Review Steps for New Academic Program Types
Back to Proposing New Academic Programs
| Program Type | Provost’s Planning Notice & Deans’ Council | College or School Process | APAC | Legal | President Review/ Signature | Board of Trustees | SACSCOC Review or Notification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Undergraduate New Major | X | X | X | Maybe | |||
| Undergraduate New Minor or Concentration or Track/Path | X | X | |||||
| Graduate New Program (Master’s, Doctoral, Certificate, Tracks / options, etc.) | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
| New Cooperative Arrangement (i.e., 4 + 1), INTERNAL with Existing WFU Programs (New WFU Programs follow New above) | X | X | X | X | |||
| New Cooperative Arrangement (i.e., 4 + 1), EXTERNAL Partner with Existing WFU Programs | X | X | X | X | X | X | |
| Existing Programs, Changes to Location, Modality, Tuition Structure | X | X | X | X | |||
| Existing Programs with other Significant Changes | X | X | Maybe |
Estimated Timeline for Review
- PPN & Deans’ Council Review – 2-4 weeks
- College/School Process – varies, 2-4 months
- APAC Review – 2-4 weeks
- Legal – 2 weeks
- President – 2-4 weeks
- Board of Trustees – 2 months; all materials sent to Provost’s Executive Assistant in the Provost’s Office 2 months before the quarterly Board of Trustees meeting where the proposal will be presented for a vote.
- SACSCOC – varies, possibly 4-6 months for a Substantive Change approval (Substantive Change notification can be submitted at any time). Contact Phil Handwerk, WFU SACSCOC Liaison. Program recruitment can begin after BoT approval and while awaiting SACSCOC approval if recruitment materials indicate “pending SACSCOC approval”. If SACSCOC approval should not be granted, program implementation must be suspended.