Guidelines

Board policy dictates the creation of degrees, majors, or structural organization units must be approved by the Board of Regents.  Flexibility is given to the institutions to implement minor changes without Board approval.  In cases where there is an absence of significant programmatic change, minimal impact to other NSHE institutions and clear adherence to approved institutional missions, institutions may seek approval through the Academic Affairs Council.  Furthermore, Board policy establishes an accountability system whereby institutions are directed to provide periodic follow-up information on budget estimates and enrollment projections provided through the program proposal process.

Items Requiring Academic Affairs Council Approval Only

• Certificates of at least 30 credit hours
• Certificates of fewer than 30 credit hours that provide preparation necessary to take state, national and/or industry recognized certification or licensing examinations or are endorsed by employers or industry associations
• Study abroad programs
• Name change to a degree, major or primary field of study that is cosmetic in nature and does not result in a change in curriculum
• Name change to an organizational unit that is cosmetic in nature
• Reactivation of a previously approved degree, major or primary field of study that was placed on hold (or deactivated) by the institution for less than five years since the effective date of the deactivation. The institution must provide appropriate written notice to the Board indicating the reactivation of the program. A deactivated program will be considered formally eliminated five years after the effective date of the deactivation.

Items Requiring Board of Regents Approval

The following items must be approved by the Academic Affairs Council prior to being presented to the Board for approval:

• Degree, major or primary field of study for baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral level programs (BA, BS, MA, MS, Ph.D, and named degrees)
• Emphases, major or primary field of study within the bachelor of applied science (BAS)
• Primary field of study within an associates of arts, an associate of science, and an associate of business (AA, AS, and AB)
• Primary field of study within an associate of applied science (AAS)
• Emphases, concentration, or options that are converted into a major
• School or college
• Organization unit, center, or institute
• Name change to a degree, major or primary field of study accompanied by a significant change in curriculum
• Degree-type change to a major or primary field of study (e.g., a BAS to a BA)
• Name change to a school or college that is the result of a significant reorganization of existing units, consolidation, or change in mission
• Name change to an organizational unit, center, or institute that is the result of a significant reorganization of existing units, consolidation, or change in mission
• Elimination of any degree, major, primary field of study, school or college, center, institute or other structural organizational unit
• Deactivation of a previously approved degree, major or primary field of study that an institution wishes to place on hold. A deactivated program will be considered formally eliminated five years after the effective date of the deactivation.

This process is used to change the name of an academic program, degree, major, or primary field of study.

Name changes for programs in which students are currently enrolled must be approved by the NSHE Academic Affairs Committee June of the year prior to the fall semester of implementation. For example, to implement in fall 2025, a name change would need to have been approved in June 2024.

• NSHE Academic Program Name Change Proposal Form

For Graduate Curriculum, the Graduate College also needs the Graduate College Teach Out form completed, in addition to the NSHE Academic Program Change Form above.

Organizational Unit Elimination

The Organizational Unit Elimination Coversheet and the NSHE Organizational Unit Elimination Form are used to propose the elimination of an organizational unit, center, institute, department, school, or college. It is NSHE policy that a future date for an elimination be established that will "make every effort to allow current students to graduate and faculty to be placed in other programs if feasible."

It is important to understand that advance planning and communications with numerous university offices are required to complete an orderly elimination in a manner that does not disadvantage the students in the cases in which students are involved. Please contact the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at SVPAA@unlv.edu to discuss these communications.

• Organizational Unit Elimination Coversheet
• NSHE Organizational Unit Elimination Proposal Form

Organizational Unit Name Change

The NSHE Board of Regents Handbook allows some non-academic name changes to be approved at the institution level. To submit a non-academic name change, a vice president or vice provost should address a memo to the Executive Vice President and Provost stating the current name, the requested new name, and the reason for the name change. The decision as to whether the name change can be made at the university level will be made by the Executive Vice President and Provost.

