The official University Policy Manual is housed in the Office of the University Secretary. The University Secretary is responsible for maintaining new and updated policies and for maintaining this website. Should the official University Policy Manual conflict with any internal policies, procedures, departmental administrative rules, or guidelines, that may be contained in manuals provided by schools, departments, or divisions within the University, the official University Policy Manual controls.
Policy number: 2.25
Policy section: Academic Affairs
Revised Date:
1. Definitions
Definitions of capitalized terms are set forth in Appendix A.
2. Policy Statement
The university must ensure the academic quality, integrity, value, and sustainability of each academic program offered by the institution, taking into account institutional resources, student interest and need, centrality of the program to institutional mission, and student success after completion of the program. It is the policy of the university to consider these factors in making decisions about new budget allocations and new faculty lines.
3. Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to establish principles and procedures to ensure that each academic program undergoes regular review to maintain quality, integrity, and sustainability. This policy also ensures that for programs identified as low producing, a thorough evaluation of program sustainability is conducted by the Dean of the respective College or School, in conjunction with the Department Chair, and that this review is shared with the Provost.
4. Applicability
This policy applies to all academic programs offered at the university and to the departments, colleges, and schools in which they are housed. This policy is in addition to any other applicable University policies.
5. Questions
Questions regarding this policy are to be directed to the Office of the Provost.
6. Low-Producing Programs
Each Fall, the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness in conjunction with University Decision Support will review and report to Deans the number of student degree completions in each academic program in their college or school, over the preceding five years. Academic programs that fall below the following thresholds will be considered “low producing” programs.
- fewer than 25 graduates in five years for undergraduate programs,
- fewer than 15 graduates in five years for master’s programs, and
- fewer than 10 graduates in five years for doctoral programs.
Doctoral programs include research programs leading to the award of the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and practice or special professional degrees often required to practice, such as the Juris Doctorate (JD) or the Doctor of Ministry (DMin).
Graduate certificates will be included in the analysis of degree completions, but no minimum threshold is established for graduate certificates, as they are subsets of the types of graduate degrees listed above.
In addition to programs falling below the established thresholds, any academic program that requests an exemption, due to low program enrollment, from completing required annual program assessment reporting, will also be designated “low producing.”
7. Process for Reviewing and Evaluating Low-Producing Programs
In Fall of each year, the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness will produce and disseminate to the Deans the list of low-producing programs.
For each program designated “low producing,” the appropriate Dean, in conjunction with the hosting department or unit, will produce a SWOT (Strengths, Opportunities, Weaknesses, Threats) analysis of the program. The Dean will submit this analysis to the Provost not later than May of the year in which the program was designated “low producing.” In addition to the analysis, the Dean will submit to the Provost one of the following:
- A recommendation to discontinue the program.
- A concrete plan, with timelines and benchmarks, to increase annual degree completions in the program to minimum required levels.
- A recommendation, along with a justification, for maintaining the program without additional action.
8. Actions Following the Review
For programs designated “low performing,” the Provost will review, with the appropriate Dean, the program analysis and related recommendation. The Provost and the Dean will then determine a course of action.
In cases where the Dean recommends and the Provost approves discontinuance of a program, the Dean will submit a proposal to discontinue the program through the curriculum committee of the school or college and through the Educational Programs Committee (EPC). In cases where the discontinuance of the program would result in the discontinuation of the academic unit in which the program is housed, or in which the discontinuation would impact some of the tenure or tenure-track faculty in the academic unit, the Dean must follow the process outlined in section four of 糖心vlog视频 policy 2.18 to discontinue the program before submitting the proposal to discontinue the program to EPC. This discontinuation process must be initiated no later than September of the year in which the program was designated “low producing.”
In cases where the Dean recommends and the Provost approves a plan to increase enrollment, the plan must be initiated no later than September of the year in which the program was designated “low producing.” In addition, the Dean will provide to the Provost, each year for the following three years, a status report on the plan and its impact on enrollments and degree completions.
In cases where the Dean recommends and the Provost approves continuing the program without further action, the program will be exempt from the SWOT analysis for a period of three years following the most recent SWOT analysis.
The Provost may automatically recommend for closure any academic program that has been on the low-producing programs list for three or more consecutive years. No programs on the low-producing programs list may receive additional budget or faculty lines requested, except with explicit permission from the Provost.
New degree programs are exempt from the Low Producing Program review for the first five years of operation. Master’s degree programs that lead directly to a doctoral program are also exempt from this review.
Programs that have had more than the minimum number of degree completions over two consecutive academic years are exempt from the SWOT analysis for the three years following the most recent review.
Appendix A: Definitions
“Academic Program” refers to a designated course of study constituting an academic major or leading to an academic degree.
“Low-Producing Program” refers to academic programs whose degree completion rates fall below the threshold established by this policy.
Adopted: June 10, 2025