Course Revision Process & Requests

Flower with a house in the background

High quality courses are critical to our success as a School of Education and the success of our students. In order to maintain high quality courses, we regularly conduct course revisions. We are committed to having content experts develop high quality courses for the School of Education.

Glossary

Admin = Members of the School of Education Administrative Team who manage the administrative portion of the course revision process including schedules, contracts, payment and coordination.
Content Faculty = Faculty who were hired to teach in a specific concentration, or have shifted to teach in a specific concentration
Content Expert = Someone with significant experience working in a field, holds or previously held an expert level position in a school/school district/colleges, and/or has experience teaching/researching and writing on a certain topic – most often quantified by articles published in peer-reviewed journals
Course Revision = A course revision is when a current course is updated, changed or modified to reflect new research, new education standards or new assignments that better capture learning outcomes. Course Revisions are built on the research and work of the original development and must maintain the course description, learning outcomes and overall intent of the course. (Types of course revisions that may require curriculum committee and college approval: course title change, course number, contact/credit hour change, description, requisites, learning outcomes, general education or cultural literacy, designation).  Most course revisions include these activities: updating videos, swapping out readings, updating assignments, revising course sequencing and flow, updating the syllabus). The current rate to revise a course is $450 per credit. (The estimated time to redesign course is 50 hours)
Course Revisers* = Course Revisers will be determined by School of Education Program Faculty and Directors in the Spring of 2023 and on a continued basis as needs arrive. Course revisers must have either significant experience working in a field, hold or previously held an expert level position in a school/school district/colleges, and/or has experience teaching/researching and writing on a certain topic – most often quantified by articles published in peer-reviewed journals.
External Reviewer = To assure the highest quality, each course revision will be reviewed by an external reviewer. The content expert could be internal or external to the School of Education at EWU. Each course will have one course reviewer. An external reviewer is someone with significant experience working in a field, holds or previously held an expert level position in a school/school district/colleges, and/or has experience teaching/researching and writing on a certain topic – most often quantified by articles published in peer-reviewed journals – who will review the updated course. The preference is to use EWU School of Education Faculty as external reviewers, however when faculty are unable or unwilling, or the course calls on an expertise not held by a current faculty member, the School of Education will look to other faculty or experts to serve as external reviewers.
Each faculty member may be asked to serve as a Course Revision Reviewer for up to two courses per year which is considered part of the 10% service obligation. If faculty want to review more than two courses, they will receive a $175 stipend, External Reviewers staffed outside of the School of Education will receive a $175 stipend.
Instructional Technology and Web Services (ITWS) = Is the department on campus that reviews all Canvas Courses for ADA and tech compliance. They will assure the required elements of the course are present – (for example, that there is a syllabus, etc.). Here is a copy of the ITWS Rubric. ITWS does not check courses for content or learning outcome fulfillment – this is the job of the external reviewer. Refer to the ITWS Course Revision Process. 
New Course = A new course has not previously been offered, nor approved by CPAC.  New program and new course proposals, course and program edits must have passed all college level approvals up through the associate dean by October 31st for consideration in the Catalog. The current rate to revise a course is $900 per credit. Sample Contract for New Course Development. (The estimated time to develop a completely new 4 credit course is 100 hours). Refer to EWU Policy 303-35 for more details.
*We know Reviser is not a word – but we are creative and think it’s the most straightforward way to explain someone who is revising the course. 

Course Revisions and Faculty Workload

The School of Education Course Redesign process is guided by the current EWU Faculty Contract:
“Unless otherwise approved, faculty members should typically not accept an additional assignment or overload from the University that would obligate them to work more than one hundred thirty-four percent (134%) of full-time during any term of the academic year. During summer, a faculty member must have prior approval to accept an overload greater than one (1) additional five-credit course (or an assignment requiring equivalent effort). Waivers for additional overload or assignments may be granted by the appropriate dean and approved by the Chief Academic Officer” (Source: Eastern Washington University/United Faculty of Eastern September 1, 2022 – August 31, 2025 p. 37).
  • A normal workload = 36 Hours (12 credits per qtr), which equals 80% of workload (+10% service and 10% research/scholarship).
  • Overload over 134% or 17 credits requires additional permission.
Given the information above, if faculty want to redesign a course themself in Fall, Winter or Spring, they should plan on working their normal teaching load and teaching no more than one additional course in the quarter (for a total of 16 credits).

The Course Revision Process & Forms

Process

Step 1:  A call is sent out to all faculty, lecturers, program directors and adjuncts who have taught a class more than 3 times to identify which courses need revised and the urgency of the revision. Complete the Revision Urgency Form
Step 2: Based on the data from the Revision Urgency Form, Admin and Faculty will consult and develop a course revision schedule.
Step 3. Admin and Faculty will identify a pool of content experts who can serve as Course Revisers and External Reviewers for the courses identified.
Step 4. The Course Reviser will submit the Course Revision Request Form.
Step 5.  The Admin Team will meet with the Course Reviser to draft up a contract and scheduled and review the process.
Step 6. The Course Reviser makes the course adjustments. (Tools: Course Map Template)
Step 7. The Course Reviser sends the new course to the External Reviewer. The reviewer will work with the Course Reviser on any edits.
Step 8.  Following the edits, the Course Reviser will submit the updated course to ITWS. This is the form to submit the course to ITWS Course Reviews – Instructional Technology & Web Services (ewu.edu)
Step 9. Once the Course Reviser has made all ITWS edits, then ITWS will inform admin.
Step 10. Admin will initiate payment to all parties.