To propose a name change for an academic degree, centers, institute, department, college or school requires the Organizational Unit Name Change Coversheet and the NSHE Organizational Unit Change Form be completed and submitted to SVPAA@unlv.edu.

• Organizational Unit Name Change Coversheet
• NSHE Organizational Unit Name Change Proposal Form

Organizational Unit Proposal

The Organizational Unit Proposal Coversheet and the NSHE Organizational Unit Proposal Form are used to propose a new organizational unit, center, institute, department, school, or college.

• Organizational Unit Proposal Coversheet
• NSHE Organizational Unit Proposal Form

If you are considering proposing a new program, please read the Guidelines for Proposing New Degree Programs.

Please schedule an appointment with the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs prior to beginning a new program degree or major pre-proposal or proposal. If the program being considered is an interdisciplinary graduate program schedule a meeting with the dean or associate dean of the Graduate College prior to the meeting.

Preliminary information to be discussed will include:

• Is the proposed degree on the NSHE Planning Report, commonly called the Academic Master Plan?
• Provide documentation in the form of an email from the dean that the proposed program is one of the top three in the college/school's budget priorities.
• How does it fit into the department?
• Does it support the achievement of the unit and college's or school's mission?
• Is it included in the college's strategic plan?
• Does it contribute to the fulfillment of UNLV's mission and core themes?
• Does it address important issues relevant to Nevada citizens?
• Does fit within the strategic direction of the Nevada System of Higher Education?
• Level of degree, i.e., undergraduate or graduate
• How has need and demand been established?
• Are there similar degrees in Nevada?
• Who are the students to be served?
• What are the employment opportunities for graduates of the degree?

  These resources can give insight into employment and whether a field is growing:

  • Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook
  • Nevada System of Higher Education, Strategic Plan Metrics – Workforce
  • Nevada State Student Completion and Workforce Report
• What resources are needed for the degree?
  • Consider faculty, GAs, space, equipment, labs, recruitment costs.
• What is the proposed date of implementation?

If the degree may be viable, the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs will ask the proposer to complete the pre-proposal form below and submit it to SVPAA@unlv.edu.

Form

• Pre-proposal Form

Please schedule an appointment with the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs prior to beginning a new program, degree, or major pre-proposal or proposal.

The full proposal is the second step in the new program, degree, or major process (please refer to the item detailed above for the pre-proposal steps). The full proposal requires a resource analysis and an academic assessment plan. 

There are many things that have to be completed in the UNLV systems in order to start a new program. All new degrees must be approved by the university’s accrediting agency, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU), before the program begins admitting students.

Please contact the Office of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at SVPAA@unlv.edu for questions.

1. Guidelines for Proposing New Degree Programs
2. Academic Assessment Plan
3. Interdisciplinary Graduate Degrees Information
4. NSHE Strategic Planning Goals and Metrics
5. NSHE Proposal Form Guidance
6. NSHE New Academic Degree Program Proposal Form
7. Determining Student FTE for the NSHE New Program Proposal and Cost Estimate

   The NSHE new program proposal form requires headcount and full-time equivalent (FTE) for the fall semester of the first, third and fifth years.

   The cost estimate has FY rather than fall but NSHE expects to see the headcount and FTE match on both documents so use the fall estimate for both documents. UNLV uses the IPEDS calculations for FTE.

   Undergraduate students: number of students times number of credit hours generally 12, divided by 15.

   Example: 23 students taking 12 credits in the fall semester =276. Divided by 15 = 18.4.

   Masters students: number of students times number of credit hours, divided by 12.

   Example: 18 students taking 9 credits in the fall semester = 162. Divided by 12 = 13.5.

   Doctoral students: number of students times number of credit hours, divided by 9.

   Example: 15 students taking 6 credits in the fall semester = 90. Divided by 9 = 9.0.

   Professional students: number of students times number of credit hours, divided by 12.

   Example: 18 students taking 9 credits in the fall semester = 162. Divided by 12 = 13.5.

