Options (dropdown menu)
Delivery Method (check all that apply).
Note: Some courses do not articulate if they are offered fully online. Check with the Articulation Officer if in doubt.

21. Course Repeatability
Very few credit courses are repeatable (able to be taken more than once, each time for a standalone grade).
Don’t confuse repeatability and repetition.
Repeatability refers to courses that may be repeated by any student, such as team sports.
Repetition refers to individual students who are able to repeat a course they have failed or dropped or who, with special permission, retake a course for recency or minimum grade requirements as a condition for getting into a particular program.

22. SECTION E: Outcomes, Objectives, Content, Methods of Instruction, Methods of Evaluation, Assignments
All of these sections must be filled out. Refer to the blank COR (or previous MS-Word drafts of the COR) to see how the information you enter appears to the public.
The Curriculum Committee is looking for the following when reviewing CORs:
Completeness
Correctness
Clarity
Integration or Alignment of the Outcomes, Objectives, and Content
Recency of textbooks and other materials (within 6 years). Legacy or classic (older) textbooks are allowed, but there should be at least one recent textbook included. Note: Inclusion of textbooks in the COR doesn’t mandate their use. Consult with the Librarians for possible resources to include. Consider too possible OER (Open Educational Resources).

23. Outcomes Page
To meet ACCJC accreditation standards, NVC includes outcomes in our CORs.
The number and content of course learning outcomes (CLOs) are up to the faculty author and department.
The Curriculum Committee does make sure all Outcomes are in the form of verb phrases, finishing the implied statement:
By the end of the course, students will be able to:
Note: All CLO’s must be assessed within the established assessment cycle, so having fewer is often advisable (unless required by an outside agency as in some CTE courses).

24. Objectives Page
Objectives, like Outcomes, need to be written as verb phrases.
Here too, completing the sentence: Upon satisfactory completion of the course, students will be able to:
There will likely be more objectives than outcomes as objectives refer to the discrete skills and concepts being learned throughout the course that link to the broader more overarching outcomes students are expected to master by its end.

25. Course Content:
The Curriculum Committee checks to make sure Course Content aligns with the Course Objectives, which in turn should align with the Course Outcomes.
Locally we have typically structured the content in outline form (though not always with the cooperation of CurricUNET), and outline format is not required by Title 5.
WARNING: Do NOT copy/paste from MS-Word into CurricUNET. It ruins formatting.
Content should guide instructors while allowing for academic freedom.
There should be sufficient content to match the course units.
Course content is entirely the purview of the faculty author/department.*
*Articulation requirements may dictate some content.

26. A COR with Content in Outline Format.

27. Methods of Evaluation:
Check all boxes that apply. Then in the comment boxes, provide at least 2 specific examples of the identified types.

28. Distance Education
To be able to offer a course in a DE mode, you must first indicate which modes you wish to select on the Course Standards Page: fully online, hybrid, fully online with proctored exam.

29. Fully Online Course Contact Types
For courses offered fully online, you must also indicate the Contact Types it may use.
Check all boxes that may apply. Doing so doesn’t mandate a course must use this contact type, just that it may.

30. DE Methods of Instruction
All fully online courses must also indicate how they will adapt the face-to-face instruction to the online format by identifying all types that may be used.
Again, check all boxes that may apply. Doing so doesn’t mandate a course must use this method, just that it may.

31. Methods of Instruction
Check all boxes that apply.
If the course is being offered fully online, be sure to check all types of online adaptation modes an instructor might use.
It is not a mandate, rather an indication of what is allowed/possible.
Use the comments box to explain if a particular mode must or must not be used

32. Assignments:
Provide 2 specific examples for each type of assignment used.
These examples should be representative, not prescriptive, examples.

33. Learning Resources (Textbooks):
Every transfer-credit course must provide at least 1 textbook, which must have been published within the last 7 years.
Note: Legacy (older) textbooks are allowed, but there should be at least one more recent textbook included.
Textbooks, like assignments, may be representative rather than prescriptive.
Open source material may also be identified.
Note: Textbook updates are considered a nonsubstantive change.

34. Requisites
If your course has any requisites, such as prerequisites, corequisites, advisories, or other limitations on enrollment, you will need to fill out this page.
Prerequisites and corequisites require review every 6 years.

35. Creating Courses in CurricUNET:
From Build, select “Courses.”
Then select “Create Course.”
Select the Discipline.
Give the course a number and title.
Write the Catalog Description.
Select the Proposal Type.

36. Creating Courses in CurricUNET (2):
Once the course has been created, follow the Checklist. The only difference between creating and modifying a course is that you’re putting in new material rather than changing what’s already there.

37. The Purpose of Faculty Review Is to Ensure:
Integration of the COR
Alignment of Outcomes, Objectives, and Content
Clarity of the Catalog Description (for the public): It should be written in full sentences, should be more than one sentence, should not just restate the course title, and give a clear idea of what the course is and offers students.
Appropriateness in terms of the type of course: degree-applicable credit course, nondegree credit course, or noncredit course 
Completeness of the COR
Student Learning Outcomes are correctly presented as a verb phrase, completing the (implied) statement: Upon completion of the course, students will be able to: (For example,), Demonstrate X skills
Objectives are also correctly presented as a verb phrase
Content serves as a guide, allows for academic freedom, and is appropriate with regard to the number of units assigned and desired articulation (Actual content is the purview of the faculty/department.)
Methods of Instruction present at least 2 types
Methods of Evaluation present at least 2 types & 2 examples (Title V requires either types or examples, not both)
Assignments present at least 2 examples of each type included.
Textbooks are identified with at least 1 textbook published within the past 7 years.

38. The Role of Faculty Reviewers Is to:
Guide and coach faculty authors, making suggestions for changes that will help ensure the proposals they’ve submitted will be approved by the Curriculum Committee.
Pay attention to detail, including grammar, spelling, capitalization, and formatting, according to their abilities and inclination. It is not necessary nor expected that the reviewer make edits or catch all errors. Pointing out the need to proofread is sufficient to guide the author.
Direct faculty authors to available resources, as needed.