New Degree Programs

New Degree Proposals

To aid with the planning phase, the school dean and the school/program faculty should consider the guidelines (pdf) from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB).

These degrees include an internal and external approval process as shown in the flowchart below and require the provost’s preapproval by submitting preliminary authority requests (docx) before moving forward. A consultation may be scheduled with Dr. Serenity Rose King, Associate Vice President for Institutional Success and Decision Support, for support on completing proposals.

Internal Approval Flowchart

Council for Undergraduate Education or Graduate Council

Committee on Educational Policy

Academic Council/Senate

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

External Approval Flowchart

UT System Office of Academic Affairs

UT System Board of Regents for doctoral or professional programs only

Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board

Southern Association Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges as appropriate

New Bachelor’s or Master’s Degrees

Fill out the appropriate forms based on the new content percentages below.

Example 1: Proposal A

Total 120 semester credit hours (SCH). 78 SCH are brand new courses/content* (excluding the general education core curriculum).
78 SCH from 120 SCH = 65% new content.

For proposals with 50% more new content/new courses, fill out all three forms:

Example 2: Proposal B

Total 120 SCHs. 30 SCH are brand new courses* (excluding the general education core curriculum).
30 SCH from 120 SCH = 25% new content.

For proposals with 50% less new content/courses, fill out these two forms:

*The school/program faculty will determine that the subject / discipline within these new courses has not been taught by the school/program.

The program proposal will then follow the Internal Approval and External Approval Steps (see above flowcharts).

New Doctoral Degrees

For new doctoral degrees, per THECB rules, institutions must fill out the New Degree Planning Notification request a full year before the formal proposal is completed and submitted.

To start, follow these steps:

The school dean completes and submits the New Degree Planning Notification Request Form (docx) to the provost and schedules a meeting with the provost to discuss the new doctoral proposal before proceeding.
Upon the provost’s agreement, the Office of Institutional Success and Decision Support (OISDS) will submit the requested planning notification via the THECB portal. Dr. Serenity Rose King will schedule a consultation meeting with the school/program faculty to discuss the proposal.
A year after the planning notification was submitted, the school dean/program/school faculty prepare and complete the doctoral program proposal form and all the required attachments.