CourseLeaf Course Approval Form: It’s Live!

We are pleased to announce that the CourseLeaf course approval form, the first release for Phase 1 of the CourseLeaf Project, went live on August 27, 2025 for main campus. The new form replaces the legacy eCourse system that General Campus has used for course approvals and replaces the paper approvals used by Health Sciences. It streamlines the creation and review of course approval requests for new courses and changes to existing courses.

Quick Overview

You may recall reading about the course approval form in our July article From eCourse to CourseLeaf: A New Chapter in Course Approvals. In case you missed it, as part of Phase 1 of the project, the new course approval form reflects our ongoing efforts to streamline and improve the user experience for faculty and staff involved in course and program approvals. 

The CourseLeaf course approval form has been released to main campus users (general campus, School of Medicine, and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences). Provisioned users can access CourseLeaf at curriculum.ucsd.edu and log in using your SSO credentials to begin submitting course requests. Please refer to the Access and Provisioning One-Pager for more information about access or if you have any trouble logging into the system. 

Division of Extended Studies 

The CourseLeaf course approval form will replace the systems used by Division of Extended Studies (DES) for course approvals. The DES CourseLeaf course approval form is still in the works. More information about when it will go live will be shared when more is known. If you are a DES user and come across the link for CourseLeaf, we ask that you do not use the new course approval form until we provide an update on DES go live. We understand the impact this has to DES users and we sincerely apologize for the delay. 

Preparing for the Change

The release date was shifted from August 13 to August 27, 2025, to allow the project team to address issues identified during final testing and readiness checks. None of these issues were dealbreakers, but needed to be resolved before launch. In preparation for go live, the project team:

• Released an introductory video detailing new features of the form.
• Conducted two live demonstrations on July 24th and August 6th of the form with opportunities for Q&A.
• Created a Resources and Support One-Pager containing training links, office hours, and support channels.
• Provisioned access for all current eCourse users, as well as submitters, reviewers, and approvers from DES, the School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy.
• Created training for the new form that is now available on the Blink training page. 

Transition Considerations

We recognize the pause in course approval submissions placed added pressure on departments and we are pleased that departments can resume submitting new request forms in CourseLeaf. To support timely and equitable processing, we ask that departments and programs thoughtfully and accurately indicate the required effective term when submitting proposals.  

As with any new system, there will be a learning curve, and we anticipate some bumps during rollout. The system is a work in progress and we have enhancements that will be implemented after go-live. We are committed to refining the tool over time, and your feedback is essential. If you encounter issues, please let us know – that’s the most helpful way to support improvement. 

There are multiple ways to share feedback and get assistance, which are summarized in the Resources and Support One-Pager. Please bookmark this document for easy access. 

Our project team is committed to helping our campus colleagues navigate the transition to CourseLeaf. Please be mindful that the team members responsible for reviewing course approvals are also the ones making improvements to the software as issues are identified. We appreciate your understanding as response times may be slow at the start as we all adjust to the new software and manage competing priorities.  

Next Steps

Following the system go live for main campus and DES, the implementation team will closely monitor system performance, address any identified issues, and collect feedback for continuous improvement. 

Following this release, the CourseLeaf team will continue Phase 1 with the implementation of the program approvals. Phase 2 will focus on catalog management (after the new Triton Student System (TSS) goes live) and Phase 3 will introduce program review and assessment.

Stay Informed and Connected

We recommend you check out the top three resources: 

• Training Blink page: Start here to learn more about how to use CourseLeaf and the course approval form. Tip: Bookmark this page for quick reference.
• Resources and Support One-Pager: One stop shop for relevant information, videos, office hours links, training info and where to go for assistance. Tip: Bookmark and reference when you need to know where to go for assistance.
• Access and Provisioning Two-Pager: Detailed information regarding how to access CourseLeaf and resources to turn to if you are unable to log in. Tip: Reference when you first log in and if you have any issues logging into CourseLeaf.

To stay informed of project changes, updates and information we recommend bookmarking and checking out these resources: 

• Join the MS Teams: CourseLeaf Community of Practice to engage with the team and peers.
• Review and bookmark the CourseLeaf Project website for the latest information and updates. 
• Watch the monthly two-minute videos that include a CourseLeaf Project update each month on the ESR SIS Kaltura Channel.
• View the CourseLeaf Playlist project videos that include course approval form demonstration recordings and a short introduction video. 

Remember to email your questions and concerns to courseleaf@ucsd.edu and a team member will respond via SNOW ticket. 

Many Thanks

The Student Information System (SIS) Project sponsor, EVC Elizabeth H. Simmons, along with project governance, the Academic Senate, and numerous campus stakeholders, have been instrumental in bringing CourseLeaf to UC San Diego. Their support and collaboration have been key to achieving this important milestone.

The launch of the course approval form is an important step toward a more efficient and transparent curriculum management process at UC San Diego, and we appreciate the collaboration and feedback from faculty, staff and leadership that made this milestone possible.

Editor's Note: The go-live date for the Division of Extended Studies (DES) has changed. See the CourseLeaf website for the most updated timeline and information.