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West Virginia University Office of the Provost

Program Proposals

Following is WVU's process for proposing new or changing existing academic programs, majors, minors, and areas of emphasis. See the WVU Catalog for official academic definitions.

Proposing New Academic Programs

New degree programs, certificates, and majors must be approved by the Board of Governors after approved by the Provost’s Office and being passed by the faculty senate or graduate council. Programs and colleges will work in consultation with the Office of the Registrar and the Provost's Office to determine what should qualify as a new program or a new major through review  of existing degree designations, titles, CIP codes, and other concerns.

CIP codes (“Classification of Instructional Programs”) are the federal classification system for academic programs at all degree levels (including certificates). All institutions that receive Title IV federal financial aid are required to assign a CIP code to each academic program (as defined by the institution). Federal and state reporting on academic programs is by CIP code rather than by program title or major. The same CIP code can be used for more than one program. In assigning a CIP code to a new program or during program review, faculty will be asked to provide input on the most appropriate CIP code for the proposed program and the Provost’s Office will make the final determination, in consultation with Registrar’s Office staff.

See the program approval timeline for more information to assist you in planning when to submit new degree programs and/or majors.

Intent to Plan

Proposals for new degree programs, certificates, and new majors must be preceded by an Intent to Plan.

For academic units to advance proposals for new academic programs, all units within the department must be up to date on academic program review. Compliance with the academic program review requirement is an indication of the unit’s capacity to evaluate and maintain program quality and effectiveness.

Note: An approved Intent to Plan expires after one full calendar year and will need to be updated and resubmitted before a program or major proceeds to a full proposal.

Follow the outline provided when developing an Intent to Plan.

Program Proposal Outlines

Follow the appropriate proposal outline for the type of program being proposed:

General Timeline Considerations for Review and Approval

All changes to academic programs (programs, majors, minors, and areas of emphasis) only become active at the start of the fall term of the next academic year.

Dean's Offices or department chairs who are directing faculty to create a new program will need to consider all of the steps outlined in the following document(s):

The workflow prior to Board of Governors approval generally includes:

  1. Department curriculum committee
  2. Department chair
  3. College curriculum committee
  4. College dean
  5. Relevant provost (academic programs)
  6. Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee (all courses and undergraduate programs) or Graduate Council (graduate programs)
  7. Faculty Senate Executive Committee
  8. Faculty Senate

See the program approval timeline for crucial dates in getting curriculum approved and make sure to include time for the process to go through your local (department and college) reviews.

The department, relevant college’s dean’s office, and the Provost’s Office review all elements of Intents to Plan to determine if a new program proposal may then proceed to submit a full program proposal, including curricular requirements. Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee will review all elements of full program proposals, and specific information about the proposed major, minor, or area of emphasis. The program proposal or change initiator is responsible for supplying complete and accurate information about all elements of intents to plan, program proposal, and specific information about the proposed major, minor, or area of emphasis.

The Course Inventory Management (CIM) fields detailed below will reference when department-level reviewers, college/school-level reviewers, and provost-level reviewers should also review those fields.

Program Changes

Programs may submit changes to the program title, its degree designation, the associated CIP code, the program learning outcomes, degree and curriculum requirements, the proposed plan of study, and the modality of delivery. Programs moving from an in-person or hybrid modality to a fully online modality will be required to submit an Intent to Plan specific to new online programs. Program changes are subject to the same timeline for effective catalog term and effective recruitment, marketing, and application term as new programs.

Undergraduate Curricular Flexibility Policy

All four-year undergraduate majors without specialized accreditation, regardless of location or modality, are required to have at least 15 credits of open general electives while not exceeding 120 total credit hours to complete.

Four-year undergraduate programs with specialized accreditation will work to incorporate general electives to the extent possible within their current accreditation standards and with regard for industry norms as well as to draw as near to 120 total credit hours as possible.