Vice President's Advisory Committee (VPAC)
Course Review Process
University Course Policies & Practices
Meeting Schedule & Publication Deadlines
University of Maryland Course Review Process
through the Vice President's Advisory Committee (VPAC)
The VPAC course review process is a combination online-paper process. Proposals for adding, changing, or deleting courses are entered online into a database used for storing proposal data and managing the proposals. When the data entry is complete, the departmental user prints out a hard copy of the VPAC data form, which is then used to collect approval signatures as the course proposal works its way through the approval process.
To submit a course for review, please choose the appropriate action from the list below. We recommend that you open a second browser window to complete the form, so that you can easily refer to the University Course Policies and Practices page should you need it. Incomplete proposals can be submitted and edited later. When you submit the proposal, you will be presented with the VPAC form on a new screen, and the VPAC Log Number will appear in the upper right corner. IMPORTANT: Please make a note of this number so that you can edit the proposal later if necessary. Required fields are designated with an asterisk. Once all the required fields have been completed and the proposal submitted, print the proposal.
- ADD a course (including assigning a permanent course number to a special topics course)
- CHANGE a course
- DELETE a course
- EDIT a an active proposal
The printed course form should be submitted for review according to the approval route below. New courses must be accompanied by a syllabus; changes and deletions need only the form. Syllabi must conform to the Guidelines for Syllabi or the course will not be approved.
The VPAC course review process can be fairly quick and proposals are often completed within 6-8 weeks. Proposals normally originate in an academic department and require the following approvals:
- Review and approval by the Department Committee for Programs, Curricula and Courses (Department PCC)
- Review and approval by Department Chair
- Review and approval by the College/School Committee for Programs, Curricula and Courses (College PCC)
- Review and approval by the Dean (or the dean's delegate, who in most cases is also the college's VPAC Representative.)
- Initial review by the Provost's Representative for compliance with campus policies.
- Review by VPAC representatives, who identify any areas of concern.
- Final review and approval by the Provost's Representative. The proposal is then forwarded to the Office of the Registrar for implementation.
Please address questions to your VPAC Representative or to Claudia Rector, Director of Academic Program Development, at 301-405-5626.
Office of the Associate Provost for Academic Planning & Programs
Questions or problems with this page? email Claudia Rector at crector@umd.edu
