Overview of Curriculum Management
Faculty Senate reviews academic proposals regarding:
- Courses - New courses and changes to existing courses.
- Policies - University-level, college-level, and department-level.
- Programs - New programs and changes to existing programs.
Curriculum Changes
Proposals for curriculum changes to the academic catalog will be reviewed during the current academic year for implementation during the following academic year. Proposals for new majors will follow a two-year review cycle.
Our curriculum change deadlines are determined by the Faculty Senate Committee meeting schedules and a number of important factors, including deadlines for UMass President's Office (UMPO) approvals, Board of Higher Education (BHE) approvals, Admission printed materials, Admission application updates and recruiting cycles, timelines for implementation in the catalog, and advising and registration periods.
All proposals will be added to the Faculty Senate committee agendas through Curriculog. Please see the Curriculum Proposal Deadlines 2026-2027 (pdf) for suggested date ranges to launch proposals in Curriculog.
Please keep in mind that the Department of Higher Education (DHE) requires a 60-day waiting period after DHE approval before UMass Lowell (UML) can announce new programs.
Also keep in mind that Admissions updates require significant lead time; proposals that reach the Admissions step by June 1, 2027 will impact program offerings available in Spring 2028 and Fall 2028.
Curriculog
Curriculum processes are managed through Curriculog, also known as Modern Campus Curriculum. Curriculog allows all academic proposals to live in one streamlined location, accessible to all community members with a UML email address.
Starting with the intentions of the department and college, moving on to faculty governance and state approvals, and finally into implementation and UML system updates, Curriculog removes our academic processes from individual email inboxes, eliminating questions of version control and allowing institutional knowledge to be available to future UML users.
Curriculog Help is available.
Curriculog 2026-2027
Curriculog 2026-2027 forms are available August 1, 2026 through March 1, 2027.
Proposals reviewed during the 2026-2027 academic year are implemented for the 2027-2028 catalog.
Faculty are encouraged to submit proposals to Curriculog during the fall semester. To effectively manage the volume of proposals requiring review, state approval, and implementation in the Fall 2027 catalog, Faculty Senate aims to submit proposals to UMPO and BHE as early as possible.
Proposals launched prior to March 1, 2027 that reach the relevant committee step by the agenda deadline (one week prior to the next meeting date) will be reviewed during the 2026-2027 Senate cycle, but cannot be guaranteed implementation in Fall 2027 catalog if the relevant state approvals are not received before June 1, 2027.
The Curriculog feature to launch proposals to change the 2028-2029 academic catalog will open again for the 2027-2028 academic year on August 1, 2027.
Life of a Proposal
Proposals are created in Curriculog and progress through the approval process within the department, college, college curriculum committee, and college dean before moving on to Faculty Senate. After approval from Faculty Senate, proposals are (if applicable) sent to the governing authorities, and then processed through "UML System Update" steps to update SiS, the catalog, degree pathways, advisement reports, catalog program, department, and college landing pages, admissions applications, and marketing department and program web pages.
Approval Workflow
- Originator
- Department Chair or Program Coordinator
- College Curriculum Committee
- College Dean or Designee
- Undergraduate Policy Committee (UPC) or Graduate Policy and Affairs Committee (GPAC)
- Faculty Senate
- Provost and Chancellor
- President's Office (UMPO)
- Department of Higher Education (DHE)
- UML System Updates
In Curriculog, use the "Workflow Status" tab to view which steps have been approved and on which step the proposal is 'working'.
Templates (For Originators of Proposals):
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Codes
- Existing CIP Code Lookup (Excel)
Curriculum Outline "Form A"
- DHE Curriculum Outline (Form A1) - For Undergraduate Programs (doc)
- DHE Curriculum Outline (Form A2) - For Graduate Programs (doc)
- DHE Curriculum Outline (Form A) - For Minors (doc)
- DHE Curriculum Outline (Form A) - For Certificates (doc)
- DHE Curriculum Outline (Form A) - For Graduate Certificates (doc)
Degree Pathway / Catalog Requirements
- Degree Pathway grid (doc)
- Minor Catalog Requirements (doc)
DHE Name Change Plus Forms - "Change Name of Program and Elevate Subplan to Plan"
- Name Change Plus Form - Graduation Data (doc)
- Name Change Plus Form - Enrollment History (doc)
- Name Change Plus Form - Alumni Outcomes (doc)
DHE Phase I Forms
- DHE Phase I Letter of Intent (LOI) template (doc). The Phase I LOI template includes Form A thru Form D. Please submit the LOI as one document. The individual forms are also available below.
- DHE Form A1 - LOI Curriculum Outline (Undergraduate) (doc)
- DHE Form A2 - LOI Curriculum Outline (Graduate) (doc)
- DHE Form B - LOI Goals, Objectives, and Assessment (doc)
- DHE Form C - LOI Enrollment Projections (doc)
- DHE Form D - LOI Budget (doc)
DHE External Reviewer Forms
DHE Phase II Forms
- DHE Phase II Full Academic Program Proposal template (doc).
- Your Phase II submission should include Form A thru Form D above, as well as Form E and Form F below.
- DHE Form E - Program Faculty (doc)
- DHE Faculty CV / Resume template (doc)
- DHE Form F1 - External Reviewer (Undergraduate) (doc)
- DHE Form F2 - External Reviewer (Graduate) (doc)
- DHE Course Syllabi template (doc) (also referred to as Course Summary template)