Propose a new degree program

The University of Nevada, Reno is committed to offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs of the highest quality and value. Therefore, proposals for new degree programs should establish the academic and business case for their development. Successful proposals will demonstrate program quality and value by providing evidence of student demand and post graduation results, faculty interest and credentials, and financial resources and sustainability. Proposals will also indicate how the program supports the College’s strategic goals, the University’s Top Tier Mission, and the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Master Plan/Strategic Goals.  

The process for proposing new degree programs described below aims to be herein is transparent, collaborative, efficient, timely, and aligned with the College's and the University's priorities and resources.

*NOTE* The timeline for a new program to be completed takes an average of two years.  If a proposal requires NSHE Academic Affairs Council (AAC), Board of Regents (BOR), and the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) approvals, the timeline averages one year minimum.  For example, after the proposal has reached the Provost’s approval step in Curriculog, it is submitted to NSHE for the next quarterly AAC meeting.  The applicable NSHE forms often require multiple edits and must be reviewed by the University’s legal counsel, the Executive Vice President, and the Provost before being submitted to NSHE. If the proposal is approved at the AAC meeting, it will move forward to the next quarterly meeting of the BOR.  The proposal will then be submitted to NWCCU. Departments, Schools, or Colleges cannot advertise or implement any new degree program until the required approvals are in place.

The University of Nevada, Reno seeks to grow its catalog of degree programs in alignment with the College and University strategic plans. New degree programs should not be proposed simply to increase faculty and resources within academic units. There exist other opportunities in UNR’s biennial budgeting process to request additional faculty lines or other resources needed for departmental growth.

Departments, schools, or colleges should argue for the new program as they would for a grant or research project.  Every opportunity to offer rationale (job market, number of new programs of this kind across the country, how this makes UNR more like peer and peer-aspirant institutions, strength and innovativeness of program learning outcomes, advantages to students of having this opportunity, importance of relevant student/graduate outcomes) grounded in college and university missions and strategic plans.  So, “remember: you are making a case for the program”, “your rationale here helps senior UNR administrators and NSHE see the value” “when you project enrollments, be sure to emphasize job market demand for this kind of program, and maybe cite evidence in enrollments and graduation/degrees granted at other similar programs, so that readers can see how reliable your projections are".

1. New programs should be supported by the respective Dean(s). This support includes:

• Giving a concise presentation about the idea for the program before the Deans’ Council, and when appropriate, designing the program in collaboration with other units, particularly when the field of study is interdisciplinary and other Deans are interested in participating in the program.

2. A request to place a new program on the Nevada System of Higher Education NSHE Planning Report, commonly known as UNR’s Academic Master Plan, should only be made if the program:

• Aligns with College, University, and NSHE goals and priorities (e.g., Department and College/School strategic plans, Campus Top Tier Mission, Master Plan/Strategic Goals).
• Is appropriately resourced to support excellence and quality. If resources are needed to launch and/or administer the program, the Dean must commit to listing any required program resources as the top priority in the Dean’s subsequent budget requests.
• Will be financially sustainable. That is, the resources available and those generated from the program will be sufficient to cover the cost of the program, including instructional faculty, academic advisors, student recruitment, graduate assistantships, space, equipment, materials, software licenses, etc.
• Is supported by a sufficient number of faculty with appropriate credentials and commitment to the proposed program. The University must have a robust group of faculty members at different academic levels with expertise and specializations in the subject matter, because these faculty members are essential for the new degree to thrive and produce highly qualified graduates.
• Is driven by an adequate understanding of student and workforce demand. The justification for proposing the degree program must include regional and/or national data showing student demand (see page 4), a lack of competing programs, and employment opportunities for graduates.
• Will support student success and career readiness.
• Will create significant enrollment and graduation growth, comfortably beyond NSHE’s low enrollment yield thresholds. NSHE stipulates that baccalaureate programs must award at least 20 degrees in the last three consecutive years, and that Master’s and doctoral programs must jointly award at least 8 degrees in the last three consecutive years.
• If relevant, meets requirements for interdisciplinary graduate programs. Interdisciplinary graduate programs are structurally housed in the Graduate College and are governed by an Advisory Board composed of the Deans of the participating Colleges/Schools. The daily operations of interdisciplinary programs are overseen by a committee of faculty from the participating units. Faculty and administrators interested in the possibility of proposing a new interdisciplinary graduate program (IDGP) should consult with the Dean of the Graduate College before beginning the Pre-Proposal process.
• After the Dean submits all documentation required to place a new degree program on the NSHE Planning Report (i.e., UNR’s Academic Master Plan), the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education or the Dean of the Graduate College (if applicable) will evaluate the information provided and comments received about the proposed program, and will then brief the Executive Vice President and Provost, who will decide whether the proposed program will be added to the Planning Report.
• Additions to the NSHE Planning Report must be approved by the Board of Regents.
• The title and the scope of the proposed degree need to be endorsed by the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education or the Dean of the Graduate College (if applicable), and then approved by the Executive Vice President and Provost.

