New Academic Program

Proposed new academic major, minor, or certificate programs require approval from committees. Curricular Affairs works with academic units to assist them through the approval process. Completion of the entire approval process may require four months to a year. Departments are encouraged to meet with Curricular Affairs in the initial stages of undergraduate program proposal development and Maggie Pitts, Senior Associate Dean of the Graduate College, in the initial stages of graduate program proposal development.

New Majors

New majors require campus governance and Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) approval. While we accept new academic major proposals on a rolling basis, departments wishing to launch a degree program by fall are encouraged to submit required proposal paperwork through the UAccess UA Academic Plan Workflow by October. 

New program proposals can take some time to make it through all of the required faculty governance councils and we cannot guarantee approval timelines.  Academic units have two years from the time of ABOR approval to complete UA approval processes to implement the program.

UA governing committees and ABOR must approve all new or modified academic programs before the program may be announced or marketed.

If you want to add a new Subplan/Emphasis to your Major see Program Modifications adding a new Subplan/Emphasis.

To create an Accelerated Masters or Dual Degree combination see Program Modifications Combining Existing Programs.

New Standalone Minor

New standalone academic minors require the same campus governance approval workflow and documentation as new majors, but they do not require ABOR approval.

New Minor with the Same Name as an Existing Major

A minor with the same name as an existing Major can be requested with a Memo including the required curriculum and signed by Department Head and Academic Dean. 

New Certificate

An undergraduate certificate is a focused, structured, and interrelated set of courses that enhances the undergraduate experience in an emerging academic area, addresses a professional development need, or provides "step-up" preparation for a degree program, consisting of a minimum of 12 credits.

Graduate Certificates are specialized sets of courses and/or curriculum consisting of a minimum of 9 credits.

Certificates should enhance existing programs, not take the place of them. Sufficient resources must exist to support the certificate without penalizing existing academic programs including emphases and minors.

Program Modification

Micro-Credential - This is not a credit bearing credential

Micro-credentials verify, validate, and attest specific skills and/or competencies have been achieved and are endorsed by the issuing institution, having been developed through established faculty governance processes and designed to be meaningful and high quality.

All new academic proposals, except minors with the same name as an existing major, route through the Academic Plan Workflow. UAccess provisioning is needed, contact Curricular Affairs to request role specific access (Submitter, Department Approver, College Approver). The following forms are needed for a successful proposal submission.

Prior to submitting proposal
(email rough draft in Word, without signatures, to Curricular Affairs for review and feedback)

• Market Report Request
• Preliminary Proposal (majors only)

Post workflow submission
(email to Curricular Affairs)

• Request to Establish New Academic Program in Arizona (majors only)

Attached to the UAccess Academic Plan Workflow form

• Program Specific Form: Major, Minor, Certificate
• Budget Projection Form
  • use the Budget Projection Form Instructions for clarification. 
• Peer Comparison Chart
• Course Use/Collaboration/Concern Form

Minors with the Same Name as an Existing Major

• Email Memo to the Office of Curricular Affairs including required curriculum. Memo must be signed by Department Head and Academic Dean. 
  • Undergraduate: Address Memo to the Office of Curricular Affairs and Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
  • Graduate: Address Memo to the Office of Curricular Affairs and Senior Associate Dean of the Graduate College 

• Create a New Prefix (Subject Code)
• Course Approvals
  • New Course Add
  • Course Modify
  • Course Inactivate
• Modifications to Programs
  • Standard Curriculum Modifications
  • Substantial Curriculum Modifications
  • Adding a Subplan/Emphasis
  • Renaming a Plan or Subplan
  • Disestablish a Plan or Subplan
  • Changing a CIP Code
  • Changing Academic Owner
  • Combining Existing Programs (AMPs or Dual Degrees)
  • Add or Remove Campus or Location
• Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR)
  • Policy Manual
• Adding or Removing a Campus or Location

See the Dates and Deadlines page for the most up-to-date deadlines.

Generally new proposals can begin anytime and will be reviewed and routed in a timely manner. 

Dates and Deadlines