Meeting Dates and Associated Deadlines

Policy and Review Council Meeting Dates

Policy and Review Council meetings for the 2008 spring semester have been scheduled as follows (all meetings are scheduled from 3:00 – 5:00 p.m.):

• Engineering, Physical and Mathematical Sciences P&R Council:  Wednesday, April 2
• Language, Literature and Arts P&R Council:  Tuesday, April 8
• Health Sciences P&R Council:  Tuesday, April 15
• Education and Psychology P&R Council:  Wednesday, April 16
• Biological Sciences P&R Council:  Tuesday, April 22
• Social Sciences P&R Council:  Wednesday, April 23

Submission Dates for 8xxx-Level Course Review

Programs that plan to propose new or substantially modified 8xxx-level courses for offering in the 2008 fall semester should submit their courses in ECAS (the University's Electronic Course Authorization System, accessible on the Web at http://onestop.umn.edu/onestop/faculty/ECAS.html) by no later than Monday, February 11, to ensure Council review this spring. Programs should also submit by this date any outstanding proposals for new or modified 8xxx-level courses they wish to offer in summer 2008.  (Ideally, new or changed courses planned for offering in spring 2009 should also be submitted by this date.)  New 8xxx-level courses and course changes that require budgetary college review and approval will need college authorization in ECAS by the February 11 deadline. To avoid potential delays in course approval due to incomplete information, programs should provide thorough documentation in ECAS to support their submissions.

The submission deadline for 8xxx-level course review this summer is May 12, 2008.  For review in fall 2008, the deadline will be October 1, 2008.

Please contact facstaff@tc.umn.edu if you have any questions about ECAS or aspects of 8xxx-level course review.

Submission Dates and Review Timetable for Proposals for New or Modified Academic Programs

Faculty who are developing proposals for new academic programs, or for major modifications in existing programs, for review in the 2008 fall semester should submit a preliminary draft of their proposal to the Graduate School no later than May 15, 2008.  Final versions of academic program proposals are due in the Graduate School by September 2, 2008, for the Policy and Review Councils and Graduate School Executive Committee to consider in November. According to this timetable, review by the Board of Regents would follow in February 2009.  (The Regents do not meet in January.)

The corresponding deadlines for proposal review in spring 2009 are submission of a preliminary draft by December 1, 2008, and of a final proposal by February 2, 2009, for P&R Council and Executive Committee review in April and consideration by the Board of Regents in July 2009. 

Before beginning to develop a proposal, faculty are encouraged to schedule an appointment to discuss it with Associate Dean Shirley Nelson Garner, at 625-4858. Draft or final proposals received after the stated deadlines will normally be held for review until the next semester. To assure that all proposals receive the careful attention and review they deserve, the Graduate School will not rush a review to accommodate drafts or final proposals received after the published deadlines.

Faculty may find the following Graduate School documents useful in developing proposals (all of these documents may be found on this Web site):

• Developing New Academic Programs and Formal Tracks under the Aegis of the Graduate School  (http://www.grad.umn.edu/faculty-staff/governance/policies/new_programs.html) (see also “University Criteria and Instructions for Academic Program Review and Approval," http://academic.umn.edu/provost/reviews/apr/index.html)
• Guidelines for the Formal Identification of Tracks within Degree Programs (http://www.grad.umn.edu/faculty-staff/governance/policies/tracks.html)
• Graduate School Policy Governing Post-baccalaureate Certificate Programs (http://www.grad.umn.edu/faculty-staff/governance/policies/post_baccalaureate.html) (see also “Details of Post-baccalaureate Certificate Program Administration in the Graduate School,” http://www.grad.umn.edu/faculty-staff/governance/policies/postbac_administration.html)
• Report of the Graduate School Ad Hoc Committee on Distance Learning (http://www.grad.umn.edu/faculty-staff/governance/policies/distance_learning.html)
• Preliminary Guidelines for the Delivery of Graduate School International Degree Programs (http://www.grad.umn.edu/faculty-staff/governance/policies/international_degrees.html)
• Operational Guidelines for the Establishment and Delivery of All-University Graduate Programs (http://www.grad.umn.edu/faculty-staff/governance/policies/all_university_programs.html)
• Best Practices in Coursework Master’s Degrees Offered Via the Graduate School (http://www.grad.umn.edu/dgs/governance/CourseworkMasters.pdf)
• Content of Letters to Support New or Changed Graduate School Academic Programs (http://www.grad.umn.edu/faculty-staff/governance/policies/support_letters.html)