Guidelines for Program Changes

The following motion was recommended to the Dean on March 15, 2000 by the full EPC, and formally approved by the Dean on March 24, 2000. Please keep this notice with your records about Lynch School policies, programs, and procedures:

Decision making processes in the Lynch School may be enhanced through clarity of guidelines relevant to institutional changes.

When determining whether a program change in a department should advance to the EPC or can be resolved on a departmental level, the following guidelines shall be referenced:

• In general, department chairs shall review changes in coursework within their departments with their colleagues in a context of relative autonomy. However, chairs and faculty should consider the impact of any changes that they may make on the larger mission of the LSOE.
• All new courses and programs in the Lynch School must be approved by the EPC.
• A department which wishes to eliminate a program must have prior approval by the EPC.
• Major curriculum changes within a program must be approved by the EPC.
• Major changes in a program that will impact other programs and Lynch School resources must be approved by the EPC.
• Minor changes such as a change in course syllabus shall not be the purview of the EPC.
• Changes in course names shall not ordinarily be advanced to the EPC. However, when changes in course name and syllabus indicate a significant shift in course content that will impact students throughout the Lynch School, it is appropriate to advance changes to the EPC for review.
• Changing the status of a course from an elective to a required status shall not ordinarily fall under the purview of the EPC. However, if the Dean or Associate Dean indicate that such changes might decrease enrollments in elective courses that are important to our students and to the well-being of the Lynch School as a whole, it is appropriate that said changes be submitted to the EPC for review.

The Dean and Associate Dean, in consultation with the department chair, will determine if a proposed change in a program is "major" or "minor" and whether a proposal needs to advance to the EPC for review or whether it can be implemented at the departmental or program level.

Submitted by Dennis Shirley 

March 13, 2000