Courses

Service Courses 

Services courses are defined by GFC as basic courses applicable to other disciplines and should be taught by the Department charged with responsibility for the basic discipline (GFC 26 MAY 1975). Changes to service courses offered by one Faculty to another, including proposals to discontinue them, require Faculty-to-Faculty consultation and review by the Program Support Team before GFC Programs Committee approval.

Course Flexibility Principle

Flexibility of course programming at the undergraduate level is the first step to interdisciplinary studies and restrictive regulations should be relaxed where possible in order to enable students to choose more freely from the course offerings of various Faculties.

Course Renaming and Numbering

Course renaming or renumbering should not be a normal occurrence. There are a number of reasons for limiting course renaming or renumbering:

• • • Widespread confusion is created for students within the University and at other institutions.

    • Program planning and registration become particularly difficult as students try to track courses that have changed numbers and perhaps levels, or courses that have entirely different names and descriptions. 

    • Students may have to register in a course with the same number twice because renumbering has attached different content to a required course. 

    • Students may inadvertently take two courses with different numbers and names but the same content, and cannot get credit for both. 

    • Student advisors, other departments, other Faculties, administrative staff and staff from transfer institutions also have to find their way through the maze.

    • Additional maintenance is required in the course listing, program area, and course restrictions with the implementation of pre- and corequisite checking.

Although helpful notes may be attached to course descriptions to indicate renumbering or renaming, this often does little to alleviate confusion because the change is very difficult to track. The situation becomes particularly problematic when the courses that are renumbered or renamed are ones that are taken by students in a variety of programs or in a variety of Faculties. Dozens of entries in the Calendar and other documents may need to be changed to accommodate a change of one digit. Last minute changes are particularly difficult to accommodate because of the amount of cross checking and adjustment that must be made.

In general, course renumbering and renaming should occur only when there are strong academic reasons for doing so. Such reasons would include restructuring/amalgamation that changes a department’s ability to offer the same configuration of courses as before or complete revisions to the content and structure of a Faculty’s courses and programs.

Specific aspects of renaming and renumbering  include:

• • • Reusing numbers - Course numbers deleted cannot be reused for at least five years (10 years are preferred).

    • Renumbering at the same level - Courses should not be renumbered at the same level (e.g., one 200-level number to another 200-level number)—renumbering at the same level can only be done for strong academic reasons and requires, finally, the approval of the GFC Executive Committee.

    • Renumbering to a new level - If a course is to be moved to a different level (e.g., 200-level to 300-level) this should be done by deleting the old course and proposing a new one, not by renumbering.

    • Changing or adding course names or abbreviations (e.g., rename a group of courses from ‘English’ to ‘Literature’, adding a new subject name of ‘LIT’, or renaming the abbreviation from ENGL to ENGH, etc.) can only be done for strong academic reasons; this requires the approval of the GFC Programs Committee.

    • Subject Names - Course subject names (e.g., ‘English’ or ‘Biology’) should designate broad areas of study, often across an entire department. It is not appropriate to choose different names for specializations within a broad discipline (e.g., ‘Literature’, ‘Composition’, ‘Literary Analysis’, etc.).

    • Number Levels - The Calendar gives general guidelines as to the meaning of course number levels (100-level, 200-level, etc.) at the University of Alberta; it should be consulted for guidance.

    • Course Titles - Departments are advised that course titles be brief and general. If the course really has changed, delete the old one and add a new one with a new number and revised title. The course title field is limited in length and it can become too difficult to abbreviate long course titles.

Additional Tips

Course Additions/Deletions

Ensure that when courses are added or deleted, all pre/corequisites and program requirements are reviewed for any changes that are required as a result of the change. Other Faculty submissions should be reviewed for impacts on your own courses and program requirements.

Identification of Changes

Remember to check your Charts and Program descriptions in the Calendar to see if they require updates as a result of your course changes. Be sure to include all required fields in your submission (e.g. hours of instruction, course duration and weight).

Course Renumbering

If a course is renumbered, a note should be added to the course description indicating that students will not receive credit if they have taken the former course. 

Limits for Course Descriptions

There is no word or character limit for course descriptions in either Acalog or Campus Solutions.  

However, best practice for course descriptions is to keep them concise, so that they only include broad information about the course content.   Additional descriptive elements can be put into the course syllabus.

Reserve List and Delete List

Every year, the RO reviews courses that have not been offered for a number of years. Courses that have not been offered for four years are removed from the Calendar and placed on the unpublished Reserve Course list. Courses on reserve may be scheduled and taught at any time. As well, Faculties may request that courses be placed on the Reserve list at their own discretion, or that a course on the Reserve list be deleted or placed back in the Calendar.

Courses that have not been taught for six years will be circulated (through the GFC mandated process) by the RO for deletion. If there are courses on this list that should not be deleted, a notice must be sent to the Assistant Registrar, Examinations & Timetabling and Calendar Production Specialist. It should be stated whether the course is to be placed back in the Calendar or on the unpublished Reserve Course list. Once a course has been deleted, it cannot be scheduled or taught. If it is to be reinstated, it must go through the normal circulation process.

Please review these lists carefully when they are circulated in the February – April period. If changes are required, specify whether the courses are to be placed back in the Calendar or on the Reserve List. You will need to review these lists again when they are posted with the first draft of the Calendar in October.

Please note: the Reserve/Delete List was not run for the 2021-2022 University Calendar.

Course Listings, Course Catalog, Catalogue@Ualberta

The Course Catalog as found in Bear Tracks is the official course record and is considered to be the most accurate.  These listings are updated by Exams and Timetabling in the Office of the Registrar after a change is approved through University Governance.

Course Listings can also be found in the University Calendar. These course listings are exported from Campus Solutions into the draft Calendar and published once per year.  At the discretion of the Calendar Editor, a substantial change can also be updated as a Calendar amendment.

Catalogue@ualberta is a website coordinated by IST. This website pulls information from Campus Solutions.  If any information is incorrect here, please check back again as the page is updated regularly. If it is still incorrect after a few business days, please contact IST directly.