Academic Programs
Creating, Revising, Suspending, or Eliminating an Academic Program
Creating, revising, and eliminating academic programs, as well as other administrative changes to programs, centers, instructional units, etc. follow the same, multi-step governance pathway from the department to college and beyond. Not all proposals are required to go through every step; it varies depending on the type and scope of the request. The campus Office of Academic Programs outlines the process and links to required forms on their website. (NOTE: Most of the required forms were updated during the 2022-23 academic year. Please confirm you have the most up-to-date versions.)
When is a program revision needed?
The UIC Academic Catalog is, for all intents and purposes, the official rule book of program requirements. Students can only be held to program requirements spelled out in the catalog. The curriculum belongs to the faculty of the university, so changing those requirements in any way requires a formal review process governed by faculty. This includes adding or removing a course option from a selective course requirement. Departments (DUS/DGS) have the authority to grant students individual exceptions to an existing requirement; however, these should truly be exceptional situations. If the department is regularly granting exceptions, it may be that either the requirements or the department’s course rotation need a closer look.
Process
Proposals begin at the department level before undergoing a multi-step review process. The campus Office of Academic Programs (OAP) outlines the possible steps for each type of proposal on their website.
“Step 1. College” entails the following:
- Academic units follow their bylaws and internal processes to decide on the content of the proposal. A date of unit approval must be included in the proposal document.
- The unit works with LAS Student Academic Affairs (LAS SAA) to develop the proposal, hammer out details, preemptively address questions/potential problems, etc. Proposers may also start this conversation before or during the unit’s internal deliberations. When the proposal is ready, LAS SAA coordinates the next few steps.
- Vote by LAS Educational Policy Committee.
- Vote by LAS Faculty. This step comprises official college approval. If passed, LAS SAA sends the approved proposal to the Office of Academic Programs (OAP) for additional steps.
Only after LAS Faculty approval does the proposal proceed to Step 2. Not all proposals are required to go through every step; it varies depending on the type and scope of the request. Below is the curricular governance pathway for establishing a new degree, but revisions to an existing degree might stop at the Board of Trustees, for example.
Timeline
Most program changes require a full academic year from completion of the proposal to implementation. Aim to start conversations within the department two academic years before the intended implementation. An ideal timeline for most academic program revisions would be:
- Spring – Department votes on program changes. Proposers make contact with LAS Student Academic Affairs to begin work on the proposal.
- late Spring-Summer – Work with LAS SAA to hammer out details and polish the proposal.
- Fall – Submit the proposal to the LAS EPC in early fall semester and begin the review process.
- Spring – The review process continues.
- Fall – Implementation.
Discussions around new degrees generally necessitate an earlier start.
You are encouraged to reach out to LAS SAA for a more individualized timeline. The type and scale of proposed changes can significantly impact the time required to properly prepare the proposal as well as the length of the review process itself.
Required Documentation
Proposal form. Outlines and justifies the department’s proposition. Most proposals use the Submitting Changes to Academic Programs form or, for certain simple changes, the Short Form, but a few requests require specialized forms, including proposals for new degrees and new certificates. The UIC Office of Academic Programs (OAP) website provides links to the necessary forms, sample proposals, and outlines the curricular governance process required for each kind of administrative or academic proposal. (NOTE: Most of the required forms were updated during the 2022-23 academic year. Please confirm you have the most up-to-date versions.)
Catalog statement. In proposals for program revisions, this involves a side-by-side comparison chart of the old and revised catalog statements. This is done in the proposal document, following the completed form.
Proposals for new minors and certificates should also include a prepared catalog statement at the end of the form. For new degrees, it may be a separate document. Not required for proposals to eliminate a program.
CRS forms & Course information. If the proposal adds a required course to the program, the CRS form for the newly-required course is submitted to the LAS EPC along with the proposal. More frequently, the proposal form itself will include an “Impacted Courses” section, where information on relevant courses is taken from the catalog for the reviewers’ convenience. Relevant courses must be updated in CRS before the LAS EPC reviews the proposal so that they receive the latest information.
