GRADUATE PROGRAMS: APPROVAL OF NEW PROGRAMS AND PROGRAM MODIFICATIONS

Transcription

1 RYERSON UNIVERSITY POLICY OF SENATE GRADUATE PROGRAMS: APPROVAL OF NEW PROGRAMS AND PROGRAM MODIFICATIONS Policy Number: 127 Submitted by: School of Graduate Studies Approval Dates: October 1996 October, 2000 Reformatted: January 2002 Responsible Committee or Office: Dean, School of Graduate Studies Policy New Graduate Programs must first be approved by the Council of the School of Graduate Studies followed by Senate before submission to the Ontario Council for Graduate Studies (OCGS). Following OCGS approval, the program will be forwarded to the Board of Governors. The Vice President, Academic, will have the final decision (see Board motion from Jan/Feb 2001). Any out of province graduate programs wishing to be associated with Ryerson either through the use of our facilities, our faculty, or our students, are expected to be mutually beneficial and shall be required to undergo the equivalent quality review expected of our own graduate programs. Major modifications of the curriculum of a graduate program or changes in academic policies related to a specific graduate program will be submitted to Senate by the Council of the School of Graduate Studies for approval. Minor changes will be submitted to Senate for information. The procedures for these are outlined within these guidelines. New Graduate Programs - Approval Procedures Original Policy: Approved by Senate, October Groups submitting new graduate programs for approval (hereafter referred to as the Program Committee) shall initially supply three copies of the material described in the procedures document Submission Requirements for New Graduate Programs, Stage One, section 1), to the Dean of Graduate Studies who, in turn, will table them with the Programs and Planning Committee (PPC) of the School of Graduate Studies Council (SGS). The 1

2 Program Committee will also name a spokesperson to whom all communication will be addressed. 2. PPC will review this information and will provide feedback to the Program Committee, typically within one month of the original submission. 3. Proposed programs successful in the first stage will be encouraged to prepare a full proposal, described in the procedures document Submission Requirements for New Graduate Programs, Stage Two section 2). Program Committees shall supply three copies of the material to the Dean of Graduate Studies, who, in turn, will table them with the PPC. 4. PPC will be responsible for studying the documentation and determining its readiness for an external consultant. PPC communicates with the Program Committee in writing and may ask members of the Program Committee to meet with PPC in order to assist with its deliberations. 5. The Dean of Graduate Studies will engage one or two external consultants to review the written submission. The external consultants will normally be senior academics active in a relevant field of study, but shall not be any of those named in the OCGS brief or on the external advisory committee of the proposed program. A written report will be submitted by each external consultant to the Dean, which will be shared with the Program Committee. The Program Committee will be allowed to prepare a written response to the external consultants report. All costs of the external consultants, including honorariums and travel, shall be borne by the Program Committee s Faculty (ies). 6. The SGS Council will receive both the proposal and consultant=s report and will either reject the proposal, table their pending informal communication with the Program Committee about the Council=s concerns, or approve the proposal. 7. In the case of approval by SGS Council, the Program Committee will liaise with the Dean and the Registrar in preparing a draft for the university calendar. This draft will become part of the proposal. 8. After review by the Vice President, Academic, Senate will consider the proposal and recommendations of SGS Council as part of its regular business and either reject or approve the recommendation. 9. If the proposed program is approved by Senate, the Dean will work with the Program Committee to finalize the submission to OCGS. The sole authority to communicate with OCGS will rest with the Dean. 10. After OCGS approval, the program will be brought forward to the Finance Committee of the Board of Governors for approval and then forwarded to the Board of Governors for final approval. 2

3 11. If OCGS approval to commence is granted, the Program Committee will be instructed to submit the necessary documentation for Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities new program approval to the Dean, who will in turn submit it on behalf of the University to Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The Dean will report on Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities decisions to the Board of Governors, Senate, SGS and the Program Committee. New Graduate Programs - Submission Requirements 1. Stage One Groups submitting new graduate programs for approval (the Program Committee); will initially submit the following information to the Dean of Graduate Studies: a) A general description of the aims and objective of the proposed program, drawing particular attention to its degree of consistency with Ryerson=s mandate (applied, professional and quasi-professional education), b) Evidence of the viability of the proposed program as a graduate program in the university system in Ontario, c) The Curricula Vitae of the Faculty in OCGS format (See OCGS By-Laws and Procedures Governing Appraisals (Revised November 1997), page 23), and d) Letters of support and commitment from the relevant Deans of Faculty. As a general guideline, sections a) and b) should be limited to 5 to 10 pages in length. Program committees are encouraged to communicate with the Dean of Graduate Studies at an early stage in the conception of the proposed graduate program. 2. Stage Two Following the initial positive, informal review of this documentation by the Programs and Planning Committee of School of Graduate Studies Council (SGS), the Program Committee will be invited to submit the following information to the Dean of Graduate Studies: a) The Brief for Standard Appraisals of the Ontario Council of Graduate Studies, as outlined in the OCGS By-Laws (page 26), to be supplied in three separate bound volumes. b) The following additional internal requirements, which partially were first suggested by the Final Report of the Graduate Studies Working Group, April 1994: 3