This process ensures that proposed new programs will have broad campus awareness and support once added to the Planning Report.

1. Once a new degree is placed on the NSHE Planning Report (i.e., the University’s Academic Master Plan), the developers of the proposal need to begin working on a more specific plan for the degree.
2. A Pre-Proposal must be completed in Curriculog.
3. The purpose of the Pre-Proposal is a preliminary review of relevant issues that the proposal developers will need to address during the Pre-Proposal and/or Proposal processes. Topics to be discussed include the following:

• Has written documentation been received from the Dean acknowledging that the proposed program is the College’s or School’s top budget priority for the next and, depending on resource needs, subsequent budget requests?
• How does the proposed program fit into the Department/School? How does it relate to existing programs? Will it compete for the same students, faculty, and resources?
• How many core faculty members are immediately available to participate actively in the proposed program? How many new hires will be made to support this program? What is the timeline for these hires? The number of required faculty members varies depending on the type, level, and nature of the program; however, a minimum of four affiliated faculty members is generally required to start a program successfully. This number may be higher for research-intensive master's and doctoral programs, or accredited programs.
• For graduate program proposals, how many graduate faculty (and at what level or rank) will be part of the program? What is the proposed graduate faculty-to-graduate student ratio?
• How does the program support the Department and College missions? How does the program support the College’s strategic plan?
• How does the program contribute to the fulfillment of the University’s mission and core themes, including the Top Tier Mission?
• How does the program address important issues relevant to Nevada citizens?
• Has there been consultation with the Dean of the University Libraries to determine whether the University has the library resources necessary to support the academic needs of the faculty and students in the proposed program?
• How does the program fit within the strategic direction of NSHE?
• What data have been collected and analyzed to demonstrate the need and demand for the new program?
• How many and what type of similar degree programs currently exist in Nevada (at NSHE and other institutions), in the western part of the U.S., and nationwide, particularly at competing peer institutions? Please check NSHE Academic Program Information Systems (APIS)’s website to look for any similar degree programs within NSHE. Be sure to contact any institution if you find a similar program to align the program and/or courses as best as possible to lessen the risk of any surprise or concerns from other NSHE institutions at the Board of Regents (BOR) meeting.
• What are the employment prospects for students immediately upon graduation and several years later? The resources listed below can give general insights into the occupational outlook and employment trends, but proposals should also include additional discipline-specific data and analysis, as appropriate.
  • • Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook
    • Nevada System of Higher Education, Strategic Plan Metrics – Workforce
    • Nevada State Student Completion and Workforce Report
• What are the enrollment projections of the program in Year 1, Year 3, and Year 5, and what is the maximum enrollment goal?
• What resources are needed for the new degree program to succeed? Please consider faculty, graduate assistants, space, laboratories, equipment, recruitment costs, outside placements, etc.
• Will there be special course fees in the program? If so, consider the timeline required for approval, as this committee only meets twice per year.
• What are the unit’s plans to invest in the new program in the future?
• What is the proposed date of implementation? Remember that this estimate must account for the time required to review and route the proposal, get on the agenda of the NSHE Academic Affairs Council (AAC), and subsequently on the agenda of the full Board of Regents (BOR). Sufficient time must also be allocated for the new degree to be built into the university’s admissions, enrollment, and other systems, and for the entire admissions cycle to be completed before any students can be enrolled in the program. Typically, the proposed date is at least 12 months after the degree is approved by the Board of Regents.

2. If the degree is considered viable, the Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education will ask the proposers to complete the Pre-Proposal Form via Curriculog.