Department approvals. If a department wishes to add to their academic program a course housed in another academic unit, written approval from said unit must be appended to the proposal. Email exchanges are sufficient as documentation. This also applies in any case where another unit is impacted by the proposal (ex. heavily interdisciplinary programs proposed by only one unit, making interdepartmental graduate concentrations open to additional grad programs, etc.)
Budgetary forms. Typically required for proposals related to the creation of an academic program, instructional unit, research center, etc. The kind of budgetary documentation required may vary depending on the kind of proposal. (In cases where a proposed academic program is comprised entirely of existing courses, this requirement may be deemed unnecessary.)
Updating the Catalog
Once the proposal has worked its way through the governance process, the Office of Academic Programs will alert the catalog and other relevant offices. The catalog office will revise the program page based on the updated catalog entry submitted in the proposal. This is done on a rolling basis as proposals are approved for inclusion.
The undergraduate and graduate catalogs are updated each year. As part of this process, the department will be asked to review their program page(s). At that time, the department may update program contacts and revise descriptive language about the program, but absolutely no changes can be made to the program itself or its requirements without going through the formal review process.
Links
Academic Program Rules & Requirements
Definitions and Policies
Courses
- Selective – When a course appears on a list of courses approved to satisfy a specific requirement. ex. “Select two of the following six courses.”
- Elective – A requirement that is left more open-ended. Students typically need general electives to reach the 120 minimum credit hours for graduation, but electives are also common within a major or minor. ex. “Select any two ENGL courses at the 200-level or above.”
- General Education – Courses that provides students with a breadth of exposure to the academic disciplines and serves as the foundation for the knowledge, skills, and competencies essential to becoming well-educated college graduates and citizens. There are six categories, each of which have specific learning outcomes courses must achieve.
- Writing-in-the-Discipline – All LAS degree programs must include a course that requires extensive writing, following guidelines approved by the LAS Faculty.
- Topics courses – Courses where the content varies significantly enough between offerings that it is appropriate for students to earn credit for the course more than once (meaning more than half of the content is different each time). Courses must be designated as repeatable in CRS or students can only earn credit once.
- Asynchronous (“online with deadlines”), synchronous, hybrid – Different kinds of online or partially-online instructional methods, as defined by the UIC registrar’s office.
- Collateral courses – Courses required for a major that come from a different discipline (e.g. general chemistry courses required for the Biological Sciences major). The other unit must agree to use of their course.
Policies
- Residency requirements – More than half of a major or minor/certificate must be taken in enrollment residence at UIC. There are also larger scale residency requirements required of all undergraduates. (See catalog.)
- Dual use of credit – An individual course and its credit hours can typically fulfill the requirement and hours of more than one academic program.
- Excessive overlap between programs – Students may not simultaneously pursue programs with substantial content overlap (>50% of a program). Some disallowed program combinations are explicitly listed in the catalog.
- Credit-to-contact hours – Credit hours should correlate with the number of hours of instruction involved in the course. See policy for specific formulas.
- Reuse of course numbers – Course numbers previously assigned to a course can only be reused if they have been dormant – meaning out of the catalog – for at least six years. (See policy.)
Programs
- Major – In LAS, a minimum of 27 and a maximum of 40 credit hours. Awards a Bachelor of Arts/Sciences in Liberal Arts and Sciences, with a Major in [field].
- Curriculum – In LAS, undergraduate curricula are generally conceptualized as 120 credit-hour programs. Degrees with a major are typically understood in three parts: general education, major, and electives, which total 120 credit hours. In curricula, there is no distinction between them, and the degree is designated as a bachelor’s in the subject area, rather than a Bachelor’s in Liberal Arts and Sciences with a major in the field. Used when the specific area of study necessitates more credit hours than can fit within the LAS definition of a major.
- Certificate – There are multiple kinds of certificates, as outlined here. The ones that have been of most interest to LAS programs thus far are:
- Undergraduate campus (“small c”) certificate – Functionally similar to a minor. Available only to degree-seeking students and certified when the bachelor’s degree is awarded. 15 credit minimum.
- Post-baccalaureate certificate – Available to non-degree seeking students with college degrees. Fewer credit hours than a Master’s degree but still allows graduate-level training in the target field.
