When is the next Flag proposal deadline?
To see our upcoming deadlines, please visit our deadline page
Can I get a list of all the approved Flags for my department? For the whole University?
All course schedulers should have department- or college-level access to the Flag proposal system. This means that when you log in to the proposal system, you should see a blue button at the top of the screen that says “Department” or “College.” Proposal system users now have search capabilities for Flags across the University, but will only be able to see proposal answers for their departments; you will not see cross-listed courses on this list.
If you need access to Flag information for your department or college/school, please email the CSEF and include your EID and the college/school or department for which you need access. You can also ask to be added to the course scheduler email list, which receives updated Flag information regularly.
How long do Flags last?
- Course-level approvals do not expire automatically and are active for 10 years, after which the Flags office may request a new proposal to ensure continuing alignment between the flag criteria and the course. The Flags office will request new proposals with enough lead time to ensure that departments are able to avoid a gap in the flag approval for these courses. If a course with a course-level approval is no longer consistently being taught in line with the flag requirements, departments must reach out to the Flags office to request that the flag approval be deactivated.
- Instructor-level Flags are active for three years from the semester for which they are first approved. For example, a Flag approved for fall 2016 will expire after the fall 2019 semester.
For more information, visit our approval level page.
How will my department know when our instructor-level Flags expire?
The instructor for instructor-level Flag approvals will receive an email notification letting them know it is time to renew their Flag approval. If you need to know when an instructor-level Flag approval will expire, view the proposal and look at the “First Semester Requested”; the approval will expire three years after that semester.
My course is cross-listed with a course that is approved for a Flag. Why isn’t the Flag showing up on my course in Class Manager?
In Class Manager, Flags only appear on the home department’s course. When the Registrar’s Office applies cross-listings (a few weeks after chair’s proof closes), it also applies Flags to cross-listed sections. Flags on cross-listed sections will appear in the online course schedule, and you can contact us to verify that the course will be flagged. If your course should carry a Flag but it’s not appearing in the schedule, please contact us and we’ll work with the Registrar to resolve the issue.
My course should carry a Flag, but it’s not appearing in the course schedule. Or, my course shouldn’t have a Flag, but one appears in the schedule. The course schedule is already live; what should I do?
The policy of the Registrar’s Office is that Flags may not be added to or deleted from existing sections once the online course schedule has been published. If you need to add or remove a Flag once the course schedule has been published, the Registrar’s Office asks that you delete the existing section and re-add it with or without the Flag. When you add the new section, be sure to leave a note in the Course File Update form to indicate that the Flag should be added or removed. In most cases, this will happen automatically, but the note will be necessary in some cases, such as when the Flag was applied to the wrong topic for an instructor-level Flag or when you’re adding a cross-listed section that should carry a Flag.
What should I do if an instructor doesn’t want to teach a Flag during a given semester?
If your department plans to offer a course without the approved Flag for a particular semester, please contact us and include the course’s number, title, unique number, and Constant Section Number (CSN). We’ll create a semester exception for that course, and the Flag will be active again the following semester.
Can I change the faculty contact or instructor for an approved Flag?
If the course contact changes for a course-level Flag approval, contact us with the new contact’s name and EID. We’ll update that information in the Flag proposal system. Instructors can’t be changed for instructor-level Flag approvals, so the new instructor will need to submit a Flag proposal.
If an instructor is no longer teaching a course that carries instructor-level Flag, please contact us so we can cancel the Flag.
My department has courses approved for SWCs. Can you Flag these courses for Writing without instructors submitting proposals?
Because the criteria for Substantial Writing Component (SWC) courses differ from the Writing Flag criteria, you must submit a new proposal in order to have SWC courses flagged for Writing. For information about the Writing Flag guidelines, please review the Writing Flag criteria and interpretation.
How do I Flag a team-taught course? Do all instructors need to be approved for the Flag?
As long as one instructor agrees to be the course contact, the CSEF only needs one proposal for the course. The instructor who applies for the Flag should mention in the proposal that the course is team-taught and include the names of the other instructors.
If you have other questions or suggestions for other items to include in our FAQ, please contact the Center for the Skills & Experience Flags