Undergraduate Curriculum Management
Academic units develop new courses and programs; they also propose modifications and deletions to courses and programs. The academic unit then submits the curriculum item to the appropriate approval committees. Once the committees approve the change, the curriculum item is operational in the Student Information Management System (SIMS), the Academic Calendar and the Academic Progress Report (APR) per the approved effective date.
Because the approval process involves lots of forms and adherence to the established guidelines, Senate and Academic Services (SAS) developed this site to provide access to forms, templates, guidelines, deadlines and resources. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Kris Nordgren (kdn1@sfu.ca), Assistant Registrar, for consultation at any time throughout the development and approval process.
A curriculum item relating to a course or program has to be approved by the following committees before it can be implemented in the Student Management Information System (SIMS), the Academic Calendar, and the Academic Progress Report (APR) per the approved effective date on the Senate paper.
Please review the courses and program tabs on this site for more detailed steps within the process outlined below.
Courses: New/Modify/ Delete/ Temporarily withdraw |
New Programs | Program Changes | Program Suspension | Program Termination | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Step 1 Notice of Intent (NOI) |
Step 2 Full Program Proposal (FPP) |
|||||
1 | Academic Unit | Academic Unit | Academic Unit | Academic Unit | Academic Unit | Academic Unit |
2 | UCC | UCC | UCC | UCC | UCC | UCC |
3 | SCUS | SCUS | SCUS | SCUS | SCUS | SCUS |
4 | Senate (for info) |
SCUP | SCUP | Senate (for info) |
SCUP | SCUP |
5 | SIMS and Academic Calendar | Senate | SIMS, Academic Calendar, Academic Progress Report |
Senate (for info) |
Senate | |
6 | BOG | Academic Calendar | BOG | |||
7 | AVED | Academic Calendar | ||||
SIMS, Academic Calendar, Academic Progress Report |
- APR- Academic Progress Report
- AVED- Ministry of Advanced Education
- BOG- Board of Governors
- FPP- Full Program Proposal
- NOI- Notice of Intent
- SCUP- Senate Committee on University Priorities
- SCUS- Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies
- SIMS- Student Information Management System
- UCC- Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
Last updated: August 9, 2022
SCUS Material Deadline | SCUS Meeting | Senate Meeting | Effective Date* |
---|---|---|---|
November 10, 2022 | December 1, 2022 | January 9, 2023 | Fall 2023 |
December 9, 2022 | January 5, 2023 | February 6, 2023 |
|
January 13, 2023 | February 2, 2023 | March 6, 2023 | |
February 10, 2023 | March 2, 2023 | April 3, 2023 |
|
March 17, 2023 | April 6, 2023 | May 15, 2023 |
Spring 2024** |
April 14, 2023 | May 4, 2023 | June 5, 2023 |
|
May 12, 2023 | June 1, 2023 | July 10, 2023 |
|
June 16, 2023 | July 6, 2023 | September 11, 2023*** |
Summer 2024** |
July 14, 2023 | August 3, 2023 | September 11, 2023*** |
|
August 25, 2023 | September 14, 2023 | October 2, 2023 |
|
September 22, 2023 | October 12, 2023 | November 6, 2023 |
|
October 13, 2023 | November 2, 2023 | December 4, 2023 |
|
November 17, 2023 |
December 7, 2023 | January 8, 2024 |
Fall 2024 |
*The effective date indicates when the curriculum change is operational in SIMS, Academic Calendar and the Academic Progress Report.
**In April 2022, SCUS approved a change in process:
- Fall Calendar: only major program modifications and policy changes will be permitted.
- Spring and Summer Calendars: minor modifications and urgent policy changes that will have a positive effect on students are permitted.
***No Senate meeting in August.
Last updated: August 9, 2022
SCUS Material Deadline | SCUS Meeting | SCUP Meeting | Senate Meeting | Effective Date* |
---|---|---|---|---|
October 14, 2022 | November 3, 2022 | November 16 or December 7, 2022 | December 5, 2022 or January 9, 2023 | Summer 2023 or Fall 2023 |
November 10, 2022 | December 1, 2022 | January 25, 2023 | March 6, 2023 | Fall 2023 |
December 9, 2022 | January 5, 2023 | January 25, 2023 | March 6, 2023 | |
January 13, 2023 | February 2, 2023 | February 22, 2023 | April 3, 2023 | |
February 10, 2023 | March 2, 2023 | March 22, 2023 | May 15, 2023 | Spring 2024 |
March 17, 2023 | April 6, 2023 | May 10, 2023 | June 5, 2023 | |
April 14, 2023 | May 4, 2023 | June 14, 2023 | July 10, 2023 | |
May 12, 2023 | June 1, 2023 | June 14, 2023 | July 10, 2023 | |
June 16, 2023 | July 6, 2023 | September 13, 2023 | October 2, 2023 | Summer 2024 |
July 14, 2023 | August 3, 2023 | September 13, 2023 | October 2, 2023 | |
August 25, 2023 | September 14, 2023 | October 11, 2023 | Novermber 6, 2023 | |
September 22, 2023 | October 12, 2023 | October 25, 2023 | December 4, 2023 | |
October 13, 2023 | November 2, 2023 | December 6, 2023 | January 8, 2024 |
Fall 2024 |
*The effective date indicates when the curriculum change is operational in SIMS, Academic Calendar and the Academic Progress Report.
