New Course Information Form Instructions

If you need to add a new course or change an existing course's offerings, a New Course Information Form (pdf) must be completed in its entirety.
Note: For each New Course submission, complete a New Section Information Form (pdf) to have a section added to the class schedule for a particular term.

Filling out the Form:

New Course or Existing Course

Check the New Course box if the course has never been offered by the department before.
Check the Change to an Existing Course box if you are re-titling or re-numbering a course that has been taught before.

Short Title
Write in the abbreviated title that will appear on a student's transcript (30-character maximum).

Long Title
Write in the ful title of the course as it appears in the Undergraduate or Graduate printed catalog.

Consent
If all sections of the course will more often than not require Department or Instructor consent, circle either Dept or Instructor. Once the section is created for a term, the consent will automatically appear on the section.

About Permission Numbers
Placing a course on Dept or Instructor consent will require a student to obtain a "Permission Number" from either the department or the instructor respectively. The student must enter this number into the online registration system in order to register for the class.
The department generates Permission Numbers. Training exercises on creating permission numbers can be found at https://snap.it.northwestern.edu/p/p.cgi/SES/documentation.html. You will need to log in with your NetID and password.

Grading Basis

This determines the type of grades students may be awarded for the course.
ANC students may receive a letter grade only
PNP (Pass-No Pass) students may receive a P or N only
Student Option (abbreviated OPT) students may register for the class for a grade or pass/fail
SUS (Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory) students may receive only an S or U. (The SUS Grading Basis may only be selected for courses with a 0.00-0.00 designation. See Min/Max Units for more information about SUS grading).

Number of Repeats Allowed for Credit
Specify the number of times a student may take the course and still receive credit towards graduation.

Multiple Enrollment in Term
If the student may take several sections of the class during a single quarter, circle Y. This is often the case for topic courses.

Catalog Number
Write in the number approved by the curricular review committee. This number will usually be four digits with a hyphen separating the last two digits. For example: 101-0.

Subject
Write in the name of the department offering the course. This will appear next to the catalog number on the student's transcript. For example: Aal, Econ, Slavic, Mus Comp, Comm St, Gen Eng, Iems, Edit, etc.

Academic Career
The committee that approved the course determines this.

If the course is not approved for graduate students, the career is undergraduate (UGRD)
If it was approved through the Graduate School Review Committee, the career is the Graduate School (TGS)
Course belonging to Graduate Satellite programs will be approved by the careers: Education Graduate (EDG), Engineering Graduate (ENGG), Journalism Graduate (JRNG), Communication Graduate (SPCG) and Music Graduate (MUSG)

In some cases the career listed will determine which students can enroll in the course. For example, a graduate school student cannot enroll in a UGRD career course without special permission (however undergraduate students are free to register for a TGS course).

Components
Circle the appropriate section type. The primary section for any course is usually the Lecture section. A Discussion or Lab section is an associated section tied to the lecture, which meets independently from the lecture section.

Discussion/Lab Required
Circle Y if the Discussion or Lab is required. This means that students must attend the section and they must register for the section on CAESAR. Discussion and Lab sections are rarely optional.

Course Attributes
These pre-formatted notes that be listed with a course. If the attribute is relevant to all sections for all quarters, write the attribute on this form. If the attribute is more specific to an individual instructor's needs or will only be used for a single quarter, please add the attribute on New Section Information Form (pdf) only.

Note: The attribute will not stop a student from disobeying the attribute. For example, if an attribute says "No P/N," but the grading basis is Student Opt, CAESAR will allow the student to choose the P/N option for this course.

Course Attributes List

General Attributes
1ST CLASS Attendance - 1st class mandatory
CALCULUS - Some calculus required
DISCUSS - Reg for Discussion section required
ENGINEER - Primarily for engineering
PREREQ - Prerequisites apply, see DESCR
SEE DEPT - See Dept for further info
T BOPENED - To be opened if needed

Language Attributes
ENG DISC - Read in language, discuss in English
ENGLISH - Given in English
LANG DISC - Read and discuss in language
PAP ENGL - Discussion, papers and exams in English
PROFNCY - Read, write and speak proficiently
REQ - Specific requirements in language

P/N Restrictions
NO P/N - No P/N option for this section
P/N REQ - Graded P/N
P/N SUGG - P/N suggested, see Dept

WCAS Distribution Requirement Attributes
FORMAL - Formal Studies
HIST STUD - Historical Studies
INTERDEP - Interdisciplinary
LIT FA - Literature and Fine Arts
NATSCI - Natural Sciences
SOCBEH - Social and Behavorial Sciencws
VALUES - Values

Restricional Attributes
DEPT - Dept majors only
ENGG - Engineering students only
FR/SO - Freshmen/sophomore students only
FROSH - Freshmen only
GRAD - Graduate students only
ISP - ISP Students only
JR/SR - Juniors and seniors only
JR/SR/GR - Juniors, seniors and graduate students only
JRS - Juniors only
MITP - MITP students only
MMM - MMM students only
MMSS - MMSS students only
MUSIC - Music majors only
NO FROSH - No freshmen
SR/GRAD - Seniors/graduate students only
SRS - Seniors only