Development and routing of new undergraduate programs, Assessment

Owned by Nicole Westerfield
Last updated: Oct 10, 2024 by Sarah Montes
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Development and routing of new undergraduate programs (majors/minors/certificates)

If your school or department is considering offering a new academic pathway (degree, major, minor, or certificate program), it must be reviewed and approved through proper institutional processes prior to implementation. The process for approval is stipulated below. These procedures must be followed to ensure compliance with institutional processes, regional accreditation, and federal regulations.

Office of Assessment

See Provost’s Office Guidelines for New Programs

The Office of Academic Affairs approves all new programs before they can be implemented. It is advised to discuss particulars of your new program with the Provost’s Office prior to submitting your proposal to your curriculum committee(s) in the Curriculum Inventory Management System (CIM) Program Admin form. Your dean should be aware of the new program and should have discussed the creation of the program with the Provost in order to ensure you have appropriate support for the curricular additions.

Assessment Procedures

Early Considerations

  • Mission: consider how the proposed offering fits into the mission of the department, School, and University as appropriate.

  • Determination of Need for the Change: consider why the change is needed and how that change is consistent with the university’s mission.

  • Necessary Resources: consider how the new pathway will impact faculty teaching loads, classroom space and/or administrative structures/oversight.

  • Learning Outcomes & Assessment: faculty must determine learning outcomes for the new offering so the curriculum can be aligned with them; so prospective students can know what the skills and knowledge they can expect to gain as a result of the program; and so that assessment work may be developed to ensure the continuous improvement of the offering over time.

NOTE: Learning outcomes must be established and assessment methods must be designed for all academic pathways. Faculty, administrators, and program coordinators are encouraged to contact the Director of Institutional Assessment, for assistance in developing an assessment plan for the new offering (oair@tulane.edu). In all cases, an assessment plan must be developed and completed prior to the establishment of the new academic pathway.

Moving forward, a completed assessment plan/report must be submitted to the Office of Assessment and Institutional Research annually: https://oair.tulane.edu/assessment/academic-programs

 

The following guidelines should be used when establishing the minimum credit hour requirements for a new undergraduate academic pathway:

  • Baccalaureate Degree: A minimum of 120 credit hours are required; some Bachelor’s degrees require more than 120 credit hours.

  • Major: Typically a minimum of 30 credit hours are required for an undergraduate major.

  • Coordinate Major: Typically a minimum of 30 credit hours are required for a coordinate major; a coordinate major cannot be the student’s primary major.

  • New Major Track or Concentration: Minimum credit hours vary for major tracks or concentrations, typically a minimum of 12 credit hours of the major are in the track or concentration.

  • Minor: Typically a minimum of 18 credit hours are required for an undergraduate minor. Credits between a two minors cannot be shared and minor coursework cannot be shared with an undergraduate certificate.

  • Undergraduate Certificate: A minimum of 12 credit hours are required for undergraduate certificates that are earned in conjunction with the undergraduate baccalaureate degree. Only 3 credit hours of the certificate can overlap with the undergraduate major. Credits between a certificate and minor cannot be shared.

The Proposal/Things to Consider

Your new undergraduate program proposal must include the following information, all of which are required fields on the CIM Program Proposal Form

  • Program Name – title of the program

    • Complete name of the program

    • Note: the name of the program that will appear on the student’s transcript must be 30 characters in length or less.

  • Proposed New Field of Study 4-letter Code

    • Consult with the Registrar or the Assessment Office to determine whether or not a 4-letter-code is available.

  • Academic Level

  • Effective Term – term in which the program is expected to launch. All new programs must launch in a fall term, according to the university “Curriculum Effective Term” policy, and proposals should be submitted into the CIM system a minimum of one year prior to the effective term.

    • Carefully consider the anticipated implementation/effective term date. All ensuing actions are timed according to this implementation date. For example, should the new offering require approval by the University’s regional accreditor, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), that process may take up to 9 months. In order to have time to receive all internal and external (if necessary) approvals, the approval process should begin 12 months in advance of the anticipated implementation date.

