Seven Steps

There are resources available that walk through these steps with future facilitators. Check out Startup Workshops and Developing a Course. Many facilitators have used them in the past and found them quite useful.

The seven steps below usually meet most (not all) departments’ regulations. DeCals belong to the departments in which the faculty sponsors teach and should abide by the departments’ specific rules for student-run courses. For example, some departments may assign a faculty sponsor to the facilitator or require facilitators to fill out a form in addition to the Special Studies 98 and 198 Course Proposal Form . Future facilitators should always consult prospective departments and their websites to get a good understanding of the different protocols as early as possible. You may find their contact information in Department and Policies and Contacts. It also wouldn’t hurt to establish a rapport and good relation with the staff in charge of handling DeCal affairs. Speical Studies 97/197 are courses that require some amount of community service outside the classroom; departments usually have their own internal paperwork that requires the same authorizing signatures as the 98/198 course proposal form. Facilitators should use the departmental paperwork and follow the procedure below to advertise the course on the DeCal website.

According to Regulation A230 and a new initiative adopted by the Academic Senate’s Committee on Courses of Instruction (COCI), proposals for courses to be taught in the fall will be due to COCI one month before the end of summer instruction; proposals for courses to be taught in the spring will be due one month before the last day of fall instruction. Late submissions must be accompanied by a letter from the dean or department chair clearly laying out the reasons for the lateness. COCI will make every effort to work with departments but reserves the authority to revoke approval of individual sections or entire courses that fail to abide by Regulation A230 and COCI procedures. You can read more about this in Timelines and Deadlines.

The COCI deadline for courses facilitated in the Spring 2008 semester is November 13, 2007. Depending on the department, prospective facilitators may need to submit course proposals to departments sponsoring the course up to 3 weeks before that: please consult with the relevant department officials for more information.

1. Print out the Special Studies 98/198 course proposal form. All graduate and undergraduate students can fill out a Special Studies Course Proposal to initiate a DeCal course. Upon the discretion of the sponsoring department and faculty member, almuni and community members may co-facilitate a class with a currently-enrolled UC Berkeley student. The form can be found online. As of September 11, 2006, the form has been updated to be clearer about deadlines, and about who needs to receive a copy of the form!

 

 

2. Develop a syllabus, read the Special Studies student checklist, and know the university policies. Please read the Special Studies course policies and regulations. You can find the document here: http://education.berkeley.edu/specialstudies/student_checklist.pdf. The Academic Senate wrote the checklist to define the responsibility of student-facilitators.  You should make special note of number 8 on the checklist. The Policies Facilitators Should Know page outlines some university policies, not specifically addressed in the checklist, that facilitators need to understand to avoid their infraction, for example course fee, procedure for classroom reservation, copyright law and liability waivers.

 

 

3. Find a faculty sponsor. DeCal suggests contacting potential sponsors via email/phone first before visiting in person. For ways to successfully select, approach and secure a sponsor, visit the Finding a Faculty Sponsor page. We also recommend facilitators to show professors the Sponsoring a Course website so they can understand their responsibilities as the sponsoring faculty of 98/198 courses. It is the responsibility of the chair of each department (or equivalent), subject only to the authority of the Division, to ensure that only regularly appointed officers of instruction holding appropriate instructional titles may have substantial responsibility for the content and conduct of approved courses.

 

 

4. Obtain the signature of the chair of the sponsoring professor’s department. The department chair is responsible for making the final decision of whether or not your course is appropriate for the Berkeley campus. Either drop by the chair’s office, set up an appointment, or give the application to a representative of the chair’s office. Include a copy of your course syllabus.

 

 

5. Meet with the department’s course scheduler to get a classroom and Course Control Numbers and/or Course Entry Codes, access the class roster and learn the grade submission procedure. You can find out the course scheduler for your sponsoring department by calling Classroom Scheduling at 510.642.0313. Facilitator should be ready to submit a copy of the completed Special Studies course proposal form to the scheduler, who will give you the Course Control Numbers (CCN’s) for your course. Some departments can also provide Course Entry Codes (CEC), which is unique for each student and let the facilitator know exactly who is enrolled and prevent problems with leaked CCN’s. For room reservations, we suggest that facilitators come prepared with the days and times for their class and include a rough estimate of the enrollment figure. It is to the facilitators’ advantage to have a list of desired classrooms that meet special requirements, such as audio-visual support (i.e., not all classrooms have a LCD projector to show PowerPoint or a DVD player.) Rooms obtained through the sponsoring department can be requested up to 8 months before the semester begins but must be requested no later than the end of the second week of instruction. This includes changes to current room assignments. Facilitators can also find out from the course scheduler the procedure to submit grades and access the class roster.

    

    

   In some departments, you and your co-facilitators may need to be entered into the Human Resources database. Please ask your scheduler, or stop by your department’s human resources contact, to check if this is the case in your department. Most likely, you will not need to be entered into the database.

 

 

6. Turn in the Special Studies application form to the Academic Senate. Turn in the original Special Studies course proposal form and your syllabus to the Committee on Courses of Instruction, Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate at 320 Stephens Hall, Mail Code 5842 (near the Campanile). Alternatively, you can request that your department scheduler turn in your form to the Academic Senate. Either way, make sure it gets there. Keep one copy of the application for your own records.

 

 

7. To advertise your course on the DeCal website, turn in a copy of your Special Studies form and syllabus to the DeCal office. We are located at 320 Eshelman Hall (near Bancroft & Telegraph). If no one is in the office, slip the papers under the door. When someone from the DeCal student group receives your form, we will e-mail you (using the address provided on the Special Studies form) a username and password for use with our database system. You will be able to update your schedule info online. If you do not receive an e-mail within a few days, feel free to contact us. But please remember, we are students just like you. If you turn in an application near break time it may not be processed for a while.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please call 510.642.9127 or e-mail decalprogram@gmail.com.

Good luck!

Updated September 26, 2006.