Academic Program Proposals

Revise an Existing Program

Programs evolve over time, in keeping with new discoveries and understanding, and changing student and faculty need and interests. Program content is determined by the department faculty, in consultation with relevant governing bodies and processes.

Your academic department can help you find out when your program was most recently reviewed and filed with the New York State Department of Education. Alternatively, the Provost's Office can help you.

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Changes that require a program revision

You'll need to submit a program revision if there have been one or more of the following changes:

• Programmatic Changes

  Program Name

  If this is the only thing that’s changed, you may be able to use a slightly simpler form

  Modality

  Often, this is about adding a distance education option.

  Structure, Focus, or Design 

  This could include adding or removing requirements, or reorganizing the program.

  Adding or removing tracks or concentrations

  Minor changes, like changing the name of a track, concentratation or changing a few course options, may not necessarily require a revision.

• Credit Changes

  Programs sometimes change what courses are required

  If one-third or more of the program's credits have changed, you need to file a revision.

  For example, if a 30-credit program has replaced 9 credits of coursework, the department would need to file a program revision.

  Number of Credits - certificates

  If your graduate certificate or advanced graduate certificate has changed the number of credits required to graduate, you must file a revision.

• Completion

  Completion requirements

  Adding or removing a graduation requirement such as an internship, clinical placement, or other work- or field-based experience will require filing a revision proposal.

  Program Award

  If you are changing the type of degree conferred at the conclusion of your curriculum, you must file a revision proposal.

  This includes if you are altering the liberal arts and science content of the program such that it would, for example, result in a B.S. conferred instead of a B.A., or vice versa. This is in accordance with the Board of Regents policy.

• Licensure

  Any changes to a registered license-qualifying program, or the addition of a licensure qualification to an existing program, must have a revision proposal filed.

  You may not need to file a revision if the only changes are small changes to the required number of credits, if those credits do not satisfy the required content areas for the profession.

Once you've determined if your program needs to be revised with the state, you'll have to complete the correct SUNY forms to submit a proposal to re-register your program. These forms are similar, but less detailed, than the forms required to register a new program.

Contact the Provost's Office and our team will guide you through the process and support you as you complete the forms.

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Create a New Program

To meet emerging needs in undergraduate and graduate education

a 6-18 month process, from concept to state approval

• Step 1: Have an Idea
  • Faculty with an idea for a new program should first reach out to their department chair and dean for a preliminary conversation. That conversation could include discussions of resource needs and allocation, as well as the idea’s strategic alignment to the school or college and university goals and priorities.
  • If appropriate, faculty can consider exploring synergy with other academic departments. These conversations could examine the potential for cross-listed courses all the way up to fully interdisciplinary programs.
  • Engage the Provost’s Office. The process to create a new program is complex; we can guide you through it.
• Step 2: Refine your Idea

  Conduct research to build a robust, unique proposal. 

  Use Lightcast

  The Provost’s Office has access to Lightcast, a program that can analyze labor market data from sources including IPEDS, the Census, Departments of Labor, Education, Commerce, Health and Human Services, among others, to identify emerging needs and potential local and regional demand for particular skills and degree offerings. These reports can also help you develop realistic enrollment projections.

  ASK FOR ALIGHTCASTT REPORT

  Explore SUNY Transfer Paths

  The Provost’s Office can help you identify potential feeder programs from community colleges and other opportunities for collaboration across the 64-campus State University of New York system.

  Consider curricular options

  • • Will the program be offered in-person only, online only, or online and in-person?
    • Will existing courses be integrated into the program?
      • • • • • • Will this program be part of a dual degree program or offered jointly with another institution?
• Step 3: Build your Program

  New programs can be created with existing courses and/or with new ones. Be sure to consider assessment, both of individual courses and the program overall, as you build and refine your degree program. Take advantage of campus resources throughout the process:

  Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

  • • CELT offers a number of programs to support pedagogical innovation, skills development, and assessment. 
    • They also support initiatives around program modalities, new technology and accessibility.

  Explore CELT

  Office of Educational Effectiveness

  • • Consultations and advice around learning outcomes, programmatic assessment and evaluations.

  Explore OEE

  Provost’s Office

  • • We will help you navigate the overall process and ensure that you are filling out the correct SUNY forms.

  EMAIL US

• Step 4: Engage Curriculum Committee(s)

  Most Stony Brook colleges and schools have their own curriculum committee. 

  Faculty interested in creating a new graduate program should work with their college or school curriculum committee and the Graduate Council.

  Faculty should contact their dean’s office to learn more.

• Step 4: Formal Review

  The Academic Affairs team in the Provost’s Office will review draft SUNY forms to ensure everything is filled out correctly. The Graduate School is also part of the review process for graduate programs.

  At the same time, the academic unit(s) that will offer the new program should draft a list of qualified external reviewers.   

  Potential reviewers must:

  • Possess significant expertise in the discipline of the proposed program.
  • Work at a peer academic or professional institutions, preferably from outside New York.
  • Be free of personal or professional connections that could appear to pose a conflict of interest.
  • Have a well-rounded experience of teaching, administrative, and research responsibilities, as applicable, in an academic setting.
  • Hold tenured positions, preferably as full professors.

  Potential reviewers should meet the qualifications to be a tenured faculty member at Stony Brook.

  The list should reflect a diverse pool of potential reviewers. 

  Before reviewers can be invited to conduct their virtual review, the academic unit should send names and CVs of 3-5 potential reviewers to the Provost’s Office for approval.

  If you are proposing a doctoral-level program or one that qualifies graduates for a licensure exam, SUNY must approve your list of external reviewers.

  The final review, and the academic unit’s response to that review, must be included in the final program proposal submission to SUNY.

• Step 5: File, Wait, Prepare

  Once all reviews for your  program proposal are complete, the Provost’s Office will prepare the final package for submission to SUNY. Once the proposal is approved by SUNY, it will be submitted to the New York State Department of Education.

  Until NYSED approves the program, academic units may not publicize the program or recruit students. However, we recommend that units begin to develop their launch and recruitment plans while they wait. Work with Enrollment Management and, if applicable, the Graduate School to build and refine your plan.

Deactivate or Discontinue an Academic Program

Pause or Stop Enrolling New Students

Departments may choose, in consultation with their dean’s office, to deactivate or discontinue a program for a variety of reasons. 

The deactivation/discontinuance plan should be approved by the School/College and the department must complete the relevant SUNY paperwork.

The Provost’s Office Academic Affairs team will review the paperwork to ensure it is complete and submit it to SUNY. 

If a program is being deactivated, approval from SUNY is the final step.

If a program is being discontinued, the proposal will go to the New York State Education Department after SUNY’s review is complete.

Final decisions will be shared with the Stony Brook community in the provost’s office reports to the University Senate.

REQUEST NECESSARY PAPERWORK

Build a Combined Degree Program

Many combined programs only require campus approval 

If your proposed program meets the criteria for campus-only approval, you may follow a simplified, local process to develop your proposal.

Local processes still adhere to all Stony Brook guidelines for curriculum development, including shared governance review and decanal approval.

Combined programs that might not qualify include:

• Programs that are affiliated with licensure or certification.
• Programs offered jointly with another institution. 

If the combined program does not meet the criteria for campus-only approval, you will need to complete a full combined program proposal form and get approvals from SUNY and NYSED.

We can help you determine if your program is eligible and help you navigate the process to develop combined programs.

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Review the NYSED policy

External Resources

NYSED Inventory of Registered Programs

NYSED Program Registration Guidance

SUNY Academic Affairs