Proposing Changes

What you will need to submit a change to Governance for approval

The first step is to create a change proposal indicating the changes to the Calendar. Your Calendar changes are reviewed by many individuals before finally being implemented. When in doubt contact the University Calendar Editor.

Completing the Governance Submission Package

The above submission formats are meant to indicate the changes you need to make directly to the University Calendar and/or Campus Solutions.
Depending on the type of change, a full submission package may also require one or more of the following:

• additional approval information from faculties, departments, or delegate committees

• a Governance Executive Summary

• other supporting documents (Alberta Education forms, letters of support, reports, case studies, etc.)

Important Note on Faculty Responsibility in Proposing Changes

There are resources to help guide Faculties in their changes, and it is important that you make use of them. According to the Post-Secondary Learning Act the Dean "has general supervision over and direction of the academic work" of the Faculty. By delegation, Faculty academic affairs committees and Faculty officers have an obligation to comply with the GFC policies, and to reject or amend submissions which do not comply with GFC policy. Proposals that do not conform to GFC or UAPPOL policy should not be sent forward with the expectation that GFC, the Office of the Provost or the Office of the Registrar will edit the submissions.

Program Proposals  

Some changes to academic programs require approval beyond U of A Governance by the Ministry of Innovation and Advanced Education (IAE) and Campus Alberta Quality Council (CAQC) and this can add significant time to the approval pathway. If you have any doubts, it is best to ask for guidance from U of A Governance or the Office of the Provost.

Considerations for your change proposals

1. Do not repeat information or deadlines.

   1. • If some of the information you are considering including is already present in another Calendar section, refer to that section with a link (e.g., See English Language Proficiency). This includes deadline information; check, and refer to (if appropriate) the Admission and Readmission Deadlines section or the Academic Schedule. 

      • Duplication of regulations is unnecessary, and can result in inconsistency in the Calendar. Always refer to existing sections when possible.

2. Global Changes - Ensure your comparative table includes all necessary changes to all relevant occurrences of that information within the Calendar.

   1. • Changes to one section of the Calendar could require changes to other sections of the Calendar for consistency (e.g., a change to the name of a Faculty would need to be reflected throughout the entire Calendar). 

      • If the change affects policy, regulations, course or program information in other sections of the Calendar, changes to all affected sections must also go through the governance process (with all Calendar changes demonstrated in your comparative table). 

      • IMPORTANT: if you update one section of the Calendar, that information is not automatically updated in other sections.

3. Course and Program Changes

   1. • A course change in the course listing section does not automatically update that change in your Faculty section or in other Faculty sections that may reference that course.

      • Remember to update your program section with changes that you have made to the course listings section. This does not happen automatically, and both changes need to go through the governance process for approval.

4. Course-Specific Fees

   1. • If your new course description makes reference to a specific fee to be collected for the course [or if you are revising the fee(s) associated with an existing course], you must contact the RO to ensure these fees are vetted first by the Registrar’s Advisory Committee on Fees (RACF). All course-specific fees require the approval of both the GFC Academic Planning Committee (APC) and the Board of Governors. For information see Step Three: Rules by Type of Change, Fees-Golden Rules.

5. Charts

   1. • If you have updated course names and numbers, make sure to check your charts and their notes in the Calendar. Include required changes in your comparative table.

Questions about submitting your proposal?

If you are unsure of which documents you need to submit with your change proposal, or how to submit your change proposal, contact ugovgfc@ualberta.ca for advice.