Definitions concerning developing, monitoring and closing academic programs
- Disciplinary Programs
- One program offered through one department within a college;
- One program offered through one department from two colleges;
- Several programs offered from one department;
- One program offered through several departments with Graduate Council approved concentrations (e.g. marketing concentration and finance concentration are offered through departments of the same name under the program in business administration).
- Interdisciplinary Programs
- One program offered through several departments from one or more colleges (e.g. audiology, plant cellular and molecular biology, interdisciplinary ecology, biomedical engineering).
- Internally Approved Graduate Programs
- Concentrations
- Interdisciplinary Concentrations
- Certificate
- Joint Degree Programs
- Combined Degree Programs
- Concentrations
- Requires Graduate Council approval; a Board of Trustees and/or Board of Governors approved program may offer one or more concentrations within the program. Concentrations appear on students' transcripts (e.g. "Major in Business Administration with concentration in Finance") but do not appear on the diploma.
- Interdisciplinary Concentrations
- Requires Graduate Council approval;
- A concentration offered through more than one program that would be shown on students' transcripts, e.g.:
- Hydrology: Offered through nine programs/departments across three colleges;
- Women's and Gender Studies: Offered through four programs within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; and
- Imaging Science and Technology (IST): Offered through eight programs across three colleges.
- Certificate
- Graduate departments may offer a graduate certificate with a graduate degree. The certificate will not show on students' transcripts. Certificates signed by the Dean of the Graduate School require Graduate Council approval. Colleges and departments may award their own certificates without Graduate Council approval.
- Joint-Degree Programs
- This is a course of study leading to a graduate degree and a professional degree (JD, MD, DDS, PharmD, DVM). Normally 12 credits of professional courses are counted toward the graduate degree and 12 credits of graduate courses are counted toward the professional degree. Individual departments will determine whether or not a joint degree program is appropriate. Joint programs established prior to Jan. 1, 2003 may have other requirements. New programs following these standards do not require Graduate Council approval.
- Combined-Degree Program
- These are combined bachelor's/master's programs of study which allow an undergraduate student to take graduate level courses prior to completion of the bachelor's degree and to count 12 graduate credits toward both degrees. Students admitted into a combined program normally have at least a 3.2 GPA and a score of at least 1100 on the verbal and quantitative portions of the GRE. Departments may establish higher standards. Individual departments will determine whether or not a combined degree program is appropriate. Combined degree programs established prior to Jan. 1, 2003 may have other requirements. New programs following these minimum standards for admission and graduate credits do not require Graduate Council approval.