Proposed Revisions to 303.1 - Curriculum Proposals; Montana University System

 

Board policy:

            1.  All new postsecondary educational programs: certificate programs, degrees, and addition of majors to existing degrees, options within majors, or minors where a major does not exist shall be submitted to the Commissioner of Higher Education who will formulate recommendations for the Board of Regents through the Curriculum Committee.

            2.  Changes in the names of degrees shall be approved by the Board of Regents.

Procedures:

            1.  These programs shall be presented in the following manner:

                        a.  specify the objectives to be reached by the addition of this program;

                        b.  specify in detail present faculty, facilities and equipment, and library holdings in support of this program, and compare them to known or anticipated minimum standards for accreditation;

                        c.  additional faculty requirements should be detailed as to qualifications, salary, and recruitment;

                        d.  increased costs will be submitted in detail for the first year, for the biennium, and an estimate of the continuing costs of the program over a five-year period.  These costs should reflect new faculty, increased library costs, space requirements, equipment, and other facilities' needs;

                        e.  a new program will be carefully scrutinized as to the effect on enrollment, numbers of students (both graduate and undergraduate) with lower and upper division course breakdowns, and the number expected to graduate over a ten-year period;

                        f.  list the new courses this program will add to the curriculum and specify the course requirements for the degree;

                        g.  indicate the inter-departmental implications of additions to this program or supporting courses in departments which contribute to the new program of studies;

                        h.  explain how the recommendation to submit this proposal to the Board of Regents was made.  Were faculty involved institution-wide in the decision?

            2.  In all cases the Board of Regents may require an appropriate report from outside, objective consultants to assist the Board in analyzing the proposal and arriving at a just decision.

            3.  A copy of every curriculum proposal shall be forwarded to the Deputy Commissioner for Academic Affairs and to the chief academic officers of the units campuses of the Montana University System as soon as it has been approved by the unit  campus concerned.  Copies of all proposals for associate degree programs and vocational-technical programs shall also be forwarded to the chief academic officers of the community colleges.  In addition, proposals for vocational-technical programs shall be forwarded to the Deputy Commissioner of Vocational-Technical Education  for Academic and Student Affairs and to the chief academic officers of the vocational-technical centers colleges of technology.

Definitions:

            1.  Degree - a specific designation of letters representing the words on the diploma indicating completion or attainment, e.g., B.A., B.S., B.Arch., B.B.A., M.A., M.F.A., Ed.D., D.A., Ph.D.;

            2.  Certificate - awarded upon successful completion of entry-level programs, a specialty within an occupational area, and/or upgrading skills and knowledge within an occupation.  Usually, certificate programs are 45-60 semester hours in length;

            3.  Major - the specific field of concentration for the degree;

            4.  Minor - the supporting or complementary field undertaken along with a major for a degree;

            5.  Option - one of at least two tracks, emphases, or areas of study within a major that has a sequence of courses and/or requirements that are different from other available options.  Usually, options share a common core of courses;

            5.  New postsecondary educational programs - all proposals for a new series of courses arranged in a scope or sequence leading to a certificate, option, major, or minor where a major does not already exist.

 

Cross reference:

            See Section 218, Institutional Organization.

 

History:

                Item 2-001-R0973, (Revised), October 19, 1973, as revised April 11, 1978; Item 24-001-R0579, Changes in Institutional Organization, May 30, 1979; Item 2-001-R0973, June 14, 1990.

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