  • School – List the school or schools that are proposal the program.

  • Department – List the academic department(s) or academic program(s) that are proposing the program. If the program is interdisciplinary (across departments/areas or schools) all heads of these divisions must show support for the new program. If needed, it is advised to have a memo from key faculty showing their support of the program and their wiliness to administer it.

    • Note, if you are proposing a new academic department, a separate CIM New Program Proposal form must be submitted.

  • Degree Type – List the degree type (majors and certificates, only)

    • Note, if you are proposing a new undergraduate degree type, a separate CIM New Program Proposal form must be submitted. New Degree Types must be approved by the Tulane Board as well as SACS.

  • CIP Code – A Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code is a taxonomy of academic programs developed by the US Department of Education that supports the accurate tracking and reporting of fields of study and program completions activity. College and universities across the country assign CIP codes to their academic programs.

  • Minimum GPA required – 2.0 minimum G.P.A. is the standard requirement for bachelor’s programs at Tulane.

  • Minimum credit hours required for academic program

    • List the minimum credit hours required for degree (required for all program proposals except for Coordinate Majors).

  • Justification/Rationale for new program – Provide a detailed explanation that outlines the following:

    • who the program is open to. List the student population the new program is offered to – All NTC students, SoPA students, only school specific cohort, etc.

    • student demand

    • trends in discipline

    • accreditation needs

  • Program Description – Program Description information will populate in the University Catalog’s Overview Tab of your program page. Please add overview text for your program exactly as you'd like it to appear in the catalog.

  • Requirements – List the required core courses for the academic program as well as all additional requirements including courses from other academic programs that will be requirements for the program. List all courses (existing and proposed) along with required number of credits, number of courses at a certain level, sequencing of requirements/courses, electives, etc needed to achieve the degree/award for the new program. If new courses are being proposed, syllabi should be included for the new courses. If there is a specific study plan (e.g. semester-by-semester sequence) for when courses should be taken and offered, include that as well.

    • Requirements will populate in the University Catalog exactly has you enter them into the CIM New Program Proposal form. Along with any pertinent text, please add either a Course List or Plan of Study grid as needed.

    • Note: New courses that will be a part of the new program must be concurrently proposed in the CIM New Course Proposal Form.

  • Explanation of grading schema for the program – Undergraduate grading is called “Standard.”

  • Select mode(s) of delivery and location(s) in which students can complete the program – the coursework for majors for Newcomb-Tulane College (NTC) undergraduate students (Business, and Architecture, Business, Liberal Arts, Public Health, and Science & engineering majors) is generally taught in a traditional in-person classroom model. Options include the following:

    • In-Person

    • Online (Exclusively through online courses)

    • Combination of In-Person and Online

    • Uptown

    • Downtown

    • Other

  • Tuition and Fee Structure

  • Name, title, and contact information for the program coordinator and other contacts for the program

  • Program Learning Outcomes & Planned Assessment Method - see details above

  • Assessment Plan - Review the various templates to complete a successful assessment plan: https://oair.tulane.edu/assessment

 

Other considerations that you may wish to include in supporting documents, uploaded into the CIM New Program Proposal form

  • How will students be admitted to the program? – Who admits students to the new program? Is there an application process? Within NTC, the standard approach is open admission to any student admitted into NTC. SoPA programs may have different admission processes.

  • Affiliated Faculty/Oversight – List the faculty members who will oversee the new program along with their areas of expertise regarding the field of study.

  • Policies – Are there particular policies surrounding your new program? Completion time for program, double counting courses across programs, minimum grades, pre- or co-req requirements, etc.

  • Needs – Are there additional resources needed to offer the new program? Money, faculty, dedicated space, equipment, etc.

  • Core Curriculum Alignment – The Newcomb-Tulane College Core Curriculum includes a minimum of 30 required credits in the degree. Coursework throughout the academic program may carry one or more Core Curriculum attributes. More information on the Core Curriculum can be found here: Academic Catalog: Core Curriculum. New and changed courses can be proposed to carry core attributes through the CIM Course Proposal form. The SoPA Core Curriculum is outlined here: Academic Catalog: Degree Requirements.

