All new academic programs (majors and certificates) are developed by faculty with several steps for review and approval by the university and by the Council for Postsecondary Education (CPE).
CPE - New Program Submission Requirements - Effective September 15, 2020. According the the CPE revised Academic Program Approval Policy, page 7 states, the institution will post to the online Notification of Intent system.
The stages to approval include:
Step I - NOI Stage
- Initial idea presented to AAC.
- NOI - Submitted in Curriculog
- NOI - Submitted to CPE (If submitted prior to the 15th of the month it will be reviewed and approved on the 15th of the following month. If submitted after the 15th of the month, it will be reviewed and approved on the 15th of the second month after submission.)
- The notification will then be shared with the chief academic officers at the other public institutions.
- For associate degree programs, the program will only move forward if KCTCS determines, within 30 days of notification, that a community and technical college(s) in the proposing institution’s area of geographic responsibility
- (1) does not have an interest in creating a similar program and
- (2) does not have the ability to implement the program in a more cost-efficient and effective manner.
- If no issues are identified, the institution will then develop and post a full-proposal to the online program approval system within one year.
Step II - Full-Proposal Stage (must be completed within 1 Year of the NOI proposal submission date)
- Input Full-Proposal into Curriculog
- Complete Internal approval process.
- BOR approval
- Submit Full-proposal into CPE system
- Institutions and Council staff will have 30 days to respond to the proposal.
- If no issues are identified with the proposal, the program will be sent to the Council for approval.If issues are identified with the proposal, the institution will address those via the online program approval system, and the review period will be extended.
- Once the issues are resolved, the program will be sent to the Council for approval.
- If concerns cannot be fully resolved, the Council staff will inform the institution that it should not proceed with its internal process of program approval.
Step III - Internal and External Notifications
- Internal Notification via curriculog for all parties.
- External Notification handled by appropriate department.