- Concentration – This term is used in two ways:
- Interdepartmental Graduate Concentrations
- Concentrations within a degree or major – These are formal designations that students declare in the system and that appear on the student’s transcript.
- Track – “Tracks” in a major are a more informal version of concentrations. They offer multiple paths through a major but are not designated in Banner. All students have the same major on their transcript, regardless of the track completed. May also be called specializations, areas of focus, etc., particularly in graduate programs.
LAS Undergraduate Degree Requirements: Courses
To earn a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences degree from UIC, students need to complete university, college, and department degree requirements. Key LAS course requirements are outlined here; additional details and a more comprehensive list of requirements can be found in the undergraduate catalog.
- Analyzing the Natural World — Two laboratory courses (typically 8-10 hours)
- Exploring World Cultures — One course (3)
- Understanding the Creative Arts — One course (3)
- Understanding the Individual and Society — One course (3)
- Understanding US Society — One course (3)
- Understanding the Past — One course (3)
- Two elective courses from any category — Two courses (6)
General Education at UIC is designed to serve as a foundation for lifelong learning. Up to two courses in the major may count toward fulfillment of General Education Core requirements. Students who register for a course that is listed in more than one category will have the flexibility of deciding which category the course will satisfy.
Foreign Language — Four semesters of a single foreign language at the college level (16 credit hours)
Quantitative Reasoning — One course (3-5)
University Writing Requirement — Typically satisfied with ENGL 160 and ENGL 161 (6)
Writing-in-the-Discipline — One course (1-3)
As part of the major, students must successfully complete at least one course that requires extensive writing, following guidelines approved by the LAS Faculty. This course should be taken before the beginning of the student’s last semester. A required Writing-in-the-Discipline course is included in each degree program.
LAS Majors and Curricula Rules
Writing-in-the-Discipline. All LAS undergraduate degree programs must include a course that involves extensive writing, following guidelines approved by the LAS Faculty.
Majors. The major consists of discipline-specific courses, excluding required prerequisite and collateral courses outside of the major department. A LAS major may not include less than 27 or more than 40 semester hours of course work in the major field. The major, exclusive of collateral courses, must include 14 semester hours of upper-division (200-, 300-, or 400-level) courses.
Programs may include no more than 36 semester hours of prerequisites and collateral course work, and the total field of specialization (major, prerequisites, and collateral courses) may not exceed 72 semester hours. Writing-in-the-Discipline courses may be excluded from this limitation. Collateral courses are required courses from another department – for example, the Biological Sciences major requires Chemistry coursework.
Awards a Bachelor of Arts/Sciences in Liberal Arts and Sciences, with a major in [field].
Specialized curricula. Specialized curricula in LAS include all courses required for the undergraduate degree rather than breaking requirements into component parts of major, prerequisites, gen ed, etc. They are typically 120 total credit hours, but the maximum number of hours allowed in a specialized curriculum will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Curricula programs must meet the minimum requirements for graduation in the college.
These are rare and are used when the specific area of study necessitates more credit hours than can fit within the LAS definition of a major. Typically awards a Bachelor of Sciences in [field].
Residency. At least half of the student’s major must be completed in residence at UIC.
GPA minimum. A minimum grade point average of 2.00 is required for all courses in the major field. In addition, the combined average of transfer work and work taken at UIC in all courses in the major field must be at least 2.00. Some majors may require a higher grade point average. Failure to maintain the required minimum grade point average in the major may result in the student’s dismissal from that major.
Independent Studies. A maximum of 8 semester hours in any of the independent study course options (research, field experience, internship, and independent study) in a given department or program may count toward the degree. No more than 16 total semester hours of independent study credit may apply toward the degree. Fieldwork and internship courses that are specifically required in the major as stated in the catalog are excluded from this limitation. To enroll in such a course in any UIC college, the LAS student must have a minimum 2.50/4.00 grade point average in all course work taken at UIC and must obtain the consent of the instructor and the department offering the course prior to registration.
See catalog for more “Rules Governing the Major,” including information on double majors and degrees.
