TITLE 5 POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION

CHAPTER 55 PUBLIC POST-SECONDARY EDUCATION GENERAL PROVISIONS

PART 5 COMMON COURSE NUMBERING

5.55.5.1 ISSUING AGENCY: State of New Mexico Higher Education Department, 2044 Galisteo Street, Suite 4, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505, (505) 476-8400.

[5.55.5.1 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.2 SCOPE: The provisions of 5.55.5 NMAC apply to all public higher education institutions operating within and receiving financial support from the state of New Mexico.

[5.55.5.2 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.3 STATUTORY AUTHORITY: Section 9-25-8 NMSA1978 and Section 21-1B-1 et seq. NMSA 1978.

[5.55.5.3 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.4 DURATION: Permanent.

[5.55.5.4 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.5 EFFECTIVE DATE: June 12, 2018, unless a later date is cited at the end of a section.

[5.55.5.5 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.6 OBJECTIVE:

A. Establish and maintain a statewide common course numbering system for all lower division courses.

B. Establish a process by which courses are added, deleted, or reclassified within the common course numbering system.

C. Establish a process by which approved common course descriptions and student learning outcomes are revised.

[5.55.5.6 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.7 DEFINITIONS:

A. “Crosswalk” means a table or database that shows an inventory of equivalent courses offered at multiple institutions.

B. “Department” means the New Mexico higher education department.

C. “Discipline” or “disciplines” means areas of study that have been included within the common course numbering system.

D. “Equivalent course” means a set of lower division courses offered at multiple institutions that have been identified as sharing at least eighty percent of their student learning outcomes and the institutions offering those courses have agreed to adopt the same four letter and four number designation, course title, and course description.

E. “Faculty” means the current members of the faculty at the public higher education institutions operating within and receiving financial support from the state of New Mexico.

F. “Institution” means a public higher education institution operating within and receiving financial support from the state of New Mexico.

G. “Institutional review” means the process by which an institution conducts internal evaluation and approval of new courses, programs or any other matter related to curriculum. The required review process may differ between institutions and is set by each individual institution.

H. “New Mexico common course numbering system” or “common course numbering system” or “NMCCNS” means a statewide numbering system for all lower division college-level courses offered at public higher education institutions in New Mexico.

I. “Unique course” means a lower division course that does not meet the criteria of an equivalent course and is only offered at a single institution.

[5.55.5.7 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.8 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS:

A. All lower division academic courses offered by institutions shall be part of the New Mexico common course numbering system and shall be labeled as either equivalent courses or unique courses. New disciplines, including career technical disciplines, may be added to the common course numbering system after convening of discipline specific faculty to review and identify equivalent courses.

B. The NMCCNS will be available to students as an online crosswalk and each institution shall have a link to the crosswalk on its website beginning August 30, 2018.

C. Beginning August 1, 2019, each lower division course shall adopt a NMCCNS four letter and four number designation. For each commonly numbered course offered by an institution, the common course designation, course description, and course student learning outcomes shall be implemented. Common courses shall be made available to students through course catalogs, student information systems, and websites by August 1, 2019.

D. Identified equivalent courses shall share the following:

(1) a four letter and four number designation;

(2) course title;

(3) course description; and

(4) agreed upon student learning outcomes.

E. The student learning outcomes agreed upon by the faculty committee shall make up at least eighty percent of the total student learning outcomes for each equivalent course. Each equivalent course may have up to twenty percent unique student learning outcomes.

F. A course that is only offered at a single institution shall be assigned a unique designation that is consistent with the NMCCNS that will be used only at the institution that offers the unique course.

G. New courses may be piloted for two semesters before applying for a New Mexico common course number. A pilot course will be assigned a New Mexico common course number that has been reserved for special topics courses.

H. The department shall maintain a database of all lower division college-level courses offered by all institutions. As part of the database, the department shall make available a list of all disciplines, courses, and the following information for each course:

(1) the course four letter and four number designation;

(2) course title;

(3) course description; and

(4) student learning outcomes of the course.

I. Any tribal college or tribal university may participate within the common course numbering system upon execution of a memorandum of understanding with the department expressing its intent to implement the common course numbering system. If a tribal college or university has executed a memorandum of understanding with the department, the tribal college or tribal university shall be considered an institution for purposes of the Subsection F of 5.55.5.7 NMAC.

