The Commitments section is designed to remind proposers of the key requirements related to academic program development and maintenance. Proposers must confirm each statement provided is true by checking the corresponding Yes box. All questions presented are required. 

Undergraduate certificates require at least 12 and typically no more than 16 credits.

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates.

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Graduate/professional certificates require at least 9 and typically no more than 12 credits.

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates.

At least 6 credits of graduate-level coursework (i.e., courses numbered 700 or above, or 300 or above with the graduate attribute) must be earned to satisfy graduate/professional certificate requirements.

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates. Also refer to the university's Policy on Course Numbers.

Graduate/professional certificates will be awarded at the same time the student’s degree/major is awarded and will not be awarded independent of an earned degree.

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates.

A capstone certificate requires at least 9 and typically no more than 16 graduate/professional-level credits numbered 300 or higher.

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates.

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Undergraduate-only courses numbered lower than 300 may be used to meet capstone certificate requirements, however it is understood such courses will not subsequently count in graduate programs or be accorded grade points on the transcript.

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates. Also refer to the university's Policy on Course Numbers.

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Capstone certificates will be awarded in the same term the final course requirement for the capstone is completed.

All required courses are approved through the school/college level.

At the time of Lumen Program proposal submission, all courses listed in the program requirements section must be: a) Active in the course catalog, or b) be submitted to workflow in the Lumen Course proposal system with a plan to have them approved and active by the time the program is implemented. By the time the program proposals gets to the University Academic Planning Council (UAPC) for review/approval, all courses required for the program that are in the course proposal process must be approved to at least the school/college step of Lumen Workflow. In order for the program to publish in Guide, all courses must be approved and be effective (active) for the term of publication. If a program proposal includes courses that are not in the approval workflow, the proposal will be rolled back with a request for adjustments. 

Courses are offered on a regular basis to allow timely completion.  

Courses that fulfill requirements must be offered frequently enough so that students can complete program requirements and graduate in a timely fashion.

Courses have enrollment capacity.  

Courses that are required must have the capacity for students to enroll and complete requirements in a timely fashion.

All requirements consist of courses numbered 300 or higher.  

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates. Also refer to the university's Policy on Course Numbers.

Courses in the curriculum are numbered 699 or lower.  

Per the university's Policy on Course Numbers, courses numbered higher than 699 are open to graduate or professional students only. As such, all courses used in requirements must be numbered 699 or lower. Also refer to the Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates for more guidance.

Courses in which a student elects the pass/fail grading option or audit option will not satisfy certificate requirements.  

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates, courses in which a student elects the pass/fail grading option or audit option will not satisfy certificate requirements.

Ideally, topics courses will only be included if all offerings/topics of the given course can be used to satisfy requirements.  

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates, topics courses, which are designated in the course catalog and used to offer coursework in emerging issues or specialized content, can be used in certificate requirements/curricula. Ideally, topics courses will only be included if all offerings/topics of the given course can be used to satisfy requirements.

All requirements must be met; exceptions that amount to waiving requirements are not permitted.  

This is a standard baseline requirement, that for a credential to be awarded, all requirements must be met and accounted for in a degree audit process.

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.  

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates, course substitutions or exceptions should be kept to a minimum. If substitutions/exceptions are being made on a regular basis, the curriculum should be examined and/or revised to address the consideration.

Substitutions are not permitted for any course unless the substitution would be provided for every student with the same substitution request.  

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.  

Certificate program faculty and staff will work with ACSSS to monitor and advise University Special students seeking a certificate.  

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.  

University Special Students register (i.e., enroll in classes) after all degree-seeking students. (Refer to the Office of the Registrar's webpage regarding Enrollment Appointment Times.) If a certificate is offered to University Special Students, there must be enough course capacity to allow these University Special Students to enroll in the courses and complete the certificate.

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.)   

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.  

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates, all capstone certificate credits must be earned in residence at UW-Madison.

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.

Unless otherwise specified, students must earn a minimum average 2.0 grade point average (GPA) on all coursework used to meet the requirements of the certificate program.  

Unless otherwise specified, students must earn a minimum grade of C in each course used to meet certificate requirements. Students must achieve a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA for all courses required for the certificate.  

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates, unless otherwise specified, students must achieve a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA for all courses required for the certificate.

Unless otherwise noted, students must earn a minimum grade of C in each course used to meet certificate requirements.  

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates, students must earn a minimum grade of C in each course used to meet certificate requirements.

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 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.

Students may complete only one named option within a plan code.  

Per the university's Policy on Named Options within Academic Majors, students can earn only one named option associated with a degree/major program as earning two named options would be akin to earning the same degree twice.

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.  

Per the university's Policy on Lumen/Guide - Lumen Content, Guide complies with accreditation requirements, promotes data integrity and efficiency, provides students with consistent and easy-to-access information, and aligns with institutional priorities. For these reasons, the Lumen/Guide is the single source of truth, and the Lumen suite of tools is the official repository for all course and program information. 

Certificates will not be awarded retroactively to graduated students who completed all requirements before the program was approved. In addition, certificates will not be awarded to students who complete all certificate requirement but failed to officially declare the certificate before graduating, or to students who completed requirements after graduating via additional coursework or course substitution/exception.

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates.

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Degree-seeking students may not be concurrently enrolled in or be awarded a capstone certificate.

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates.

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Students enrolled in capstone certificates may accept assistantships and fellowships, but they are not eligible for the tuition remission that is typically part of the compensation package.

Per the university's Policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates, a bachelor’s degree or equivalent credential from an accredited college or university is required for admission to a capstone certificate program.

Capstone certificate programs are subject to federal Gainful Employment regulations.

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