Purpose

The purpose of this policy is to clarify expectations for notifying the provost and appropriate personnel working with accreditation when institutional and/or program changes are proposed.

Policy Statement

The provost must be notified whenever a change is being considered so that the provost and other personnel involved with accreditation (e.g., SACSCOC accreditation liaison officer, specialized accreditation contact persons, director of financial assistance, etc.) can review accreditation, state, federal and institutional requirements and ensure compliance. Program changes include the following:

• Developing new or revised majors, minors, tracks, concentrations, certificates or other credit-bearing designations
• Closing of any of the above
• Entering into or revising collaborative, contractual or consortial educational agreements with other organizations or institutions
• Initiating or increasing distance learning
• Significantly altering the length of a program
• Opening, closing or relocating an instructional site
• Other types of changes defined by the SACSCOC policy “Substantive Change for SACSCOC Accredited Institutions,” available at: http://sacscoc.org/accrediting-standards/substantive-changes/

For each of the above, the provost will review the proposed change with the appropriate administrator(s) and decide what approvals are needed and the timetable for processing.  The provost is responsible to ensure that all approvals are secured and documented in record archives.

Program directors are further expected to notify the provost any time the program's accreditation status with its specialized accreditor changes, including the imposition of public sanctions by the specialized accreditor. The university's SACSCOC accreditation liaison will relay these changes in accreditation status to SACSCOC and other agencies/entities as appropriate.

Resources

See the following attachments for forms/templates relevant to the program/curriculum change process.

• 201920 UG Curriculum Change Proposal Form.pdf
• Grad Curric Chng to Existing Grad Prog template.docx
• Grad Course Approval Form.docx

Responsible Party

Responsibility for this policy lies with the Provost.

Policy Review

This policy is to be reviewed every five years.

Distribution

Faculty/Staff Handbook

Approved by President’s Cabinet, August 5, 2008
Revised and approved by President’s Cabinet, April 10, 2013
Revised and approved by Provost's Council, January 23, 2020