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University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Excellence

UHM-1 Form Guide (Add a Course)

Item 1: Course Subject and Number

Enter the appropriate three- or four -letter Banner subject code (e.g., ACC, BIOL) and requested course number, paying attention to the guidelines below. Only course subjects already approved for use at UHM may be used. For information on creating new course subjects, contact OVPAE.

Course Numbering System

Undergraduate Courses (1–499)

1-99Courses not applicable for credit toward a bachelor’s degree
100-199 Introductory courses
200-299 Second-year courses in a sequence or development in a field of study
300-499 Third- and fourth-year courses in a sequence of courses, or first courses in professional curricula. Considered upper-division and count toward the upper-division credit requirement. May be accepted by Graduate Division to fulfill graduate degree requirements (petition may be required

Post-Baccalaureate Courses (500-800)

500-599Courses applicable toward first professional degrees (law, medicine, and nursing) or in-service training programs in education
600-699Graduate courses
700Thesis Research (Master’s Plan A)
701-799Advanced graduate courses (typically doctoral-level)
800Dissertation Research

The following course number types have been reserved for special use: 

  • ~97 &~98: Experimental courses (See Item 4: Experimental Courses section for more information) 
  • ~99: Directed Reading/Research courses 
  • ~L: Labs 
  • ~A: Honors courses (See Item 1: Honors Courses section for more information) 
  • ~B-K, M-U, X-Z: Alpha course sections (See Item 1:Alpha Courses section for more information) 

Whenever possible, retired course numbers should not be reused for a period of at least five years. 

IMPORTANT: Course numbers that are currently being used by another campus in the UH system may not be used by UHM unless the courses are equivalent. (UH course numbers can be checked via the UH Master Course List.

Alpha Courses

Alpha course designations allow an overall topic to be divided into smaller areas and offered as multiple courses. Each alpha should have distinctive content such that a student may earn credit toward the degree for each area taken.

Ex. HIST614 (Alpha) (3) Research in European History. Selected topics for advanced research. (B) ancient; (C) medieval; (D) early modern; (E) modern; (G) intellectual.
  • Alpha options are: B-K, M-U, X-Z. “A” is reserved for Honors courses; “L” is reserved for labs. 
  • Individual alpha course topics must be specified when the course is created. They cannot be decided each semester. 
  • The course titles for the alpha course and each of its alphas must fit the format described in the Item 5: Alpha Course Titles section.  
  • All alphas of an alpha course will share the same catalog description.  Other information (such as number of credits, prerequisites, etc.) may be different for each alpha. 
  • Each alpha is considered to be a separate, unrelated course in Banner. 
  • When referencing alpha courses, always state the specific alpha(s) that you are referring to (e.g., “CRS 
  • 101B”, “CRS 101C”, etc.); do not just state “alpha” (Ex: “CRS 101 (alpha)”).

See also the Item 5: Alpha Course Titles & Item 12: Credit Limits for Alpha Courses sections for more information regarding alpha courses. 

Topics Courses

Topics courses have a focus that changes from semester to semester.

Ex: LIS 693 Special Topics in Librarianship (V) Course reflects interests of visiting and permanent faculty. Topics such as human relations, service to special groups, networks, reprography, etc.

Each semester, departments may ask the Scheduling Office to enter course comments on Class Availability to note the particular topic; however, only the course title will be included on a student’s transcript. Thus, a student repeating a topics course will appear to have taken the same course multiple times. Departments are advised to keep accurate records of the topics covered for each section

Honors Courses (“A” alpha)

Departments should work with the Honors Program regarding honors course offerings (courses with an “A” alpha). Courses and their honors counterparts (e.g., ENG 100 & ENG 100A) share the same course information (course number, credits, description, General Education designation, content, etc.), with the exception that the honors course is more challenging. This should be evident in the course syllabus.  

