Understanding course co-ops

Definition

Co-opting is a curricular practice in Tulane University’s School of Liberal Arts (SLA).

A co-op is a cooperative agreement between two departments or academic programs – the department/program that owns the subject code (ie Art History (ARHS) courses live in the Art dept.), and the department that wants to allow their students credit in their program by using the owning department or program’s course (ie Africana Studies lists the ARHS course as part of their curriculum, degree audit, in the catalog, and on the Africana Studies schedule of classes with permission of the Art department).

The practice of co-opting not only demonstrates the true interdisciplinary nature of a program by listing various subjects/disciplines but also allows all subject areas that count in an interdisciplinary program of study to be made available on the schedule of classes for students to see and register for them.

Cross listing over the same subject code for 4/6 or 3/7 - UG/GR splits or across other schools is permitted. Additionally, within the School of Liberal Arts, two courses may be cross-listed when the course is approved to carry variable credit hours (3 to 4 credit hours) and the SLA Tier-2 Writing Attribute.

Proposing a co-op on a standard course* with the Curriculum Inventory Management System (CIM)

1. Go to the CIM Course Admin form website: https://nextcatalog.tulane.edu/courseadmin/ and log in with your Tulane single-sign-on credentials.

   1. Note: If you do not have access to the CIM Course Admin website, submit a Registrar Support Form Ticket.

   2. If you are not the “owner' of the course, you may wish to request the co-op via email with the course owner first prior to submitting the proposal via CIM to ensure that the “owner” is agreeable to the cross-list.

2. Navigate to the course that will be co-opted by entering the course ID in the search field.

3. Click on the “Edit Course” button.

   1. Complete the required fields in the form including:

      1. Proposer Name

      2. Proposer Email

      3. Rationale for Change

      4. Effective Term

      5. Faculty Name & Email Address (if unknown, you may enter TBD for co-op requests.)

      6. Co-Op (at the bottom of the form just above the Undergraduate Core/School Requirements or above the Learning Outcomes section.

         1. Select “yes”

         2. Select the co-opting department(s) or program(s)

         3. Answer the required question: “Where should this course be listed in another department's inventory (i.e. –In the electives, in the major, in a particular track, etc. Please be specific.”

            1. Note: It is important to specifically list what are of the academic program or programs in this area of the form. For example, a 2000-level course in sociology that is requesting a co-op with environmental studies might indicate that the course should count in the EVST major and minor, in the 2000-level elective area.

      7. Enter the Course Learning Outcomes (one objective per box, click the green plus sign to add additional objectives).

      8. Attach a current syllabus for the course

      9. Click the green “Start Workflow” button

         1. The workflow will include both the chair/director of the home department/program and the chair/director of the co-opting department/program who will need to approve the proposal before it moves to the Curriculum Committee step in the workflow.

         2. If the chair of the courses' home department/program is not amenable to the co-op, they should click “edit” on the form and remove the co-op and also enter a comment on the proposal so that it is clear that the course is not approved for the co-op.

      10. Once fully approved in the CIM workflow and processed by the Registrar, the co-opted course should appear on the Schedule of Classes in the co-opted department/program course list: https://classschedule.tulane.edu/Search.aspx, in the Degree Audit for the program, and in the catalog (subsequent year’s catalog) the next time the course is offered.

      11. Consult with the School of Liberal Arts Dean’s office if you have any questions about Co-Ops.

      12. Contact the Registrar by submitting a Registrar Support Form Ticket if you have questions about the CIM process for requesting co-ops.

*Standard courses are courses that are fixed-title courses in the curriculum. Variable title/Special Topics courses' co-ops are proposed through CourseLeaf CLSS, not CIM. See below.

Proposing a co-op on a Variable Title (Topics or Special Topics) course through CourseLeaf CLSS

When submitting a section of a course with a co-op in CourseLeaf CLSS, inform the Registrar’s office by adding the co-op attribute into the attribute section of the proposal.

[This section of the article is in development]

Reference document link (Registrar’s office staff only)