4 I) A statement describing the positive and negative impacts on existing undergraduate and graduate programs at Ryerson. ii) iii) iv) A detailed description of the costs of the proposed program (faculty and staff resources, laboratory and studio equipment, office, laboratory and studio space, research and teaching assistantships and scholarships for graduate students) and sources of revenue (enrolment projections, by year during start-up and in steady-state, any external financial support). A statement describing the proposed program s degree of consistency with Ryerson s mandate (applied, professional and quasi-professional education). The names, affiliations and CVs of the proposed program s external advisory committee, which should contain a mix of both professional and academic advisors. The academic advisors should have experience in graduate programming. A statement describing the extent of the external advisory committee s involvement with the proposed program should be included. v) Letters of support and commitment from the relevant Deans of Faculty, Chairs and Directors of academic departments and Directors of administrative departments with major resource commitments to the proposed program. 3. At the time of final OCGS approval, Committees proposing new graduate programs will be required to submit modifications to be included in the Ryerson calendar. Graduate Program Modifications - Guidelines Original Policy: Approved by Senate, October Scope of Guidelines These guidelines cover the preparation and submission to Senate of proposals to change academic policies or curriculum respecting existing graduate programs. Proposals for new programs are covered in Policy and Procedures for Approval of New Programs. 2. Authority to Determine Academic Policy and Curriculum Under the Ryerson Act authority to determine academic policy and curriculum rests with Senate This means that, although in practice decisions on curriculum and policy matters may be made within graduate programs, such decisions have not been properly authorized until approved by Senate. Senate therefore must receive information on all curriculum and policy decisions taken by graduate programs. Normally, Senate will sanction Aminor@ 4

5 decisions by receiving them for information. Major curriculum or policy matters require separate decisions by Senate, normally after review and advice by the Programs and Planning Committee on behalf of the Council for the School of Graduate Studies. Responsibilities to determine when formal review and decision by Senate is required rests with the Vice President, Academic. Early in the academic planning process, program directors should clarify through the Dean of Graduate Studies whether a planned policy or curriculum proposal requires formal review and approval by Council. Section 3. below covers preparation and submission of academic proposals requiring review. Section 4. covers preparation and submission of Academic proposals to be presented to Senate for information. 3. Curriculum and Policy Proposals for review by the School of Graduate Studies Council The role of the Council of the School of Graduates Studies is to make recommendations to Senate on the quality, coherence and suitability of curricular changes proposed by graduate programs. The SGS Council receives its recommendations from the Programs and Planning Committee. 4. What goes to Programs and Planning Most routine curriculum changes do not need to go to the Programs and Planning Committee. Changes involving individual courses, course substitutions and isolated alterations in course hours, all normally proceed, with the approval of all affected parties, directly to Senate for ratification. Prior review by the Programs and Planning Committee will normally be required when curriculum changes are more substantial, involving for example, new courses added to the program, changes to degree designation, program objectives, or extensive course changes. 5. Format It will be helpful to the Programs and Planning Committee and Senate if programs would follow certain conventions in submitting their proposals: For admissions or promotion policy changes: a copy of the proposed policy and of the existing policy, drawing attention to the changes and the rationale. For changes to program objectives: a copy of the existing statement of objectives together with the proposed changes and including a statement of the rationale for them. For changes in curriculum structure or content: a rationale for the proposed changes and sufficient information, for example, a comparison of the existing courses and amended 5

6 6. Timing programs, for members to determine the appropriateness of the change. Senate has confirmed that its December meeting is the last one at which curriculum changes for the next academic year will be considered. Academic proposals received by the Vice President, Academic by September 20 are guaranteed consideration by SGS Council prior to this meeting. Those received after September 20 will be considered as promptly as its agenda permits; under certain circumstances it may not be possible for these to be completed in time for the December Council meeting. Curriculum or policy change proposals received after the deadline for the November Council meeting normally will not be implemented until the academic year beginning with the second following September. Council=s work will be facilitated if a change is reported for information as soon as possible after it is decided. Remember: the agenda deadline for Council is two weeks prior to the scheduled meeting date. This means that such changes must be in the office of the Vice President, Academic at least two full weeks prior to the Council meeting at which they will be presented. 7. Curriculum and Policy Proposals Presented to Senate for Information Such proposals should be presented in a form which permits individual Senate members to review them efficiently and effectively. 8. Reporting Policy Changes Normally policy proposals respecting admission, promotion and graduation will be treated as major, requiring review and recommendation by the appropriate School of Graduate Studies Council committee before consideration by Senate. This should be clarified with the Vice President, Academic, through the Dean, Graduate Studies as soon as the proposal is finalized and prior to consideration in the program Council. Other policy proposals, involving, for example, grading practices peculiar to a particular program, or regulations governing academic field work, should be reported in memorandum format, outlining the policy and the rationale therefore, and indicating approval of the Dean and the Vice President, Academic. These approvals may be obtained by routing the memorandum reporting the change through the Dean and Vice President, Academic to the Secretary of Senate. 9. Reporting Curriculum Changes on a Course Change Form Minor curriculum changes should be reported, where feasible, on a Graduate Course form, copy appended. This form also is available electronically from the Office of Graduate Studies. 6

7 10. Reporting Curriculum Changes in a Memorandum Where it becomes evident that the Course Change Form format is unsuitable, memo format may be used. In this instance, proposed curriculum should be compared with existing curriculum, and the rationale, approval, and date of implementation of the proposed changes are to be shown. Approvals of the program affected by the proposed changes are to be recorded together with the approval of the Dean, Graduate Studies and the Vice President, Academic. Course numbers and names; hours by lecture, laboratory and studio for each course and in total; should be included. 7