Curriculum Change Forms

(Including ECAS Forms)

Proposing a new course or revising an existing course

Forms to use during catalog production years

Note: 2022-23 is a "catalog year."

What is PCAS?

The Program and Curriculum Approval System (PCAS) is a University of Minnesota web-based program used for creating and modifying majors and minors and other degree programs. In most cases, disciplines proposing to change the major or minor requirements should use the Form B to indicate the desired changes. 

Please review the program approval process. Once the changes have been approved through the Curriculum Committee and Campus Assembly, the Division contact person will enter the approved changes into the PCAS system.

PCAS was designed to do three things:

  1. Be a comprehensive database of all the requirements needed to complete each undergraduate degree program offered on the four University of Minnesota campuses.
  2. Be a web-based approval system that automatically routes all new programs, and any changes to existing programs, to the correct approvers and approval levels throughout the University. It replaces the old paper-based program approval process that was used for creation of new majors or minors.
  3. Be a resource for the Graduation Planner, the University's program that supports students' timely progress toward graduation. It includes information about timing of course-taking (i.e., when students must/should take each course in order to graduate in four years). This information is used in Grad Planner to help students plan degree programs.

All University catalogs, both print and online, use data from PCAS. Degree requirements for University majors and minors are automatically generated from PCAS for display in the online catalog and this same information is downloaded as needed for print catalogs.

Login to PCAS System

A University of Minnesota Internet ID and password is required to enter the PCAS system to view current approved programs and proposals awaiting approval.  Anyone with a UMM e-mail account can view PCAS programs.  Only those with special authorization are allowed to create, edit, and/or approve programs.

Login to PCAS

PCAS Tips and UMN Morris Rules

  • Do not include General Education Requirements in PCAS.
  • Update courses in ECAS before working in PCAS.
  • A course must exist in ECAS, but doesn't have to be approved, in order to be used in PCAS.
  • Only one proposal is possible in a major at one time.
  • Time-out in PCAS occurs every 30 minutes—save often.
  • A program can have up to 4 levels of sub-groups.
  • Each plan and sub-plan must have one sample plan in order to "submit."
  • View the Executive Summary on the submit page to see proposed changes.
  • Hitting the Submit button generates an e-mail to the approver.
  • A "plan" can be a major or minor.
  • A "subplan" is an option within a major or minor.  There is a box that asks if the subplan is optional or required (example: an optional subplan is the Honors Program).
  • The Honors Program subplan should be called "Honors."
  • The Secondary Education licensure subplan should be called "Teaching Licensure."

PCAS Steps

Detailed PCAS steps

  1. General Information
  2. Documentation/Narrative Material
  3. Admission Requirements
  4. Program Requirements
  5. Sub-plan/Concentration Requirements
  6. Sample Plan
  7. Checkpoint Chart
  8. Submit

Rules Regarding Current / Future Program Requirements

  • Information about the fields that are updatable within the current program requirements and those updatable for future programs

Course Group / List Examples

  • Examples of PCAS course groupings (and/or relationships) and course lists (courses/credits in a list -- usually electives)

Frequently Asked Questions