Lumen Programs Form: Curriculum and Requirements

Overview and guidance for the curriculum and requirements section of the Lumen Program proposal.

Table of Contents

Fields

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

  • Select the approximate percentage change the the curriculum.
    • 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
  • DAPIR uses this field to report to the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) the annually revisions to our program array.

Examples/Guidance in determining the drop-down value

A table listing the drop-down value, the types of changes that would apply, and practical examples of those types of changes.
Drop-down value Types of changes Examples
No changes to the curriculum
  • Revising a course number or course subject on a course that was changed (not a new/discontinue)
  • Other changes to the program proposal where no editing is done in this section (learning outcomes, accreditation, certification/licensure, etc.)
  • Cosmetically formatting course lists.
  • A A E 215 changed to A A E 101, a revision in the curriculum to modify this course is a cosmetic change.
Less than 25% of the curriculum
  • Course additions/deletions that amount to less than 25% of the total credits and/or major coursework credits
  • Adding a few new courses (less than~5) to an electives list.
  • Removing some discontinued classes.
  • 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.
25%-49% of the curriculum will change
  • Course additions/deletions that amount to 25-49% of the total credits and/or major coursework credits.
  • Revisions to the core curriculum.
  • Adding a new section to the curriculum.
  • Revising a lot of courses in the curriculum.
  • 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.
50% or more of the curriculum will change
  • 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.
  • Re-imagining how students pursue the curriculum
  • 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. 

Provide an explanation of the reasons for such a substantial curricular change, the potential impact on students, availability of courses, and plan for transition. 

Revising more than 50% of the curriculum represents a substantial redirection of an academic program and requires approval beyond the school/college. Provide evidence that these changes would improve the student learning experience, include information on the planned implementation for the changes, and confirm that the courses are offered on a regular basis. Add a note in the summary/abstract box at the top of the form that this proposal includes curriculum changes of more than 50%.

Which students are eligible for the certificate?

Select the audience who may pursue the certificate:

Guidance

  • Undergraduate certificates generally should be available to all undergraduate students; this is the default and is what is recommended.
  • If selecting either the specific schools and colleges, you will have to provide more information:
    • Additional process-based questions will appear on the form.
    • Since this is limiting the audience who can complete the certificate, you must articulate in the How to Get in for the certificate those limitations.
  • For more information see the policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates.

List the specific schools and colleges.

  • Typically undergraduate certificates are available to all undergraduates.
  • If the certificate is available to a select subset of students, list the home school/college(s) of that audience.
  • Use the green plus button to add multiple school/colleges.
  • If all students except for one school or college may declare the certificate, list all the other schools/colleges (i.e. there is no way to say "all students except School of Jurassic Studies students may declare a certificate").

Provide justification for the limits. 

Explain why enrollment is limited to students in a particular school or college.

Is this certificate available to University Special (non-degree seeking students)? 

Select whether or not this certificate is available to University Special students (drop-down of yes or no).

Undergraduate certificates may be open to University Special (non-degree seeking) students who hold a bachelor’s degree, though it is discouraged because they are resource heavy and the preferred method to meet these students needs is through a Capstone Certificate. If a certificate is available to University Special students, the preferred option is to allow UW-Madison graduates time to complete the certificate without extending their time to degree (articulated in the next question).

  • DARS reports are not available for Special Students seeking an undergraduate certificate and it is the responsibility of the school/college and department to track these students and determine when they should be awarded the certificate.
  • University Special students are the last to enroll in courses, which may be a barrier for certificate completion.
  • Financial aid is not available for these students.
  • For more information see the policy on Credit-Bearing Certificates.

Which University Special students are eligible for the certificate?

Select the audience who may pursue the certificate:
A table providing the drop-down values and a practical meaning of what comprises those audiences.
Drop-down value Meaning

Members of the community that hold a bachelor's degree, but have not earned credits towards the certificate while a UW-Madison undergraduate

 Any person with a bachelor's degree may apply/declare the certificate and complete the certificate. It is not a requirement to have an affiliation with UW-Madison to apply/declare. These are stand-alone certificates.

