Understanding the CIM Program Management form

Curriculum-CIM

CIM is the Curriculum Information Management system where programs and courses are created, revised and submitted for approval. 

It was implemented in Spring 2023 and we expect wide-spread adoption of this system in the 2023-2024 academic year across Tulane’s undergraduate and graduate programs in order to ensure governance and assessment best practices are followed. ​

The system is designed to

  • track processes efficiently and accurately ​

  • generate workflows and automated notifications ​

  • promote process consistency  ​

  • house all course and program information ​

  • house curriculum reporting tool​

  • provide accountability and transparency in the development and approval of curriculum, both internally and externally

CIM System Overview

  • Centralized forms, with cascading customization based on system ​

  • Customized & Dynamic Workflows (example below)​ 

Logging in

  1. Go to correct URL for ​​

    1. https://nextcatalog.tulane.edu/programadmin/​​

  2. Log in using your Tulane username and password​

    1. If you are unable to access the site, submit a Registrar Support Form, available on our website, to request access: https://registrar.tulane.edu/  ​

  3. Logout: Close your browser. Remember to save your work or start workflow​

Curriculum inventory management

The Program Management home screen is where you may propose a new academic program of study including a major, minor, certificate, major track, graduate program, subject code, department code, or degree program.

You may also use this system to edit or inactivate an existing academic program.

Search Program

The Search function is literal  ​

If you search for the word Business and there are no programs with the full name ‘Business’ it will not find any programs that have ‘Business’ in the title ​

Other ways to search:​

  • exact title of the program with the exact spacing ​

  • Asterisk is wildcard * ​

  • You can use the *before or after* a word​

  • Scroll list of programs (click on Program name to re-order list alphabetically)​

Search Results

You can sort results by Program Name, Credential, Workflow or Status (click the word to sort)​

'Workflow’ column displays which step the proposal is currently at for review. ​

‘Status’ column indicates the type of change: Added, Edited or if blank, the program is ‘at rest’ with no proposal currently outstanding​

If a program has a proposal cycling through workflow, you will see the program details and the proposed changes clearly highlighted with red and green markup​

Edit Program Form

  1. Select the program you want to edit​

  2. Click on the edit button to begin change proposal​

  3. Select change type ​

  4. Start at top of form and work your way down​

  5. Develop a Course List in the Requirements area to clearly lay-out the program’s academic requirements.

  6. Save Changes on the form to complete later​.

  7. Ensure that you are including Program Outcomes, Planned Assessment Methods, and attaching an Assessment Plan.

    1. For details on Assessment Plans, please visit the Office of Assessment and Institutional Research website.

  8. Submit to workflow when form complete​

Requirements

The Requirements section should display the program requirements’ list.​

  • Course information pulls in from Banner (after changes are completed via the CIM CourseAdmin form, including pre-reqs & repeatability). ​

Requirements will display in the Catalog.​

  • Use well-defined course-list as opposed to paragraph format to display requirements​

    • Options include​

      • Course list with Credits​

      • Plan of study grid (semester-by-semester)​

      • Footnotes assist in communicating nuances related to the curriculum, e.g. “course is offered in the fall semester only"​

    • Avoid: ​

      • Displaying requirements in paragraph format​

      • Vague details about program requirements that will be difficult to translate to the Degree Audit.

Course List Fields

The fields within the course list table allow editors to assign specific information to individual courses.

  1. Comment - A comment will be displayed in parentheses after the course title

  2. Sequence - Sequence will display two courses with an ampersand (&) indicating that these two courses must be taken in conjunction with each other

  3. Cross Reference - A cross-reference course describes a course that is the same course content offered under different course numbers

    • For instance, if credit is given at both the undergraduate and graduate level

    • Another example is a course that different departments offer credit for

  4. Hours - The hours field automatically is populated with the credit hours assigned to the course in your SIS

    • You can change these as necessary

  5. Or Class - This will display two courses with the word "or" indicating that either course may be taken to meet the requirement

  6. Footnote - Only the footnote symbol is entered in the course list, and then add a Footnote table after the course list in the Page Body

  7. Indent - The item will be indented to the right, the credit hours will be suppressed from displaying, and credit hours will be suppressed from adding to your Total Credits. You may also use the hotkey Alt+I to select this check box

    • For example, a Comment Entry of "Select one of the following:" may precede a list of indented courses. This allows users to see all of the options without adding each course's credit hours to the Total Credits

  8. Area Header - The item will be styled as a header within the table. You also may use the hotkey Alt+A to select this check box

    • This option is typically used to logically group courses within a Course List

    • For example, grouping "Elective Courses" separately from "Required Courses"

Note: Multiple course codes may be added in the Sequence, Cross Reference, or Or Class fields, separated by a comma. To include an ampersand (&) in an Or Class, include the ampersand. For instance, to display ACCT 101 OR ACCT 102 & ACCT 103, put ACCT 102 & ACCT 103 in the Or field of the ACCT 101 course.

Editing Plan of Study

  1. Select program to edit​

  2. Set the change type to major​

  3. Scroll to Plan of Study table and double click​

  4. Select applicable year and semester​

  5. Use Select Subject field to find course to add course​

  6. Use Course List (right side) to drop course

Considerations

Start at the top of the form and work your way down.​

Red fields are mandatory - you cannot submit to workflow without filling them in​

Only will see changes to PROGRAMS once you save​

You can export to Word or PDF – very basic formatting but you may want to markup a Word document or PDF before you enter the changes in CIM​

Workflow

Workflow – automated system to manage approval process​

Approver Roles are assigned to the workflows​

Clicking the “Start Workflow” initiates the workflow process ​

Currently (2023), all workflows start with the Registrar Curriculum Information Management CIM role. ​

Sample Workflow

  • Green: ​

    • moved past that stage​

  • Orange:

    • awaiting approval​

  • Approval Path

    • Provides a workflow history:​

      • date​

      • time​

      • role​

      • action​

THANK YOU!​