Revised Fall 2024

Purpose

Seven-year reviews are intended to ensure that curricula of departments, schools, and programs continue to meet the educational needs of students and the objectives of the university. In conducting a review, each department is asked to reassess its purpose, requirements, and courses, as well as its future directions and goals. The reviews also allow the Curriculum Committee, acting on behalf of the faculty as a whole, to exercise the responsibility for the curriculum that rests squarely with the faculty. These functions include fostering ongoing discussions about curricula and pedagogy, supporting University accreditation, maintaining an ongoing educational assessment plan, and assuring the quality and integrity of the University’s academic programs. 

Scheduling

All programs will be given a three-year window in which to complete their review. Because delaying reviews until the 8th year might create issues with our accrediting bodies, these years will be years 5-7 of their review cycle. Programs/Departments will thus be able to choose which year makes the most sense for them to complete their review. Programs/Department reviews will remain due every 7 years; if they choose to complete their review in the 6th year of one cycle, the window for the next review will still close in the 7th year from the originally scheduled review, and so the 8th year from when the review was actually completed). The Curriculum Committee or its designees will notify departments in advance of the 5th year of the review cycle and ask them to specify which of the three upcoming years will be their review year.

Procedure

Each department, school, or program should design and conduct its review in the manner it regards as most appropriate. It is expected that every ongoing member of the department who is not on leave will contribute to the review. Any existing materials on the current curriculum may be used as resources; data is available from the Office of Institutional Research to support departments in their review. The department should also draw on any assessment reporting submitted to the Provost’s office over the previous seven years.

The report should take the form of a succinct narrative that briefly describes the procedures followed in the review and addresses the prompts below. The PDF or link should be emailed to curriculum@pugetsound.edu by October 15. If the department wishes to make curricular changes as part of the review process, they should submit these in line with the existing Bulletin revision timeline, which requires changes to be submitted during the spring semester to be incorporated into the following academic year’s Bulletin. If the department wishes to make curricular changes as part of the review process, they should submit these in line with the existing Bulletin revision timeline, which requires changes to be submitted during the spring semester to be incorporated into the following academic year’s Bulletin. The report should be accompanied by a zipped folder of Word documents or PDFs, or as a Google folder with permission set to "Share with University of Puget Sound" containing a copy of the current syllabus for each course in the department or program curriculum.

If the department or program elects to revise its Bulletin copy, its major/minor requirements, or to add/remove/revise courses, those changes must be submitted using the appropriate forms linked here at the same time as the program proposal is submitted. Copies of these curricular proposals should be included as addenda to the program proposal. If any course changes, scheduling changes, or changes in requirements discussed in the seven-year review substantively affect requirements or courses in other departments or programs, please conduct a Curricular Impact Statement, indicating the courses or requirements involved and the departments or programs affected.

Report Prompt

Departments1 should focus on the prompts below, while reflecting on what makes their curriculum successful, what challenges they face, and what changes they have made (or will make) to respond to those challenges. They should revisit their previous seven-year review and reflect on any changes and the rationale(s) for those in the intervening period. Please label your answers clearly. The Curriculum Committee encourages departments to include any additional issues they consider important as they reflect on the department’s curriculum. The Committee asks that review documents not exceed 5000 words (excluding appendices). They must also provide evidence or examples appropriate to their discipline, such as student surveys, Institutional Research data, portfolio assessment, alumni surveys, alumni graduate school placement or professional outcomes, and/or comparisons to other departments or programs, to support their answers.

  1. Reflect on the current intellectual directions of your discipline or field as a whole, and discuss how the department's current educational goals and learning outcomes align with these. 
  2. Consider the role of the department as part of the university (including core requirements such as first-year seminars, EXLN, KNOW, and Connections, as well as other non-major courses and/or high-impact practices).
  3. Describe briefly the structure, sequencing, and content of the department’s major(s) and minor(s), including any curriculum revisions made since your last 7-year review. Departments are encouraged to reflect on how their curricula align with current university enrollments and departmental staffing.
  4. Explain how the curriculum addresses the requirement for written and/or oral communication at the upper-division level, as required by the Core passed in May 2023. This may be discipline-specific. 
  5. Describe briefly the integration of information literacy, including the use and evaluation of library and information resources, into the department’s curriculum.
  6. Describe briefly the integration of the university’s Diversity Statement and Diversity Strategic Plan into the department and its curriculum:
    • Departments must evaluate their curriculum for inclusivity and consider past and future changes that support equity, inclusion, and diversity.
    • The review must show steps taken to address and improve inclusive teaching practices and policies, and their impact on students.
    • Departments should reflect on how the demographics and expertise of faculty and staff influence their program’s impact on students.

After the Report

A Working Group of the Curriculum Committee will carefully review the report and any supporting materials submitted. Collected syllabi will be used for reference. The WG will communicate any clarifying questions to the department head. If any listed issues are insufficiently addressed, the WG will request additional material. Upon verifying that the report is complete and sufficient, the WG will present the review to the full Curriculum Committee for its approval.

The WG will then compose a brief but substantive written response to the department. One or more members of the WG will then meet with the department chair and any interested members of the department to discuss the report and offer feedback on curricular issues from the viewpoint of other knowledgeable faculty members.

Course Changes

If the department or program elects to modify requirements or individual courses at this time, the new material should accompany the review report. The standard course proposal forms are to be used to request approval for any course changes. If any course changes, scheduling changes, or changes in requirements discussed in the seven-year review affect requirements or courses in other departments or programs, please indicate specifically the courses or requirements involved and the departments or programs affected. Finally, if the department wishes to revise its Bulletin copy, the new copy should be submitted as part of this review.

Process History

In 1976, the Faculty established the expectation that each department and major would be reviewed periodically. After the first cycle of basic curriculum revision, regular triennial reviews of departments and schools commenced in the fall of 1982. This pattern was revised by the Faculty Senate on October 1, 1984, to establish a quadrennial cycle. In 1990, we began moving toward five-year intervals between scheduled reviews. In 2015, the Curriculum Committee moved to a seven-year review cycle.

When the Faculty adopted the present curriculum plan in 1976, it established the expectation that each department and major would be reviewed periodically. After the first cycle of basic curriculum revision, regular triennial reviews of departments and schools commenced in the fall of 1982. This pattern was revised by the Faculty Senate on October 1, 1984, to establish a quadrennial cycle. In 1990, we began moving toward five-year intervals between scheduled reviews. In 2015, the Curriculum Committee moved to a seven-year review cycle.

As of 2024, the official record of Puget Sound’s undergraduate curriculum is now part of the "Undergraduate Programs and Degrees" section of the University Bulletin. Previously, it was called the Curriculum Statement. This statement derives from the Curriculum Plan originally passed by the faculty on May 10, 1976. Parts of this document were amended by the faculty during the 1990-1991 and 1999-2000 academic years. A revised version was adopted on May 7, 2001, and the document was again revised and folded into the University Bulletin for the 2024-2025 academic year.

 

1 In this section, the term "department" (or "departments") is used inclusively to refer to both departments and programs for the sake of brevity.