As I work toward completing my second graduate program I started wondering about how a school goes about creating one. Obviously they need faculty and courses, but what else? I'm well versed in K-12 education, but I know squat about higher ed practices. I was thinking about WNMU in particular. They have a growing online MAIS program with a variety of concentrations with a variety of courses. What is holding them back from just offering plain old one subject programs? For example, I'm doing the MAIS in history and political science. What would WNMU have to do to offer an MA in History or an MA in Political Science? They already offer courses and such. Is this something the regional accrediting agency would have to approve? Is it burdensome? It just seems to me that a school like WNMU would be sitting on a gold mine. Would someone with knowledge or experience in this area explain this to me? I've just got this curiosity bug biting me... Thanks, -Matt
Hello Matt, I have been involved in the creation of new degree programs at a couple of different universities. Each institution has its own system of approvals, committees and bureaucracies. The way that we do it at my current institution is: 1. Someone believes that we should offer a new program in a specific discipline. 2. A market/needs analysis is performed to determine the potential demand for the degree, ability to attract sufficient students, employability of graduates and current current competition (e.g. Which other higher ed institutions offer this program? Do they offer it online? Are there enought existing programs to meet demand, etc.) 3. If the degree looks promising, then a degree plan, including the prerequisites, course requirements, etc. is formulated. 4. The degree plan is approved by the academic leadership and presented to the University Board of Trustees for approval. 5. The degree plan is presented to our accrediting body (the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges) for approval. 6. The courses are developed and the degree program is implemented.
tryingtoteach: "Interesting. Is there a way to submit a proposal to a school?" John: I don't know if there are standard approaches. The first process I observed was when my wife wrote a detailed proposal for a course in business ethics, and simply FedExed it to the head of Heriot-Watt University's Edinburgh Business School MBA program (whom she had met). He rejected it practically before the ink was dry, writing that "Only you Americans are interested in business ethics, and ours is an international programme." [Note: 17 years later, EBS still does not offer an ethics course, although the university's School of Management and Languages does have one.] The second was a four-course Master's level marketing module that my friend Jay Conrad Levinson and I developed, applying and implementing the philosophy of his very popular "guerilla marketing" approach. We sent it to the chairman of the for-profit company that owned a large regionally-accredited university. He phoned enthusiastically the next day, and sent one of his VPs to California to meet with us. A week later, he made an offer we were prepared to accept, but it was conditional on the approval of his marketing faculty. They really did not like the notion of the company head intruding on their space, and they were uncomfortable with Jay's popularity and flashiness -- and the fact that he 'only' has a Bachelor's degree. (There have been further developments in another direction, but that's not public yet.)
