Program Proposal: Commitments
A general note about the commitments section: All fields are required. By checking the boxes you are indicating that you agree to each statement, this includes incorporating them into the Admissions/How to Get in and Requirements sections where relevant.
To submit a program proposal, all courses used in the requirements must be active in the course catalog or at least be submitted to workflow in the course proposal system with a plan to have them approved and active by the time the program begins. By the time of UAPC approval, all courses required for the program that are in the course proposal process should be approved to at least the school/college level. In order to publish in Guide, all courses need to be approved by the time of publication of the requested creation/change in a program and be effective (active) for the term of publication. If the proposal includes courses that are not in the approval workflow, the proposal will be rolled back with a request for adjustments.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a certificate, named option, or capstone certificate.
See Policy Guidelines for Named Options within Academic Majors, Guidelines for For-Credit Certificate Programs, Certificate Frequently Asked Questions.
Courses that fulfill requirements must be offered frequently enough that students may complete program requirements and graduate in a timely fashion.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a certificate, named option, or capstone certificate.
See Policy Guidelines for Named Options within Academic Majors, Guidelines for For-Credit Certificate Programs, Certificate Frequently Asked Questions.
Courses that are required must have the capacity for students to enroll and complete requirements in a timely fashion.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a certificate, named option, or capstone certificate.
See Policy Guidelines for Named Options within Academic Majors, Guidelines for For-Credit Certificate Programs, Certificate Frequently Asked Questions.
Courses numbered lower than 300 are for undergraduate students only and may not be used for graduate programs or capstone certificates.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a capstone certificate or the audience for the program is graduate/professional.
See Guidelines for For-Credit Certificate Programs, Certificate Frequently Asked Questions, Course Number Guidelines
Courses numbered higher than 699 are open to graduate or professional students only. All courses used in requirements must be numbered 699 or lower.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a program with an undergraduate audience.
Courses in which a student elects the pass/fail option will not count toward completion of requirements.
Many courses that are graded A-F allow students to elect to take the course on a pass/fail basis. Any course where a student elects the pass/fail grading option can not be used to meet requirements.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a certificate or capstone certificate.
See Guidelines for For-Credit Certificate Programs, Certificate Frequently Asked Questions, UW-Madison Policy on Pass/Fail for Undergraduates
The administrative cost to code specific topics in the various systems does not off-set the benefit of permitting individual topics to meet requirements. Thus, if topics courses are used to meet requirements, all topics offered under that course must meet the requirement.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a certificate or capstone certificate.
Required courses cannot be waived. If substitutions are made the substituted course should be formally added to the requirements through governance. For graduate/professional certificates requirements may be met using prior coursework (which is not transcripted). But at least half (50%) of certificate credits must be earned while enrolled at UW-Madison as a degree-seeking graduate/professional student.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a certificate or capstone certificate.
Course substitutions to the curriculum should be kept to a minimum; if substitutions are being made on a regular basis, the curriculum should be re-examined. When course substitutions are made, the substituted course should be formally added to the curriculum through governance for inclusion in the curriculum the following academic year.
If exceptions are going to be allowed they should be kept to minimum, the certificate should be designed so that exceptions are rarely required. A process should be developed for considering exceptions and substitutions. Any substitution or exception that is made should be generalized to certificate requirements and available to all students. Resources allotted to the program must be appropriate to handle the one-on-one advising required to allow exceptions. If the program does not allow exceptions and substitutions, that should be specified.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a certificate or capstone certificate.
Substitutions are not permitted for any course unless the substitution would be provided for every student with the same substitution request.
If a substitution is permitted, it must count for all students requesting the substitution. The substituted course should be formally added to the requirements through governance.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a certificate or capstone certificate.
When the proposed certificate is made available to University Special students it is only available to those who have earned a baccalaureate degree.
Only students who have already earned a bachelor's degree can earn a certificate as a University Special student in compliance with UW-Madison accreditation status. Their bachelor's degree does not have to be from UW-Madison.
This statement appears when the proposal is for an undergraduate certificate and the question, "Is this certificate available to University Special (non-degree seeking students)?" is answered "Yes".
Certificate program faculty and staff understand that Adult Career and Special Student Services (ACSSS) in the Division of Continuing Studies will serve as the advising, admissions, and academic dean’s office for all University Special students.
All students declared in a certificate as a University Special student will be advised through the Division of Continuing Studies, who will connect students with program faculty and staff as needed.
This statement appears when the proposal is for an undergraduate certificate and the question, "Is this certificate available to University Special (non-degree seeking students)?" is answered "Yes".
Certificate program faculty and staff will work with ACSSS to monitor and advise University Special students seeking a certificate.
All students declared in a certificate as a University Special student will be advised through the Division of Continuing Studies, program faculty and staff should be available to consult when issues or questions arise.
This statement appears when the proposal is for an undergraduate certificate and the question, "Is this certificate available to University Special (non-degree seeking students)?" is answered "Yes".
Certificate courses have the enrollment capacity to accommodate University Special students. Certificate program faculty and staff understand that University Special students completing the certificate will not have enrollment priority over degree-seeking undergraduate students nor University Special students enrolled in capstone certificate programs.
Students declared in a certificate as a University Special student register after all degree seeking students near the end of the enrollment period. If a certificate is offered to University Special students, there must be enough capacity to allow them to register for courses required to complete the certificate.
