CRCS: Submit a Proposal to Add a Non-Credit Certificate in Curriculum

The Curriculum Review and Consultation system is designed to manage the submission of course and program proposals as well as facilitate the approval process electronically.

This article describes how to create and submit a proposal to add a new Penn State non-credit certificate.

Access the Curriculum Review and Consultation System

To access the Curriculum Review and Consultation system:

1. Visit the CRCS home page.
2. Click the Log On button.
3. If you are not already logged on to a Penn State service using WebAccess, the WebAccess form will display. Enter your Penn State Access Account user ID (e.g., xyz123) and password.
4. Click the Login button. The Home screen will display.

Submit a Proposal to Add a Non-Credit Certificate

To submit a proposal to add a non-credit certificate, from the Home screen:

1. In the top left menu, hover your cursor over Proposals, then select Create Proposal. The Create Proposal screen will display.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Select Proposals, then Create Proposal.
2. From the Degree Level drop-down menu, select Undergraduate.
   NOTE: A non-credit certificate can only be created at the undergraduate level.
3. From the Proposal Type drop-down menu, select NON-credit certificate.
4. From the Action drop-down menu, select ADD.
5. From the Program Type drop-down menu that appears, select Stand Alone.
6. From the College With Curricular Responsibility drop-down menu, select the applicable college.
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   For Proposal Type, select NON-Credit Certificate, and for Action, select ADD.
7. Click Next. The Proposal Initiator and Submitter Form will display.
8. In the Name of Cert field, enter the name of the non-credit certificate.
9. Enter a Short Title of 18 characters or fewer.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
    
   Enter the name of the certificate and a short title.
10. In the Principal Faculty Member(s) section under Name and User ID, enter the faculty member's user ID or name; as you begin to type, as list of suggestions from the Penn State directory will pop up, from which you can select.
11. From the College drop-down menu, if not already filled in, select the faculty member's college.
12. If more than one person should be indicated as a principal faculty member, to the left, click the Insert button to display a new row. Repeat steps 7 and 8 for that person.
13. In the Form Submitters section, by default, the Name and User ID and College information corresponds with the person who is currently logged on. It is important to mention that this information should always be representative of a faculty member; however, a staff member may complete the online forms on behalf of the faculty member.
     
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Enter the User ID, name, and college of the principal faculty member(s) and form submitter (if different).
14. Click Next. The Certificate Outline screen will display.
15. From the Certificate Type drop-down menu, select whether the certificate is Corporate (offered to outside companies), Public (offered by a college), or Both.
16. In the Member(s) in Charge of Program/Degree section under Add Faculty Member, enter the appropriate faculty member's user ID or name; as you begin to type, as list of suggestions from the Penn State directory will pop up, from which you can select. The person's name can be edited, if necessary.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
     
    Begin entering the User ID, then select from the resulting list.
17. Once you select the faculty member, an Additional Faculty Details panel displays, with his/her title, campus, and contact information from the Penn State Directory. You can edit this information as needed.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Review the Additional Faculty Member details provided, and edit as needed.
18. Click the Save button beneath the faculty member details.
19. If more than one faculty member is responsible, in the blank Add Faculty Member form that displays below the first name, repeat the process of adding the next person as described above.
20. Enter a Description of the certificate in the text box provided.
21. Enter the number of Units.
22. From the Unit Measurement Type drop-down menu, select from the following options:
    
    • CEU: continuing education units (usually for medical and educational fields)
    • NOEVM: no evaluation method
    • GRADED_NON_CREDIT: graded with no credit earned
    
    
    
    
    
    
     
    Enter number of units and select unit measurement type.
23. Select the Effective Semester, then the Effective Year.
24. Select the Last Admit Semester, then the Last Admit Year.
25. From the Has Entrance Requirements drop-down menu, select Yes or No.
26. If you selected yes, an Entrance Requirement Description text box displays, in which to specify the entrance requirement.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    If you select yes for Has Entrance Requirements, you must enter an Entrance Requirement Description.
27. From the Academic Unit drop-down menu, select the unit with responsibility for the certificate. The units presented depend upon the college selected on the previous screen.
28. Eligibility for aid is determined by the Registrar/Office of Student Aid. The Eligible for Aid drop-down menu is set to No for a proposal to add a certificate. (If this were a proposal to change an existing certificate, you would have the option to deselect aid eligibility.)
    
    
    
     
    Eligible for Aid field automatically set to No.
29. In the CIP Code field, enter a Classification of Instructional Programs code. To do so, you can use either of the following methods:
    
    • If you know the code, begin to type it; a list will display from which you can select the correct code.
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      Type in a code, then select from the resulting list.
    • Use the search tool. To do so:
      
      1. Click the magnifying glass icon next to the CIP Code field label.
         
         
         
         
         
         Click the magnifying glass icon.
      2. In the pop-up window that displays, select a topic, then a category, then a program from the pull-down menus provided. Once you do so, the code will display in the Your CIP Code is field.
      3. Click the Copy to Form button.
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
         
          
         Once the CIP code displays, click Copy to Form.
30. From the IPEDS Type drop-down menu, select the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System type denoting the anticipated time period for a student to complete the certificate's requirements: less than 1 year, 1 to 2 years, or 2 to 4 years.
    
