Following are the questions/fields in this section, details on each field, and tips and guidance for completing the question/field. The questions/fields are listed in the order they appear on the form. Each will display, be hidden, or be disabled depending on the nature of the proposal. 

Change proposals for which the response to the Header section's question regarding the percent curricular change was Yes/<50% will have most of the fields in this section appear but they will not be editable. If edits to these fields are needed, please change the response to the percent curricular change question to No/>50% to enable the fields. 

What percentage of the curriculum, if any, is being proposed to change via this proposal?

• Proposal Type: Change
• Required Field: Yes
• Question Type: Dropdown List
  • No change to the curriculum
  • Less than 25% of the curriculum will change
  • 25% - 49% of the curriculum will change
  • 50% or more of the curriculum will change
• In-Line Help Text: The Higher Learning Commission (HLC), the university’s accreditor, requires reporting for significant individual program changes (e.g., program state, mode of delivery, name, etc.) and/or curricular changes that impact 25% or more of the required credits to comply with federal regulation. APIR will use the response to this question to trigger required reports to the HLC.

Determining if a curricular change is less than 25%, between 25-49%, or 50% or more can be a hard determination to make. Following is some general guidance for answering this question: 

• Following are examples of curricular changes that are equal-to or greater-than 50%:
  • Change in total required credits for a degree/major, named option, or certificate
  • Change to a degree requirement, such as the minimum cumulative grade point average
  • Adding or removing the doctoral minor requirement
  • Course additions/deletions that amount to 50% or more of the total credits and/or major coursework credits. For example: 
    • Capstone Certificate A is 18 total credits comprised of six 3-credit core courses. If the program is changing three of the six core courses (i.e., 9 credits), that is 50% or more of the total credits (18 credits).
    • Undergraduate Major B is 120 total credits, 30 of which required credits in the major. The requirements for those 30 major credits feature various required areas of coursework (e.g., seminar) with course lists for each. If the program is making changes to the overall 30-credit course list that totals 15 or more credits, that is 50% or more of the major coursework. 
• Following are examples of curriculum changes that are between 25-49% of the curriculum:
  • Course additions/deletions that amount to 25-49% of the total credits and/or major coursework credits. For example: 
    • Certificate C is 18 total credits comprised of six courses—four 3-credit core courses and two additional breadth courses. If the program is changing two of the four core courses (i.e., 6 credits), that is 33% of the total credits (18 credits).
    • M.S. Degree D is 30 total credits comprised of 11 required courses. If the program would like to switch out a 4-credit course and two 3-credit courses (i.e., 10 credits), that is 30% of the total credits. 
• Following are examples of less-than 25% changes:
  • Course additions/deletions that amount to less than 25% of the total credits and/or major coursework credits. For example: 
    • Certificate E is 18 credits comprised of four core courses and two additional breadth courses, each 3 credits. If the program would like to change one of the core courses or one of the breadth courses, that is a 17% change to the curriculum.
    • M.S. Degree F is 30 total credits comprised of three required courses totaling 8 credits, one additional 3-credit course selected from a list of six options, and 9 additional credits. If the program wants to change two of the required courses, which are 3 credits each (i.e., a total of 6 credits), that is 20% of the required 30 credits.

Another consideration is when a change proposal is being submitted for a named option (i.e., subplan) and the associated degree/major (i.e., plan or parent) proposal must be submitted in conjunction.

• If the curricular change is being made only to the named option and the degree/major curriculum itself is not changing, please respond to this question based on the change(s) to the named option. For the accompanying degree/major (plan or parent) proposal, response with "No change to the curriculum."
• If in addition to the curricular change(s) on the named option, changes are also being made to the curriculum for the degree/major itself, please assess the changes being made to the degree/major and respond to this question accordingly on the degree/major proposal.