This statement appears when the proposal is for an undergraduate certificate and the question, "Is this certificate available to University Special (non-degree seeking students)?" is answered "Yes".
If completing the certificate as a University Special student, at least 12 credits towards the certificate must be earned in residence at UW-Madison, either while enrolled as a University Special student or from coursework earned while enrolled as an undergraduate at UW-Madison. (Note this is a higher residency requirement than is used for degree-seeking students.)
Courses that count toward the residence requirement include online courses and courses taken through UW-Madison study abroad courses in additional to for-credit courses taken on campus.
This statement appears when the proposal is for an undergraduate certificate and the question, "Is this certificate available to University Special (non-degree seeking students)?" is answered "Yes".
All of the Capstone certificate credits must be earned “in residence” (which includes on campus and distance-delivered courses) at UW-Madison while enrolled in the Capstone certificate program. Because a Capstone certificate is comprised of just a few courses, it is not appropriate for students who already have completed the same or similar coursework at UW-Madison or another institution.
Courses that count toward the residence requirement include online courses and courses taken through UW-Madison study abroad courses in additional to for-credit courses taken on campus.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a capstone certificate.
At least half of the credits must be earned in residence (UW-Madison on campus, study abroad, or distance courses); exceptions to the minimum residency requirement are not permitted.
Courses that count toward the residence requirement include online courses and courses taken through UW-Madison study abroad courses in additional to for-credit courses taken on campus.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a certificate.
Students must earn a minimum 2.000 GPA on required certificate coursework. Completed courses listed within the certificate curriculum, whether or not they meet a specific requirement, are included in the calculation of the GPA.
Programs may require a higher standard than the minimum GPA, but the minimum GPA for all undergraduate certificates is 2.000. All courses taken at UW-Madison that could potentially meet a certificate requirement even when taken in excess of required coursework factor in to the GPA calculation.
This statement appears when the proposal is for an undergraduate certificate.
See Guidelines for For-Credit Certificate Programs, Minimum GPA requirements for an undergraduate certificate, Certificate Frequently Asked Questions.
Students must earn a minimum 3.000 GPA on required certificate coursework. Completed courses listed within the certificate curriculum, whether or not they meet a specific requirement, are included in the calculation of the GPA.
Programs may require a higher standard than the minimum GPA, but the minimum GPA for all graduate/professional certificates is 3.000. All courses taken at UW-Madison that could potentially meet a certificate requirement even when taken in excess of required coursework factor in to the GPA calculation.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a graduate/professional certificate.
Programs may require a higher standard, but the minimum grade of C indicates good academic standing for capstone certificates.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a capstone certificate.
The program faculty/staff will ensure the program is encoded into DARS and will work with the Registrar’s Office DARS liaison to keep approved revisions to the curriculum current.
All curriculum changes must be done through Lumen Programs and will be entered into DARS.
This statement appears when the proposal is for capstone certificate or for any type of undergraduate program other than educator certification.
All students will be declared into the appropriate plan code in SIS via either an admission process or e-declaration. If the student does not have the plan code on their student record in SIS the student is not considered to be in the program.
Capstone certificates and all undergraduate program types are declared through the e-declaration process.
This statement appears when the proposal is for capstone certificate or for any type of undergraduate program other than educator certification.
See Guidelines for For-Credit Certificate Programs, Establishing Online Process for Certificate Declaration, Certificate Frequently Asked Questions.
Students may only be declared in one named option per plan code. It is the responsibility of the department to monitor overlap.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a named option.
The program faculty/staff will ensure the program website, Advance Your Career materials if applicable, and other presentations are consistent with the Guide information for this program.
Through this proposal, Guide integration points are set-up for governed content. The Guide non-governed content must be edited through the Lumen widget in MyUW. Guide editors are assigned by the Guide Coordinators and will be able to see the appropriate widget once assigned to an editing role. Program websites should not duplicate requirements or other governed content. If materials are needed for Advance your Career, work with the Division of Continuing Studies.
This statement appears for all proposals.
See Policy Guidelines for Named Options within Academic Majors, Guidelines for For-Credit Certificate Programs, Certificate Frequently Asked Questions.
Pursuing credentials that are redundant is not in the best interest of students and negatively impacts time to degree.
This statement appears when the proposal is for an undergraduate certificate.
Credential will not awarded retroactively to students who completed all of the requirements before the credential was approved.
Credentials are not awarded retroactively to graduated
students who completed all of the requirements before the credential was approved.
This statement appears for all proposals.
See Policy Guidelines for Named Options within Academic Majors, Guidelines for For-Credit Certificate Programs, Certificate Frequently Asked Questions.
Capstone certificates are created to finish a previous educational experience or provide additional experience for working professionals and are not able to be earned in tandem with another degree granting program.
This question is required and will display when the program is a capstone certificate.
Students enrolled in Capstone certificate programs are NOT eligible for teaching assistant (TA), research assistant (RA), project assistant (PA) nor graduate fellowship support. Programs must disclose this program policy to Capstone certificate students in the recommendation of admission letter, program website, program handbook, and program orientation.
TA, RA, and PA assistantships and fellowships are only available for degree-seeking students. Students who are enrolled in a capstone certificate may be considered for merit-based financial aid by the department or program, as well as for need-based financial aid by the Student Financial Aid Office.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a capstone certificate.
To be eligible for admission to a Capstone program, a student must hold an earned bachelor’s degree or equivalent credential from an accredited college or university.
This statement appears when the proposal is for a capstone certificate.