Started as an undergraduate at UW-Madison, and graduate before completing the requirements (preferred).

 Only available to UW-Madison bachelor's recipients who have started the certificate before graduating. They must complete the certificate within one year of graduation.

The answer to this question determines which Guide shared content must be added in the Requirements tab. See the KB on how to add certificate completion requirements/eligibility.

If the certificate is available as a stand-alone certificate (Members of the community that hold a bachelor's degree, but have not earned credit towards the certificate while a UW-Madison undergraduate), the How to Get in Guide content must articulate what those students need to do to declare the certificate. If courses are required, those students must be admitted as a special student prior to declaring the certificate.

Guide Admissions/How to Get In tab

Articulate admissions or how to declare information in this field. Content displays in Guide exactly as written in this field. Content must meet the standard guidelines for the University, Graduate School, and specific school/college guidelines.

  • Undergraduate named options must adhere to How to Get in requirements for the parent major.
  • Changing the admitting status of a Master's program must adhere to the policy.
  • Undergraduate declaration must adhere to the policy.

For help on how to format content reference these KBs:

For more information regarding undergraduate major declaration, see the policy and procedures on Major Declaration for Schools/Colleges that Enroll Undergraduates.

List majors and certificates that may not be earned in combination with this program.

If a program determines there is a similar enough program where the student should not be completing both programs, you must list those exclusions here (i.e. Business: Accounting BBA and an Accounting undergraduate certificate). You must also list this information in the How to Get in Guide integration point.

  • Select each program from the drop-down. Utilize the green plus button if there are more than one program that should not be completed with this program.
  • The filed pulls from all transcript titles in Lumen programs, so there are multiple for each degree level (i.e. French BA, French MA, French PHD); the degree does not display. It does not matter which you select.

Describe plans for recruiting students to this program.

How will the program prioritize inclusive excellence in recruiting students, staff, and faculty as well as fostering a climate of inclusion and belonging within the program?

Will students be declared in an intended major while completing the admission requirements?

An intended major code is used to track students who are interested in a limited enrollment major but have not yet met the requirements to declare the major. The program must provide student services to the students who have been declared in the intended major.

Select Yes from the drop-down if the major is a limited enrollment major and you need a code to track this grouping of students.

Describe how the students will be advised and the transition to other degree granting program if they are not admitted.

For students who will not be admitted to a limited enrollment program, provide information on how these students are advised and transitioned out of the intended major code. You must provide sufficient advising and support for students in the intended major who do not proceed to the degree granting major.

This upload field is for departmental editors/approvers who may not be familiar with how to edit Guide content. If the school/college academic planner/Dean's office contacts prefer to build requirements, this is the field to use to communicate requirements via Word doc or PDF. By including a document instead of editing the content that displays in Guide does not guarantee the person making the changes interprets the document as written (i.e. if the changes are not made in the Guide content areas, it's the responsibility of the department to ensure the requirements entered meet their expectations). If end users are uploading their curriculum, they must reach out to their school/college academic planner and review the requirements once updated before signing off.

Select the school or college degree requirements that will be used.

Every undergraduate degree/major must list the associated school/college degree requirements associated with the major either by:

  1. Selecting the correct school/college degree requirements from the drop-down (example: College of Letters & Sciences Breadth & Degree Requirements, BA/BS).
  2. Selecting "All requirements are in the requirements listed below" (example: Engineering, or Human Ecology).

If neither of these are appropriate, such as when creating new college/degree majors that will become a shared content block, follow these instructions:

  1. Leave the drop down as "Select..."
  2. Build the degree requirements into a identifiable section (i.e. School of Human Ecology Degree Requirements, then Major Requirements...)
  3. Contact Data, Academic Planning & Institutional research (lumen@provost.wisc.edu) for shared content creation/consultation.