  • An honors course must have a “regular”, non-honors counterpart. If a course with an honors counterpart is deleted, the honors counterpart will also be deleted. 
  • A course and its honors counterpart will be set as equivalents in Banner so that they are accepted interchangeably toward prerequisite requirements and repeat checking. 
  • When modifying a course with an honors counterpart, changes will be applied to both the “regular” and honors course. 
  • The Honors Program must approve UHM forms involving Honors courses.

Item 2: Effective Term and Year

Courses may be added and updated for each of the three semesters offered at UHM: Fall (FA), Spring (SP), and Summer (SU). Specify the semester and year of the requested change (e.g., SP 2019) on the UHM form. Forms must be submitted according to the deadlines specified in the Deadlines section to be considered for the term requested. 

  • Changes and additions are made in Banner according to the effective term approved on the UHM form. 
  • Because the UHM Catalog website is updated only once a year, changes and additions received after the fall deadline may not appear in the Catalog for the following academic year. Additionally, changes and additions for spring or summer may not appear in the Catalog until the next version is published. Please refer to the Item 18: Information in the UHM Catalog section for more information on Catalog update deadlines.

Item 3: Frequency

Check all boxes that apply to indicate the terms in which the course may be offered. Frequency is included in the UHM Catalog description when the course is taught only in one term (e.g., Spring only) or in alternate years (e.g., Alt. years). Frequency is not included in the Catalog if a course is offered more than once per year. Frequency information is not entered in Banner, except as part of the Catalog description. While departments are free to schedule courses as they choose, they should carefully consider the frequency options that they select, as students may rely on this information for planning purposes.

Item 4: Offering Status

Regular Courses

Regular courses are those offered on a permanent basis at UHM. Most courses fall into this category.     

Experimental Courses

Experimental courses receive approval for two years. At the end of the two-year period, the course must be modified into a regular course using a UHM-2 form, or it will be retired. Deadlines for experimental courses are the same as for other courses, as specified in the Deadlines section. In addition,

  • Experimental courses should be numbered ~97 or ~98.  
  • Experimental courses are not listed in the UHM Catalog. 
  • Experimental courses are not eligible for Foundations, Diversification, or Hawaiian/Second Language designations but may qualify for Focus designations.

Item 5: Course Title

Course titles will be entered exactly as they appear on UHM forms, so it is important to use appropriate punctuation and capitalization. Titles will not be entered into the Catalog or Banner in all capital letters. Diacritical and other punctuation marks that are not included on a standard English keyboard (e.g., macrons/kahakō (ō), accents (é), etc.) will not appear in Banner, course listings in Class Availability, or the online UHM Catalog. Commas, apostrophes, dashes, hyphens, slashes, ampersands, and other symbols with a key on the keyboard are possible. “Online” should not be included in a course title to indicate that the course is offered online. This can be done in the Catalog Description field.  

Two or more courses within the same subject should not share the same title (e.g., PSY 230 and PSY 330 should not have the same title). An exception is for honors courses and their non-honors counterparts (e.g., PSY 100 and PSY 100A).

5a. Full Course Title

The full course title will be displayed in the UHM Catalog and certain screens in MyUH. (MyUH is limited to 99 characters.)

5b. Banner Course Title

The Banner course title will appear on student transcripts and in some areas in MyUH. Banner titles may not exceed 30 characters, including spaces and punctuation.

Alpha Course Titles

Titles for alpha courses should be displayed in the following format: “Overall Full Course Title: area title.” The Overall course title should indicate the overarching topic covered by the course; area title should indicate the special topic area to be covered by the alpha.

Example: CRS 101 (alpha) 
Overall full course title: Contemporary Issues in Ethnic Studies 
– CRS 101B – Contemporary Issues in Ethnic Studies: Hawai‘i 
– CRS 101C – Contemporary Issues in Ethnic Studies: Japan

Banner titles for alpha courses should follow the Overall Course Title: area title format and must also meet the 30-character limit for each alpha course.

