Policies

The Stanly Community College (SCC) Board of Trustees has ultimate and final authority over the addition, deletion, and inception of all curriculum programs.  In carrying out that responsibility, the Board of Trustees invites the faculty to be actively engaged in the process.  Curriculum change and development at SCC is a faculty driven process and is carried out through collaboration among program faculty, Faculty Senate, and administration.  College faculty and Program Heads may find it appropriate to add programs of study, add courses, or make other changes to existing programs of study, all of which require curricular review and approval at the institution.  The SCC Faculty Senate has the responsibility for first level approval of all curricular review.  

The following procedures will constitute the flow of events and protocol for entering into the curriculum review process at the institution. While the curriculum review protocol is under the domain of college policy and procedure, the Faculty Senate’s guidelines are incorporated here for a complete description of the process. Likewise, the Faculty Senate assumes a participatory role and responsibility in the administration of the approval process on behalf of the College.

1. The following alterations to curriculum offerings will warrant curriculum review:
   1. Addition or deletion of a program of study
   2. Addition or deletion of courses to an existing program of study
   3. Addition or deletion of a credential offering to an existing program of study
   4. A change in course sequence
   5. Modification of elective offerings
   6. Modification of course pre- or co-requisites
   7. Modification of programs of study as a result of state system changes
   8. Addition or removal of a fourth sentence to the course description
   9. Change in mode of delivery that causes a Substantive Change for SACSCOC
2. The process for proposed changes are:
   1. Department/Program Head discusses proposed change with the Dean and Associate Vice President and gains initial approval to proceed.
   2. Department/Program Head will start the process with the Coordinator, Instruction who will facilitate and track the requested change as it moves through the flow of approvals.
   3. Department/Program Head will fill out the required forms and supply any needed supplemental documents.
3. The Proposed change is presented to the SACSCOC Liaison and the Dean, Learning Resources & Grant Management for signatures.
4. The Proposed change is presented to the Faculty Senate for review and approval.
5. Upon Faculty Senate approval, the change advances to ICore for review and approval.
6. If approved by ICore, the Vice President of Student Success or the Vice President of Academic Affairs will advance the change to the Executive Leadership Team for approval. The Executive Leadership Team will advance the change to the Board of Trustees for review or approval as needed.
7. The Board of Trustees will approve any new programs or program deletions.
8. At any point in the process, if the proposed change is not approved, feedback will be sent to the originating Department/Program Head.
9. During the tracking of all levels of local approval, the Coordinator, Instruction will submit the program of study change to the North Carolina Community College System Office for approval.
10. Once all approvals are received and the curriculum change is complete, the Coordinator, Instruction will inform the Department/Program Head and Associate Vice President of the approval. The Coordinator, Instruction will then make any necessary changes in the catalog for the intended academic year.
11. The timeline for completing curriculum review is dictated by submittal deadlines for the catalog and the North Carolina Community College System. The Coordinator, Instruction will announce deadlines annually. The goal will be to minimize changes to the catalog within an academic year.

Revisions: 12/10/2014, 12/13/2021 (procedures)

References: SACSCOC Standard 10.4, Academic governance.