Curricular

• Plan for course offerings
  • How does Department/Program decide who will teach which courses?
  • What kinds of courses need to be offered?
    • First-year writing seminars
    • Courses that fulfill distribution requirements
    • Courses for major/minor
  • Who teaches required or service courses?
  • Ensure adequate access to courses required for the major/minor
  • Ensure adequate course offerings to enable students to complete the major/minor
  • How will upcoming leaves or retirements affect course offerings?
• Approve new courses and changes to existing courses
  • Chair (or instructor with Chair’s written approval) submits Course Proposal Form to begin Curriculum Implementation Committee (CIC) and Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee (CEP) approval process
  • FAQ about approval process
• Approve cross-listed courses
  • Proposals must be approved by each chair/director and the Registrar
• Obtain distribution designation for a course
  • Course instructors submit webform

Issues to consider:

• How are courses scheduled in your Department/Program?
• How will you ensure fairness among colleagues for desired time slots? Consult with the Dean for Academic Affair’s office for advice on negotiating among or dealing with recalcitrant colleagues.
• How does the Department ensure that college policies with respect to number of special time slots and number of courses per time slot are met?
• How does Department/Program manage course time-conflicts within and between Departments and Programs?
• FAQ about course scheduling

Fall timeline (See Registrar's Calendar for exact deadlines)

• Early to mid-September: review course offerings for upcoming spring
• Late September: receive Course Offering Worksheets link
• Early October: draft spring course schedule
• Mid-October: submit Course Offering Worksheets to Registrar
• Mid-November: separate form sent to faculty for preferred classroom and final exam information 

Spring timeline (See Registrar's Calendar for exact deadlines)

• Early to mid-February: review course offerings for upcoming fall
• Mid-February: receive Course Offering Worksheets link
• Late February: draft spring course schedule
• Mid-March: submit Course Offering Worksheets to Registrar
• Mid-April: separate form sent to faculty for preferred classroom and final exam information

• Review/update statement of student-learning goals for major/minor.
• How do major/minor requirements map onto student-learning goals?
• Coordinate/review/update assessment plan to determine whether and how learning goals are being met.
• Implement changes to major/minor requirements as needed. Changes to major/minor requirements require approval of CIC.
• Do course offerings allow students to meet requirements?
• Review information about numbers of majors and minors (declared and graduated) each year, and numbers and types of double majors sent to you by Institutional Research.
• Keep an eye out for problems and issues.

• Who can pursue honors? Is there an application process? How is this information conveyed to students?
• What is the year-long honors process? What is the role of chair in this process? How is this process conveyed to students?
• What is the policy for awarding honors?

College timeline (See Honors Projects for details and exact timelines) 

December Graduates

• Mid-October Registrar requests names of candidates for Honors
• Late October submit names to Registrar
• Early November library sends Honors thesis guidelines and Honors Titles due to Registrar
• Mid-December student honors theses due at the Library and levels of honors due to Registrar

May Graduates

• Early February Registrar requests names of candidates for Honors
• Mid-February submit names of Registrar
• Early March library sends Honors thesis guidelines
• Early April Honor Titles due to Registrar
• Mid-May student honors theses due at the Library and levels of honors due in Registrar 
• Last May faculty meeting: Chair must attend meeting to read Honors candidates for faculty vote to award honors

• Departments/programs review/update existing policy for IB and AP credit during the annual Bowdoin College Catalogue and Academic Handbook editing process (April-June)

• With whom do students meet to discuss plans? How is this communicated to students?
• Who signs and approves off-campus study preliminary and full applications?
• Who reviews and approves off-campus programs?
• What are the departmental/program policies and practices regarding kind of courses, number of courses, and programs approved for the major?
• Approve requests for transfer of credit for general college credit and for major credit. Remember to consult with colleagues if student wishes to use transferred courses as a prerequisite for another course.

