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CourseLeaf CIM Frequently Asked Questions

Governance and CourseLeaf CIM Frequently Asked Questions

A: You can check on the status of any proposal in CourseLeaf by querying it in CIM or Program Management as appropriate. Any proposal that is currently in workflow will have an “In Workflow” window on the right-hand side of the proposal. The window lists all roles in the proposal’s workflow that must approve the proposal. If the role is in green-colored font, then the proposal has been approved by that role. Orange-colored font indicates that role is currently reviewing the proposal. Finally, gray-colored font are roles that have yet to review the proposal. 
If the “In Workflow” box is not visible, then the proposal is not currently in governance workflow. Underneath the course/program title are both the “Last approved” and “Last revised” dates. The “History” box on the right-side of the proposal will also open the corresponding marked-up version of the course/program if you click on the date.

A: When proposals reach the “Registrar 15 Day Review” step in workflow, some variant of the following message will be posted as a comment, “Please note, this proposal entered 15-DR on [date]. This proposal will end 15-DR on [date]. The proposal is subject to review by interested colleges/departments across the university and the registrar's office during this time.” 
The Registrar’s office will make every effort to have the 15-DR comments sent to the proposal author by the stated date, but due to the volume of proposals and governance cycle timing, this is not always possible. Proposal authors are not required to address any department/college comments received outside the 15-DR period.

A: Yes, a resource letter is required anytime a proposal is submitted. It does not matter how extensive the proposed revisions are, they require a resource letter stating whether the revised version of this program/course will require departmental resources.  
The only request type exempt from this requirement is Pre/Co Changes. This type of proposal can be submitted without a resource letter.  
Pre/co changes are still required to include departmental support letters if adding a pre/co requisite that is from outside the course’s home department.

A: If the proposed course revisions add a pre/co requisite from outside the course’s home department then a support letter must be attached to the proposal. The support letter needs to be from the home department of the course being added and authorize the inclusion of their course as a pre or corequisite. 
If the new prerequisite is housed in the same department as the course being revised, then a support letter is not required.

A: If the course fulfills Pathways requirements, then the Course Request Type dropdown should always be set to Pathways. This ensures that the appropriate entry fields appear in the CourseLeaf form. 
The only exception to this guidance is when proposing changes to pre/co requisites only. In that case, Pre/Co Requisite should be selected from the Course Request Type dropdown.

A: No. Pre/Co revisions have a separate workflow in CourseLeaf CIM and do not require a 15-DR period.

A: No. Pre/Co Course Request Types are reserved for proposals that are making changes exclusively to the pre or co requisites. Any changes outside of that will require a standard course proposal and a full governance workflow.

A: No. Once a proposal’s 15-DR period ends, it does not restart 15-DR upon resubmission. The proposal will need to be approved by all roles in the workflow, but their checking over the revisions and the proposal does not require a full 15-DR again. 
However, if the proposal has undergone significant additional edits and revisions outside of addressing the 15-DR comments that have drastically changed the proposal, then the Department or Registrar’s Office may require the proposal go through another 15-DR period.

A: There is no way to comment on a proposal that is out of workflow. If you are submitting revisions to an existing course, you can include your response to 15-DR comments in the Revision Summary – Justification section near the top of the proposal form. 
If you are proposing a brand-new course or program then the form won’t have a Revision Summary – Justification section. In this case, you can send your 15-DR comment response to acadgov@vt.edu, and a member of our team will post the response to the proposal as it moves through workflow.

A: No, changing the course number of an existing course is not supported by CourseLeaf. You will need to discontinue the existing course and propose a brand-new course using the new course number you want. Keep in mind, this will also necessitate the new course going through a 15-DR period.

A: Bundling is ultimately up to the author’s discretion. Bundling connects multiple proposals together as they enter workflow so they can move through the process together. We do not recommend bundling proposals that have different workflow paths (do not bundle programs with courses for example) because it will force all proposals in that bundle to go through one combined workflow. This can slow down the approval process while proposals await approval by roles that do not need to review them. 
For example, if you bundle a pre/co revision with a standard proposal for a new course, the pre/co proposal will also be sent to 15-DR despite not being a requirement for pre/co changes.

A: Any changes to workflow role assignments or requests for CourseLeaf access should be sent to the acadgov@vt.edu email. Include the individual’s name, email address, and PID in your email as well as what roles, if any, they need assigned to.

A: Double check in CIM that the proposal is currently assigned to your role in workflow. You can check the “Approval Path” window on the right-hand side of the proposal to see when and what users have recently approved or rolled a proposal back.  
Usually in this scenario, another user assigned to the same role as you approved the proposal before you clicked on the link in your email. The proposal has already moved forward which is why you are unable to see it. 
If you have confirmed that the proposal is still assigned to your role in workflow, then reach out to acadgov@vt.edu for further troubleshooting.