How to Submit a Course for Approval
- Identify which Mason Core category your course addresses. Ensure that your course meets the category’s learning outcomes.
The following categories may be selected for Mason Core designation.
Foundation
Exploration*
Courses within the Exploration category, with the exception of Global History, can also include an optional Just Societies flag, which will require a separate worksheet.
- Arts
- Global Contexts
- Global History
- Literature
- Natural Sciences Overview (non-lab) or with lab
- Social and Behavioral Sciences
Integration
- Mason Apex (combined Capstone/Synthesis category)
- Writing Intensive
* Courses submitted within the these categories may also be submitted for one additional category. If requesting that a course be considered for more than one category, a separate proposal must be submitted for each category. Courses that are approved for two Exploration category designations may also be submitted for the optional Just Societies flag.
- Make sure your syllabus explicitly states which Mason Core category is met and includes the category’s learning outcomes.
The learning outcomes can be written to better match your discipline and course terminology as long as the major elements of the outcomes carry over. If you do this, please be sure to note which Mason Core outcome is being addressed in the course-specific outcome.
- Complete the appropriate proposal worksheet (available on the category’s webpage), which will include:
- A succinct rationale for why this course should be considered for Mason Core.
- An assignment map covering the required learning outcome with assignments included.
- A course management plan and faculty contact information.
- A syllabus with appropriate learning outcomes included.
- Submit your syllabus, proposal worksheet, and supporting materials to Courseleaf (CIM)*. To ensure your course is routed correctly, please select Specialized Course Designation in CIM and then select the Mason Core category attribute(s) appropriate to your application. The entry in CIM serves as the course record, so please do not deselect any previously approved attributes unless you intend to remove them from the course.
Faculty members who do not have access to Courseleaf should send their materials to their college’s catalog author for submission. The course will then go through the approval process and will either be approved and sent to the Registrar’s Office or rolled back to the faculty member for revisions according to the Mason Core Committee’s recommendations.
*If you are submitting a new course, the course must first be approved through the curriculum review process, which is finalized at Undergraduate Council (UGC). Courses cannot be submitted for Undergraduate Council review and Mason Core Committee review at the same time despite how it may look in CIM/Courseleaf. It is not simultaneous or automatic. Once the course is approved by UGC, it will then need to be submitted to Mason Core using a specialized course designation in CIM.