Program Development and Amendment Procedures
The establishment and modification of graduate degree and certificate programs at the University at Albany is vested with the faculty and facilitated on-campus through a structured governance and administrative review process.
New program proposals, upon final campus approval, are transmitted to SUNY System Administration for consideration and, upon support, to the New York State Education Department for final consideration and registration action. This same routing is followed for any major changes to existing registered programs, as required by the N.Y.S. Education Commissioner’s Regulations, § 52.1 (h), that specify “New registration shall be required for any existing curriculum in which major changes are made that affect its title, focus, design, requirements for completion, or mode of delivery.” Program changes not requiring updated registration action are considered on-campus through campus governance, with final authorizing action typically taken by the University’s Graduate Academic Council.
Graduate academic new program development steps are listed in the Step-by-step Graduate Program Development Guide and displayed in the Program Development Flowchart (Powerpoint). The procedures for new program consideration and initiation involve two major steps including contact with SUNY System Administration. An initial concept document, the Letter of Intent, is considered on-campus and, upon support, is transmitted to SUNY System Administration and other SUNY units. When a Letter of Intent is approved by SUNY, the campus proceeds to develop a Full Program Proposal for consideration. Procedural information and content requirements for the Letter of Intent and the Full Program Proposal are detailed in the SUNY document "Guidelines for the Submission of Graduate Academic Program Proposal."
Proposed amendments to existing curricula should be prepared and submitted in "Appendix E" format.
The establishment and amendment of graduate courses, either as part of a program proposal or due to other changes, is facilitated by the submission of the Course Action Form through departmental, school/college and campus level governance.
Faculty contemplating graduate program development actions are encouraged to contact the Office of Graduate Studies for individualized procedural assistance.
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Program Development and Amendment Procedures
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