Virginia Tech®home

Proposal Forms

Below you will find all of the forms and guidelines you need to propose a course, Pathways Minor, Alternative Pathway, or Special Study to the Pathways General Education program.

Pathways Course/Minor Proposal Governance Process

Flowchart of the governance process for Pathways courses and minors. Proposal is written, then goes to department/college review, then university 15-day review, then PGECRC review, then CUSP review, and is then added by the Registrar's Office to the timetable and DARS. The whole process takes on average 6-9 months, with each step taking about a month.

Depending on the time of year, and barring any committee delays or substantive issues with the proposal, each step of the governance process can be expected to take approximately one month. Please note: the review process for Study Abroad and Special Study proposals differ, and are usually completed within 2-4 weeks. Details on that process can be found on the Study Abroad and Special Studies proposal forms below.

Pathways Course Proposal

Whether you are proposing a brand new course, an existing CLE course, or an existing non-CLE Course for Pathways, use the Course Proposal Form listed below. Then explore the other documents posted here to help you draft a successful proposal.

Download the Course Proposal Form

Whether you are proposing a new Pathways course or revising an existing one, this is the form for you.

Download the Coversheet and Part I

The Registrar's Office will review the Coversheet and Part I of each Pathways Course Proposal using this common review sheet.

Download the draft Review Sheet

The Ad Hoc Review Committee will review each Pathways Course Proposal using a common review sheet. Here is a DRAFT of the Pathways Course Proposal Review Sheet to help guide the proposal completion process.

Download the SAMPLE Course Proposal

The following SAMPLE proposal can serve as a model for Pathways course proposal completion. Notice in the margins that the review committee has added tips and advice to support a successful submission. Please follow university guidelines for proposal writing throughout the governance process.

Download the 7th Concept Amendment Form

This form is to be used ONLY by those courses which have already been approved for Pathways during the last year and would like to meet the newly added Critical Analysis of Equity and Identity in the United States core concept. To meet this concept, a course must include a majority of the student learning outcomes (3 out of 5).

NOTE: A course can only be approved for a maximum of two core  concept. Therefore, if this course was approved previously for two core concepts (e.g. Critical Thinking in the Humanities and Reasoning in the Social Sciences) then one will need to be replaced by this one. All courses must also still meet one integrative concept.

Process:

  1. Fill out only the parts of the form where changes have been made to the proposal. For example, if the catalog description has had to change to reflect verbiage from the new concept, then fill out that section. However, if the previously approved student learning outcomes already reflect this new concept, then skip that section. Only add the approval signatures if your college has requested to see the updated proposal again (will vary by college). Focus on pages 3 and 4 (Part II) to justify that your course will offer opportunities for students to meet this concept.
  2. Email the form to your college curriculum coordinator to post to JIRA so the Pathways Gen Ed Curriculum Review Committee can review it an upcoming meeting.
  3. Once approved at CUSP, we will get your course revised in the timetable to reflect the new concept.

Download the Pathways Special Study Request Form

Interested in tagging your upcoming Special Study (1984, 2984, etc.) with Pathways credit in advance of offering to help build student enrollment and better pilot the course for Pathways? Complete the process outlined on the following form and submit documentation at least a month before the conclusion of the semester prior to offering.

Download the Pathways Study Abroad Request Form

Interested in tagging your upcoming Study Abroad (2954, 3954, etc.) with Pathways credit in advance of offering to help build student enrollment? Complete the process outlined on the following form providing at least 2 weeks for the committee to review it during the academic year.

Pathways Minors Proposal

Whether you are proposing a brand new minor or an existing minor for Pathways, you will use this Pathways Minor Proposal Form. There is also a checklist to help guide you through the components of a completed application.

Download the Pathways Minor Proposal Revision Discontinuation Form

Whether you are proposing a new Pathways Minor or revising an existing one, this is the form for you.

Download the Minor Checklist

This checklist was created to help guide Pathways Minor developers in meeting the requirements of a Pathways Minor as well as completing the 'packet' needed to submit the minor to governance.

Download the draft Review Sheet

The Ad Hoc Review Committee will review each Pathways MINOR Proposal using a common review sheet. Here is a DRAFT of the Pathways MINOR Proposal Review Sheet to help guide the proposal completion process.

Alternative Pathway Proposal

If you are faculty member proposing an Alternative Pathways (e.g. leading a study abroad trip, overseeing an undergraduate research for non-majors program, etc.) you will use the Faculty-Initiated Alternative Pathway Proposal Form.

If you are a student seeking credit for an upcoming Alternative Pathway, then use the Student-Initiated Alternative Pathway Proposal Form.

There is a review sheet to help guide you through the components of a successful application.

Download the Faculty Proposal Form

This form is to be used to propose new or existing alternative pathway experiences.

Download the draft Review Sheet

The Office of General Education and the UCCGE will use this common review sheet to review each Alternative Pathway. Here is a DRAFT of that review sheet to help guide the proposal completion process.

Pathways/CLE Course Review Request For Substitutions

If you are a student, advisor, or college rep looking to have a course reviewed for Pathways or CLE credit substitution, follow the process outlined below. Students must have advisor support and acknowledgment before proceeding with this process AND students must have completed the course at the time of the request.

NOTE: You will need the course syllabus and a written justification for how the course meets the desired concept to complete the request. AP/IB courses CANNOT be reviewed using this process, talk to your advisor.

Please email Jenni Gallagher with any questions.

  • Non-equivalent transfer courses (e.g. VT 1xxx or HIST 2xxx)
  • Equivalent transfer courses
  • VT courses not approved as Pathways
  • VT courses approved for a different Pathways concept than desired
  • Courses taken OR to-be-taken abroad (so pre OR post approval)
  • AP/IB Courses taken in high school
  • Prior military, work, or life experience (that has not been awarded course credit)
  • Courses that have not been awarded college course credit
  • Courses that have not been completed yet
  • Substituting two courses already approved for the same Pathways concept to meet a major requirement. For example, if there is a desire to substitute COMM 1015 for ENGL 1105, these are both already approved for Foundational Discourse (1f) so no Office of Gen Ed review is needed. Instead follow your college academic dean's normal processing procedure for course substitutions.
  • VT Pathways courses which are in transition. For example the course is in governance seeking approval for the requesting concept (check the 'current status' column) OR a course has switched Pathways concepts somewhere along the way OR there is a student date-of-entry, date-of-approval conflict regarding a course. For these, send me an email so we can look into reencoding the DARS so subs aren't needed.
  • Students matriculating to Virginia Tech with a completed Associate's Degree from the VCCS will seek approval from their academic advisor to handle within college.

Once received, the appeal will be reviewed by two Gen Ed personnel, who will then make a substitution recommendation to the college within approximately two weeks.

This form can be submitted by students (with prior approval from their advisor), advisors, or college academic dean and staff. Process will vary by college.

To complete this request, you will need 1) advisor and college approval, 2) general information and a syllabus from the completed course and 3) a written justification (see example and instructions) for how each Pathways outcome in the desired Pathways concept was met.

Please email Jenni Gallagher with any questions.