College timeline

• Early November: Preliminary off-campus study application due for first-semester sophomores
• Late February: Full off-campus study application due for second-semester sophomores
• Students submit requests for pre-approval of non-study away transfer credit throughout the year

• Faculty listings (new faculty, promotions for existing faculty, faculty whose appointments have ended)
• Major/minor requirements
• Grade requirements
• IB/AP policy
• Policy for transfer credit and/or independent studies counting to the major or minor
• Minimum grade and Credit/D/Fail policy for courses counting to the major or minor

College Timeline

• April: First drafts are sent to departments by the Office of the Registrar
• April: Departments send their edited versions back to the Office of the Registrar
• May: Final questions and edits are sent to departments by the Office of the Registrar
• June: Page proofs to departments with any possible last minute changes addressed
• July: available

For more information on the Bowdoin College Catalogue and Academic Handbook process, contact Martina Duncan in the Office of the Registrar at mduncan@bowdoin.edu.

• Is there a Department speaker program?
• Who is responsible for inviting, organizing, and coordinating speakers?
• Is there a Department budget line for speakers?
• Is there an honorarium for speakers? Is there a policy about levels of honoraria?
• Consider applying to Lectures and Concerts for funding support for speakers as well as asking other Departments/Programs to be co-sponsors

• Pre-major advising and first-year students
  • Send Karen Topp, Faculty Liaison for Advising update to Tips for Pre-major Advisors
  • Send Karen Topp, Faculty Liaison for Advising update to placement exam or survey (mostly applies to Sciences, Languages, Math and Music)
  • Coordinate course placement recommendation process for first-year students (who’s responsible, who submits course placements, who fields questions, etc.)
  • Coordinate Department/Program representation at any Open Houses during fall Orientation (mostly applies to Languages, Music, and Math)
  • Ensure Department/Program faculty and student representation at Academic Fair during fall Orientation
• Major/minor declaration
  • What is the process for your Department/Program?
    • Who can sign a student’s major declaration form?
    • Do students complete any departmental form? If so, does it need updating on an annual basis? Are there any charts or paths through the major that are provided? Do these need updating? See below for some examples of some forms used by different Departments/Programs:
      1. Computer Science
      2. Earth and Oceanographic Science
      3. History—see course planning forms
      4. Visual Arts—see checksheet
  • What type of information is provided to majors/minors to aid in their navigation of your curriculum? Does this need updating on annual basis? Some examples for a variety of Departments/Programs are below
    
    • Art History
    • Computer Science
    • Earth and Oceanographic Science
    • Economics
    • German
    • Neuroscience
    • Visual Arts
    • Some important deadlines regarding major declaration (and Off-Campus Study)
      1. Early November: Preliminary off-campus study application due for first-semester sophomores
      2. Early March: Second-Semester Sophomores: Deadline to declare majors/minors
      3. Late February: Full off-campus study application due for second-semester sophomores
    • Some important deadlines regarding graduating seniors (See Registrar's Calendar for exact deadlines)
      1. Early August: Major/Minor Certification Lists for December completers mailed to departments by Registrar
      2. Mid-August: Major/Minor Certification Lists for December completers due to Registrar.
      3. Early December: Deadline for Seniors to declare a new major or minor.
      4. Early January: Major/Minor certification lists for May graduates mailed to departments.
      5. Late January, Thursday: Major/Minor certification lists due from departments for students graduating in May to Registrar.
    • Coordinate student advising
      1. What are the roles and responsibilities for majors and faculty about major advising partnerships? How is this conveyed to student and advisors?
      2. How do you ensure that all faculty are well-informed about the policies, practices, and requirements of the major/minor?
      3. Are majors assigned to an advisor?
      4. If so, what is the process and how is the process conveyed to majors? Can they change advisors? What is the process for changing?
      5. If not, who can sign a student’s card?
      6. Who receives comment cards for majors? If received by the Coordinator or Chair, does (s)he forward them to anyone else? Who follows-up with students who receive comment cards?

• Early Fall: Welcome back returning major/minors
• Information meeting for sophomores interested in learning about the major, honors, study away, and so on
• Informational meeting for majors about careers in the major, internship opportunities, graduate school, and so on

• Are there any prizes? Are there monetary prizes?
• How are they awarded?
• Are they awarded at Honors Day?
• The deadline for submitting student names for participation in Honors day and including prizes in commencement program is mid-April. These events are run by the Office of Events and Summer Programs.