    
    
    
     
    Select the IPEDS type.
31. In the Offering Campuses section, select the check box for each campus offering the certificate.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Select the offering campuses.
32. Click Next. The Certificate Courses screen will display.
    
    In the following example, the certificate will consist of 12 units. A student must take two required courses of 3 units each, and take two out of four possible elective courses of 3 units each.
33. In the Certificate Courses section, enter the Minimum Units and Maximum Units.
    
    For this example, both the minimum and maximum are 12.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
     
    Enter Minimum Units and Maximum Units.
34. In order for the credit calculator to work properly, all courses that will be added for the certificate must be contained within a group. Click the Insert a group or group connector (puzzle piece) icon. A panel will display with group settings.
    
    For this example, this first group will contain the two required courses totaling 6 units.
35. Leave Begin Group: ( selected in the drop-down menu. In the Units for Group field, enter 6, then select the Save link.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
     
    Enter units for group, then save.
36. Click the Insert a course (book) icon. A panel will display with course settings.
37. Enter the Abbreviation and Number of the first required course. Press the Tab key to automatically populate the Unit Breakdown. From the Connector drop-down menu, select , (AND). Select the Save; Add More link to display a fresh panel with course settings.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Enter course information, select , (AND) as the connector, then select Save; Add More.
38. Enter the Abbreviation and Number of the second required course and press Tab. Select the Save link.
39. To complete the group of required courses, click the Insert a group or group connector (puzzle piece) icon. A panel will display with group settings.
40. From the drop-down menu, select End Group: ). Select the Save link.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
     
    Select End Group: ).
41. For this example, a second group will be created containing the elective courses. Click the Insert a group or group connector (puzzle piece) icon.
42. In the Units for Group field, enter 6. Select the Save link.
43. Click the Insert text (T) icon. A panel with a text area will display.
44. Enter the text Elective Courses (Choose 6 units from the following):, then select the Save link.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
     
    Enter text, then save.
45. Click the Insert a course (book) icon.
46. Enter the Abbreviation and Number of the first elective course and press Tab. From the Connector drop-down menu, select ; (OR). Select the Save; Add More link.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Select ; (OR) as the Connector.
47. Repeat the previous two steps for the remaining three elective courses, selecting Save (not Save; Add More) for the last course.
48. To complete the group of elective courses, click the Insert a group or group connector (puzzle piece) icon. A panel will display with group settings.
49. From the drop-down menu, select End Group: ). Select the Save link.
    
    The completed Certificate Courses section should look like the following image for this example.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Completed Certificate Courses section
50. In the Further Clarification section, enter any non-course requirements for the certificate in the text area provided.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
     
    Enter any non-course requirements.
51. Click Next. The Review By Required Signatories screen will display.
52. Specify the Head of Department, SCCA Representative, and Dean of the College, if not automatically filled in. Enter the User ID or Name of the person; as you begin to type, a list of suggestions from the Penn State directory will pop up, from which you can select.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Specify the Head of Department, SCCS Representative, and Dean of the College.
53. Click Next. The Consultation Request screen will display.
54. In the bottom section under File Upload Tool, from the Context Type drop-down menu, select Prospectus Memo, then enter a File Description. Click Browse, navigate to the prospectus memo file on your local drive and double-click its name, then click the Upload button.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Upload the prospectus memo.
55. You can now send the proposal out for review. There are two different types of review:
    
    • Consultation: Consultation groups may have been created for the college pertaining to the proposed non-credit course. Those groups from whom coordination is required by the college are grayed out and cannot be unchecked. To initiate a consultation, check the box for any additional pertinent consultation group besides those already checked, then click the Submit Request For Consultation button. Select the appropriate consultation group, then click the Submit Request For Consultation button.
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
       
      Select the appropriate consultation group, then click the Submit Request For Consultation button.
      
      NOTE: By default, the request will be sent to all members of the group; however, you can optionally deselect the check box next to a name so that person will not receive a request.
      
      NOTE: Each party included in the Essential/Formal Consultation will be given two weeks to respond. A group/individual consultant is assumed to concur if no response is received within that time.
    • Actual approval process: The Send To Your College Proposal Administrator button is only available once all parties included in the consultation have responded to the proposal. (The faculty submitter and any staff person to whom CRCS rights have been granted to initiate the proposal will receive an email when this has been achieved.) You must also have uploaded the prospectus memo as described in the previous step in order for this button to be available. Once you click the Send To Your College Proposal Administrator button, you will not be able to further edit the proposal.
      
      
      
      
      
      
      Click the Send To Your College Proposal Administrator button.
    NOTE: Once the approval process has started, you will not be able to edit the information in the proposal. The information will be protected until it has been noted that a change is necessary. If you would like to make a change or reset the status of the proposal, you may contact the Faculty Senate at 814-863-1202 and a CRCS administrator will be able to help you.
    
    Some email programs may place the automated email into a recipient's "Junk" folder. If your proposal has not been reviewed by a particular individual you may want to notify them yourself that a review is necessary.