[5.55.5.8 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.9 NEW MEXICO CURRICULUM AND ARTICULATION COMMITTEE: The department will convene and chair, as a non-voting member, a statewide committee of faculty to advise the department on issues related to articulation and curriculum, such as common course numbering, general education curriculum, meta-majors, transfer modules, or any other matters related to curriculum.

A. The New Mexico curriculum and articulation committee (NMCAC) shall consist of at least one representative from each institution. The representative should also be a member of the institution's curriculum committee.

(1) Each institution will have one vote on matters brought before the committee. In case of a tie vote, the committee chair shall cast the tie-breaking vote.

(2) The NMCAC may form subcommittees upon the request of any committee member. Subcommittees may seek subject matter experts to review or study a specific matter. Subcommittees shall report findings and make recommendations to the NMCAC membership.

B. The NMCAC will meet at least four times during the academic year.

[5.55.5.9 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.10 CHANGES WITHIN THE NEW MEXICO COMMON COURSE NUMBERING SYSTEM:

A. The department shall create and make available change forms to be used by institutions to request the following changes within the common course numbering system:

(1) addition of a course;

(2) removal of a course;

(3) reclassification of a course;

(4) change to course description; and

(5) change to student learning outcomes.

B. The change forms shall be completed and submitted to the department by the institution's chief academic officer or designee only after receiving approval by the chief academic officer. It is the responsibility of the institution to complete all required institutional reviews.

C. If the change form is submitted on or before the deadline published by the department, consideration of the change form shall be placed on the next NMCAC meeting agenda. If the institution submits the change form after the published deadline, consideration of the change form will be postponed until the subsequent NMCAC meeting.

D. The department shall conduct an initial review of the change form to determine whether it has been correctly and fully completed. The department may request additional information from the institution for use in its initial review.

E. The department may determine that the change form does not need to go to the NMCAC. The following actions may be approved by the department and do not require approval by the NMCAC:

(1) an institution proposes the addition of a course and agrees to adopt the four letter and four number designation, course title, course description, and student learning outcomes of an existing equivalent course; or

(2) an institution proposes the addition of a unique course and the institution reports the course title, course description, and learning outcomes of the new unique course to the department.

F. If the department determines that the change form has met the initial review criteria and is required to be reviewed by the NMCAC, the department shall submit the change form and all supporting material to the NMCAC and require that the change form be considered by NMCAC.

G. If the department determines that a change form is not correctly and fully completed, the department shall return the change form to the institution with recommendations as to how deficiencies may be remedied. A change form shall not be presented to the NMCAC until the department has completed initial review and determines that the change form is correctly and fully completed.

H. In reviewing the change form and supporting materials, the NMCAC may request more information from the institution. If additional information is requested, the institution shall submit the additional information by the deadline set by the department. If the additional information is not received by the deadline, consideration of the change form will be postponed to the subsequent NMCAC meeting.

I. The department shall have a representative present during the NMCAC meeting to present the change form. The department shall not make any recommendation to NMCAC regarding the change.

J. A representative from the applicant institution shall be present during the NMCAC meeting and shall be prepared to respond to questions presented by NMCAC members.

K. NMCAC shall consider the change form, any supporting materials, and information presented during its meeting. The chair shall conduct a roll call or written vote. Each institution shall cast a single vote. Based on the majority vote, NMCAC may approve, deny, table, or send the request to a subcommittee for further review. The vote shall be certified by the committee chair and the department shall issue official notice of the NMCAC decisions to all institutions within 10 business days of the meeting.

L. The department shall assign four letter and four number designations, in consultation with registrars from each of New Mexico's higher education sectors. If the department determines that a course is unique, the department shall assign a unique four letter and four number designation that is consistent with the New Mexico common course numbering system to the course without submission to the NMCAC. The department shall issue official notice of the new or reclassified course’s designation to all institutions within 10 business days of assignment.

M. An institution must receive notice of the course’s four letter and four number designation from the department before the institution publishes and makes new or reclassified courses available to students.

N. NMCAC approved changes to a course description or student learning outcomes shall be adopted and published in the next catalog printed by each institution.

O. Institutions shall notify the department if any approved commonly numbered course will no longer be offered at least 30 business days prior to the time the course will no longer be offered.

