Course Proposals
I. Overview
A. Purpose: The College of Liberal Arts offers a range of academic courses that satisfy curricular requirements in specified distribution requirements. To support and provide guidance for new proposals, this page features processes to submit new course proposals for college-level requirements and information on university-level requirements.
B. Effective Dates: Ongoing
II. Proposal Guidelines and Review
This process begins with a proposal submission and concludes with the College of Liberal Arts (COLA) determination for approval or non-approval.
A. College Course Proposals
i. Cultural Expression, Human Experience and Thought
Description: Three semester hours of designated coursework from the Cultural Expression, Human Experience, and Thought area are required for the B.A. and B.S. degrees in the College of Liberal Arts.
a. Student Competencies and Guidelines
Required student competencies:
Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of human thought and expression across time.
Understand expressions and experiences of individual and/or groups within historical and social contexts and to articulate an informed reaction to these expressions and experiences.
Course guidelines:
Courses must originate from a field of study housed in the College of Liberal Arts.
May not satisfy a different core or liberal arts area requirement. For example, ANT 302 "Cultural Anthropology" may NOT be designated as satisfying the Cultural Expression, Human Experience, and Thought requirement because it satisfies the Social and Behavioral Science Core requirement.
Must appear in the most recently published https://catalog.utexas.edu/general-information/coursesatoz/ . Unnumbered and base topics courses are not eligible for designation.
Forms are not needed for courses satisfying the Visual and Performing Arts Core requirement offered by fields of study in the College of Liberal Arts.
Social Science
Description: Three semester hours of designated coursework from the Social Science area are required for the B.A. and B.S. degrees in the College of Liberal Arts.
Student Competencies and Guidelines
Required student competencies:
Demonstrate and communicate an understanding of some of the methods, approaches, technologies, theories, and data that social scientists use to investigate the human condition.
Examine social institutions and processes across a range of historical periods and/or to understand the effects of historical, social, political, economics, cultural, or global forces on individuals and societies.
Course guidelines:
Proposed courses may not satisfy a different core or liberal arts area requirement. For example, ANT 301 “Biological Anthropology" may NOT be designated as satisfying the Social Science requirement because it satisfies the Natural Science & Technology Part I Core requirement.
Proposed courses must appear in the most recently published General Information Catalog. Unnumbered and base topics courses are not eligible for designation.
Forms are not needed for courses already satisfying the Social & Behavioral Science Core requirement.
Upper-Division Writing-Intensive Courses
Description: Six semester hours of designated coursework from the Upper-Division Writing-Intensive area are required for the B.A. and B.S. degrees in the College of Liberal Arts.
Required criteria:
Criterion #1: Courses designated as COLA writing-intensive courses must have at least one Student Learning Outcome* dedicated to writing skills, with appropriate instructional time allocated to helping students achieve that outcome.
Criterion #2: Require students to write regularly—several times during the semester—and to complete writing projects that are substantial. It is only through the practice of writing that students learn to improve their writing.
Criterion #3: Be structured around the principle that good writing requires rewriting and that careful reading and analysis of the writing of others is a valuable part of the learning process. Students must receive meaningful feedback from the instructor (or teaching assistant) so they can improve successive drafts. Instructors are encouraged to have students read each other’s work in order to offer constructive criticism.
Criterion #4: Include writing assignments that constitute at least one-third of the final grade in the course. These assignments must be graded on writing quality as well as content.
Course guidelines:
Three-credit hour (or more) organized stand-alone and numbered topics courses only.
Upper-division courses originating under COLA fields of study.
Proposals must be course-level. Course designation may not vary by instructor or semester.
No individual instruction or thesis courses.
Base topics courses may satisfy COLA requirement if they receive Core Code 10 designation and also meet the additional COLA writing requirements.
Courses may be offered in-person, hybrid, synchronous online, or asynchronous online.
Courses may incorporate Generative AI into the writing process, so long as there is a clear effort to ensure that students are independently engaging in the writing process.
Course approvals will be valid for up to four academic years.
Proposal form:
The call for submissions is ongoing. Courses will be reviewed by the CDA, and results will be communicated to academic units on a rolling basis.
To submit a course for review, please complete the following:
Review the COLA upper-division writing-intensive course criteria.
