3.4.1 Academic Program Approval

Comprehensive Standard:  The institution demonstrates that each educational program for which academic credit is awarded is approved by the faculty and the administration.

    Compliance
X Partial Compliance
    Non-Compliance

Narrative:

Proposals to establish or change educational programs are initially developed by departmental faculty.  They then must be approved by the department or division faculty, the college curriculum committee, and the faculty of each college. [1] The establishment of new programs must also be approved by the University Senate Academic Programs Committee, the Provost, the President and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. [2] 

Compliance is partial because both the College of Health and Human Sciences (CHHS) and the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) have not fully used the process specified in their bylaws to approve changes in curricular requirements.  These variances were discovered during preparations for the SACS review and are now being remedied.

According to its bylaws [3], changes in CHHS curricula are first approved by the college Academic Affairs Committee and then approved by the college faculty at the bi-annual meeting of the faculty and staff. However, sometimes the changes are brought to the faculty by the department head and have not been given to the Academic Affairs committee for approval prior to the faculty meeting. The CHHS bylaws committee has noted this discrepancy and will be contacting the Academic Affairs Committee chair to assure that any program changes be approved by that committee prior to a faculty vote.

According to its bylaws, changes in A&S curricula must be approved by the A&S Curriculum Committee [4]; however, this process has not been followed.  A&S is currently reviewing all changes in curricular requirements that have been made since 1998.  This review will be completed and voted on by the faculty of the College by the end of the Fall 2007 semester. When the faculty of the College vote on those changes, Georgia State will be in full compliance with this comprehensive standard.  The College will be monitoring future compliance with its bylaws. 

Supporting Documentation:
  1. College Bylaws
  2. Georgia State University Procedures for the Creation of New Degree Programs and Majors
  3. College of Health and Human Sciences, Bylaws
  4. College of Arts and Sciences, Bylaws