Curriculum Development and Governance

The CTLR provides support to departments, programs, and faculty in the design, development, evaluation and revision of programs and courses. The team will design tailored workshops to fit your department needs. An Instructional Associate (IA) will also guide you through the VCC governance approval process (VCC Curriculum Committee and Education Council) as outlined in the Curriculum Development and Approval Process Policy.

Curriculum documentation is created and approved through the VCC Governance process. These processes may include the Curriculum Committee,  Education Council (EDCO) and the Board of Governors. The process is supported by the CTLR’s Instructional Associates and usually includes development or updating of curriculum documents, review by other college departments, and then submission to the VCC Curriculum Committee and EDCO for approval.

The following flowcharts provide a high-level overview of the curriculum development governance process:

Refer to the Curriculum Approval Time Frame 2024-revised.v3 for exact submission dates. Submissions received past the required due date may be deferred to the following month. For questions regarding the curriculum approval time frame contact Darija Rabadzija: drabadzija@vcc.ca; ext. 7023.



The CTLR provides templates to help curriculum developers and department leaders. You can also create drafts of these within CourseLeaf, which may save you time:

VCC’s Curriculum Committee has created detailed guidelines to help you as you develop and review your curriculum and complete the required CourseLeaf documentation. You can find the guidelines on the myVCC Curriculum Development Page.


The following policies and procedures support and guide curriculum development at VCC:

  1. Policy 410 - Curriculum Development and Approval;
  2. Policy 413 - Assignment of Credits to Courses;
  3. Policy 412 - Granting of Credentials Procedures;
  4. Policy 404 - Program Advisory Committees;
  5. Policy 403 - Program Review and Renewal;
  6. Policy 407 – Educational Affiliations;
  7. Policy 301 - Admissions;
  8. Policy 302 - Flexible Admissions.

Our Instructional Associates can also assist you with mapping your course. A course map is a detailed outline of your course and an important tool in the course design process.

A course map:

  • Helps you to organize the content of your course for effective teaching and learning;
  • Shows how you will construct and assess each of your course learning outcomes;
  • Helps you to plan how you will deliver your teaching and learning activities;
  • Follows a backward design model that explicitly connects learning outcomes, assessments, teaching and learning activities, and course content.

Additional Resources: