Section 400: Academic Affairs

Effective: February 1, 1980
Revised: August 2016, August 2025
Last Review: August 2015
Next Review: August 2027
Responsible Party: Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Policy

This policy provides MSU-Northern’s requirements and standards   for the approval of special topics courses (i.e., courses numbered 191,291, 391, 491, or 591).

Guidelines

Faculty are encouraged to develop new courses that enhance the student learning experience. These courses may initially be introduced to students through the course schedule under “Special Topics”. Each special topic course may only be offered 3 times before it must be formally subject to the MSU-Northern curriculum approval process (submitted through the College, Academic Senate, and approved by the Board of Regents as an official course). If approved, the course may continue to be offered under its approved designation.

Special Topic Undergraduate Courses.

  1. The catalog numbers reserved for special topics or experimental courses are: 191, 291, 391 and 491. Faculty who wish to offer a special topics course in order to experiment with a new subject matter, meet demands voiced by the community, enhance offerings for increased workforce preparedness, and the like, will use these numbers in course scheduling.
  2. Approval to offer a special topics course must be secured from the Office of the Provost/Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs before it appears in the schedule of classes. Requests for approval require all pertinent data about the course such as a description of the course content, the number of credit hours, the reason for the offering, and evidence of appropriate instructor credentials (if requested). Subsequent approval for the same course must be secured from the appropriate College Dean.
  3. A special topics course may be offered for a maximum of two consecutive semesters. If this occurs, the course must be evaluated by the Academic Senate during the second semester in which it is offered for possible inclusion in the regular departmental curriculum, after which standard procedures for the approval of new courses is to be followed.
  4. No program area may offer more than two special topics courses in any one semester as standard practice (with the exception of Continuing Education and Summer Session).
  5. Colleges may not offer special topics courses which have been disapproved by the Academic Senate, nor those involving a subject matter which infringes on or duplicates the offerings of other departments.

Special Topic Graduate Courses.

  1. Graduate courses carrying the 591 designation can be comparable to undergraduate 391 or 491 courses in subject matter. However, these courses are taught at an enhanced level of rigor and required analysis and may contain expanded content and/or a research component. This number is to be used for graduate level courses that are experimental in nature or for those courses that are known as "Special Topics" and cover themes that vary from academic semester to academic semester or professor to professor.
  2. Program areas wishing to offer courses with a 591 designation must submit their request through regular college channels and to the Dean of the College in advance of the publishing deadlines for the schedule of classes. Approvals to offer such courses are for "one time only"; additional approvals will be expected for repeated offerings.