Barnard College Barnard College
Teaching & Curriculum

Proposing or Changing a Course

If you need assistance with determining which of the Foundations: Modes of Thinking best fits your course, view information on the Foundations Curriculum.  For any points-related questions, please see the Columbia College and School of General Studies "Guidance on Course Points" page.

Using CIM

Instructors and Department Assistants/Administrators can log into Course Inventory Management (CIM). Once logged in, a user can choose to change an existing course or to propose a new course. Once submitted, new course proposals will go to the COI through workflow and will be reviewed on the usual COI timeline. Feedback will be given via email, but all requested revisions to the online form and syllabus should be made through CIM.

CIM divides course changes into two types, substantive and non-substantive. When a non-substantive change is submitted, it will take effect immediately; when a substantive change is submitted, the change will go to the COI through CIM workflow and will be reviewed on the usual COI timeline.

New Course Proposals

All new proposed courses must be submitted to the COI through CIM (see above). If you have questions about using CIM, please contact your department assistant or administrator. A syllabus must be attached to the online new course proposal form. Proposals must be submitted by Friday, September 27 for Spring 2020 courses and Friday, February 7 for Fall 2020 courses. Please contact the Office of the Provost (Saskia Hamilton shamilto@barnard.edu or LaShawn Keyser lkeyser@barnard.edu) with any questions.

Every course is required to have a syllabus. When crafting your syllabus, please refer to the COI's "Guidelines for Syllabi" for recommended style and content suggestions. The syllabus should contain the following information:

  • instructor's office hours and contact information
  • required readings, including reading lengths (in page numbers or ranges)
  • course requirements (e.g. exams, papers, book reviews) and relevant due dates
  • guidelines for assignments, including the degree to which collaboration is allowed
  • criteria for course grade
  • expectations regarding participation, which includes attendance
  • student learning outcomes
  • inclusion of the Honor Code; listing what constitutes plagiarism is recommended
  • inclusion of the Wellness Statement 
  • inclusion of the Center for Accessibility Resources & Disability Services Statement 
  • inclusion of the Affordable Access to Course Texts Statement


New courses recommended by the COI must be approved by a majority vote of the Faculty before they may be included in the online catalogue or scheduled. It is the responsibility of the department proposing a 4000 level course to see it is approved by the Graduate School of Arts & Sciences COI, as appropriate.

Other Curricular Changes

Any of the following changes in a course after it was approved by the Committee on Instruction and the Faculty must be resubmitted to the Committee through CIM:

  • student learning outcomes
  • course points or course type
  • number of class hours
  • department, subject area code, prefix, number, or course title
  • general education requirement (GER) designation
  • substantial alterations in course requirements

If a student reaches out to you to appeal a course for a general education requirement, direct the student to the Curriculum page under "How to Request a Course to Fulfill a GER."

If you would like to make a change to your major or minor, view the Change in Major/Minor form to submit to COI.