All new graduate courses must be reviewed and approved by the Graduate Division and then OVPAE before they can be offered. Graduate faculty are advised to become familiar with graduate course policies, before proposing new courses. Proposals that fail to adhere to course policies or to follow the guidelines listed below will not be reviewed.

If the proposed new course will affect program requirements (e.g., course will be required, added to list of electives, etc.), a Program Modification memo with required documents will be required with the UHM-1 form.

Proposal Deadline

All course proposals (original UHM-1 or 2 form and required supporting documents) must be submitted to UHM Course Actions (uhmcrse@hawaii.edu) by the posted Fall (October 15) or Spring (March 15) deadlines, to ensure timely review and potential inclusion of the courses in the Schedule of Classes and the UHM catalog. Any review by a college/school curriculum committee must be done prior to the forms being submitted.

Proposal Guidelines

A new course proposal consists of a completed UHM-1 form, a reasonably detailed syllabus reflective of the proposed effective term and written responses to numbers 1-5 below (i.e., UHM-1 form Justification section). Refer to the Submitting Guidelines for UHM Forms for instructions on completing the UHM-1 form.  Clear, informative, and, concise responses to each of the questions below greatly help in the review process. Failure to adequately address any of the questions may delay course approval. Extra attention should be paid to questions #4 and #5. Syllabi should include all the appropriate components including course objectives, texts, schedule (any included dates should be reflective of the term in which the course, if approved, is to be offered), assignments, grading methods, and resources (e.g., Title IX, KŌKUA, Judicial Affairs, Public Safety, etc.). See the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Excellence Course Actions page for a template.

For the UHM-1 form Justification section, clearly address all of the following on an attachment:

  1. What are the expected learning objectives?
    • What are the students expected to know before enrolling in the course?
    • What are the students expected to learn in the course?
    • How are students expected to learn the course materials?
    • How will the students be evaluated? and
    • How will the success of the course in achieving the learning objectives be assessed?
    • Which advanced degree institutional learning objectives are targeted by this course, if any?
  2. Justify the number of credits and the level of the course. (Generally, 600 and 700 level courses have explicit prerequisites. If there are no prerequisites, justification must be provided. 700 level courses deal with more advanced material than 600 level courses.)
  3. What are the general qualifications for teaching this course? How many potential instructors are there to teach this course?
  4. Where does the course fit in the present graduate program? Will the course be consistent with the graduate program? If approved, which current course will the new course replace? If there will be no replacement, explain what impact the new course will have on faculty workloads and offerings. If this course is to become a new required course for the program, a program modification action memo and related documents should also be submitted.
  5. Will the new course affect other degree program(s)? If so, indicate the program(s) that will be directly or potentially affected. Obtain written releases from these programs and submit with the proposal.

Helpful Course-Related Links

Proposal Review Process

All new graduate courses must be reviewed and approved before they can be offered. The following outlines the review process:

  1. Proposed by graduate faculty
  2. Review and endorsement by department
  3. Review and endorsement by department chair(s) (Department chair may delegate this task to the graduate chair.)
  4. Review and endorsement by college committee(s)
  5. Review and endorsement by dean(s)
  6. Review and endorsement by the Graduate Council
  7. Review and endorsement by Graduate Dean
  8. Review and endorsement by Vice Provost for Academic Excellence

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