In this section
What is program renewal?
Program renewal is a process of aligning the courses and learning activities in a program (such as a major, minor, specialization, diploma, or certificate), so that students are adequately supported in achieving the program’s overarching learning goals.
In program renewal, we collect and analyze evidence in order to build on the program’s existing strengths, identify possible challenges, and integrate the program’s values and aspects of the discipline the program particularly values or emphasizes.
Our approach
The CTLT approach to program renewal is embedded with three cornerstone beliefs:
- Program renewal cannot follow a prescribed approach. It must be iterative, ongoing, and flexibly tailored to the needs of the program;
- Decisions about program renewal should be evidence-based; and
- The overarching goal of program renewal is to improve student experience and learning.
The CTLT Curriculum and Course Services team can support any aspect of your program’s renewal. We take a customized and flexible approach that responds to the needs of your department or unit. Email us to discuss how we can support your program.
What are the goals of program renewal?
Program renewal provides an opportunity to explore how the courses and learning activities in a program work together and to make coordinated and strategic changes that improve the students’ educational experience.
The goals of program renewal vary from program to program. The Curriculum and Course Services team will work with you to offer a customized approach for the needs of each program.
Objectives may include:
- Reviewing and reimagining the academic direction of the program — by aligning to strategic plans, expanding course offerings in a coordinated way, reviewing capstone opportunities, and exploring opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Understanding and improving student learning experiences — this can include reviewing your prerequisite structure, exploring student pathways through the program, ensuring learning is appropriately scaffolded, and examining whether students have the learning opportunities you want them to have.
- Managing program growth or expansion, or responding to calls for institutional change — such as creating additional minors, or responding to a merger of departments or units.
- Offering greater transparency about your program — this can be clarifying what distinguishes your program from other programs in your discipline or other related disciplines. It can also be offering greater transparency as to the content and the connecting threads between courses, to help ensure a cohesive teaching and learning experience for students and faculty.
- Ensuring that your program prepares your graduates for the next stage of their life — whether that be joining the workforce or seeking further education in your field or another field.
- For accredited programs, ensuring the program meets required standards or competencies, as well as identifying your program’s unique strengths and opportunities.
How does program renewal work?
To begin your program renewal, the Curriculum and Course Services team will seek to understand your goals for the process, determine who should be involved, and gather information to contextualize the department or program’s general perspective on this kind of work.
Through this process, we recommend considering your program from three of perspectives or lenses, including: the broader field or discipline in which it sits, how that discipline is embodied at UBC, and the structure of the program.
Program renewal
Approaches and tools
- Environmental scan of priorities/trends
- Comparator analysis
- Analysis of need, demand, and career pathways
Approaches and tools
- Program vision or identity statement
- Program outcomes
- Signature pedagogies
The courses and program structure
Approaches and tools
- Curriculum mapping
- Core requirements
- Elective structure and options
- Course development
Program renewal
The field and discipline
Approaches and tools
- Environmental scan of priorities/trends
- Comparator analysis
- Analysis of need, demand, and career pathways
The discipline at UBC
Approaches and tools
- Program vision or identity statement
- Program outcomes
- Signature pedagogies
The courses and program structure
Approaches and tools
- Curriculum mapping
- Core requirements
- Elective structure and options
- Course development
Take the next steps on your program’s renewal journey:
Program renewal approaches
Start your program renewal