Developing or Amending a Program

The initiating department or committee has a preliminary discussion with their school or college’s Dean. 
 

The Dean and Provost review the concept. 
 

The Provost approves the development of an initial concept document, known as the Letter of Intent (LOI), and a Campus Impact Form (CIF).

The school or college will transmit the documents to the Graduate School so they can be verified for completeness and compliance. The Graduate School will transmit the documents to the Provost on behalf of the school or college.
 

The Provost approves and forwards the documents to the Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School for consideration and referral for governance review to the University Planning and Policy Council (UPPC). 
 

UPPC reviews the LOI and CIF to ensure harmony with campus mission, as well as ensure the resources necessary to run the program are in place and sustainable. The LOI must be approved by UPPC. 
 

Upon UPPC approval, the LOI is prepared for transmittal by the Graduate School and it is transmitted under signature of the UAlbany Provost to SUNY program review.
 

The LOI will be distributed to all graduate degree granting campuses for comment and to System Administration for consideration thereafter. 
 

All SUNY campuses that grant graduate degrees will have 10 days to submit an intent to comment directly to the President or Provost of the University. If a campus submits an intent to comment, they will have 20 calendar days to comment. 
 

If no intent to comment is received within 10 days, the LOI is automatically approved.
 

If an intent to comment and comment are submitted to the University, the President or Provost will have 30 days to reply directly to the commenting institution. If a resolution is reached, the commenting institution can withdraw their comment and the University can proceed with the full program proposal. 
 

If the campuses are unable to arrive at a mutual understanding, SUNY System Administration will adjudicate the situation and render a decision as to whether the proposing campus may proceed; in these instances, SUNY System Administration will issue a formal decision memo.
 

If the LOI is approved, the notice is sent to the UAlbany President. The President’s staff forwards the notice of authorization to develop a Full Program Proposal to the Provost. The Provost’s Office notifies the Graduate Dean, who notifies the school or college Dean and initiating department they have been authorized to proceed.

The initiating department or committee develops a Full Program Proposal, using Form 2B at SUNY Forms for Academic Program Planning, according to SUNY’s Guide to Academic Program Planning. Form 2C is used for Advanced Certificate programs.
 

The proposal is submitted to the school or college’s Dean for approval. 
 

The initiating department or committee works with the Graduate School to craft a roster of external reviewers, who are typically external to the State. External reviewers are vetted by SUNY System Administration and the State Education Department only if the programs are licensure-qualifying or doctoral programs. For programs that do require SUNY and SED pre-approval, a rank-ordered list and the CVs of three to five potential reviewers must be provided.

• Advanced Certificate proposals do not require external reviewers.
   

Master's and doctoral degree programs require two external evaluators. All external evaluators are expected to: 1. possess significant expertise in the discipline of the proposed program, 2. have appropriate academic credentials, professional experience, and academic teaching and/or administrative experience in similar programs at peer institutions (typically, outside of the SUNY system), and 3. not have a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest with the institution or program. For licensure-qualifying programs, at least one of the evaluators should be licensed in New York State in the proposed licensure area. For educator preparation programs, at least one of the evaluators should be from an institution in New York State that offers a registered program in the proposed certification area. For doctoral programs, both evaluators should be from outside of New York State.
 

Once the external reviewers are approved, the Graduate School and the initiating department or committee will arrange for a site visit by the external reviewers. Campuses may continue with remote external evaluation, except in instances when in-person is necessary due to program-specific expectations related to facilities. 
 

For remote evaluations, 1. materials and remote connections with relevant stakeholders must be made readily available to external evaluators and 2. for programs that involve laboratories or other facilities, the campus must be able to provide a way for evaluators to virtually interact with these facilities in a manner that would substantially approximate an in-person visit.
 

Before the visit, external reviewers receive the Full Program Proposal draft and the template for preparing an external review report, according to SUNY’s Guide to Academic Program Planning.
 

The initiating department or committee hosts the site visit. (Financial underwriting for the site visit must be coordinated with the school or college’s Dean.) 
 

After the site visit, the reviewers forward an External Review Report to the Graduate School Dean. The Graduate School Dean shares the External Review Report with the initiating department or committee and the school or college’s Dean. The report is appended to the Full Program Proposal. 
 

The initiating department or committee crafts a Response to the External Review Report and appends their response to the Full Program Proposal. 
 

The Full Program Proposal, with the External Review Report and Response appended, is sent to the Graduate School Dean, who sends it to the Graduate Academic Council (GAC) for review and approval. Advanced Certificate proposals will not have the External Review Report or Response. 
 

The GAC and UPPC, based on its prior review of the LOI, introduce a bill to the University Senate for the establishment of the new graduate program. 

• Advanced Certificate proposals do require UPPC review after GAC review, regardless of resource implications. 
   

Upon Senate approval, the bill is forwarded to the Provost and President for final campus consideration. 
 

Upon Presidential approval, the Graduate School Dean’s office prepares correspondence to the SUNY System Provost. The UAlbany President or Provost then transmits the Proposal.

SUNY reviews the proposal. Any questions from SUNY related to the proposal will be forwarded to the Graduate School for coordination of a formal response. The Graduate School will work with the academic department regarding a response, but all formal responses to SUNY will need to be sent by the Graduate School. 
 

SUNY approves the proposal and submits it to the New York State Education Department (SED) for consideration, final approval and registration. 

For Advanced Certificates, SUNY will only review the proposal for program title and classification codes (HEGIS and CIP) and, if approvable, the full proposal will subsequently be transmitted to NYSED for registration review.

New York State Education Department (SED) reviews the proposal. This review may involve notice to other institutions in the State, affording them opportunity to comment. 
 

Any questions from SED related to the proposal will be forwarded to the Graduate School for coordination of a formal response. The Graduate School will work with the academic department regarding a response, but all formal responses to SED will need to be sent by the Graduate School. 
 

SED notifies the SUNY Provost upon final approval and registration. The SUNY Provost notifies the UAlbany President, whose office then forwards the approval notice to the UAlbany Provost. 
 

The UAlbany Provost sends the approval notice to the Graduate School Dean for implementation purposes.  
 

The Graduate School then notifies the school or college’s Dean, the initiating department or committee, and all appropriate administrative units for program activation purposes.