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These terms help differentiate between the participants of a Course Sharing agreement. “Primary” refers to the institution and instructor teaching the course, while “secondary” refers to institutions and instructors from the participating institution that are not teaching the course.  

For example, suppose UMSL is sharing a course with MU. In this case, UMSL is the primary institution and MU is secondary institution. Similarly, the UMSL faculty member is the primary instructor teaching the course to students and grading student work from both UMSL and MU. The MU faculty member is the secondary instructor who is listed as the instructor of record at the secondary institution. The primary instructor is responsible for notifying the secondary instructor when grades have been finalized in Canvas. The secondary instructor can then initiate a process for pulling their students’ grades into their respective student information system.

Intercampus Course Sharing should generally be used to address a well-defined curricular need identified at the department level. In other words, it is designed for collaborations that are intended to be continued on an ongoing basis, that will mutually benefit all participating units and be more efficient than each unit operating independently. Course Sharing is perfectly suited to a scenario in which a campus offers an under-capacity course that another campus would like to, but does not currently, offer. For example: 

• Campus A is developing a new biomedical engineering degree program and offers all the required coursework, except for a couple of courses in biomaterial, which are currently offered by Campus B in an online format. Campus B has been looking for ways to increase enrollment in the biomaterial courses, which have additional capacity. Course Sharin could be used as a long-term solution, enabling Campus A to launch its new degree program with biomaterial coursework, without having to make new investments in course development.  

It is very important for faculty interested in pursuing a Course Sharing agreement to consult with their department chair to ensure it is in line with the needs and objectives of the department and in line with expectations related to faculty workload assignments.  

Cross Campus Enrollment, by contrast, is better for one-off situations and to meet more individualized interests and needs of students that are not broadly shared. For example: 

• A faculty member in your department is interested in expanding access to one of their courses to another university. It’s not clear whether the course will be shared for more than a single semester and, while it will not be detrimental, does not address any significant need identified by the department. Cross Enrollment is better in this case.  
• A student in your department has an interest in a specific area which your department/university doesn’t currently offer coursework in. Cross Enrollment is likely better suited to this case. However, if a significant number of students become interested in this area, Course Sharing may be a better long-term solution. 
• A student in your department has a unique schedule that makes it difficult to enroll in one of their required courses. Cross Enrollment may be better in this case. However, if course scheduling becomes a common issue for students and changes to the existing schedule are not feasible or would not solve the problem, Course Sharing may be a better long-term solution.  

If recommending a student pursue Cross Enrollment, it is very important to recommend that they consult with their academic advisor and a financial aid advisor before doing so. As a faculty member, it is also important for you to do your part to ensure that the recommended course will be accepted by your department toward the students’ degree, as intended.  

Course Sharing agreements are made between academic departments with the consent of the respective department chairs. They can originate from an individual faculty member who sees an opportunity to meet a departmental need, a department chair after reviewing the needs of the department, and/or as part of the process for developing a new academic program and assessing opportunities for intercampus collaboration.  

Course Sharing agreements can originate from an institution currently offering a course that is looking for ways to increase enrollment in the course, or from an institution that does not currently offer a course looking to leverage the respective strengths of another UM university.  

The important first step after an opportunity has been identified is for the relevant faculty and department chairs of the respective universities to meet to discuss the opportunity. Clear communication and aligned expectations are essential for a successful Course Sharing agreement. Questions to consider include but are not limited to: 

1. What course(s) should be shared?  
2. Do both institutions currently offer the course, or only one of the institutions?  
3. What is the goal for each department (e.g., increase enrollment in an underenrolled course, offer a new course to students, address faculty workload issues, offer a course at different time to increase student flexibility, etc.)?  
4. Is the goal for the course(s) to be shared on an ongoing basis? If so, at what cadence (e.g., every fall semester, every semester, every two fall semesters, etc.). 
5. Which faculty member(s) will be involved and what will be their responsibilities? Who will be the primary instructor and who will be the secondary instructor? 

Once two departments have determined that Course Sharing is appropriate and have reached agreement on the details, the primary (teaching) instructor should submit a proposal via the . 

Department chairs are the primary owners of Course Sharing agreements. They should be actively involved in decisions to establish, review, continue, or discontinue Course Sharing agreements based on the programmatic needs of their units.  Chairs should also be involved in assessing how the course contributes on the faculty member’s workload. For instance, it is important for chairs to understand the differences between primary and secondary instructors.  

Primary instructors are the instructors teaching the course to students and grading student work. The secondary instructor is listed as the instructor of record at the secondary institution. The primary instructor is responsible for securely transferring the final grades of students from the secondary institution to the secondary instructor, who then enters the grades into the student information system.  

Chairs are instrumental to ensuring an accurate accounting of faculty contribution to ensure that workload credit is commensurate with the amount of work associated with the course. Clarity regarding such matters should be worked out at the inception of a Course Sharing agreement.