ACADEMIC PLANNING AND REVIEW COMMITTEE NEW PROGRAM PROPOSAL
OVERVIEW OF THE REVIEW PROCESS: All new programs must be reviewed by the APRC and approved by the Provost prior to implementation. When a proposal is submitted it must have already gone through the relevant review and approval process in the college or school in which it resides. The APRC review will take a minimum of 6-8 weeks, excluding University holidays and vacation periods. The APRC may request additional material from the proposal authors and may return the proposal to its authors for revision and resubmission before making a recommendation. At the end of its review the APRC writes a report containing its recommendation and submits it to the Provost. The Provost makes the final determination about the approval of the new program.
SUBMISSION DATE: Note that program proposals must be approved by the end of the fall semester to be implemented in the following fall. In order to ensure that the review can be completed by the end of the semester, proposals should be submitted no later than September 15 of the year prior to the desired implementation. More complex programs, such as accelerated programs (e.g., 4+1), ought to be submitted even earlier to ensure adequate time for review. Authors should meet with the chair of APRC the spring before they plan to submit a proposal to discuss the review process as well as submit a draft of the proposal.
See the Timeline for the Review of New Program Proposals for specific dates and activities in the planning and review process.
GUIDELINES FOR THE PROPOSAL
The entire document should not exceed 15 single-spaced pages, including tables and grids and excluding curriculum vitae. Proposals must be authored by program faculty. Each proposal for a new program must include the following:
1. Introduction. Provide a short introductory description of your program including the following: (1) name of the program; (2) author(s) of the proposal; (3) modality of the program; (4) location where the program will be offered; (5) desired implementation date, and (6) brief statement of the purpose and key features of the program.
2. Rationale and Justification for the Program. Provide a statement justifying the program, including projected enrollments and an explanation of who the program will serve and how it will benefit students, the discipline, the university and its mission, the scholarly community, and any broader constituencies.
3. Planning and review process. Describe the planning and review process that was used to develop this program by (1) program faculty, (2) all directly affected programs, (3) all directly affected administrative units, (4) the library, and (5) an external review unit (if necessary).
4. Goals and Administration.
Approved February 20, 2017 Page 1 A. Program Goals: Clearly state the goals of the program (goals are broad statements that focus on what the program seeks to accomplish).
B. Alignment of Program Goals with College/School and University Strategic Plans and Goals: Provide a statement describing how the program will interact with existing programs, highlighting any collaborative efforts and/or outcomes. Specify how the program differs from existing programs at LMU or at other institutions.
C. Program Governance: Describe how the program fits into university governance (i.e. who will oversee the program, relationship to other governance structures within the school or college). Provide details about how the program will be administered.
5. Curriculum of the Program. The proposal should provide detailed information on the curricula, pedagogical, and scholarly outcomes of the program for students and faculty in line with the mission and objectives of the university; that is, what are the goals and outcomes, what are the practices the program engages in to achieve these, and how are these practices aligned with specific goals and desired learning outcomes.
A. Program Curriculum: Describe the new curriculum. The chart below can be used as a guide for organizing the curriculum for a sample student in the program (adapt as necessary). Provide course descriptions for courses that will be required in the new program.
Total Fall Units Spring Units Summer Units Format* Units Year 1 Courses Courses Courses Year 2 Courses Courses Courses Year 3 Courses Courses Courses Year 4 Courses Courses Courses (if applicable) Totals *Indicate if you will be offering the course in an online or hybrid format.
B. Statement of Student Learning Outcomes for the New Program: Student Learning Outcomes are specific statements that describe what students should know (the cognitive component), should value (the affective component, or attitudinal or values-based component), and should be able to do (the behavioral component, or performance or skills- based component) as a result of the program. They should be realistic, clearly stated, achievable, measurable, and stem from overarching program goals.