Example: CRS 101 (alpha) 
Overall Banner course title: Contemp Iss Ethn Stdies 
– CRS 101B – Contemp Iss Ethn Stdies: HI 
– CRS 101C – Contemp Iss Ethn Stdies: Japan

Item 6: Grade Option

Select all grading options that are acceptable for the course.

  • For mandatory “Credit/No Credit” grading, check only “CR/NC.”
  • Grading options for a course will be listed in the UHM Catalog only when one grading option has been selected. (e.g., if “Letter Grade” is the only grading option selected, “A-F only” will appear after the course description in the Catalog.)
  • “Audit” must be selected as a grading option on the UHM form for students to be able to audit a course. Leave “Audit” unchecked only if auditors are not permitted. An instructor’s signature on an Audit Approval Form will not override UHM forms that were submitted without the audit option selected. According to the UHM Catalog’s “auditors” definition, auditors are generally not allowed in art studio, laboratory science, mathematics, elementary and intermediate Hawaiian and foreign languages, creative writing, English composition, performance courses, or in classes where they might displace credit students.
  • The “Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory” grading option is the only option that may be selected for courses numbered 500, 700, and 800.
  • The “Honors” grading option may be selected only for courses within the School of Medicine.

Item 7: General Education Foundations, Diversification, or Hawaiian/Second Language Designation

Departments may use a UHM form to request approval of a Foundations, Diversification, or Hawaiian/Second Language designation for any regular (not experimental) undergraduate course. Detailed information about each designation can be found on Mānoa’s General Education website. The designations are as follows: 

Foundations Requirements

Written CommunicationFW
Quantitative ReasoningFQ (formerly Symbolic Reasoning, FS)
Global and Multicultural PerspectivesFGA, FGB, or FGC, depending on time period covered

Notes about Foundations Designations

  • Requests for Foundations designations also require that a separate Foundations proposal form be submitted to the General Education Office. See the Teaching Foundations Courses webpage on the General Education website for Foundations Hallmarks, the proposal form, and applicable deadlines. The Foundations proposal form should be submitted to the GEO (gened@hawaii.edu), while the UHM form is submitted to the OVPAE (uhmcrse@hawaii.edu). 
  • Because students must complete their Foundations requirement during their first year, Foundations courses must be at the 100- or 200-level. 
  • Once given a Foundations designation, a course cannot have a Focus or Diversification designation. 
  • Foundations courses are approved for a five-year period. At the end of the period, a renewal request must be submitted to the General Education Office so that the course can be reassessed by the General Education Foundations Board.

Diversification Requirements

ArtsDA
HumanitiesDH
LiteratureDL
Social SciencesDS
Biological SciencesDB
Physical SciencesDP
Laboratory (science)DY

Notes about Diversification Designations

  • The following types of courses are not eligible for Diversification designations: graduate level, experimental, directed reading and research, internship, practicum.
  • Multiple Diversification designations (DB+DY or DP+DY only) may be granted only for courses with an embedded science lab. 
  • Diversification courses are approved for a five-year period. At the end of the period, the course will be reassessed to see if it continues to meet the hallmarks. 

Hawaiian/Second Language (HSL) Requirement

  • Because the requirement is to demonstrate competency at the 202 level, only lower-division courses (100-299) are eligible for an HSL designation.
  • Some colleges/schools have waived or modified this requirement. It is important to check the current policy for a particular college/school. 

General Notes about Gen Ed Designations

  • Focus designations (E, H, O, W) are granted on a section-by-section basis and should not be requested using UHM forms. See the General Education website or contact the General Education Office (gened@hawaii.edu) for more information regarding Focus designations.
  • Cross-listed courses must have the same designation. 
  • Honors courses and their non-honors counterparts must have the same designation. 
  • Changes to a course may result in changes to its existing Foundations, Diversification, or Hawaiian/Second Language designation. 

