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West Virginia University Office of the Provost

Program Proposals

WVU has a process for proposing new academic programs (including majors, minors, areas of emphasis, dual degree programs, and accelerated bachelor’s to master’s pathways) and a similar process for changing existing academic programs. This process is designed to be rigorous in what it considers and aligned with Board of Governors program review and includes a range of constituent decision makers including unit faculty, college dean’s offices, curriculum committees, faculty senate and graduate council members, the Provost’s Office, and, ultimately, the Board of Governors.

Faculty who initiate a proposal for a new academic program or submit a change to an existing program should keep the following factors in mind.

Review Responsibilities of New Program Proposals and Program Changes

The Intent to Plan for new programs and majors is reviewed and approved by the department offering the program, its college’s dean’s office, and the Provost’s Office. The primary foci of that review which are not also part of the faculty review process are the following elements listed below. Faculty in Graduate Council or Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee can ask for information or explanation about any of these elements but these elements are not part of those bodies’ formal review. The Intent to Plan and all its information is visible to faculty during their review of the full proposal.

  • Establishing a minimum viable enrollment based upon resources allocated to the program;
  • Establishing an aspirational enrollment target based upon similar programs in the relevant geographic region;
  • Determining whether or not the new program is expected to have an impact on any existing academic programs or units;
  • Alignment of the proposed CIP code with the program title and curriculum;
  • Reviewing the competitive academic market and occupational demand for the program;
  • Reviewing and approving new resources required to deliver the program at launch, including personnel, facilities, and equipment;
  • Reviewing the college’s marketing and recruitment plan for the program.

Shared elements of full program proposals as well as elements of program changes that faculty should review are listed below, along with the kinds of considerations that the Provost’s Office asks faculty to provide that are distinct from those of the department, college, or Provost’s Office.

  • Is the program title accurate? Given the proposed curriculum, does the program title ethically represent the occupational and post-graduate opportunities graduates of the program could reasonably be expected to have? Is the program title marketable to high school students? If the program title is similar to others at the institution, does the title provide enough distinction from existing programs that students will not be confused when choosing a particular program?
  • Have required resources been allocated to the program at the time of approval? If not, is there a clear plan to allocate those resources before the program is offered to students?
  • Are all letters of support (either from units with similar programs or which are offering courses in the program) attached?
  • Do the admissions standards align with institutional expectations and practices for the level of the degree being proposed?
  • Are the academic standards fair, clear, and aligned with institutional expectations?
  • Do the assessment plan and curriculum map ensure that student achievement of the proposed learning outcomes could be meaningfully assessed in the proposed curriculum s?
  • Does the staffing plan ensure that all required courses are offered at least once per academic year and all elective courses will be offered at least every other academic year and staffed by either existing faculty or new faculty which have been or will be allocated to the program?
  • Does the curriculum ensure that all institutional requirements for the level of the degree or type of credential proposed are met? See the Catalog for WVU’s official Academic Definitions.
    • Does the program require the minimum number of credits required for the level or type of degree or credential? If the program requires more than the minimum number of credits required, is a rationale provided?
    • Is the proposed curriculum appropriately balanced as defined by the level or type of degree or credential?
      • Does the undergraduate major require the majority of its credits at the upper-division level?
      • Does the undergraduate minor require at least 9 credits at the upper-division level?
      • Does the undergraduate Area of Emphases require at least 9 credits at the upper-division level?
      • Does the master’s major require more than half of its credits at the graduate level?
  • Does the proposed plan of study ensure that students have a full-time path to degree completion for the entirety of their time in the program? Are students taking a reasonable number of courses and/or credits each term and are those courses appropriate for the level at which the student would be when taking them?

General Timeline Considerations for Review and Approval

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.

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. Some program changes may go through CIM as either administrative or small changes and proceed through condensed approval workflows as a result.

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.

Intent to Plan

Proposals for new degree programs, certificates, and new majors must be preceded by an Intent to Plan. The Intent to Plan engages the department chair with the college dean’s office and provost’s office to review the resource allocation required for the new program as well as to evaluate potential the academic market and any impact on existing programs at the institution.

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:

Note on CIP Codes

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 and thus evaluation of academic market 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.

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.