All permanent courses (undergraduate and graduate) must be submitted electronically through the Course Review and Consultation System (CRCS).

Proposal Development

  1. Discuss the course that you want to propose with your program chairs, program coordinators, school director, and relevant faculty members. If the course is deemed suitable through this initial consultation, the faculty member may elect to offer it as a Special Topics course. Since Special Topics courses can be offered two times before they need to be submitted as permanent offerings, they provide faculty with the flexibility to explore various topics and assess the viability of potential courses. Throughout the University, Special Topics courses (1-9 credits) commonly receive the following course numbers (097/098, 197/198, 297/298, 397/398, 497/498). Course titles and numbers should be requested from the faculty member submitting the proposal. This will provide the Special Topics course with a title that appears on student transcripts. See the One-Semester Titles Request Form, which should be submitted online (the form will automatically be routed to the correct office). Nothing needs to be submitted via CRCS for special topics courses.
  2. If the course will be proposed as a permanent undergraduate or graduate University course, the faculty member will need to use the CRCS system to submit the course. See the Quick Start Guide and various references listed on this web page.
  3. Once the program information has been entered, the Consultation Request screen will appear. This is the point at which you select those who will review the proposal. Be sure to include PSH Curricular Affairs Committee members, who should be prepopulated on the consultation screen. If your program changes will affect other colleges outside of Penn State Harrisburg, please create a consultation group to include the outside consultants. See information about creating a consultation group . Once you have added your consultation information, simply select those that you want to review the proposal and click “Submit Request For Consultation.” By default, the proposal is sent to everyone in the selected group.  At this point, the prospectus from Step 1 should be completed and included; Stephanie Ponnett will upload the file for you. The program proposal cannot progress past this point without the prospectus. 
  4. Once the course information has been entered, the Consultation Request screen will appear. This is the point at which you select those who will review the proposal. There are two types of review:
    • Consultation: You may have to create a consultation group at this step. Once you have your consultation group(s) set up, simply check the box for the group(s) that you want to review the proposal and click “Submit Request For Consultation.” By default, the proposal is sent to everyone in the group. For undergraduate courses, each person in the group is given two weeks to respond. No time limit is imposed for graduate classes.
    • Actual approval process: The “Send to Your College Proposal Administrator” button is only available once everyone in the consultation group has responded (or the two week limit is up) and your proposal has been approved by the Curricular Affairs Committee. Once the approval process has begun, you will not be able to edit your proposal.

To see more information on who should be consulted on proposals, see the Curricular Consultation Statement.

See link below for the long description. Text description of the flowchart