8. New Program Cost Estimate Worksheet
9. NSHE Cost Estimate Form
10. Please submit a memo from the Dean identifying strengths and weaknesses of the proposal and why it will be beneficial for the college/school. The memo must address the priority of this program within the college or school’s budget. If the program needs funding, address how the college or school will fund the proposal and in which fiscal year(s). If the new program needs space, what are the plans to accommodate those needs?
11. Course Carousel Form

This process is used to propose the elimination of a program, degree, or major.

Advance planning and communications with numerous university offices are required to complete an orderly elimination in a manner that does not disadvantage the students. It is NSHE policy that a future date for program elimination be established that will "make every effort to allow current students to graduate and faculty to be placed in other programs if feasible."

• Teach Out Plan
• NSHE Academic Program Elimination-Deactivation Proposal Form

This process is used to propose the elimination of a minor.

Advance planning and communications with numerous university offices are required to complete an orderly elimination in a manner that does not disadvantage the students. It is NSHE policy that a future date for program elimination be established that will "make every effort to allow current students to graduate."

• Teach Out Plan

Deactivation of a program, degree, major, certificate, track/concentration/subplan begins with conversations in the college/school with the faculty in the program, the chair or director, the dean, and the curriculum committee. A teach-out plan must be created for students to complete the program.

Both undergraduate and graduate deactivations must be approved by the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and for graduate programs, the Dean of the Graduate College also.

Certificates under 30 credits and track/concentration/subplan do not need NSHE Board of Regents approval. Certificates over 30 credits and degrees do require NSHE Board of Regents and Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities approval.

A program may be deactivated for less than five years with the appropriate approvals. A deactivated program will be considered formally eliminated after five years if not reactivated.

Upon approval of the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affair and if a graduate program, the Dean of the Graduate College, enter into Curriculog. Entry into Curriculog will initiate the process of either the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee approval or the Graduate College Programs Committee approval process. Use the appropriate system.

• Teach-Out Plan
• NSHE Academic Program Elimination-Deactivation Proposal Form

This process is used to reactivate a program, degree, major, primary field of study, or certificate that was deactivated less than five years ago.

1. Reactivation of a degree begins with conversations within the college or school with the faculty in the program, the chair or director, and the dean. If it is a graduate program, the Dean of the Graduate College also needs to be consulted.

2. Once these stakeholders have agreed upon the reactivation, the proposer needs to have a conversation with the Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. Please send an email to svpaa@unlv.edu to schedule a meeting with the SVPAA and the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Effectiveness.

3. You may proceed with submission of a proposal into curriculog after SVPAA approves the initial request. Currently, there is no Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE) form to complete for a program reactivation. The information provided on the curriculog proposal will be used to inform NSHE.

4. NSHE approval is required prior to notifying any students or other UNLV units that a program is being reactivated. For questions, please contact the Office of the Associate Vice Provost for Academic Effectiveness at 702-895-0407.

• NSHE Board of Regents Handbook on Special Course and Differential Fees

To obtain the Differential Fee Proposal for Existing Programs, please email Academic Fee Requests at ar-feerequests@unlv.edu.

Undergraduate

Certificates of less than 30 credits, except skills certificates, are approved by the Faculty Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee through Curriculog.

Skills certificates provide preparation necessary to take state, national, and/or industry recognized certification or licensing examinations.

Certificates of 30 or more credits and skills certificates must go through the university and Nevada System of Higher Education approval processes. See the NSHE Certificate Program Proposal.

Skills Certificates of less than 30 credit hours that provide preparation necessary to take state, national, and/or industry recognized certification or licensing examinations require AAC approval.

Graduate

Graduate Certificates are approved by the Graduate College, Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, and the Graduate Programs Committee. More detailed information regarding certificate approval and the required form can be found on the Graduate Curriculum webpage.

Graduate certificates must be at least 12 credit hours and are typically less than 30 credit hours.

If the certificate will be offered outside of the United States, please provide a complete description in the proposal. It is essential for the Executive Vice President & Provost's office to be aware of that information so that UNLV's regional accrediting agency can be informed.

• NSHE Certificate Program Proposal