4 Creating Blanket Agreements

When changes to a course or a program will create a need for numerous student-request proposals, programs are encouraged to submit a blanket agreement (using a Curriculum Change Proposal form). Blanket agreements should clarify for students how new or revised courses will fulfill requirements from earlier catalogs and/or how courses from old catalog will satisfy requirements in the new catalog. Here is an example of a proposed blanket agreement for a course that was converted to 4-credits:

CM3095 is equivalent to CM3090 and substitutes for CM3090 for students in all catalogs prior to 2019-2020 in the following degree programs:

• BA Communication & Media Studies, all options
• BA English, all options
• BS Information Technology
• Minor in Professional Communication
• Minor in Expository Writing

This blanket agreement does two things:

1. in Banner, this blanket agreement establishes equivalency so that a student cannot enroll in (and cannot get credit for) CM3095 if they have already taken CM3090.
2. in DegreeWorks it allows CM3095 to substitute for the degree requirement of CM3090 for students who are in older catalogs.

Also note that the blanket agreement specifies the relevant catalogs and degree programs. When personnel in the Registrar’s Office enter a blanket agreement, they must edit the degree requirements in every instance of the catalog in Degree Works. So they will need to make this change in the Professional Communication option(and the Media Studies option) requirements for catalog years 2018, 2017, 2016, and so on. In order to reduce confusion for the RO, always specify the catalog year and relevant degree programs.

Here’s an example of a blanket might applied to multiple courses:

For current CM students changing TO 2019-20 CATALOG (all options and minors)
OR for CM students remaining in current catalogs after Fall 2019 (all options and minors):

• CM3815 Analyzing Screen Media is equivalent to and substitutes for CM3800 or CM3810
• CM2405 Public Speaking is equivalent to and substitutes for CM2400 Public Speaking 
• CM2775 Media and Cultural Studies is equivalent to and substitutes for CM2770 Introduction to Media and Cultural Studies 
• CM2915 Communication and Leadership is equivalent to and substitutes for  CM2910 Human Communication and Conflict