Experimental courses are not eligible for Foundations, Diversification, or Hawaiian/Second Language designations but may qualify for Focus designations. To request a Focus, see the General Education website or contact the General Education Office (gened@hawaii.edu) for more information. A UHM form is not needed.

Item 8: Blanket Statement(s) Listed in Catalog

Blanket statements are statements that apply to multiple courses from the same course subject (e.g., “The minimum required grade for prerequisites is a grade of C (not C-) or better, unless otherwise specified”). They appear in the UHM Catalog at the beginning of a department’s course listing, or at the beginning of a subsection of courses if it only applies to that subset. Any blanket statement that pertains to the course listed on the form should be listed in item 8, including the applicable blanket statement(s) of cross-listed department(s) if the course is cross-listed. All blanket statements are enforced and should be consistent with the information for each individual course that it covers. Modifications to blanket statements should be made via memo; see the Course Actions page of the OVPAE website for details.

Item 9: Contact Hours

Indicate the total contact hours in a semester (50 minutes of instruction equals one contact hour). For variable credit courses, specify the range of hours per semester.

In general, 15 hours of instruction or 45 hours of lab per semester are required for each credit hour awarded. Contact hours must comply with M5.114—Credit Hour Policy and Review Procedures.

The contact hours along with the type of instruction (“Lecture”, “Lab”, or “Other”) will be displayed in MyUH when a student views the MyUH catalog entry for the course.

Item 10: Number of Credits

Indicate the number of credits to be earned from successfully completing the course. For variable credit courses indicate the range. Do not attach a “V” to the course number (e.g., BIOL 499V) to indicate that a course is variable credit. Course credit hours must comply with M5.114—Credit Hour Policy and Review Procedures.

Item 11: Repeat Limit

The repeat limit is the number of times a course may be repeated for credit. It is designed for variable content courses (e.g., special topics courses, seminars) or skills-based courses (e.g., music, dance). Repeat limits should not be set higher than zero to allow students to re-register for a course in which they have failed to earn the minimum grade needed for major, prerequisite or other requirements. It is enforced at the time of registration. Providing the appropriate repeat limit is important as the University will not provide financial aid for a course that is not listed as repeatable in the course description or for a course that is repeated more than the number of times listed in the course description.

  • If a course may not be repeated, enter “0” for the repeat limit. Do not write “none.”
  • If there is no limit to the number of times a course may be taken, enter “unlimited.”
  • The repeat limit plus 1 should equal the total number of times the course may be taken.

Repeat attempts at a course in which the student previously earned a grade of C- or lower (including NC) will not be counted toward the repeat limit for registration purposes, but may have academic and financial aid implications. For more information, see the Undergraduate Credits and Grades and Graduate Division Grades sections of the UHM Catalog.

Item 12: Credit Limit

The credit limit indicates the maximum number of credits that a student may earn from a particular course. In most cases, the credit limit can be found by multiplying the (number of credits) x (the number of times the course may be taken) ~or~ (the number of credits) x (the repeat limit + 1).

Example: CRS 101 is 3 credits and has a repeat limit of “1.”
Course credit limit = (Number of credits) x (repeat limit +1) => 3 x 2 = 6 credits
  • If a course cannot be repeated, the credit limit should equal the number of credits of the course. (For variable credit courses, see section below.)
  • If there is no credit limit, enter “unlimited.”

Repeat/Credit Limits for Variable Credit Courses

For variable credit courses, the credit limit is not necessarily the (high value for the number of credits) x (repeat limit + 1). It can be lower if the department does not want students to be able to take the maximum number of credits the maximum number of times.

Example: CRS 101 is variable, 3 to 8 credits. The department wants students to be able to take the course up to 4 times (repeat limit = 3), but not to exceed 24 credits. This is acceptable. Students could take the course four times at 6 credits each, three times at 8 credits each, or any other combination that does not exceed the three-time repeat limit or the 24-credit credit limit.