C. Alignment of the New Curriculum and Pedagogies with Program Outcomes:
CURRICULUM MAP TEMPLATE Learning Required Courses, Experiences Outcome s
2 D. Admissions Criteria: For graduate programs in particular, explain what qualifications students will be expected to have in order to enroll in the program (prior education, test scores, work experience). For undergraduate programs, describe any limitations or constraints on student enrollment beyond admission to LMU (for example, portfolio submission or audition or, for existing LMU students transferring to the program, GPA standards).
E. Rationale for Online/Hybrid Format (if applicable): Describe the rationale for offering the program in an online/hybrid format. Provide an estimate of the percentage of the program that students will complete in the form of online/hybrid courses. Describe the relationship between two versions of the same program with different percentages of online components. Include an explanation of whether the courses would be considered separate programs or students would be able take classes in either version of the program.
F. Credit Hour Policy: Describe the process that the department will use to evaluate on a regular basis whether courses in the program comply with the LMU Credit Hour Policy.
6. Statement of Scholarship Objectives: The scholarship objectives and research and/or creative activities of the faculty members should be integrated into the program to advance student learning and disciplinary or interdisciplinary understanding. Taken together, the objectives must show how the diversity of faculty research/creative activities contributes to the education of students in the program and promotes or advances disciplinary understanding.
7. Evaluation with Comparator Schools. A minimum of three programs at different institutions should be selected, and at least one should represent a program to aspire to in the future. These programs should be justified for their relevance and significance to the proposed program. The proposal must indicate how the program will be similar to and different from other programs in comparable schools. It must:
a. Compare the requirements of the proposed program with the requirements of the comparator programs. b. Compare the curricular goals of the proposed program with the curricular goals of the comparator programs. c. Compare the modality (face-to-face, online, hybrid) of the proposed program with the modality of the comparator programs. d. Compare any other pertinent aspects of the proposed program with the comparator programs. e. Distinguish the proposed program from the comparator programs.
The chart below can be used as a guide to show how the proposed program compares with comparable programs at three other institutions.
Approved February 20, 2017 Page 3 College or Institution location Program name Average Number of Number Program university and (undergraduate number of full-time of units modality enrollment) majors in the faculty in required program over the program in the the last 3 (Indicate the program* years year) Loyola Los Angeles, CA Marymount (4675) University Comparison A: (Aspirational) Comparison B: Comparison C:
* Indicate whether units are semester or quarter
Approved February 20, 2017 Page 4 8. Program Resources and Support. The proposal should provide analysis of the resources and institutional support that will be needed to implement the program.
A. Describe the faculty needed to implement and sustain the program and provide complete curriculum vitae for each participating faculty member. Provide an explanation for any anticipated new faculty, including their roles in the new program, and the impact on existing programs in the department. For online/hybrid courses, include a plan for faculty development in the use of online/hybrid technologies and pedagogies.
B. Describe the expected administrative and support needs.
C. Describe in detail facility and equipment needs. Provide a justification for and cost analysis of these resources, and explain how these will be financed. (These may include office space, studios, meeting rooms, laboratories, computers, other equipment, and other resources needed to run the program.)
D. Attach a statement from the Library describing what new library resources or services, if any, may be needed (i.e. journal subscriptions, book and/or media acquisitions, library support for online learners). If new resources are needed, include the library’s cost estimate for the new resources and describe how these will be financed. Contact Glenn Johnson-Grau, Head of Acquisitions & Collection Development, or consult the library’s New Program FAQ (https://lmu.box.com/v/APRC-New-Program-Library-FAQ) for more information.
E. Attached a statement from Information Technology Services (ITS) describing any information technology resources that may be needed to support the program (i.e. hardware, software, licenses and Instructional Technology Assistant support). If new IT resources are needed, include ITS’s cost estimate and describe how they will be financed.
