News

Curriculum Management Approval System Project

Work is well underway on the Curriculum Management Approval System (CMAS) Project, which will deliver a seamless flow of course and unit information from approval to publication.

What is changing?

Course approval processes
A series of templates within CMAS will replace the Word templates currently used to manage course approval and related processes. The progress of these templates through the development and approval stages will be managed by workflows within CMAS, removing the need for the circulation of documents via email and/or SharePoint, and substantially improving version control and transparency.

CMAS will be the single source of truth for all course and unit information and will be integrated with other university systems.

Web publication
The content published in the course webpages and the handbook will be drawn directly from CMAS. This process will be both more efficient and more accurate.
CMAS will also store additional marketing and promotional material that sits outside the formal CAARD approval process.

Changes to course pages (course browser)
As part of the project, we are revising the content and layout of the course information on the public website.

Key changes include:

• new visual design
• more comprehensive entry and pathway information for non-school leavers
• extending the unit information to include generic unit outlines, with assessment and topics
• dedicated information pages for Majors/Minors, Specialisations and Sequences
• additional marketing information such as student testimonials, staff profiles, events, etc.

Timelines

Web publication: Handbook and course pages
In August 2020, 2021 course information on the public website and the Handbook will be published using the new system and enhanced design. Data is currently being migrated into CMAS from Banner, the Handbook, existing course pages, course approval documentation and other sources. The project team will be working closely with Schools and Faculties and Student Administration staff to verify and approve this data.

Course approval processes
From August 2020, Faculties will use CMAS for minor course changes. Major changes, new course approvals and course reviews will be managed in CMAS in tandem with existing paper-based processes until the end of the year, as we transition to the new system.

Want to know more?

We will be holding information sessions with the key stakeholder groups across ACU throughout June and July.

If you are interested in attending a briefing session about the project, please email Sue Cole.