Excess Credits for Variable Credit Courses

Credits cannot be partially awarded or “split” in the event that only a part of the credits for a repeated course exceeds the course’s credit limit. If the credit limit is exceeded by excess credits (e.g., registering for 3 credits, when only 1 credit is needed to meet the credit limit) all credits will be counted as exceeding the credit limit.

Example: CRS 101 is variable, 1-3 credits, repeat limit = 3, credit limit = 10.

A student takes CRS 101 3 times @ 3 credits each for a total of 9 credits. Based on the repeat limit, he can take the course one more time, however if he registers for 2 (or 3) credits for this fourth time, the student will exceed the 10-credit limit. It is not possible to remove only the part of the credits from his fourth attempt that exceeded the credit limit, so all credits from the fourth attempt will be treated as having exceeded the credit limit.

Adjustment of Repeat Limits Entered in Banner for Variable Credit Courses

In order to help prevent students from exceeding the credit limit for a course, for variable credit courses, repeat limits will be adjusted and entered into Banner based on the credit limit and high value for the range of credits (resulting in a lower repeat limit). Students that exceed the repeat limit entered into Banner can request approval from the department, at which time the department can advise the students of the credit limit. Departments do not need to make adjustments to their repeat and credit limits themselves; repeat and credit limits listed on UHM forms should reflect what the department actually wants. Adjustments in Banner, if necessary, will be made by the Registrar’s Office.

Example: CRS 101 is variable, 1 to 5 credits. The department wants students to be able to take the course up to 3 times (repeat limit = 2), but not to exceed 10 credits. The department should enter the requested repeat limit on the UHM form as “2”, and the credit limit as “10.”  When the course is built in Banner, the repeat limit will be adjusted and entered as “1” and the credit limit will be entered as “10.”  Students who already took the course twice can request approvals from the department if they want to take it a third time, at which time the department can advise the students of the credit limit. In the UHM Catalog, it will be listed as repeatable 2 times or up to 10 credits.

Repeat/Credit Limits for Alpha Courses

With each alpha (Ex: CRS 101B, CRS 101C, CRS 101D) treated as a separate course in Banner, repeat and credit limits are enforced for each alpha separately. CRS 101B’s credit limit of “x” in Banner will NOT affect, or be affected by, credits from CRS 101C, CRS 101D, etc.

If departments want repeat/credit limits that take into account different alphas of a course (Ex: repeatable one time in a different alpha), the department will have to enforce the repeat/credit limit during advising or degree audits.

Item 13: Schedule Type

Select the most appropriate Schedule Type based on the definitions. Most courses will require only one Schedule Type. Schedule Type should be reflective of the type of course (lecture, lab, seminar, etc.) and not the mode of delivery. A different field used at the scheduling level will be used to indicate that a course section is delivered online, or hybrid combining in person and online.

Item 14: Co-requisite Course(s)

A co-requisite is a course that must be taken at the same time as another course. Please consider whether a course is better suited as a prerequisite that may be taken concurrently rather than as a co-requisite.

Failure to offer a co-requisite course during a specific semester is not justification for removing the co-requisite requirement on a temporary basis (i.e., without a UHM-2 form). The department must either enter approvals for students or submit a UHM-2 form by the appropriate deadline to remove the co-requisite. Another UHM-2 form would be needed to reinstate the co-requisite in subsequent terms.

Multiple Co-requisites

More than one co-requisite may be listed for a course; however, Banner is unable to accommodate “or” options for co-requisites. (Ex: “Co-req: CRS 123 & 124” is possible, but “CRS 123 or 124” is not.)  An alternative is to state the co-requisites as prerequisites that may be taken concurrently, because prerequisites can be built with “or” options (Ex: Pre: CRS 123 (or concurrent) or CRS 124 (or concurrent)). If the department still wants to proceed with an “or” co-requisite, it will be listed in the Catalog, but will not be enforced by Banner.

