Course Proposal Help Files
Begin the CPF application process at Course Proposal on the Yale College Faculty Web site. If you do not have a Yale NetID, follow the prompts to register and continue with creating a CPF.
The author of the form may be (1) the instructor, (2) the director of undergraduate studies (DUS), (3) a proxy assigned by the DUS, or (4) the department chair.
A CPF author must submit the form to a second individual, usually the DUS. (If the DUS is the instructor of a course, the department chair must authorize the CPF.) The DUS reviews the CPF, edits it, and completes the DUS section. The DUS then submits the CPF to either the Course of Study Committee (CSC, for academic-year course offerings) or the Summer Session Director (SSD, for summer session courses). The CPF is also submitted to the Distributional Committee Chair (DCC) for distributional designation approval, if appropriate. See specific steps below, under How Does the CPF Process Work?
The Course Proposal Form system may be used by anyone who has aYale Net ID. Instructors outside the University may log in through the ACAS system.
How Does the CPF Process Work?
The steps of the CPF process are outlined below. Note the differences for summer course offerings:
Academic-Year Courses
1. CPF author fills out the form and submits it to the director of undergraduate studies (DUS)
2. For multiple-titled courses, secondary DUS records approval of CPF
3. Primary DUS or department chair reviews and edits the CPF, adds distributional designations if appropriate, and submits the proposal to the Course of Study Committee (CSC)
4. If the DUS selected distributional designations before submitting the proposal to the CSC, the proposal is automatically forwarded to the appropriate Distributional Committee Chair (DCC)
5. The CSC and any relevant DCCs review and approve the CPF
6. The Yale College Faculty gives final approvalSummer Session Courses
1. CPF author fills out the form and submits it to the director of undergraduate studies (DUS)
2. The DUS assigns a course number for the course; CPF author may not do so
3. For multiple-titled courses, secondary DUS records approval of CPF
4. Primary DUS or department chair reviews and edits the CPF, adds distributional designations if appropriate, and submits the CPF to the Summer Session Director (SSD)
5. The SSD submits the proposal to the CSC. If the DUS or SSD selected distributional designations, the proposal is automatically forwarded to the appropriate Distributional Committee Chair (DCC)6. The CSC and any relevant DCCs review and approve the CPF
7. The Yale College Faculty gives final approval
What Is Different about Summer Session CPFs?
1. All courses not previously taught in the summer must be submitted, even those that were taught before in the spring or fall
2. All summer CPFs are reviewed by the Summer Session Director (SSD). The Summer Session CPF routing is: Instructor > DUS > SSD > CSC and DCC
3. Only the DUS may assign a course number; the instructor may not do so. Summer courses carry a prefix "S" before the course number
4. Some items that appear on the CPF for academic-year courses are not included in the Summer Session CPF because some options do not apply to summer courses. Instructors should complete the CPF by filling out all the choices as they appear on the form.
When you log onto the CPF system, the first screen you see is the Main Menu page. This screen displays a list of CPFs associated with all your designated roles. The drop-down menu Type of Course allows you to choose between submitting a course for the Academic Year or for Summer Session. Your roles determine your level of access to any individual CPF. You may have multiple roles within the system if, for example, you are both an author of one or more CPFs and a DUS. You may view all CPFs associated with you by selecting All Roles from the View Course Proposal Forms for: drop-down list. If you have multiple roles, you may see multiple listings of individual course proposals, one for each role. If you want to view the CPFs associated with only one of your roles, select that role from the drop-down list.
Depending on your authorization, you may be able to View or Edit individual CPFs, as shown by the yellow buttons toward the right of the Main Menu screen. By clicking on those buttons you will both access the first page of the CPF and assume your determined role.
The Main Menu page also lists the current approval status of the CPFs associated with you. You may consult this page at any time to check the status of your proposed courses or to begin filling out a new CPF.
What Is the "S" Before a Course Number in the Main Menu?
The "S" denotes a Summer Session course. It is added automatically when Summer Session is selected under Create New Course Proposal .
How Do I Create a New Course Proposal Form?
To begin the process of submitting a CPF, click the Create New Course Proposal button on the menu bar. Select either Yale College - Academic Year or Summer Session from the drop-down list. A blank CPF appears into which you may type information for the new course.
If you need assistance or a detailed explanation of any of the CPF sections on the first screen, click on CPF Page 1 at the top of this window. After filling in the course data, click Page Two on the top or bottom menu bar and fill in the brief and expanded descriptions and the information concerning coursework. When you have completed the form, select Submit on the menu bar. A pop-up window will appear, warning that no further changes to the CPF will be permitted after it is submitted. If you think you may need to make additional revisions, click Cancel and select Save For Later on the menu bar. You may, of course, choose Save For Later at any time if you wish to save a draft of the CPF.
If you wish to print a CPF, export the document from the CPF program and print the resulting file as follows:
Click Print at the right-hand side of the menu bar. (If you wish to print more than one CPF at a time, you may select multiple boxes from the Main Menu screen.) You will be asked whether you wish to include attachments in your printout (e.g., CV and syllabus). If you have selected more than one course to print at this time, this attachment question will apply to all the selected courses. Answer Yes or No, then click Print again.
The CPF document will download to your desktop as a PDF file. If you have selected multiple CPFs to print, they will download in a single folder on your desktop.
If necessary, open the file by double-clicking on it. The file should open in Adobe Acrobat Reader. Select Print from the File drop-down menu.
If you double-click on the PDF file on your desktop and see garbled, illegible text, it probably means that the file is not opening automatically in Adobe Acrobat Reader, and you will have to open the files manually through Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Go to your Applications folder and open Adobe Acrobat Reader. Then go to the File menu and select Open. A dialog box should appear. Select the PDF file you wish to view and click Open. The file should open on your desktop as a readable PDF document. Go to the File menu and select Print.
If you wish to print a copy of the CPF while working on the document, click Save For Later in the menu bar. Then click Print and follow the directions above.