P. The department shall update the common course numbering system to reflect all changes.

[5.55.5.10 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.11 MAINTENANCE OF THE COMMON COURSE NUMBERING SYSTEM:

A. The department shall be responsible for regular updates to the common course numbering system. The department shall conduct regular maintenance and upkeep of the common course numbering system to ensure the system accurately reflects course offerings.

B. The department shall convene committees of discipline specific faculty to review all of the lower division courses in the discipline on a rotating basis and based on a schedule set by the department, at least every five years. Each discipline committee shall review all of the lower division courses in the discipline and make recommendations to add new courses, remove old courses, reclassify existing courses, and revise the course descriptions and student learning outcomes.

C. Each discipline committee’s recommendations will be sent to the NMCAC and chief academic officers with a request for comment from the appropriate faculty. Faculty comments will be forwarded to the committee to be considered. After the comments have been considered, revised discipline documents will be presented to the NMCAC for approval and sent to the chief academic officers for implementation.

D. Revised course descriptions and student learning outcomes shall be adopted by all institutions by the next publication of the institution’s academic catalog.

[5.55.5.11 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.12 TRANSFER OF COMMONLY NUMBERED COURSES BETWEEN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS IN NEW MEXICO:

A. If a student completes a commonly numbered course at an institution and transfers to another institution, the receiving institution shall accept the course as equivalent to the course with the same number that is offered at the receiving institution.

B. Unique courses that have been assigned a number consistent with the NMCCNS are subject to the transfer policies of the receiving institution.

C. A commonly numbered course shall fulfill degree requirements when it is accepted as an equivalent course that is part of the degree requirements at the receiving institution. A student who has completed commonly numbered courses that are not part of their chosen degree requirements is not exempted from courses requirements for their chosen degree.

[5.55.5.12 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.13 COMPLAINTS RELATED TO THE TRANSFER OF COMMONLY NUMBERED COURSES:

A. Institutions shall establish appropriate policies and practices for receiving and resolving complaints from students or other complainants regarding the transfer of commonly numbered courses. Such policies shall include at least the following components:

(1) Complainants shall be required to first seek resolution of their complaint directly within the institution.

(2) A time frame within which the institution will investigate the complaint and respond to the complainant shall be specified.

(3) The institution shall assure that an impartial party will be involved in consideration of the complaint.

(4) The institution shall assure that no adverse action will be taken against the student or complainant as a result of registering the complaint.

(5) The institution shall identify the department as the agency to be contacted in cases where the complaint remains unresolved.

B. When a student or other complainant contacts the department with a complaint, the department will require that the complaint be submitted in writing. The complaint must include a summary of the process followed by the complainant in an attempt to resolve the complaint through the institution’s internal procedures.

C. Following receipt of a written complaint, the department will contact the relevant institution to ascertain whether or not the complaint is bona fide, that is, whether or not the institution's internal complaint process has been followed sufficiently to warrant filing of the complaint with the department.

D. Upon determination that the complainant has not followed the institution's internal process to a sufficient extent, the department shall refer the complainant to the institution to follow the institution’s complaint procedure.

E. Upon determination that the complaint is bona fide, the department will request a response to the complaint from the institution, summarizing its position and justification for its course of action. Such response shall be provided in writing to the department within 10 business days of receipt by the institution.

F. The department will conduct an analysis of the complaint, considering all information submitted by both parties, and may at its discretion solicit additional information relevant to the complaint. The analysis will be consistent with the general principles and other specifications of 5.55.5 NMAC.

G. The department will render its decision as to the appropriateness of the actions of the parties to each complaint. If a student’s articulation complaint includes commonly numbered courses or courses contained in a meta-major or transfer module and is upheld, the receiving institution shall reimburse the student the complete cost, including tuition, books and fees, of each course the student was required to repeat at the receiving institution.

[5.55.5.13 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

5.55.5.14 REPORTING:

A. An institution shall report annually to the department by August 31.

B. An institution shall report on a form provided by the department.

C. The department shall use the information and data provided by the institutions to prepare its annual report to the legislative finance committee and the governor regarding the status of articulation and transfer, which includes common course numbering, general education, meta-majors, and transfer modules.

[5.55.5.14 NMAC - N, 06/12/2018]

History OF 5.55.5 NMAC:

History of Repealed Material: [RESERVED]