Alpha Courses as Co-requisites

If the course you are requesting as a co-requisite is an alpha course (Ex: CRS 101 (alpha)), be sure to specify the alpha that you want as a co-requisite (Ex: CRS 101B). If any alpha will satisfy the co-requisite, Banner will not be able to screen for it because it will be considered an “or” co-requisite (e.g., CRS 101B or CRS 101C or CRS 101D; see explanation above).

Item 15: Class Standing Restrictions

Courses may be restricted to students who meet specific class standing requirements. A student’s class standing can be determined as follows:

  • Freshmen: 0-29 earned semester credit hours
  • Sophomores: 30-59 earned semester credit hours
  • Juniors: 60-89 earned semester credit hours
  • Seniors: 90 or more earned semester credit hours
  • Second Bachelor’s degree students: Treated as seniors for class standing purposes
  • Graduate students: Graduate-level courses numbered 500 and higher are automatically restricted to graduate students; it is not necessary to request graduate-standing only. *

Credit must already have been earned to count toward the class standing calculation; courses are not counted until the grades are “rolled” (officially added to a student’s record by the Registrar’s Office) and the student’s GPA is recalculated.

When a class standing restriction is requested, it is assumed that all higher-class standings will also be acceptable to register unless requested otherwise. (Graduate standing satisfies all undergraduate class standing requirements.)  If you do not wish higher class standings to be included, indicate so by saying “sophomores only”, etc. If any student may enroll in the course, leave this field blank.

*Note: Unclassified students are automatically restricted from courses numbered 500 and 600+. These students will receive a “Degree Restriction” error message during registration and will need approval from the department offering the course.

Level Restrictions

Level restrictions based upon a student’s “level” (undergraduate, graduate, law, or medicine) are automatically applied to certain courses as follows:

  • All courses numbered 500 and above are automatically restricted to graduate, law, and medical students 
  • 500-level courses in the School of Medicine and School of Law are automatically restricted to school of medicine and school of law students, respectively.

Item 16: Major Restrictions

Courses may be restricted to students in specific majors. If item 16a is filled in, item 16b must also be completed. 

16a. Major Restrictions

Enter the major restriction information as you would like it to appear in the Catalog (e.g. Engineering majors). 

16b. Banner Codes of Acceptable Majors

Specify the current 2- to 4-character (alphas or alpha/numeric) Banner major code(s) of the major(s) that should be allowed to enroll in the course (e.g., EE, CE, ME, SE29).  Numeric major codes are no longer valid. Major restrictions can be viewed in the Banner form SCARRES, Major Restrictions field.

Degree Restrictions

Unclassified students are automatically restricted from courses numbered 500 and 600+. These students will receive a “Degree Restriction” error message during registration and will need approval from the department offering the course.

Item 17: Prerequisites

Prerequisites for courses usually consist of a previous course or courses in a related subject and/or the department or instructor’s consent. In Banner terms, “prerequisites” can be built from the following two categories:

  1. UHM courses
  2. Course attributes such as the Core/Graduation Requirements (DS, DB, DL, etc.)

17a. Prerequisite Course(s)

  • Use “ands”, “ors”, and punctuation to indicate relationships between prerequisites. “Ands” and “ors” by themselves, or punctuation by itself is not always sufficient.
Example: Pre: “MATH 101 or BIOL 101 and CHEM 101” is not clear. It could be:
– “MATH 101 or BIOL 101, and CHEM 101” ~OR~
– “MATH 101, or BIOL 101 and CHEM 101”

