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Revised: November 2021

If a proposal is approved by the UCCC, the NSHE forms will be finalized by the department consultation with the Provost’s Office.

If approved by the president, proposals for new degrees, majors, or programs are forwarded by the Provost’s Office to the NSHE Academic Affairs Council for its review and then are normally submitted to the Board of Regents at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

NSHE Planning Report: Planned new degree programs should be included in the NSHE Planning Report, which is updated on a biennial basis. If a department or college wishes to move forward with a degree program proposal prior to inclusion in this report, the proposal to NSHE must include an explanation of the reasons why the program was not included during the prior planning report revision cycle.

New bachelor’s degree program proposals must include articulation (transfer) agreements with Great Basin College, Truckee Meadows Community College, and Western ÁùºÏ±¦µä College as part of the NSHE proposal.

Regulations regarding addition of new degrees, majors, and programs are specified in the . The following are the conditions stated in that section:

1. It is the policy of the Board of Regents that before any new degree, major, program, school, college, center, institute, or other organizational unit may be added, such proposal must be approved by the Board of Regents. Internal administrative changes, including but not limited to the addition or elimination of departments, do not require approval by the Board of Regents.
2. Each president is responsible for completion of institutional review procedures. Following that, proposals will be forwarded to the Office of Academic Affairs in the Chancellor's Office prior to the Board of Regents' meeting to allow for review by the Academic Affairs Council, which will submits recommendations to the Chancellor for action by the Board of Regents.
3. The format for consideration of new programs shall be provided by the Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs.
4. An institution shall not accept or enroll students into an academic program until such program is approved by the Board of Regents pursuant to this Section.
5. Institutional affiliation agreements and other collaborative arrangements with non-NSHE degree-granting higher education institutions shall be submitted to the Chancellor and Board of Regents for review and approval at least three months prior to the date of intended implementation, if the agreements involve any of the following:
   1. Joint offering of academic degree programs;
   2. A commitment of institutional resources such as personnel, physical space, or finances; or
   3. A physical presence of a non-NSHE higher education institution on the campuses or instructional sites of NSHE universities, the state college, community colleges, or the Desert Research Institute.
   4. Agreements with non-NSHE degree-granting higher education institutions that do not meet the requirements of this Subsection do not require submission to the Chancellor and Board of Regents for review and approval.
6. Articulation or other collaborative academic agreements between two-year and four-year degree granting institutions or between two four-year institutions within the NSHE do not require Board review and approval. Articulation agreements with K-12 that involve dual high school credit do not require Board review and approval.
7. For Purposes of this Section
   1. "Center" or "institute" means an organizational unit focusing primarily on research and scholarly activity where services are typically unrelated to internal administrative operations.
   2. "College" means a collection of departments, which can include schools, that grant degrees in particulate fields (may also be known as a division).
   3. "Department" means a division of a school, college or division, center or institute.
   4. "Organizational Unit" means a school, college or division, center or institute.
   5. "School" means a unit that is generally associated with a professional degree.

Interdisciplinary programs should be considered by all departments and colleges involved in the proposed program.

Upon notification of approval by the Board of Regents and the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (see Section 6,042), the proposal will receive Provost's Office approval in Curriculog. Faculty should not contact NSHE or NWCCU regarding program proposals. Communications with NSHE are made only by the Provost's Office. Communications with NWCCU are made only by the Accreditation Liaison Officer (ALO).