Graduate School Policy Governing Post-baccalaureate Certificate Programs

(approved by the Graduate School Executive Committee, 3/5/98; revised 4/23/01)

Introduction

Post-baccalaureate certificate programs are increasingly being sought by a variety of professionals who wish to enhance their knowledge, skills, and professional credibility without having to devote two or more years to full degree programs. As the University of Minnesota's Guidelines for Certificate Programs makes clear, the term "certificate" has a wide variety of uses. Formal certificate programs are included in an institution's list of approved programs and result in an official transcript. Some certificates relate to external certification criteria regardless of whether the coursework results in an award by the education institution which provides that coursework.

This policy concerns post-baccalaureate certificate programs under the aegis of the Graduate School. It is predicated on the assumption that the Graduate School should play an expanded role in encouraging and supporting post-baccalaureate certificate work. Two principles underlie the formulation of the policy.

• Neither the opportunity nor the encouragement to offer post-baccalaureate certificate programs through the Graduate School implies in any sense an assumption of Graduate School ownership of certificate programs in general. Some post-baccalaureate certificate programs are appropriately housed in collegiate units without involvement of the Graduate School.
• Programs wishing to offer post-baccalaureate work leading to a certificate which might ultimately be combined with other work to contribute to a masters or doctoral degree should be encouraged to offer that work through the Graduate School. It is the prerogative of the program faculty to decide whether to propose a certificate program through the Graduate School. It is the duty of the relevant Policy and Review Council(s) of the Graduate School to review proposals for certificate programs to determine whether they meet relevant criteria for all programs offered through the Graduate School.

Why via the Graduate School?

There are several reasons to offer post-baccalaureate certificate programs through the Graduate School.

• Students who enroll for post-baccalaureate certificate programs often decide during the course of that work that they would like to continue their education in traditional graduate degree programs. Offering the program through the Graduate School provides seamless educational continuity; questions of credit transferability and integration of records pose no problems.
• Pairing a certificate program with other requirements, or linking two or more related certificate programs, as the basis for obtaining a graduate degree, decreases the time for a student to obtain the degree after participating in the certificate program(s), hence decreases the cost of obtaining that degree.
• Existing registration and record keeping capabilities of the Graduate School greatly reduce the administrative burden for the faculty offering the certificate. This is a particularly valuable contribution for interdisciplinary programs which span collegiate boundaries.

Program Requirements

Although post-baccalaureate certificate programs offered through the Graduate School need not be as comprehensive as master's degree programs, they must assure graduate level training. Minimal criteria are:

• All courses comprising the certificate program must be at a level acceptable for graduate credit; i.e. no course may be below the 4000 level. At least fifty-percent of the program credits must be at the 5000 level or above. Although 6000 and 7000 level courses (primarily professional post-baccalaureate) may count toward a certificate program approved through the Graduate School, they cannot constitute the entire program.
• The minimum number of semester credits required for a certificate may vary from program to program, but must constitute at least 12 semester credits.
• Courses required by the certificate program must be taught by faculty with a Graduate School appointment.
• If a certificate program may be used as part of the requirements for a graduate degree, a logical interrelationship must be demonstrated between the content of the certificate program and the requirements of the graduate degree.
• Graduate school admission requirements must be met by all applicants. However, as with some professional degree programs administered through the Graduate School, relevant non-academic experience may constitute additional evidence of admissibility. Such criteria must be explicit in the application for program approval.
• Students may be admitted to the Graduate School for a certificate program without being admitted to a degree program, but that status will be made explicit to the student in the letter of admission from the Graduate School. If a student subsequently wishes to apply for admission to a degree program for which the certificate constitutes some portion of total requirements, the Director of Graduate Studies and graduate faculty of the degree program must approve the Change of Status.
• Program requirements must be approved by the program faculty and the relevant Policy and Review Council(s) of the Graduate School.
• If it is proposed that two or more certificate programs can be combined to obtain a graduate degree, an additional integrating experience must be required such as a thesis or Plan B papers.

Proposing a Post-baccalaureate Certificate Program

As with any proposal for a new program to be offered through the Graduate School, the following requirements must be satisfied.

• Demonstration of sufficient student demand to warrant initiating the program.
• Demonstration of sufficient job market for those who will earn certificates through the program.
• Documentation of support for any anticipated costs if the new program will require additional faculty, staff, equipment, space or other resources.
• Specification of courses and related experiences required for the certificate.
• Specification of admission, good standing and satisfactory progress requirements, in accord with Graduate School policies.
• Evidence of faculty support for implementation of the program.
• Identification of a Director of Graduate Studies and participating faculty for the program.
• Specification of a program review after two years.

Possible Models

As noted previously, post-baccalaureate certificate programs may be offered entirely independently of the Graduate School. Similarly, such programs need not be related to further graduate work even though they are offered through the Graduate School. However, there are many possible models for certificate programs which can potentially contribute to further graduate work if the faculty and the Graduate School so approve.

• A certificate program may satisfy a minor or related field requirement for a graduate degree.
• A certificate program may be officially recognized as satisfying part of the major requirements of a graduate degree.
• Given sufficient integration of content, two or more closely related certificate programs may jointly satisfy virtually all requirements for a master's degree, with the exception of an integrating or capstone experience such as a thesis or Plan B papers, and an oral examination. Although completion of a certificate program may be counted toward some portion of doctorate degree requirements, certificate programs alone may not constitute the major portion of a doctoral degree program.