Faculty & staff resources

New Course

  1. Create a digitally accessible syllabus that fulfills LAS Course Syllabi Requirements
    1. Checklist for LAS Course Syllabi
    2. Office of the Provost resources
      1. Course Syllabus Resources
      2. All course sponsors are highly encouraged to use the Syllabus Template or follow a very similar format including headers and language to make the information easy and clear for both students taking the course and reviewers to locate during governance.
      3. Guidelines for New or Revised Courses
    3. Graduate College resources
      1. Developing graduate programs and courses
      2. Syllabi requirements
      3. Guidelines for participation/discussion grades for graduate courses
    4. Follow the course credit guidelines
    5. LAS Online policies & guidelines
    6. Digital Accessibility resources
      1. Document Accessibility Guides
      2. Navigating Digital Accessibility at Illinois
  2. Propose a course in the Course Inventory Management Courses (CIM-C) system 
    Upon submission, CIM-C will route the request to the necessary departmental approvals.
    1. Guidelines to assist in completing new course CIM-C online form
    2. Please submit your syllabus to CIM-C as a .doc file
  3. LAS Courses and Curriculum Committee will review your proposal and syllabus
    Feedback will be provided to the sponsor, and you will work with the Courses and Curricula Office to improve your submission. Once approved, your proposal will continue in the workflow for review and approvals.
  4. You will receive notification through Courseleaf once your course is approved and in the Academic Catalog, Courses of Instruction.

Revision to Existing Course

  1. Create a digitally accessible syllabus that fulfills LAS Course Syllabi Requirements
    1. Office of the Provost resources
      1. Course Syllabus Resources
      2. Guidelines for New or Revised Courses
    2. Graduate College resources
      1. Developing graduate programs and courses
      2. Syllabi requirements
      3. Guidelines for participation/discussion grades for graduate courses
    3. Follow the course credit guidelines
  2. Submit your requested change(s) and justification for the change(s) to the approved CIM user within your unit
    This information is entered into the CIM module by choosing "Edit Course" and addressing all questions.
    1. Guidelines to assist in completing revised course CIM-C online form
  3. Note: for a course to be successfully revised, content and student learning outcomes should not be changing.  If they are, the course should be deactivated and a new course should be proposed.  Please reach out to LAS Courses, Curricula, and Academic Policy should you have questions or need assistance with your revision.

Deactivation of a Course 

When a course is no longer useful, the department should take the initiative to have it deactivated. 

  1. Log into the Course Inventory Management (CIM-C) system
  2. Type the course rubric and number of the course and search for the course
  3. Review the CIM Ecosystem and notify the CIM Users in the Department Head Role for programs that reference the course, as they may be impacted by this deactivation. The CIM Ecosystem is the section above the General Information in CIM-C, which shows the catalog pages and programs that reference the course. While not required to use, we have provided a Letter of Acknowledgement template to use if needed
  4. Click the red Deactivate button on the left side
  5. Respond accordingly to the small set of questions
  6. Click the green Save & Submit button to start the workflow approval process.
    1. Once the Save & Submit button is clicked, CIM-C will route the deactivation request through the necessary departmental, college, and campus level workflow for review and approvals.

Deactivated courses can be offered again by reactivating the course:

  1. Reactivation of a course is moving a deactivated course into active status within CIM-C such that a sponsor can offer the course again. To reactivate a course, contact the Office of the Registrar.
  2. Once the Office of the Registrar locates the course, the sponsoring unit will need to move the course through CIM-C workflow as a course revision. Since it will not be obvious to a reviewer that it is a reactivation, sponsors should indicate in the justification that it is a reactivation, what term it was deactivated, and why it is now being reactivated.
  3. Additionally, a syllabus must be included. Unlike re-using a course number, there is no time limit from when a course was deactivated and when it can be reactivated.

Student Learning Outcomes Resources

Course learning outcomes describe what a student should know and/or be able to do by the end of  a course. Learning outcomes complete the phrase “by the end of this course students will be able to….” 

Learning outcomes should:

  • Start with an action verb that specifies the depth of the learning expected (e.g. identify, explain, apply, analyze, evaluate, create). Learning outcomes should describe competencies (knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors) a student should be able to demonstrate upon completion of the course.
  • Be observable and measurable. Learning outcomes should rely on verbs that specify definite, observable behaviors that are attainable. Verbs like appreciate, understand, know, learn, demonstrate, become aware of, become familiar with are hard to measure (e.g. what does appreciation look like? How would you know that students have become aware of something?).
  • Be concise, direct, and realistic. Learning outcomes should describe what students “learn” rather than course outputs. Learning outcomes should focus on what students will be able to do and not on what instructors will do or “cover”.

For more resources on writing course learning outcomes see:

For questions and help with learning outcomes in the College of LAS, please consult with LAS Courses, Curricula, and Academic Policy.

Additional Resources