The Curriculum Workshop provides an overview of the curriculum process. It is offered once every term by Senate & Academic Services and the Graduate Studies office. The workshops are generally offered in February, May, and September of each year.
Next Workshop
October 24, 2022
Location: Zoom conference
Time: 10:00am-11:30am
Contact
For more information on the curriculum workshop, or to RSVP, please contact Rosa Balletta (rballett@sfu.ca).
Workshop Materials
Documents approved by Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies (SCUS) must be accurate because errors could potentially cause academic harm to students. The document process guideline lists the principles SCUS abides by to avoid errors.
Below is a list of terms most commonly used on this website and when talking about the undergraduate curriculum process.
- APR – Academic Progress Report
- AEM – Content management system
- BOG – Board of Governors
- Curricunet – Curriculum Management System
- Docushare – on-line repository of all Senate documents since 1965
- DQAB – Degree Quality Assessment Board
- FPP – Full Program Proposal
- NOI – Notice of Intent
- SGSC – Senate Graduate Studies Committee
- SCUP – Senate Committee on University Priorities
- SCUS – Senate Committee on Undergraduate Studies
- SIMS – Student Information Management System
- WQB – Writing, Quantitative, Breadth Requirements
Effective date
- Coincides with the beginning of a term i.e. May 01, September 01, January 01.
- Indicates when the curriculum change, new course or new program is operational.
- Drives information in the curriculum management system, the calendar and academic progress reports.
- Realistic effective dates (one year for courses and program changes; 2 years for a new programs).
- Use the proper forms, follow format.
- Consult with the Senate and Academic Services office throughout the process if you have questions.
- Carefully fill out all required information on forms and templates and make your changes obvious.
- Have at least two people read through the documents looking for errors before submission.
- Include your advisors in the conversation.
Once the curriculum change has been approved, it will appear in the Academic Calendar per the approved effective date. The Academic Calendar is published two weeks before enrollment begins for that term. A month before the Calendar is published, Senate and Academic Services (SAS) sends approved editors in each academic unit a draft Calendar to review. Senate document S.10-143 provides publication and revision guidelines for the official SFU Calendar.
Senate Meeting | Academic Calendar/SIMS | Effective Date | Calendar Publish Date | Calendar Review Date ** |
---|---|---|---|---|
January-April | Fall | September 1st | Mid-June | Mid-May |
May-July* | Spring | January 1st | Mid-October | Mid-September |
September-December | Summer | May 1st | Mid-February | Mid-January |
*No Senate meeting in August
**Senate and Academic Services provides approximately 2 weeks for academic units to review the draft Calendar and submit any corrections.
The dates listed below are approximate times of when the Senate and Academic Services (SAS) office expects to conduct the Academic Calendar review process. SAS staff will email the “calendar-front” and the "calendar-subeditors” mail-list with the confirmed revision dates at least a week in advance of the review period. Academic units have approximately 2 weeks to review the draft Calendar and submit any corrections.
Summer 2023 | |
Last Senate Meeting | December 5, 2022 |
Send to Departments for Review | January 16, 2023 |
Deadline for Departmental Review | January 30, 2023 |
Calendar Published Latest | February 17, 2023 |
Enrollment Begins | March 6, 2023 |
First Day of Classes | May 8, 2023 |
Fall 2023 | |
Last Senate Meeting | April 3, 2023 |
Send to Departments for Review | May 19, 2023 |
Deadline for Departmental Review | June 5, 2023 |
Calendar Published Latest | June 23, 2023 |
Enrollment Begins | July 10, 2023 |
First Day of Classes | September 6, 2023 |
Spring 2024 | |
Last Senate Meeting | July 10, 2023 |
Send to Departments for Review | September 18, 2023 |
Deadline for Departmental Review | October 2, 2023 |
Calendar Published Latest | October 20, 2023 |
Enrollment Begins | November 6, 2023 |
First Day of Classes | January 3, 2024 |
Summer 2024 | |
Last Senate Meeting | December 4, 2023 |
Send to Departments for Review | January 15, 2024 |
Deadline for Departmental Review | January 29, 2024 |
Calendar Published Latest | February 16, 2024 |
Enrollment Begins | March 4, 2024 |
First Day of Classes | May 6, 2024 |