Punctuation, in addition to the “ands” and ”ors”, is required to effectively communicate the prerequisite requirements in this case.
  • Indicate “or concurrent” after each course that may be taken concurrently. If a course must be taken during the same semester, it should be listed as a co-requisite, not a concurrent prerequisite.
  • The use of higher-numbered courses as prerequisites is generally not allowed.
  • Prerequisites stated in general terms are not enforceable in Banner. Use specific UHM courses as prerequisites, identifying them by their subject and number (Ex: BIOL 101) rather than with descriptive terms (e.g., “College-level biology course”).
  • Graduate-level courses requiring specific undergraduate courses as prerequisites may be problematic for students who completed their undergraduate coursework elsewhere. In these cases, stating prerequisites in terms of general competencies or skills such as “knowledge of…”, “coursework in…”, etc. may be beneficial as the prerequisites will not be built in or enforced by Banner.
  • Stating “or consent” to allow for prerequisite overrides is not necessary. It may be included however, if the department wishes to remind and encourage students to request consent.
  • To require all students to obtain consent, departments may list “consent” on the UHM form, however they must also request Instructor or Departmental Approval Restrictions through the Scheduling Office on a section-by-section and semester-by-semester basis.
  • If a prerequisite course is an alpha course, be sure to indicate the specific alpha that is required.

17b. Minimum Required Grade for Prerequisites

Departments must specify a minimum required grade for prerequisites due to the implementation of automated prerequisite checking. (See the Item 17: Automated Prerequisite Checking section for more information.) Departments that have already implemented automated prerequisite checking should have established a minimum required grade(s) for their prerequisites and may contact the Course Catalog Specialist in the Registrar’s Office with any questions regarding the department’s grade requirement.

In general, requiring grades higher than a “C” (i.e., “C+”, “B-“, etc.) is not recommended for prerequisites for undergraduate courses because students using transfer credits will need to obtain approvals.

Note: The minimum required grade associated with prerequisites is different from grade requirements related to program admission and graduation. The minimum required grade for a prerequisite should reflect the grade necessary for a student to demonstrate competency in a subject in order to advance to the next level.

Combining Different Types of Registration Restrictions with Prerequisites

The different types of registration restrictions available in Banner (major restrictions, class standing restrictions, level restrictions, co-requisites, special approval requirements, and prerequisite checking) function independently of each other. Thus, a requirement such as “Graduate standing or CHEM 300” cannot be enforced by Banner because it involves defining a relationship between two separate and independent functions (level restrictions and prerequisites). If the level restriction and the prerequisite were listed in Banner, both would be enforced. Therefore, a requirement of “Graduate standing and CHEM 300” can be enforced by Banner, whereas a requirement of “Graduate standing or CHEM 300” cannot.

Automated Prerequisite Checking

Departments will be contacted by the Registrar’s Office prior to having their prerequisites enforced by Banner. For more information, please contact the Registrar’s Office.

Item 18: Catalog Description

Enter the description of the course, up to 35 words. Describe the course; do not simply repeat the course title. Indicate the class format (e.g., lecture, studio, seminar, lab, etc.). If the course is composed of several formats, indicate the number of hours for each (e.g., 2 lec, 1 3-hr. lab). List key words from the syllabus and specify if the course is a continuation of another course, if it includes field trips, or other out-of-the-ordinary learning experiences.

The following items should not be listed as part of the Catalog description:

  • Frequency
  • Grading option(s)
  • Repeatability
  • Prerequisites
  • Co-requisites
  • Cross-listed courses
  • Major restrictions
  • Class restrictions
  • General education designation (Catalog description should reflect the designation’s hallmarks.)

These items will be added to the catalog description by the Catalog Office (if applicable) and are not counted towards the word count limit.

The catalog description of the course will appear in the UHM Catalog (except for Experimental and Single-term Courses) and will also be available in Banner, MyUH, and the UHM Class Availability website.

The UHM Catalog

The UHM Catalog is published online each academic year and is uploaded in June. The deadline for updated course information to be included in a Catalog is October 15 of the previous year. UHM forms submitted to OVPAE by this deadline will be included in the next Catalog if the Effective Term noted on the form indicates that it should. The information presented in the online UHM Catalog is the same as what appears in the pdf version of the UHM Catalog of the same year. The online version is NOT updated as UHM forms are received.

