Baccalaureate and Master’s Degree Procedures
Criteria and Procedures for New Programs
Criteria for the Evaluation of Bachelor’s and Master’s Program Proposals
The Office of Academic Affairs expects that each program proposal will:
Demonstrate the programmatic need at the state, regional and/or national level.
Provide evidence that program graduates will be regionally/nationally competitive, as appropriate to mission and demonstrate that the program will provide outstanding contributions to Georgia and be competitive with the best programs in the nation.
Identify outcomes for students who complete the proposed program (i.e., knowledge skills, values and competencies to be demonstrated by graduates, career opportunities).
Demonstrate full financial program support through institutional commitment of resources sufficient to guarantee program excellence. Include the program’s/institution’s ability to obtain external resources.
Identify highly qualified program faculty, who cover an array of subspecialties in their discipline or area, and enough full-time faculty to assure that the program will not be built on part-time or temporary faculty.
Show, where appropriate, plans are in place for students to experience practica, internships, and clinical placements.
Show how the proposing institution will help students complete their degrees in a timely manner.
Demonstrate adequacy of core offerings in support of a new program proposal.
Demonstrate that the program will attain accreditation in a reasonable time if it is in a discipline or an area in which specialized or professional accreditation is available.
Provide evidence of the institutional resources that will be expended specifically for this program (i.e., personnel, library, equipment, laboratories, supplies & expenses, capital expenditures and other) at two critical times: a) program start-up, b) at the time of the program’s first comprehensive program review.
Process for the Review of Bachelor’s and/or Master’s Program Proposals
The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia’s purpose in reviewing proposed new programs is to examine the new program proposal in the context of the Board of Regents/ University System of Georgia academic operations, state needs, and the USG strategic plan. A primary goal of the Board of Regents/ University System of Georgia is to offer high quality educational opportunities for the citizens of Georgia. With this goal in mind, new bachelor’s and master’s program proposals should use the process defined below. The process involves two stages: a letter of intent (e.g., preliminary proposal) and a formal proposal.
Step One: Letter of Intent
The institution’s purpose for writing a letter of intent is to alert the Board of Regents/University System of Georgia and System institutions of new program development at the institutional level. This submitted letter of intent should address the following issues and may submitted electronically or in hard copy format:
Programmatic information – name, classification, CIP Code. Ensure that degree nomenclature is aligned with national, regional, and state norms as well as accrediting body prerequisites, where applicable, for the discipline with due consideration for accurate representation of the program content, facilitation of promotion and marketing, and consistency with nomenclature of similar degrees.
Description and Objective of the Degree – one page abstract suitable for presentation to the Board of Regents.
Program fit to institutional mission and to nationally accepted trends in the discipline.
Program proposal demonstrates demand and justification in discipline/geographic region/state/nation and is not unnecessary program duplication.
Institutional resources that will be expended specifically for this program i.e. personnel, library, equipment, laboratories, supplies & expenses, capital expenditures and other - at two critical times: a) program start-up, b) when the program undergoes its first comprehensive program review.
Review by the Board of Regents/University System of Georgia
The letter of intent will be posted on the web site for informational and institutional feedback by the Office of Academic Programs. The Board of Regents/University System of Georgia review will be based upon the aforementioned criteria for evaluation of bachelor’s and/or master’s programs. An approved letter of intent is required before a formal proposal can be submitted for review.
STEP TWO: Formal Proposal
A formal proposal will be developed and submitted after approval for a letter of intent has been garnered by the institution from the Office of Academic Programs. The formal proposal should address the following issues and may be submitted electronically or in hard copy format:
Basic information: Name of institution, institutional contact (President or Vice President of Academic Affairs), institutional contact for program, school/office, department, name of proposed program, degree, degree inscription, major, CIP code, anticipated starting date.
Ensure that degree nomenclature is aligned with national, regional, and state norms and accreditation, where applicable, for the discipline with due consideration for accurate representation of program content, facilitation of promotion and marketing, and consistency with the nomenclature of similar degrees.
Curriculum.
Student admissions criteria.
Availability of assistantships (if appropriate), provisions to assist students who transfer in or out of this program degree.
Anticipated student learning and other outcomes for students who complete the proposed program.
Administration.
Accreditation.
Projected enrollment, Revenues and expenditures for the first three years.
Facilities implications of the proposed program
Inventory of faculty directly involved. For each faculty member, give the following data: name, rank, highest degree, degrees earned, academic discipline, current workload for a typical semester, explanation of how workload will be impacted with the addition of the proposed program; expected responsibilities in the proposed program. If it will be necessary to add faculty in order to begin the program, give the desired qualifications of the persons to be added, with a timetable for adding new faculty and plan for funding new positions.
Review by System Office of the Board of Regents, University System of Georgia
Upon receipt at the System Office, the new program proposal will be posted on the web site for information and institutional feedback. The system office review is based on the criteria for evaluation. The Office of Academic Programs will also consult the appropriate Regents Advisory Committee (disciplinary committee) for additional review of the curriculum. The program review staff will make a recommendation regarding acceptance of the proposal to the University System Chief Academic Officer & Executive Vice Chancellor.
System-wide Review
As part of the process for reviewing letter of intent and formal proposals, the Office of Academic Affairs will disseminate to all University System of Georgia institutions, on a regular basis, a list of program proposals under consideration, and will invite interested parties to request a copy of the proposal for review and comment. Information received through this process will be considered in evaluating the proposal.
Follow-up Review
Should the program be approved, it will, during its seventh year of operation, undergo a review by the University System of Georgia Office of Academic Affairs commensurate with the institution’s comprehensive program review timetable. This review will evaluate how well the program is meeting the expectations that were laid out in the formal proposal.