If the Pre-Proposal is approved, the proposer needs to submit their proposal through the standard Curriculog process to facilitate the University campus review process.  The new program proposal form can be created at any time after the pre-proposal is launched; however, it will not move forward for final approval until the pre-proposal has been fully approved. If new courses are being created as part of the program, they must be entered into Curriculog and fully approved before the program proposal receives final approval.

1. After internal approval (including applicable articulation agreements), the proposal is submitted to NSHE Academic Affairs Council (AAC) by the Vice Provost’s Office.

• Proposal must be at the Provost step in Curriculog, and have NSHE paperwork finalized 6–8 weeks before AAC meeting.
• AAC and Board of Regents meet quarterly.

2. If approved by the NSHE AAC, the new program Proposal will be forwarded for consideration by the Board of Regents (if required) at the following quarterly meeting. If any changes are needed after AAC review, the system office will contact the Office of the Provost representative.

3.  Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) notification/approval is required after Board of Regents approval (30-60 days).

Access Curriculog Guides here

• If new resources were requested for the program, it may not be possible to launch the program until such resources are secured.
• The Chair, Director, or Coordinator of the new program will work with personnel from Undergraduate or Graduate Admissions to execute the recruitment plan, build the necessary admissions application (at the graduate level), and set a reasonable timeline to begin accepting applications.
• The Chair, Director, or Coordinator will also work with other Campus units, as needed, to update websites to include the new degree program information, hire faculty or instructors as needed, etc.
• Please note that the necessary faculty and program materials (e.g., courses, catalog, and graduate handbook) must be in place before the term in which the first student is admitted.
• Departments, Schools, or Colleges cannot advertise or implement any new degree program until the required approvals are in place.

Board policy dictates the creation of degrees, majors, programs, or organizational 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 mission, 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
The following items require approval of the Academic Affairs Council only and do not require additional
approval by the Board of Regents:

1. Undergraduate certificates of at least 30 credit hours;
2. 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;
3. Study abroad programs;
4. 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;
5. Name change to an organizational unit that is cosmetic in nature; and
6. Reactivation of a previously approved degree, major or primary field of study that was placed on hold (deactivated) by the institution for less than five years since the effective date of the deactivation. The Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs will provide written notice to the Board of all approved reactivations.

(Rev. 97 (12/23) Chapter 6, Page 18)

Items Requiring Board of Regents Approval
The following items must be approved by the Academic Affairs Councils prior to being presented to the
Board for approval:

1. Degree, major or primary field of study for baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral level programs
   (BA, BS, MA, MS, Ph.D, and named degrees);
2. Emphases, major or primary field of study within the bachelor of applied science (BAS);
3. Primary field of study within an associate of arts, an associate of science, and an associate of business (AA, AS, and AB);
4. Primary field of study within an associate of applied science (AAS);
5. Emphases, concentration, or options that are converted into a major;
6. School or college;
7. Organizational unit, center, or institute;
8. Name change to a degree, major or primary field of study accompanied by a significant change in curriculum;
9. Degree-type change to a major or primary field of study (e.g., a BAS to a BA);
10. Name change to a school, or college that is the result of a significant reorganization of existing units, consolidation, or change in mission;
11. 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;
12. Elimination of any degree, major, primary field of study, school or college, center, institute or other organizational unit; and
13. 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.

(Rev. 97 (12/23) Chapter 6, Page 19)

NSHE Program and Organizational Unit Proposals Guidelines
UNR UAM 6000 Reference Chart for Changes in Courses or Curricula or Academic Units

• Center – an organizational unit focusing primarily on research and scholarly activity where services are typically unrelated to internal administrative operations (for the purposes of new unit proposals this definition is the same as “institute”).
• Certificate – an award granted certifying that certain training or educational requirements have been achieved.
• College – collection of departments, can include schools, that grant degrees in particular fields (may also be known as a division).
• Degree – the award given to graduates based on educational level. The basic levels include associate’s degree, bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and doctorate. (AA, AS, AAS, BA, BS, BAS, MA, MS, Ph.D).
• Department – division of a school or college focused in a particular academic area - reports to a unit other than another department, usually a college.
• Diploma Requirements – in general, diplomas can only recognize Board approved degrees and majors. However, emphases/concentrations/options for AAS and BAS degrees and certificates may appear on a diploma. Transcripts may include emphases/concentrations/options for any degree or certificate.
• Discipline – a distinct area of study, branch of instruction, or academic field.
• Emphasis, Concentration, Option – a specific area or branch of study within a student’s major. For example: a student majoring in Animal Science may choose to pursue an emphasis (i.e. option or concentration) in Equine Sciences or Rangeland Livestock Production.
• Industry Recognized Certification – measures competency in an occupation and is a third-party validation of the knowledge base and skills that show mastery in a particular industry. Recognized at local, state, or national levels, an industry certification is portable. Examples of industry-recognized certifications include, but are not limited to, CompTIA Security+, HVAC, NIMS, and CISCO networking and cybersecurity.
• Institute – an organizational unit focusing primarily on research and scholarly activity where services are typically unrelated to internal administrative operations (this definition is the same as “center” and is intended only to be used for the purposes of new organizational unit proposals, primarily to distinguish between internal administrative “institutes” or “centers” occurring at the community college versus research oriented units occurring at the universities).
• Major – the primary field of study within a degree characterizing the body of knowledge gained within a discipline.