LAS Minor Rules
An LAS minor must require no less than 12 and no more than 21 credit hours. At least 9 semester hours in the minor field must be at the advanced level (200-, 300-, or 400-level courses), except in a foreign language, where a minimum of 6 semester hours is required. At least half of all credit hours required for the minor and at least 6 of the 9 hours at the advanced level must be taken in enrollment residence at UIC. A minimum grade point average of 2.00/4.00 is required for all courses in the minor field.
Combining programs with substantial content overlap (>50% of a program) is not allowed. With few exceptions, a minor will not be approved if the student’s major and proposed minor are in the same unit.
See the catalog for a list of minors offered by LAS and more “Rules Governing the Minor.”
Concentration Definitions and Guidelines
“Concentration” is the official designation for a group of courses that define a specific area or sub-area of study. They can take two forms: concentrations within a degree program, and interdepartmental concentrations at the graduate level.
An approved concentration is the only formal designation entered on the transcript besides the title of the degree earned. Concentration requirements are also listed in the catalog.
Degree Program Concentrations
Typically, a concentration is defined as a minimum of three (3) related courses (a minimum of nine or more hours) that a student may take as part of a degree program, though sponsoring units determine the number, type and level of courses that constitute a concentration within their disciplines. The creation of concentrations must be formally proposed and approved via the standard program revision process.
Formal concentrations are used in programs when:
- focused study in a substantial subcomponent of an academic discipline is required.
- the area of focus can be clearly defined in terms of requirements.
- the sponsoring unit wants these areas or sub-areas of focus to be formally recognized by the campus. Approved concentrations must be declared by the student in Banner and will be notated on the transcript along with the name of the degree.
A unit may want the degree program to include a sub-area of focus but is not interested in formally creating concentrations, as defined above. In these cases, avoid using the term “concentration” and use instead terminology like “track” or “area of focus.”
Interdepartmental Graduate Concentrations
These concentrations follow the same general principles but are typically completed in addition to graduate degree requirements rather than a subset of the requirements. Most require around four courses (approx. 16 credit hours). Typically available only to select graduate programs. The home department for the concentration submits an academic program proposal to add or remove programs from the eligible list. This request must include documented approval from the relevant department(s).
Definition and Guidelines for Certificates
Certificate – There are multiple kinds of certificates, as outlined here. The ones that have been of most interest to LAS programs thus far are:
- Undergraduate campus (“small c”) certificate – Functionally similar to a minor. Minimum of 15 credit hours. Currently available only to degree-seeking students and certified when the bachelor’s degree is awarded. When developing a program that is more skill- or professionally-oriented, LAS departments sometimes consider a certificate in place of a minor.
- Post-baccalaureate certificate – Available to non-degree seeking students with college degrees. Fewer credit hours than a master’s degree but still allows graduate-level training in the target field.
Program Review and Assessment
The UIC Office of Academic Program Review and Assessment (APRA) works with academic units to evaluate student learning and to use the findings to identify ways of improving future learning. They coordinate two main kinds of program evaluation: 1) degree program assessments and 2) program reviews, and also oversee regular assessment of general education coursework. Of these, Directors of Undergraduate Study tend to be most involved in the two-year degree program assessment cycle.
Degree Program Assessment
APRA communicates with the program director (DUS/DGS) regarding the two-year assessment cycle:
- Year One: Assess a program-level learning objective. Submit the Degree Program Assessment Results Report via Qualtrics.
- Year Two: Implement recommendations for improvements that came out of the results report. Submit the Implementation Report via Qualtrics.
The goal of assessment is to answer key questions such as: What are students expected to know and be able to do at the end of the program? How do we know that students have achieved this? In what ways do we use the assessment results for improvement of student learning? To gain the most benefit from this process, develop a strategic plan for assessment.
Program Reviews
APRA communicates with the dean of the college and the unit head regarding program reviews.
- Existing degree programs – Reviewed once every eight years. From start to finish, the entire process generally takes four semesters and involves a self-study and external review site visit.
- New programs – The proposal to create the program requires the unit to articulate an evaluation plan. Three years after gaining approval, a new program must submit a progress report to APRA describing its performance in meeting program objectives and detailing where improvements may be necessary.
- Centers/Institutes – Five-year review required after initial temporary approval. Permanently established centers and institutes are reviewed once every eight years.