Prepare brief descriptions for how these criteria are met in the course.
Save the syllabi as either a .doc or .pdf file.
Complete the Qualtrics form and upload the syllabi here: https://utexas.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9Bk3N6ruSEe5xVc
For detailed instructions, download this document:
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Who is responsible for or allowed to submit course proposals for the intensive writing requirement?
A: All faculty may submit proposals. Chairs and Directors are encouraged to coordinate their unit’s offerings, and to support faculty submissions, as meeting student need for upper-division writing intensive courses is a College priority.
Q: How will Chairs and Directors know which courses have been approved?
A: Academic Affairs will notify Chairs and Directors about the status of the course proposals.
Q: Are faculty required to submit their courses?
A: No. Faculty are encouraged, but not required, to submit proposals.
Q: When are course proposals due?
A: Fall 2026: March 27, 2026.
A: Spring 27: Priority deadline: October 2, 2026.
Proposals submitted after the priority deadlines may be reviewed and approved, but approval for the upcoming semester cannot be guaranteed.
Q: How detailed must the syllabus be at the time of submission?
A: The syllabus may be a work in progress. As long as the proposal clearly addresses the Four Criteria, it will provide sufficient information for the Curriculum Design & Assessment committee’s review.
Q: Can faculty submit proposals for classes that don’t have a topic number yet, but that have been scheduled for future semesters?
A: No. Courses without an assigned number cannot be advanced through the approval system at this time.
Q: What does “course level approval” mean?
A: Course-level approval applies to all scheduled sections of the course, regardless of instructor or semester. All sections must meet the required criteria (for example, English 321, Shakespeare).
Q: What information should we include about the use of AI in the classroom or by students?
A: Syllabi should include a statement clarifying the role AI will have in the course, if any.
Q: Criterion #4 stipulates that writing assignments must constitute at least one-third of the final grade in the course, and that these assignments must be graded on writing quality as well as content. Is there any wiggle room on these requirements?
A: No. Courses must include all four criteria to be approved.
Designated ROTC Courses
Description: Nine semester hours of designated University of Texas at Austin coursework in Air and Space Force Science, Military Science, or Naval Science may be counted toward any degree in the College of Liberal Arts, regardless of a student’s commissioning status.
Military Leadership minor: Students must complete 15 credit hours chosen from air force science (AFS), naval science (N S), and military science (M S) designated coursework, including at least six hours upper-division in a single field of study.
Course guidelines:
Course must contain significant historical or sociological content;
Course must contain significant leadership and ethics content (not just field leadership); and
For upper-division courses, course must utilize multiple sources and/or case studies.
New Proposals
Phase | Date | Activity |
|---|---|---|
Proposal Development | Late Fall of odd years-Early Spring of even years | Faculty develops proposal. Consults with Department Chair. |
Proposal Submitted | Early-/Mid-Spring of even years | Proposal submitted to COLA Academic Affairs. |
College and Committee Review | Mid-Spring of even years | COLA Academic Affairs and CDA review proposals. Feedback or required changes may be provided. College leadership determines recommendation. |
College Approval | April 15 of even years | College leadership reviews recommendations and provides final determination for approval or non-approval. |
The 2026 proposal period for CEHET and Social Science has been cancelled.
Approved Courses
To view the current list of designated courses, please visit: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/undergraduate-students/majors-minors/core-liberal-arts-course-lists.html
Contact Information
Questions, contact Lisa Vera: lisav@austin.utexas.edu.
University Course Proposals
Core Curriculum or General Education
All changes to the core curriculum course lists must be approved by the Core Curriculum office. Courses proposed for the core are evaluated on the basis of their ability to develop the Student Competencies that UT and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board have defined for each component of the core.
Proposals to add a core course should be submitted using the online core course proposal form. The deadline is usually in April of the year before it will be taught for the first time.
For more information, please see: https://generaleducation.utexas.edu
Signature Courses
Faculty members are invited to submit a proposal to teach a Signature Course through the online proposal system which opens in April of the year before the course will be taught. Proposals will be forwarded to the Undergraduate College after the Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs has given approval.
For more information, please see: https://undergraduates.utexas.edu/first-year-experience/signature-courses/faculty-resources