Overall Guidance
Assigned Course Numbers
Each course must have a separate number. You may not use letter suffixes to differentiate among separate courses except for seminars, special topics, workshops, and other listings in which various options are designated by letters under a single course number (EX: AGRON 5990A - Agricultural Meteorology and AGRON 5990B - Crop Production and Physiology).
The following are reserved numbers:
- 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000 (triple zeroes) – transfer credit that is acceptable credit, but does not have an ISU equivalent.
- 2900 – Independent study
- 3930 – Workshop
- 3980 – Cooperative education
- 4900 – Independent study
- 4930 – Workshop
- 4990 – Undergraduate research, seminars, or senior projects (not completely standardized)
- 5900 – Special topics
- 5930 – Workshop
- 5990 – Creative component
- 6900 – Special or advanced topics
- 6990 – Research
- For the College of Health and Human Sciences: 4170 and 4180 – Student Teaching
- For the College of Engineering: 3970 – Engineering Internship
- For the College of Engineering: 2980 and 4980 – Cooperative Education
- For the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: 4960 – Travel
Please note: Letters are not typically used in place of section numbers. An exception is ANS 4960A, where section related to foreign travel reflect a country’s initials (EX: ANS 4960A-UK - Agricultural Travel Course: International Tour)
Course Descriptions
Be concise when writing your new course descriptions. Provide the reader with an understanding of the general purpose and content of the course, but do not include detailed course content or outlines. Whenever possible, avoid jargon, highly technical terminology, and special symbols. In this description, avoid learning outcomes and phrasing like “this course will” or “students will.”
For example, here is a course description prior to revisions: “This course is designed to equip future educators with the essential knowledge, skills, and strategies to effectively teach mathematics to middle school students (grades 6–8). It integrates critical content areas, including ratios and proportional relationships, expressions and equations, geometry, and statistics, with pedagogical methods tailored to the middle school setting. The course emphasizes understanding adolescent developmental characteristics, implementing effective strategies for learners, and utilizing technology to enhance mathematics instruction.”
And here is a course description after revisions, using the guidelines above: “Knowledge, skills, and strategies to effectively teach mathematics to middle school students (grades 6–8). Critical content areas, including ratios and proportional relationships, expressions and equations, geometry, and statistics, with pedagogical methods tailored to the middle school setting. Emphasis on understanding adolescent developmental characteristics, implementing effective strategies for learners, and utilizing technology to enhance mathematics instruction.”
For more information on how the entered course description is displayed in the Iowa State University catalog, consult the “Sample Course Description” in this how-to guide.
Graduation Restrictions
If there are any graduation restrictions, include them at the end of the course description. For example: “Graduation Restriction: A maximum of 6 credits of [COURSE NAME] may be used toward graduation.” Here is another example from the catalog:
Credits and Contact Hours
Make sure the number of credits for courses is consistent with the number of contact hours and outside assignments. See the catalog’s Information About Courses policy page for more information.
Cross-listed Courses
EX: AGRON 5610/ ANS 5610
All courses that are taught by one department but allow students to earn credit under another department/designator are considered cross-listed. This setup is completed on a single course definition. In the catalog listings, all cross-listed courses should have identical course numbers and descriptions. Complete descriptions will appear under all cross-listed courses, including the cross-listed subjects. The course inventory owner is responsible for the course descriptions and verifying approval with cross-listed departments. Cross-listed departments will be informed when the course description changes via Workday notification.
Dual-listed Courses
EX: POLS 4760 AND POLS 5760
If your department allows either undergraduate or graduate credit for a course, the course can be dual-listed with coordinating course numbers (see example above). New dual-listings must be approved by the Graduate College using the dual-list approval process. If a course is designated as dual-list, the undergraduate and graduate versions must both be offered. Dual-listed courses have two separate course definitions. When submitting these course definitions in Workday, attach the completed dual-list approval form for review by the College Curriculum Committee and the Graduate College Curriculum Committee.
Field Trips
Courses that are primarily comprised of trips will have the instructional format “experiential.” For courses that have brief field trip commitments, add a simple note at the end of the course description. For example: “Identification of important weeds of agricultural, horticultural and native habitats. Principles of plant taxonomy and classification. Field trips.”
Honors
EX: ARCH 2010H
An honors course is denoted by including an H with the course number. Before creating any Honors course, communicate with the University Honors Program.
Instructor Names
Listing the instructor’s name within a course description is not allowed since conditions may change by the time the course is offered.
New Permanent Courses
New permanent courses proposed for the catalog should have been offered experimentally (or be scheduled for experimental offering) by the previous fall semester. The only exception is when there is a new required course for a particular program of study.
New Course Numbers
Do not use 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 for new course numbers. These are reserved for transfer credits. Also see Reusing Old Course Numbers.
New Course Titles
Make new course titles reasonably brief and informative, even to those outside the university. Be mindful of space on transcripts and in the course catalog. Please note that course titles cannot be reused, except in dual-listed course situations.
Prerequisites
All current prerequisites are listed in the Prerequisite Management Inventory tool in Workday. Please review this report to identify prerequisites needed for your course. If you cannot identify an applicable prerequisite, make a request in the comments box on a Workday course submission when making edits. A Registrar Curriculum Management team member will review the request and build the appropriate prerequisite.
Repeatable Courses
Courses that can be taken more than once for credit toward a degree must be noted. It is assumed that 4900, 4990, 5900, 5990, and 6900, and 6990 are repeatable. When editing a course definition, users can select the Repeatable for Additional Credit field and the Allow Concurrent Enrollment field. Review the course definition creation how-to guide for more information.
