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Policies and Procedures for Academic Degree Program ApprovalThe policies and procedures for program approval are established by the State
Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) as part of its effort "to
promote the development and operation of an educationally and economically
sound, vigorous, progressive, and coordinated system of higher education in
the state of Virginia" (Code of Virginia). These policies and procedures
are intended to provide a systematic process for planning and initiating new
academic programs. Details regarding program proposals and procedures for review are contained
in the Curriculum Development and Change Policies and Procedures Manual which
is available on the university's web site at web.odu.edu/AO/affairs/curriculumdevelopment.htm
or from the vice provost.
College and Department Curricular RecommendationsIn order that appropriate faculty consideration be given to the instructional
program, curricular matters that are to be considered at the university level,
for example degree program proposals or recommendations concerning courses
to meet university general education requirements, should be examined at the
department and college levels by appropriate faculty groups and recommendations
of these groups forwarded with the proposal for consideration by the Faculty
Senate or the central administration. At Old Dominion University, a certificate means "a document showing
completion of a course of study not leading to a diploma but having specific
requirements which must be attained by the recipient." - Specifically, certificates of the following kinds will be awarded:
Certificate of Continuing Education in (field of study) issued upon
completion of a coherent sequence of courses, either credit or noncredit
or both, designed to provide a continuing education experience to a group
of people, usually in a specific profession or vocation. Requirements
for and approval of the award of the certificate of continuing education
are the responsibility of the dean or deans of the academic colleges
involved. (Credit work involved in the program must of course have the
approval of the academic college.) Certificate in (field of study) issued upon completion of a coherent
sequence of courses and representing at least nine credit hours of content
with a satisfactory grade point average (2.00 at the undergraduate level
or 3.00 at the graduate level). Prior approval for the establishment
of any such certificate program must be given by the Office of the Provost
and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Approval of New Courses, Course Changes, and Curricular ChangesAll requests for new courses or course changes must be submitted on the proper
form to the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs after
review by the appropriate department and college committee and approval by the
department chair and dean. Changes in courses or deactivation of courses which
are offered as service courses for majors in other departments must be discussed
with the chairs of such departments prior to approval of the change or deactivation. Proposals to add, change, or deactivate courses included in General Education Requirements must be submitted to the Faculty Senate and Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. All such proposals related to General Education are conditional on review by the Faculty Senate and approval by the Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Requests for changes in existing courses to become effective for the next academic year must be submitted before October 1 [1], while requests for new courses
may be submitted during the fall and spring semesters. Courses not offered for
five years will be deactivated by the Office of Academic Affairs. Deans will
be informed of these deactivations. As a general policy, curricular changes will neither be effective nor implemented
without the approval of the provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Examples of curricular changes include minors, creation or deletion of emphasis
areas, policies or changes that go beyond the university minimum, or substantial
revisions in curriculum. Approval of the provost and vice president for academic
affairs will not be provided without recommendations at the appropriate departmental
and college levels, which includes department chairs, departmental and college
governance committees related to curriculum, and the dean of the academic college.
In addition, any proposed changes in curriculum that rely upon the resources
of another college or department will require consultation and agreement by
the providing unit prior to approval by the Office of Academic Affairs. All curricular changes will be fully documented and indicate all approvals.
At a minimum, this documentation will include a full description of the change,
rationale, and implementation process, which will include a plan for notification
of students and a timetable. Changes will be effective with the publication
of the next catalog. Changes shall not normally be applied to students graduating
under earlier catalogs. No changes will be accepted during the catalog preparation period. The deadline
for the submission of any curricular changes that are intended to be effective
the beginning of the following academic year shall be October 1.
Policy On Accelerated CoursesThis policy is based upon the following general principles: Accelerated courses should be clearly the academic equivalent of courses
taken on the normal semester schedule. In lecture courses, normally approximately two hours of preparation, research,
or writing time outside of class is required for each one hour of class time;
in laboratory courses the outside time may be less, but the in-class time
is greater, usually twice as many contact hours as would be expected in a
lecture course. A university serving an urban area and a variety of adult, in-service,
and military personnel must provide flexible methods for the delivery of
instruction and cannot be limited to the traditional semester format. Development
of nontraditional methods of instruction is encouraged.