Experimental and Single-term Course Descriptions

Experimental and single-term courses do not appear in the UHM Catalog. Their descriptions will be included in their listings in MyUH in case students are interested. Departments are advised to keep their own records of these courses for future reference.

Item 19: Justification

Using a separate sheet, please include the following items in the justification:

  • Rationale for the request.
  • For new courses, indicate the relevant program learning objectives and the institutional learning objectives that this course will cover.
  • Course syllabus specifying student learning objectives for the course. NOTE: For requests to create a course that has an honors counterpart (e.g., SOC 123 and SOC 123A), a separate honors version of the syllabus must also be submitted. Syllabi are not required for “~99” courses.
  • Expected course enrollment.
  • Additional resources (if any) that will be required to teach the course.
  • List of any academic units for which the course is or will be a major or degree requirement.
  • Confirmation of consultation with those academic units, as well as with any other departments and UH campuses that might be impacted by the new course (departments offering one of the prerequisite courses, campuses offering a course with similar course content, etc.)

For alpha courses, the requirements listed above must be addressed for each alpha.

Other approving offices (Colleges, Graduate Division, etc.) may require additional information. Please check with each office for their requirements. See the Contact Information section at the end of these instructions for department contact information.

Item 20: Syllabus Attached

A syllabus is required for all courses except for directed reading/research courses numbered ~99 and retirements. All syllabi should include student learning outcomes. For recommended syllabus guidelines, please see the resource provided on the OVPAE Course Actions webpage. 

Item 21: Cross-listed or Honors Course(s)

Cross-Listed Courses

Cross-listings can include up to three different subject codes that have identical content and information (e.g., course title, description, prerequisites, General Education designation). They offer an opportunity for cross-disciplinary collaboration in a specific content area.

  • A course may be cross-listed with no more than two other courses at a time.
  • In rare cases, cross-listed course numbers may be different, but they should at least be the same level (e.g., 200-level courses should not be cross-listed with 300-level courses).
  • Requirements listed in blanket statements will be applied to all cross-listed courses.
  • Cross-listings must be approved by the cross-listed Department Chair(s) and Dean(s).
  • When submitting your UHM form, please copy the cross-listed department(s) and college(s).

For courses requesting to be cross-listed with SUST, please submit to Institute for Sustainability and Resilience (ISR) at isr@hawaii.edu by October 1 for Summer and Fall and February 15 for Spring. Please refer to the ISR website before completing your cross-listing request: https://manoa.hawaii.edu/isr/curriculum/

To create two (or three) new courses that are to be cross-listed, submit a single UHM-1 form listing one course in Box 1 and the other course(s) in Box 21. All courses will be created based on the one UHM-1 form.

To create a new course that is to be cross-listed with an existing course, a UHM-2 should be used. See the UHM2: Item 9: Cross-­Listed/Honors Course(s) entry in the UHM-2 section for more information on adding or removing cross-listed courses.

Honors Courses

Courses and their honors counterparts share the same course information, with the exception that the honors course is more challenging. This should be evident in the course syllabus.

To create a new course along with an honors counterpart at the same time, submit a single UHM-1 form. List the “regular” course in Box 1 and the honors counterpart course in Box 21. Both courses will be created based on the one UHM-1 form. Two syllabi should be submitted with the form—one for the “regular” course and one for the honors course.

To create an honors counterpart for an existing course, a UHM-2 form should be used. See the UHM 2: Item 9: Cross‐Listed/Honors Course(s) entry in the UHM-2 section for more information on adding or removing cross-listed courses

Item 22: Requested By

The Chair or Director of the department requesting the new course must certify that the student learning objectives for the course are consistent with the learning objectives of each program under which the course is listed and must sign the form before routing it for approval.