Substantive & Non-Substantive Changes

New Concentration

New concentrations (used interchangeably with other terms, such as designation, emphasis, option, pathway, specialization or track) should be approved by the school/program faculty and additional school approvals should be sought as needed pursuant to the school’s bylaws.  

To start, follow these steps:

1. The school/program faculty complete and submit the New Concentration Template (docx), evidence of vote/approval by school/program faculty (as stated in school’s bylaws), and endorsement from school dean by emailing Dr. Serenity Rose King.  

If the concentration needs to be renamed or modified, please visit the Administrative Changes page.  

New Undergraduate Minor

New undergraduate minors should be approved by the school/program faculty as needed pursuant to the school’s bylaws and must adhere to Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) and Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) standards.

If there will be new faculty hired to initiate the minor, the school dean must inform the provost before submitting the minor proposal. 

To start, follow these steps:  

1. The school/program faculty complete and submit the New Minor Template (docx), evidence of vote/approval by school/program faculty (pursuant to school’s bylaws), and endorsement from the school dean by email to Dr. Serenity Rose King. 

If the minor needs to be renamed or modified, please visit the Administrative Changes page.  

New Internal Double Majors/Double Degrees

The development of double majors or double degrees, between two UT Dallas schools and/or within the same school at UT Dallas, should be agreed upon by faculty representing each stand-alone major.  

The two schools will need to discuss the proposed double majors and/or double degrees and keep internal documentation with appropriate catalog text. If an agreement cannot be reached, conversations will take place within or outside of the Council for Undergraduate Education or Graduate Council. 

To start, follow these steps:  

1. Upon agreement between the two schools/programs, both sides update their catalog pages.
2. Submit the request to the Office of the Registrar.
3. The Office of the Registrar will review and route the request through the internal governance approval process. External review is not necessary. 

Texas Core Curriculum Course Addition, Revision, or Deletion

Texas Core Curriculum courses are general education courses at the undergraduate level, and they do not refer to the major “core” courses within the undergraduate degree programs. Additional details about the core curriculum can be found in the undergraduate catalog. See the internal process flowchart below.

The Office of the Provost recommends that no students be enrolled into the proposed core course until the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) sends an email to acknowledge the proposed requests. If the course already exists, then the syllabus must show that the course will not count as a core until THECB acknowledgement is received.

To start, follow these steps: 

1. Faculty request a Texas Core Course Addition, Revision or Deletion through the eForm. This eForm ensures the core course’s student learning objectives/outcomes are mapped to the required core objectives within the Foundational Component Area and Component Area Option as required by Texas Administrative Code (TAC), Title 19, Part 1, Chapter 4, Subchapter B, Rule 4.28-4.31.
2. If a core course is requested for deletion, then the faculty member will choose whether the course is removed from the core curriculum and/or completely from the state’s course inventory by selecting the appropriate “purpose of request” within the eForm.

Internal Approval Flowchart

If the core course request is rejected, it is sent back to the school/program faculty to address the committee’s issues and returns to that committee for additional review/approval. 

Capstone and Non-Capstone Agreements

UT Dallas allows schools to offer capstone senior courses or non-capstone courses that offer the opportunity to solve real-life business problems for outside companies or businesses.  

Currently, there are three UT Dallas schools with existing internal processes for capstone projects: 

1. UTDesign Capstone at the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
2. UTDsolv Capstone Senior Project at the Naveen Jindal School of Management.
3. UTDiscovery Capstone Project within the joint Data Science Programs at the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science. 

The designated primary school contacts must ensure the appropriate agreement template is used for capstone or non-capstone course(s). 

The Associate Vice President for Institutional Success and Decision Support is the University’s officer who has signature authority to execute these agreements. Please email Dr. Serenity Rose King or call 972-883-6749 for additional information. 

To start, follow these steps:  

1. If the course is a non-capstone course (ex.: an elective course) and the project involves a company, then the school and/or program will create an electronic UT Dallas Class Project nondisclosure agreement (NDA) and route it for electronic signatures using the University’s Docusign. Note: if the electronic NDA is not available, please use this template, UTD Class Project NDA Form (pdf).
2. The school presents the agreement to the company and obtains the required signatures by the school, the company and the participating student(s).
3. As the University’s signatory, King will be the final signature prior to execution.

If the company does not accept the capstone or non-capstone agreement as written, then email the Office of Contracts Administration for additional assistance. King’s signature authority does not extend to altered templates.