The Course of Study Committee approves approximately 375 new courses every year. In order to help your faculty through the course proposal process it is helpful to provide guidance. There are policies and guidelines based on the Committee's goal to provide consistency and equity in the quality and rigor of a Yale College course.

Course proposals are most successful in Committee review if they are complete at the time of submission. Remember the following:

• The title and a brief description (200 words or less) of the course.
• Fill in the Coursework table completely. Click on the green + sign to add more lines to the table. Include the approximate page count for all written work in the chart.
• Instructors should assign no more than 20–25 pages of formal writing assignments. Informal assignments, such as weekly reading responses, blog posts, or creative writing assignments are not included in the total formal writing page count.
• Make sure there is graded coursework due before the end of week seven. Allow time for grading and providing students with feedback before Friday of week seven.
• Request cross-listing approvals, graduate numbers, and distributional designations at the time of submission.
• Attach a provisional syllabus. The syllabus should include at minimum: course description and objectives, readings, assignments, and grading requirements.
• Participation may be worth no more than 20% of the final grade.
• No single assignment may be worth more than 50% of the final grade. It is often suggested that a substantial assignment worth 50% of the grade and often due at the end of the term should be broken into at least two assignments (such as an outline, a draft, or a presentation in addition to the final essay/project) to minimize the weight of such an assignment due at the end of the term.