PROCEDURES FOR PROPOSING NEW GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS
The UNC system and Board of Governors’ policies, procedures and guidelines for establishing new degree programs may be found at:
http://www.northcarolina.edu/aa_planning/degrees/index.htm The internal procedures for UNCW are as follows:
Request for Authorization to Plan a New Master’s or Doctoral Program
A department or program that is contemplating the development of a new graduate degree program should discuss the proposal with the appropriate academic dean(s), the Dean of the Graduate School, and the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs (individually or in concert) prior to preparing any formal documents. If there is consensus that the program should be developed, the Request for Authorization to Plan a New Degree Program for the degree program may be prepared and submitted. This is Appendix A at:
http://www.northcarolina.edu/aa_planning/degrees/index.htm
The document should be simultaneously submitted to the offices of the appropriate academic dean(s) and to the Dean of the Graduate School. With the concurrence of the academic dean(s), the Dean of the Graduate School will transmit the Request to Plan to the Program & Curriculum Committee of the Graduate Council. The Program & Curriculum Committee will present the Request to Plan to the Graduate Council with its recommendation for action. If the Council decides that the Request to Plan should go forward, the Dean of the Graduate School will forward the Request to Plan to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs to be transmitted to UNC General Administration (UNC-GA).
The UNC-GA procedures for requests to plan master’s and doctoral programs differ. Master’s proposals are evaluated solely by UNC-GA. Doctoral proposals are evaluated by the UNC Graduate Council. The processes and time-lines for review and approval are in the appendices at the end of this document.
UNC-GA (and the Educational Planning, Policies and Programs [EPPP] Committee of the Board of Governors [BOG], if required) perform the final review. If approved, the Request for
Authorization to Establish a New Degree Program may be prepared.
Request for Authorization to Establish a New Master’s or Doctoral Program
The document for the second stage of establishing a new graduate program is the Request for Authorization to Establish a New Degree Program (“Request to Establish”); it is the same for master’s and doctoral programs, and is Appendix C at:
The document should be simultaneously submitted to the offices of the appropriate academic dean(s) and to the Dean of the Graduate School. The Request to Establish must contain the full description of the degree program and curriculum. As a rule and in accordance with the 1994 Policy Statement from the Council of Graduate Schools entitled, “Master’s Education: A Guide for Faculty and Administrators”, master’s degree programs require a program of at least 30 semester credit hours. Doctoral programs generally require a minimum of 60 semester credit hours. Proposals for either master’s or doctoral programs must be accompanied by a document delineating the student learning outcomes, means for their assessment, and a narrative statement that clearly differentiates the graduate program from undergraduate programs in the same discipline.
With the concurrence of the academic dean(s), the Dean of the Graduate School will transmit the Request to Establish to the Program & Curriculum Committee of the Graduate Council. The Program & Curriculum Committee will present the Request to Establish to the Graduate Council with its recommendation for action. If the Council decides that the Request to Establish should go forward, the Dean of the Graduate School will forward the Request to Establish to the Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Programs for consideration by the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. With the approval of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, and under the signature of the Chancellor, the Request to Establish will be forward to UNC-GA.
Master’s degree proposals are made available to the UNC Graduate Council for four weeks for review and comments by their campuses. After review of the comments, UNC-GA decides whether or not to recommend the program to the EPPP Committee of the BOG for consideration and thence to the full Board for approval.
Requests to establish doctoral programs are sent to selected external reviewers by UNC-GA. If there are substantive issues raised by the reviewers, the proposal is sent to an ad hoc
subcommittee of the UNC Graduate Council for review. Considering the input of the external reviewers (and subcommittee, if appropriate), UNC-GA decides whether or not to recommend the program to the EPPP Committee of the BOG for consideration and thence to the full Board for approval.
Process for Planning and Establishment of New Baccalaureate Degree Program: Appendix A – Request for Authorization to Plan a New Degree Program
Appendix C – Request for Authorization to Establish a New Degree Program
Appendix A Review Appendix A submitted to GA GA acknowledges receipt within 48 hrs. Within four weeks
GA responds with approval to
move forward with request GA approves and invites submission of
Appendix C
Campus submits Appendix C
within four months
or
GA responds with questions; campus replies within four weeks
Appendix C Review Appendix C submitted to GA GA acknowledges receipt within 48 hrs. Within four weeks GA responds that proposal is
complete Completed Appendix C is posted to Academic
Planning Website for
four weeks for
system-wide review and comments GA reviews comments received Within two weeks GA is prepared to make recommendation to EPPP Committee GA makes recommendation to EPPP Committee or or GA requests information; campus replies
within four weeks
Campus notified of any remaining issues;
campus replies
within four weeks
BOG Action
Upon GA recommendation degree program brought to next
EPPP Committee meeting
Upon EPPP Committee approval degree program brought to next
BOG meeting
BOG acts on
Process for Planning and Establishment of New Masters Degree Program: Appendix A – Request for Authorization to Plan a New Degree Program Appendix C – Request for Authorization to Establish a New Degree Program
Appendix A Review Appendix A submitted to GA GA acknowledges receipt within 48 hrs. Within four weeks
GA responds with approval to
move forward with request GA approves and invites submission of
Appendix C
Campus submits Appendix C
within four months
or
GA responds with questions; campus replies within four weeks
Appendix C Review Appendix C submitted to GA GA acknowledges receipt within 48 hrs. Within four weeks GA responds that proposal is complete Completed Appendix C is forwarded to the UNC Graduate Council for a four-week review
period. Graduate Deans submit their campus comments to GA for information and consideration GA reviews comments received Within two weeks GA is prepared to make recommendation to EPPP Committee GA makes recommendation to EPPP Committee or or GA requests information; campus replies
within four weeks
Campus notified of any remaining issues;
campus replies
within four weeks
BOG Action
Upon GA recommendation degree program brought to next
EPPP Committee meeting
Upon EPPP Committee approval degree program brought to next
BOG meeting
BOG acts on
Process for Planning and Establishment of New Doctoral Degree Program: Appendix A – Request for Authorization to Plan a New Degree Program Appendix C – Request for Authorization to Establish a New Degree Program
Appendix A Review Appendix A submitted to GA GA acknowledges receipt within 48 hrs. Within six weeks GA responds that proposal is complete Completed Appendix A is forwarded to the UNC Graduate Council for review and discussion/vote at the next quarterly Graduate Council meeting Within two weeks
If Council vote is positive and key decision-making criteria are met, GA will authorize permission to plan new doctoral program
GA/EPPP approves and invites submission of Appendix C Campus submits Appendix C within four months or
If Council vote is positive and key decision-making criteria are not clearly met, GA will forward recommendation to EPPP Committee
for consideration and vote
or or
GA requests information; campus replies
within four weeks
If Council vote is negative, campus may revise and re-submit Appendix A;
Campus re-submits within four weeks
Appendix C Review Appendix C submitted to GA GA acknowledges receipt within 48 hrs. Within six weeks GA responds that proposal is complete Completed Appendix C is forwarded by GA to selected external reviewers Within ten weeks External reviews sent to campus / campus notified whether reviews will be sent to Graduate Council Subcommittee Within two weeks GA is prepared to make recommendation to EPPP Committee GA makes recommendation to EPPP Committee or or GA requests information; campus replies
within four weeks
Within four weeks If utilized, Graduate Council Subcommittee will respond to GA BOG Action Upon GA recommendation degree program brought to next
EPPP Committee meeting
Upon EPPP Committee approval degree program brought to next
BOG meeting
BOG acts on