F. Describe projected enrollments for this program and provide evidence for projections.
G. Provide a Budget Plan. This should include any anticipated part-time or full-time hiring necessary for the program’s functioning.
a. For undergraduate programs, please itemize any anticipated costs associated with the program and explain the funding sources that will be used to cover those costs.
b. For graduate programs, please provide a five-year budget, using the template developed by the Graduate Education Task Force, that demonstrates the program's financial self-sustainability. Contact Patrick Hogan, Associate Vice President for Financial Planning, to obtain a copy of the template.
Approved February 20, 2017 Page 5 9. Program Implementation. The proposal should formulate an Implementation Plan and timeline for actions that are needed to realize the goals of the program. This should include a plan and timeline for course development and any necessary faculty hiring.
For graduate programs: The plan should describe targeted goals to be achieved in each year of the 5-year budget cycle. The plan should also include details of how students will be recruited for the program, how the program will be advertised (informational materials, website, etc.), how student recruitments will grow with the program until the program is fully established on campus and is self-sustaining, and according to what timetable new courses will be introduced once the program is opened. Finally, the plan should describe steps to ensure that there will be a sufficient applicant base or sufficient quality of student, especially for online and hybrid programs, and outline the process for ensuring that faculty fully support the program and are trained to use the technology associated with the program. For hybrid and online programs, provide a timeline for instructor training and college/school approval of the online or hybrid courses.
10. Program Discontinuation Plan. Provide a teach-out plan for the program, should the program be discontinued. The plan should include when new admissions will cease, when and how current students will be notified of plans for program closure, the length of time students will be given to complete the program, and how admitted and current students will be able to complete the program within that amount of time.
11. Program Assessment. The proposal must include a plan for on-going assessment of program-level student learning outcomes as well as achievement of program goals. Programs should outline a three-year plan for ongoing assessment that will commence in the academic year in which the program will be launched. The plan should specify the following: 1. Each program level student learning outcome (SLO) to be assessed. 2. Each program goal to be assessed. 3. The methods that will be used to assess achievement of each program learning outcome or evaluate whether a program goal is achieved. 4. The date (semester and year) when faculty will collect and analyze the data, and who will be responsible for each assessment activity.
For assistance with assessment of student learning, contact the Office of Assessment staff for a consultation meeting. The chart below can be used as a guide to elaborate your assessment plan:
6 Assessment Plan
CATEGORIES OF ACTIVITY Semester 1 Semester 2 Semester 3 Semester 4 Semester 6 PROGRAM LEVEL CATEGORIES OF SLOS ACTIVITY Develop measure Collect data Analyze/interpre t data; reflection Make changes Develop measure Collect data Analyze/interpre t data; reflection Make changes Develop measure Collect data Analyze/interpre t data; reflection Make changes PROGRAM GOALS CATEGORIES OF ACTIVITY Develop measure Collect data Analyze/interpre t data; reflection Make changes Develop measure Collect data Analyze/interpre
Approved February 20, 2017 Page 7 t data; reflection Make changes Develop measure Collect data Analyze/interpre t data; reflection Make changes
Approved February 20, 2017 Page 8 12. WASC Approval. If the new program will be online, hybrid, offered at an off-site location, or result in a degree that is higher than a Master’s, WASC approval may be needed before you implement the new program.
In such a case, you will need to consult with Margaret Kasimatis, Vice Provost of Strategic Planning and Educational Effectiveness, to obtain her written statement about whether or not the program will require WASC approval. You will need to submit her statement, which is typically in the form of an email, with your new program proposal.
13. Other Issues of Significance. Please provide any additional information and comments about the program that will help shed light on the feasibility and viability of the program at this institution (e.g., grants for establishing and supporting the program).
14. Cover Page and Signatures. Attach a cover page with signatures from the proposal author(s) and all appropriate administrators (for example, deans, chairs, program directors, the Director of Academic Technology, etc.) who will be impacted by and/or oversee the new program. This must include, at minimum, the department chair or program director, the chair of the college/school curriculum committee, and the dean of the college/school in which the program resides.
Approved February 20, 2017 Page 9