Reusing Old Course Numbers
You must wait at least four years before reusing an old course number unless you are reinstating a previously dropped course. The Workday report “ISU Active Courses with No Offerings for 5 Years” can be used to identify courses that have fallen out of use. Check with your college curriculum coordinator or a Registrar Curriculum Management team member (registrarcurriculum@iastate.edu) if you need help determining if an old course number can be reused.
Satisfactory-Fail Courses
Courses must be graded on a regular basis unless the course is selected to be offered on satisfactory-fail grading basis. Courses cannot be graded on a regular basis and on a satisfactory-fail basis simultaneously. Exceptions (such as graduate research/ independent study) must be approved by the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee.
Semester Typically Offered (Optional)
Indicate a specific semester only if your department is reasonably sure of its commitment. Do not include semester of offering for seminars, special problems, or special topics. When a specific term of offering is not listed, students should check with the department or use the Find or Register for ISU Course Sections report in Workday.
Courses are listed with even or odd years, if known. If applicable, the semester offered statement should be at the end of the course description, as shown in the example below:
Course Fees
Prior administrative approval is required for charging a fee. Course fees are not listed with courses in the catalog but are listed in Workday. They must be reauthorized for every catalog year. Due dates are listed on the Tuition and Fees page.
Special Grade or Grade Point Restrictions
Do not include new special grade point restrictions of any kind until they have been approved by the appropriate college and university academic standards committees. These restrictions may be placed in the eligibility rules field on the course definition. Check with your college academic standards committee chairperson if you have questions. More information can be found at this link.
Special Topics
EX: HON 3210
Special topics are specifically configured in Workday with one course definition (HON 3210) and multiple special topics. Sections can be configured with any of the special topics listed on the course definitions. For example, course offerings may include sections: HON 3210-01 - University Honors Seminars (Art and Science of PEACE) and HON 3210-02 - University Honors Seminars (Are you what you eat?). All special topic offerings must align with the instructional format listed on the course definition. Contact Registrar Curriculum Management (registrarcurriculum@iastate.edu) if interested in utilizing this option for courses.
Experimental Courses
Deadlines for Review
Fall Semester: June 1 (For courses to be available at the start of fall registration, the new course must be approved in Workday by March 1)
Spring Semester: October 1
Summer Session: March 1
Overview
An experimental course is any course listed in the current version of the Iowa State University Undergraduate and Graduate Courses and Programs (catalog) and identified by an X at the end of the course number (EX: ENGL 1010X).
Setting Up a New Experimental Course
A department must complete a New Permanent or Experimental Course Creation Form prior to the term the experimental course will be offered. The Student Department Partner within a specific department can use the “Create Course” tool in Workday to set up a new course, attaching the creation form, a syllabus rough draft, and any other relevant documentation to the Workday course submission. An email approval from any cross-listed departments associated with the course can also be attached here.
When an experimental course is created, the effective date should be 8/15 of the catalog year the course is first being offered. By default, experimental courses will be initially active for one catalog year, so the last effective date should be exactly one year later – 8/14 of the following year. Departments may choose to recirculate during a future editing cycle.
Approvals in Workday
Once a Student Department Partner submits a new course, a number of individuals must approve the course submission in their Workday inbox. Once all approvals are complete, the course definition will be available in Workday, and course sections may be created.
In Workday, each experimental course requires approval of the following parties. Each party must weigh in before the approval request is sent to the next person on the list.
- Registrar Curriculum Management
- Department curriculum committee chair
- Department curriculum approver (generally the department chair)
- Experimental approver (if applicable)
- College curriculum committee chair
Additionally, the department creating the experimental course in Workday is responsible for reaching out to representatives from any cross-listed departments/programs to gain approval. A copy of an email thread can be attached to a newly created course in Workday during the submission process.
Graduate level courses must also have Graduate College approval. Workday will route the course to the Graduate College for approval if the course is a 5000 or 6000 level offering.
Note that the deadlines cited in this section are Office of the Registrar deadlines. Therefore, departments should take into consideration the time necessary to have the course approved within the college.
Recirculating an Experimental Course
An experimental course may be recirculated from one catalog to the next if the following conditions are satisfied:
- The course title, credits, and description have not changed.
- The experimental course has not been offered more than three times.
- The experimental course was not included in the new catalog.
To recirculate an experimental course, departments may edit a course definition and extend the last available date by one year when submitting course definition changes. To recirculate without any additional changes, please reach out to Registrar Curriculum Management (registrarcurriculum@iastate.edu) with your request. This will allow the course to bypass the typical approval process and speed up the change. When emailing, include “Recirculation” in your headline.
Transition From Experimental Course to Permanent Course
An experimental course may be made permanent after at least one successful offering; different colleges have different expectations before making a course permanent. However, once a course has been offered for three semesters, the course should be made permanent if there is continued interest in offering it. The course must be reviewed by the appropriate college curriculum committee(s). This review is to be of the same depth and thoroughness as the review conducted for courses proposed for inclusion in the catalog. The college committee must in turn inform the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee of its recommendation. If not approved, the course can no longer be offered as experimental.
When submitting an edit to the course definition in Workday, write in the comments section a justification to make an experimental course permanent. Reach out to Registrar Curriculum Management (registrarcurriculum@iastate.edu) if you need assistance with this change.
Prepared by the Office of the Registrar
Last Revised 05/2025