(Rev. 97 (12/23) Chapter 6, Page 20)

Pursuant to Title 4, Chapter 14 of the Board of Regents Handbook and Chapter 6 of the NSHE Procedures and Guidelines Manual, a new program, as proposed on this form, must be submitted by the NSHE institution for approval by the NSHE Academic Affairs Council. In addition, certain items must also be approved by the Board of Regents. The required approvals are specified below:

Program Proposals Requiring NSHE Academic Affairs Council (AAC) Approval Only

• Undergraduate 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; and
• Study abroad programs.

Program Proposals Requiring NSHE Academic Affairs Council AND Nevada Board of Regents 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 Associate 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); and
• Emphasis, concentration, or options that are converted into a major.

For a list of items not requiring NSHE Academic Affairs Council or Board approval, please refer to the NSHE Procedures and Guidelines Manual, Chapter 6.

Note to Institutions: Following the required approval by the AAC and/or Nevada Board of Regents, institutions should determine whether the item requires submission and approval by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) institutional accrediting body and/or programmatic accrediting organizations and take any necessary steps with the accrediting organization(s).

• Until further notice, submitters should not use acronyms (for example, only use “University of Nevada, Reno” or “the University”) or first person singular or plural (I or We) in program proposals.
• Submitters should always use the most recent version of the Program Proposal form, downloaded from the NSHE website in Word format. Sometimes proposal submitters will start the form but not complete it until many months (sometimes years!) later- at which point there may be a more recent version that must be used.

NSHE Cost Estimate form:

I. Planned Student Enrollment- lines A + B totals should match FTE and unduplicated headcount figures listed in section J.ii. of the Program Proposal form.

II. Revenue totals must match total expenditures, so typically this section will be completed last, after estimated costs of the program have been quantified. The most frequently used category is “institution funds,” which basically means “we’ll cover it” (at the campus level).

Of late, the system office has asked that revenue be split between Institution Funds and New Tuition Revenues, proportionate to the split of projected enrollment between Enrollments from Existing Programs and New Enrollments to the Institution.

III. Expenditures

A. Personnel- Faculty FTE is often estimated using an average salary figure for those involved in the proposed program, and an approximate average percentage of effort. This is not the only possible approach to the budget, but provides a good fallback for proposal authors who don’t know where to start and don’t have a college fiscal officer to assist them.

For transparency and to facilitate NSHE-required New Program Follow-up reporting after the first, third and fifth year of the program, it’s advisable to include explanatory notes in the Budget notes section at the bottom of the form.

Add figures for other relevant personnel categories, and combine all fringe benefits (using rates from the PBA website).

Example using the most current fringe rates:

if your personnel expenses include faculty (line 48), adjunct faculty or LOAs (line 50), and graduate assistants (line 52), the formula:

=(D48*.338)+(D50*.125)+(D52*.176) should be used for Year 1 (adjust cell references for Years 3 and 5)

B. Expenditures, and

C. Operating and Capital Outlay- It’s a good idea to describe items like supplies and equipment in the notes section, for transparency and to facilitate follow-up reporting on actual expenditures.

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. 

• Undergraduate students: number of students times the 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

To begin your new degree program submission, download the latest version of the NSHE Academic Program Proposal Form directly from the NSHE website. This form includes all current requirements and guidance. Complete the form thoroughly, ensuring all supporting documents are included, and submit your proposal according to the checklist instructions. Using the most up-to-date version ensures your proposal meets NSHE standards and avoids delays in the review process.