Governance Processes

New academic pathways must be reviewed and approved through faculty- based actions that are consistent with the School’s constitution and/or governance structure. Approvals must be documented in writing and in accordance with the School’s constitution and/or governance structure (such as the School’s Curriculum Committee and the School’s Faculty). For pathways that involve more than one School, an approval process that is consistent with the constitutions of all the involved schools is followed and approval from both Deans must be received.

  • For new undergraduate degrees or majors involving two or more units, a proposal must be submitted to the University Senate Committee on Educational Policy (CEP) in accordance with University Senate Bylaws: https://senate.tulane.edu/resources/bylaws

  • For new graduate level pathways, written approval must be received from the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (OGPS) Graduate Council.

Additionally, dual pathways (dual, joint, or combined programs) may also have special accreditation requirements, and the involved departments/schools should contact the Office of Assessment and Institutional Research for guidance (oair@tulane.edu).

(Note that you may submit Committee Meeting Agendas and Minutes to show discussion and approval of new pathways. These agendas and minutes must be uploaded to the CIM Program Form.)

Approval from Accrediting Agencies

After necessary approvals have been received through the institutional channels discussed above, the proposal must be given to Tulane’s liaison to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) for review and possible action in accordance with the SACSCOC Substantive Change Policy.

  • If necessary, a Substantive Change Communication is submitted to SACSCOC by the SACSCOC Liaison with help from the submitting department. In some cases a new offering needing SACSCOC approval may also require approval by the Tulane University Board of Administrators. This is not required for all new pathways.

  • If a Substantive Change Communication is not submitted, the Office of Assessment and Institutional Research will document that action in the University’s Substantive Change log.

The SACSCOC approval may take as long as nine (9) months and cannot be submitted to SACSCOC until the program has been approved through the proper institutional channels.

If the new offering falls under the purview of any other accreditation agencies, those requirements will need to be reviewed as well (i.e. AACSB, NAAB, ABET, CEPH, etc.).

Typical Governance Routing via the Curriculum Inventory Management New Program Proposal Form for new undergraduate academic programs:

1. Registrar Administrative Review

2. Department Chair/Area Head Approval

3. School Curriculum Committee/Faculty Approval

4. School Dean’s Office Approval

5. NTC Curriculum Committee Approval (if open to NTC students)

6. Office of Assessment

7. Provost’s Approval

8. Registrar’s Implementation

Final Implementation

Upon final approval through institutional processes and SACSCOC, if necessary, students may be admitted into the new degree, major, or certificate, and the following steps should be taken to finalize the implementation process:

  • A complete CIM Program Form must complete the CIM workflow process and be returned to the Registrar’s Office to activate tracking of requirements and transcripting of the degree program. This will also begin the process of adding the offering to the University Catalog.

  • Completed CIM Course forms for all new and changed courses in the Program Proposal must complete the CIM workflow process and be returned to the Registrar’s Office to ensure cohesion between the requirements outlined in the program’s requirements and course offerings.

  • The Registrar’s Office notifies the following entities of the final approval of a new program via the CIM Program Form workflow final notification process:

    • Veteran’s Affairs Liaison(s)

    • Office of International and Student Scholars

    • Office of Financial Aid

    • All approvers and committees

    • Academic Advising

    • Undergraduate Dean’s Offices

    • Enrollment Management/Admission

NOTE: For an academic offering to be included in the next academic year’s University Catalog, information will be due to the Registrar’s Office by the end of February semester via the CIM Program form before the program is to be offered. The University Catalog is published on an annual basis, in advance of the start of each academic year. New offerings seeking implementation or start dates other than the Fall semester may be included in a catalog addendum as determined by the SACSCOC Liaison and the University Registrar.

 

Key Contacts

  • Jessica Shedd, Assistant Provost for Assessment & Institutional Research, SACSCOC Liaison

  • Bernice Houle, Director of Assessment

  • Tiera Coston, Director Academic Compliance and Accreditation

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