On these three principles, the following policy is based:
In general, no more than one semester credit can be earned in a week of
instruction if the entire work of the class is contained in that week. This
assumes approximately 11 to 12 hours of classroom instruction per week and
22 to 24 hours of out-of-class preparation. (In laboratory classes, studio
classes, workshops, etc., the proportion may vary, but approximately 33 hours
of work by the average student is assumed.) Under unusual circumstances, and only upon the approval of the dean of
the college offering credit for the course, up to two hours of credit may
be offered in a single week. The dean should be assured by clear evidence
that (1) the course is of a highly intensive nature and the students admitted
to the course are carefully picked for ability to handle such an intensive
program, or (2) the course required graded work done prior to or subsequent
to the week of classroom instruction so that the total amount of work required
for the course is the clear equivalent of the same number of semester hours
during a regular session. If any request is submitted for offering a course at a rate of more than
two hours of credit per week of class sessions, prior approval of the vice
provost is required. Normally such approval will only be given upon clear
evidence that substantial work is required of the student outside of the
week of classroom instruction and that the course is clearly equivalent to
similar courses offered in the regular session. In cases of dispute, for example between the department and the dean or
the dean and the vice provost, appeal may be made to the provost and vice
president for academic affairs. The decision of the provost and vice president
for academic affairs is final.
Bookstore Policy and ProceduresAll texts and other books and materials required for classroom use in any
college or academic division of the university will be ordered only through
the Old Dominion University Bookstore. - The following textbook ordering procedure will be followed:
The Old Dominion University Bookstore will provide appropriate forms
for book adoptions to department chairs. The chairs will obtain information
on textbooks and materials to be adopted from the faculty. All books
and materials must be specified on the designated form and returned to
the University Bookstore by the stated deadline. The forms must be completed giving information relative to estimated
enrollments, author and title of book, publisher, edition and date of
publication, department name, course number, section number, book class
use status, instructor, whether it is anticipated the text will be adopted
in subsequent semesters, whether hardback or softback, and ISBN number,
if available. If there is to be no text adoption, this should be indicated
and the form returned by the designated date. All book adoption forms must be sent by the faculty to their department
chairs for their signature and forwarding to the Old Dominion University
Bookstore. - Desired deadline for adoption information varies by session:
Fall Semester - Two weeks prior to spring semester exam week
Spring Semester - Twelve weeks prior to the beginning of the spring semester
Summer Semester - Seven weeks prior to the beginning of the first summer
session
Responsibility for enforcement of these procedures shall rest with the
department chair and the dean. The manager of the bookstore will inform the
dean of difficulties encountered with individual departmental orders. Required books and materials shall be given first priority in both space
and funds. The director of university stores shall order, as space and funds
permit, a reasonable number of books or other materials which faculty wish
to recommend for their classes but are not required. In order to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), one copy
of all textbook orders should be submitted to the bookstore manager to be
forwarded to the assistant vice president for auxiliary services.
Textbook Adoption GuidelinesBecause of the increasing cost of textbooks, faculty members making textbook
choices are encouraged to consider, where academically feasible, the initial
cost of textbooks and possible savings to the students. Therefore: Careful consideration should be given in the initial adoption of textbooks.
It is recommended that texts for 100, 200, and 300 level courses, which are
generally introductory in nature, be used for two years. Any changes during
those two years should go through the department chair. When edition or revision changes initiate text-change decisions, it is
recommended that departmental faculty consult with the bookstore manager
about the possibility of continuing with the old edition if the new edition
does not offer substantive changes. It is recommended that a common textbook or set of textbooks be adopted
for multiple-section courses whenever possible. Supplementary texts or reading materials should not be required unless
they are used significantly in the course. Materials can be reserved in the
library if small amounts of supplementary readings are required. Except in unusual circumstances, textbooks used in sequential courses should
not be changed after the first semester.
Resale of Sample Textbooks and MaterialsIn compliance with section 23-4.3.1 of the Code of Virginia, an employee of Old Dominion University may receive sample textbook copies, instructor's copies or instructional material but these textbooks and materials are not to be sold. |
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