Academic Programs, Required Approval
All new undergraduate majors, minors, certificates, and emphases, as well as name changes to existing majors, minors, certificates, and emphases, must be officially approved by both the Educational Policies Committee (EPC) and presented to the Faculty Senate as information only items. New undergraduate majors; new certificates and diplomas; new associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees; and new K-12 school personnel programs must also be approved by both the USU Board of Trustees and the Utah Board of Higher Education. The Utah Board of Higher Education has delegated to the Board of Trustees the following program change proposals: approval of certificates, minors, emphases, and options within existing programs; cancellation of programs; and approval of name changes within existing programs. Therefore, following Board of Trustees approval, these delegated change proposals are submitted to the Utah Board of Higher Education as information only items.
While not specifically stated anywhere within the Utah Board of Higher Education policy, it is assumed that specializations within graduate degrees also come under the authority of the Board of Trustees. In any case, the EPC has given authority for institutional review of graduate degree specializations to the Curriculum Subcommittee.
The Utah Board of Higher Education has designed different templates for each level of approval it requires—action, consent, or information. More specific information is available in the Utah Board of Higher Education Policy Manual R401.
For further information about submission of program proposals, see pages 26-36 of the Handbook for the Curriculum Subcommittee of the Educational Policies Committee of the Faculty Senate at: www.usu.edu/fsenate/epc/curriculum/EPC_CurriculumHandbook5_10_07.pdf
An undergraduate area of emphasis that has not been officially approved should be referred to as an option, concentration, or track.
Academic programs cannot be listed in the online version of the General Catalog until they have completed the approval process, as described above. Also, academic programs must complete the approval process before they can be listed on transcripts or diplomas.
When a new academic program has received final approval by the USU Board of Trustees and/or the Utah Board of Higher Education, the Provost’s Office will officially notify the Registrar’s Office. At that time, the new program will be assigned a four-digit (alpha) program code for USU data management purposes. In consultation with the department having administrative responsibility for a new or renamed major, a CIP code (numeric) will be assigned to the major. The CIP code is used for state and national reporting purposes. These codes must be added to the USU database prior to students enrolling in the new or changed programs. CIP codes are not assigned to minors, emphases, or specializations.
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