Procedures for Designating Courses as WQB

It is expected that WQB designations will follow the standard SFU academic governance policies from Unit UCC through to Senate.

New and Re-Certification Requests

1. Department UCC reviews and approves (as applicable) certification forms.
2. Faculty UCC reviews and approves forms.
3. Subcommittees of SCUS will be struck for each type of designation (W, Q, B-Hum, B-Sci, and B-Soc).
   1. Requests for designation are submitted to the committees through the University Curriculum and Institutional Liaison Office (wqb_cert@sfu.ca).
   2. Subcommittees will be responsible for regular reviews of the process of certifying courses. The UCIL Office and the Chair of SCUS (or delegate) will ensure that processes are consistent among the different subcommittees.
   3. The UCIL Office will be responsible for administrative support (pre-populating application forms, organizing subcommittee meetings, communication with SCUS) and for communicating recommendations to the Unit.
4. Subcommittees will make recommendations to SCUS for each designation application.
5. If the Unit does not agree with the recommendation of the subcommittee, they can appeal the decision to the Chair of SCUS.
6. All courses holding a W, Q, or B designation will be reviewed and re-certified on a rolling 5-year basis. The UCIL Office is responsible for coordinating the timelines of reviews.

Designation Removals

1. Memo to remove designation is submitted for review and approval to the Department UCC (if applicable).
2. Faculty UCC reviews and approves.
3. Removal memo is sent to the University Curriculum and Institutional Liaison Office (wqb_cert@sfu.ca) who prepare a single monthly memo to SCUS listing courses and the designation to be removed.
4. SCUS reviews and approves.

Courses with Multiple Designations

Please submit documentation for courses with multiple designations together. This includes requests for new certification, recertification, and removal of one or more designations. Concurrent submission ensures that the Academic Calendar only requires one change per course and is fully up-to-date.

Example: A course currently holds a B-Hum and a W designation. The Unit UCC decides that the course content no longer reflects the B-Hum designation but would like to keep the W designation. The Unit UCC would fill out the recertification form for the W designation and submit a memo requesting removal of the B-Hum designation. Both would be reviewed and approved by the Department UCC and the Faculty UCC. Both are submitted to wqb_cert@sfu.ca concurrently and are subsequently forwarded to SCUS concurrently.

The UCIL Office can be reached via email at ucil@sfu.ca

Appeal Process

When a denial decision is made by the WQB committee, the decision is accompanied by feedback on how to improve the application. The UCC Chair/Associate Dean may then revise and resubmit the WQB form, syllabi, and other supporting documents.

If the recertification appeal is denied a second time, the UCC Chair/Associate Dean may appeal to the Chair of SCUS, who will make the final decision.