Academic Program Proposals

1. 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.
2. If appropriate, faculty can consider exploring synergies with faculty in other academic departments. These conversations could examine the potential for cross-listed courses or go as far as developing a fully interdiscipinary program.
3. Engage the Provost's Office Academic Affairs team. This process is complex. We are here to guide you through it. 
   1. If your program will be at the graduate level, the Graduate School can also support you.

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• Explore SUNY Transfer Paths.
  • We 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, online, or as a hybrid?
• Will existing courses be integrated into the program?
• Will this program be part of a dual degree program or offered jointly with another institution?

New programs can be created with existing courses and/or new ones. 
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
  • Support for pedagogical innovation, skills development, and assessment.
  • Explore program modality options, new technology, and digital accessibility requirements.
  • Visit CELT.
• Office of Educational Effectiveness
  • Offers consultations and advice around learning outcomes, programmatic assessment, and evaluations.
  • Visit OEE.
• Graduate School
  • Support developing graduate programs
  • Visit the Grad School.
• Provost's Office
  • Help navigating the process and completing required forms.

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.

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 institution, preferably from outside New York.
  • If the program will lead to licensure or certification, one reviewer may be based in New York.
• Be free of personal or professional connections that could appear to pose a conflict of interest. If a proposed reviewer is affiliated with the SUNY system, you must include an additional justification to explain why they will not present a conflict of interest.
• Have a well-rounded experience of instructional, 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 for 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 submitted to SUNY.

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.

Program name
If this is the only thing that has changed, you may be able to use a slightly simpler form. Contact us to find out.
Modality
Often, this is about adding a distance education option.
Structure, design, or focus
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 or concentration, or changing a few course options may not necessarily require a revision.

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 earn the credential, you must file a revision.

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.

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.