Curriculum & Catalog

All four-year undergraduate majors without specialized accreditation, regardless of location or modality, are required to have at least 15 credits of open general electives while not exceeding 120 total credit hours to complete.

Four-year undergraduate programs with specialized accreditation will work to incorporate general electives to the extent possible within their current accreditation standards and with regard for industry norms as well as to draw as near to 120 total credit hours as possible.

Curriculum Deadlines

New courses and course changes/alterations must be approved by the March Faculty Senate meeting to be effective in the Fall term, and by the October Faculty Senate meeting to be effective in the Spring or Summer terms.

New course proposals that miss this deadline can still be considered until the December, April, or June Faculty Senate meetings for the Spring, Summer, and Fall terms, respectively, but such courses will not be listed in the initial schedule of courses and will not appear in the catalog's program requirements.

To make it on the agenda for a given Faculty Senate meeting, a course must be passed by the previous Faculty Senate Executive Committee meeting. To make it on the agenda for the Executive Committee meeting, it must be passed by the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee at least 10 calendar days prior to the Executive Committee meeting.

Please take into account any additional time required for department and college committees to pass the course before it is forwarded to the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee.

All changes to existing degree programs must be ratified by all approval levels no later than April 30 to go into effect for the next academic year. New degree programs must be ratified by all approval levels (including the Board of Governors) no later than April 30 to go into effect for the next academic year.

Workflow Calendar Academic Year Fall 2024 - Spring 2025

Past dates 2023 - 2024 Academic Year 

28-Aug-23		Schedule to roll Fall 23 to Fall 24 schedule (including Summer)
31-Aug-23	Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee
25-Sep-23	Executive Committee
9-Oct-23	Faculty Senate
3-Oct-23		Spring 24 schedule of courses available on STAR
10-Oct-23		Registration for Spring 24 begins for Beckley and Keyser campuses
18-Oct-23		Registration for Spring 24 begins for Morgantown campus

28-Sep-23	Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee	Last course changes for BIOL, CHEM, MATH, PHYS for Fall 24 approval
23-Oct-23	Executive Committee
6-Nov-23	Faculty Senate

26-Oct-23	Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee	Final date for new courses for    Spring 24 to be submitted
13-Nov-23	Executive Committee
4-Dec-23	Faculty Senate

30-Nov-23	Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee	Final date for course changes to be submitted for Summer/Fall 24
11-Dec-23	Executive Committee
8-Jan-24	Faculty Senate
23-Jan-24		SLI's final submission for  Summer/Fall 24

4-Jan-24	Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee
22-Jan-24	Executive Committee
5-Feb-24	Faculty Senate

25-Jan-24	Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee
1-Feb-24	Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee	Final approval for program changes for 24-25
26-Feb-24	Executive Committee
4-Mar-24	Faculty Senate
5-Mar-24		Fall 24 schedule of courses available on STAR
19-Mar-24		Registration for Fall 2024 begins
25-Mar-24		Schedule to roll Spring 24 to Spring 25 schedule

Any submissions reviewed by the committees on the dates below will be effective for academic year 25-26 OUR review suspended from April 1 - June 30

7-Mar-24	Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee	Final approval for new programs for 24-25
18-Mar-24	Executive Committee
1-Apr-24	Faculty Senate

18-Apr-24	Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee	Final date for new courses to be submitted for Summer 24
22-Apr-24	Executive Committee
6-May-24	Faculty Senate

2-May-24	Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee	Final date for new courses to be submitted for Fall 24
13-May-24	Executive Committee
3-Jun-24	Faculty Senate

Policy Related to Creating, Changing, and Terminating Academic Programs

A uniform, institutional standard for the categorization of all degree programs, majors, minors, areas of emphasis, and undergraduate and graduate certificate programs at current locations currently served by West Virginia University has been developed. The relevant approval processes are implemented through the Curriculum Inventory Management (CIM) system. 

Guidelines Concerning Degree Program Titles and Designations

Approved degree programs at WVU are listed in the WVU Curriculum Matrix, available at http://registrar.wvu.edu/curriculum-matrix. Guidelines were developed to facilitate selection of appropriate degree program titles and designations and to establish principles to maintain uniformity across programs at WVU. Please see the document below for details on guidelines for degree designations at WVU.

Degree Designations Guidelines

Course Offerings and Course Deactivation Policy

The WVU Course Offerings and Course Deactivation Policy outlines the guidelines for course offerings and course deactivations. Please see the document below for details on required course offering frequency and the regulations and process to deactivate a course.

Course Offerings and Course Deactivation  

WVU Subject Code Policy

The WVU Subject Code Policy outlines the process by which new subject codes are created. Please see the document below for details on establishing new subject codes at WVU.

WVU Subject Code Policy