Curriculum Services

Curriculum is a chief asset of the university, one that helps define Kent State's unique character. Because curriculum remains healthy through change, it maintains the value of programs for our students.

Curriculum development and maintenance is the responsibility of faculty. The Office of Curriculum Services is responsible for analyzing, facilitating and monitoring proposed changes and the implementation of those changes as approved by governing bodies. The office staff reviews and implements approximately 1,000 curricular changes annually.

The administration and staff of Curriculum Services are committed to providing accurate curriculum processing in an efficient manner to ensure quality program content and to benefit our students with the desired knowledge and experiences that will make them highly marketable once they graduate and take their place in society. If you have questions, please contact the Curriculum Services staff.

Responsibilities of the Office of Curriculum Services

• Consultant to academic units on the curriculum process and university and state academic policies and regulations.
• Secretary for the Educational Policies Council (EPC), a Faculty Senate subcommittee charged with long-range academic planning.
• Maintenance of Kent State’s course and program inventories in the Banner database application for scheduling, registration and admissions.
• Production of the annual Kent State University Catalog.
• Maintenance of Kent State’s Explore Majors and Degrees website, aka Graduation Planning System (GPS).
• Production of program roadmaps, which are semester-by-semester course requirements for each undergraduate degree program (available via the University Catalog and Explore Majors and Degrees websites).
• Liaison with the Ohio Board of Regents on undergraduate curriculum matters (the dean of graduate studies is the liaison for graduate curriculum).
• Production of the annual Curriculum Guidelines and facilitator of curriculum-process workshops for academic units when requested.
• Preservation of Kent State’s curriculum archives.
• Submission of curriculum-related reports to the Higher Education Information System, which is the data reporting arm of the Ohio Board of Regents; as well as other agencies, including U.S. News & World Report and Higher Learning Commission.
• Submission of course information to be accepted in the Transfer Assurance Guides (TAG) and Ohio Transfer Module (OTM), which are state-mandated initiatives to facilitate the transfer of students and credits from any state-assisted college or university to another.
• Coordination with the Office of Graduation Planning System, which maintains Kent State’s degree-auditing advising system (GPS, formerly KAPS).
• Catalog coordinator for the Ohio Learning Network’s OhioLearns! website, which promotes college-level distance-learning courses and programs.
• Member of the Ohio Articulation and Transfer Advisory Committee, which reviews and recommends policy to the chancellor.

News

• The 2011 University Catalog is now online. The University Catalog comprises both undergraduate and graduate academic programs and policies.
• Course proposal submissions are also now online. The paper Basic Data Sheets have been replaced by an electronic workflow called the Course Catalog Update. Log onto FlashLine (My Action Items tab, Workflow & Utilities box) to get started. For more information, read the User Manual and the Frequently Asked Questions.
• Students entering fall 2011 will now be using GPS as their degree audit and plan(replacing KAPS). GPS is available in FlashLine for advisors with the appropriate access and training.
• Explore Majors and Degrees is a website that allows users to search for degree programs by interest area, campus, college and keyword.
• Also included in the Explore Majors and Degrees website (as well as in the University Catalog) are links to roadmaps for each undergraduate program. These are semester-by-semester plans that shows students what, ideally, they should be taking each semester to graduate in a timely manner. Archived roadmaps are available.