Academic planning guidance

  1. School/college degree requirements are a grouping of curricular-based elements that meet the degree requirements across multiple majors. All students must complete these regardless the major they have declared. These are distinct between school/colleges. 
  2. Historically, there hasn't been a consistent approach/definition to what school/college requirements are, which is why some programs have the degree requirements built into the major.  Programs that build the degree requirements into the major are more difficult for students to change majors, if they determine they no longer want to/capable of successfully completing the major.

It is preferred to have a distinct set of degree requirements at the school/college level which allows:

  • Students to clearly define what the major requirements are in case they ever needed to or wanted to switch majors.
  • A meaningful definition of the specific degree.

Note: If the school/college requirements need to be updated, see the Lumen Structures form.

Will this plan have Honors in the Major?

Select yes or no from the drop-down. The default is no.

Honors in the major is an advanced course of study typically culminating in a senior-year experience in which students are exposed to the cutting edge of that particular field.

  • Honors in the major is noted on the transcript.
  • Honors in the major are distinct from Honors in the Liberal Arts or school/college-wide honors programs.
  • Not all school/colleges offer honors in the major.

If yes, articulate requirements for honors in the major in the "Guide Requirements tab" section after the Major Requirements.

Guide Requirements tab

Add/edit all program/curriculum requirements in this field. A clear, consistent curriculum is critical for students so that they know what is needed to graduate. Include:

  • required courses
  • approved electives
  • credit and GPA requirements
  • any courses required via requisites (cannot embed additional requirements by requisite)
  • required shared content (graduate school delivery mode, undergraduate certificate completion requirements, capstone minimum requirements, etc.)

Academic planning guidance

  • Changes are effective a fall term, published in the June Guide.
  • Only in limited situations will changes be allowed off-cycle (mid-cycle updates).
  • No changes will be made to a program's DARS or GSTS without an accompanying Lumen Programs proposal with the revisions. 
  • Refer to your school/college's standards for formatting curriculum for anything beyond the University Style Guide/Guidelines.

Field help

Total credits required

  • Enter the minimum numerical number of total credits required to complete the award/degree (i.e. not the number of credits for the major).
  • This must be a single number (i.e. not be a range of credits).
An overview of credits required by award type
Award type Credits required
Bachelor's degree must be at least 120 credits. Few programs may exceed 120 credits; consult DAPIR.
Master's degree minimum of 30 credits
Master of Fine Arts or Educational Specialist degree minimum of 42 credits
Doctoral degree minimum of 51 credits
Undergraduate certificates 12-16 credits
Graduate certificates 9-12 credits
Capstone certificates 9-16 credits

Projected Annual Enrollment

Enter the projected annual enrollment for the first five years of the program. Select a year from the drop down menu under 'Year' and then estimated annual enrollment in the 'Projected Enrollment' field.  Clicking the green plus in the upper right will add a new row.

The numbers should be realistic and demonstrate a sustainable level of demand.

Guide Graduate Policies tab

The graduate policies tab should include standardized information regarding student policies for the program.

Form help

Guide Four-Year Plan tab

Every undergraduate degree/major must demonstrate how a student could complete the program in four years.

Form help

See the help in the following KBs for guidance and how-to help.

Guide Three-Year Plan tab

Every undergraduate degree/major may optionally demonstrate how a student could complete the program in three years. You must include a clear set of assumptions of how the student can accomplish the plan in three years. Assumptions and expectations would include what AP credit would they have completed before enrolling at UW-Madison, credit loads expected while enrolled, use of summer terms, major declaration, or other significant considerations.

See the help in the following KBs for guidance and step-by-step how-to help.

Form help

Describe how students will progress through the capstone (part-time, full-time, or other) including an explanation on how many credits an average student would take in a term and expected time to award completion. 

Please provide the anticipated progression through the capstone certificate.


Keywords:
requirements, how to get in, policies, four year plan, curriculum, plan of study
Doc ID:
85074
Owned by:
Karen M. in Lumen and Guide
Created:
2018-08-21
Updated:
2025-07-14
Sites:
Lumen and Guide