Levels of Approving Action
- Academic Approvals reviews all submitted proposals. Upon completion of a technical review for required documentation and content, the proposal is either advanced or returned.
- Returned items may be reverted to "Initiated" status (pending completion of APPEAR upgrade) and instructions provided for completing the proposal.
- Accepted items are added to the Academic Approvals Remonstrance, which is distributed following the closing date of the 1st of each month.
- Items added to the remonstrance are advanced to review by the Academic Leadership Council (ALC).
- Unless additional information is required (such as contingent approvals or collaborating submission from other campuses), or challenges are rasied in remonstrance, items in remonstrance are added to the agenda for review by the ALC Technical Committee.
- On the recommendation of ALC Tech, APPEAR submissions are added to the Consent Agenda of the Academic Leadership Council.
- The ALC Consent Agenda is posted for review and response on the Friday following the ALC Tech meeting, and closes by the first of the month. The ALC members typically have at least ten days for review and respond.
- Items that are final upon ALC approval are closed and campuses are notified.
- All items, other than new degrees requiring UA approval are added to the University Administration Approval document. The UA approval is final upon the action of the ALC Executive Committee, typically within 10-14 days.
- Items that are final upon UA approval are closed and campuses are notified.
- Items from the UA Approval requiring ICHE approval are advanced via Routine Staff Action (RSA) request.
- All new degrees to be offered by the submitting campus require approval at the full meeting of the Board of Trustees befor advancing to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) for final approval.
- Academic Programs will submit the Board of Trustees Cover Sheet (prepared by the campus and submitted with the required documentation for the proposal) to the Trustees' office for consideration based on the posted deadlines.
- Following UA approval, the Routine Staff Action (RSA) request is prepared by Academic Approvals and submitted to ICHE for the upcoming AA&Q meeting.
- Upon the approval of ICHE staff, items are added for acceptance and approval by AA&Q.
- Once approved at AA&Q and the ICHE letter of approval is received, the APPEAR item is final and campuses are notified.
- Following BOT action, all new degrees to be offered by the submitting campus are reviewed by ICHE Staff and the ICHE Academic Affairs and Quality (AA&Q) Committee.
- On the recommendation of the AA&Q Committee, proposals are advanced for action at the next full ICHE meeting.
- Once approved at ICHE and the letter of approval is received, the APPEAR item is final and campuses are notified.
Approval Pathways
Approving pathway requirements are defined in the Required Approvals Matrix. Except for new degrees, most items follow a “staff action” pathway, culminating at the ALC, UA, or ICHE (RSA). New degrees require “meeting action” approval at the BOT (Action) followed by the ICHE (Action). Individual pathways for each item defined in the Matrix are noted in the “Approval Types” section of our website, with the following notations:
- Items final at ALC
- Approval Pathway: ALC
- Normal approval timeframe || 30 days
- Approval Pathway: ALC
- Items final at UA
- Approval Pathway: ALC → UA
- Normal approval timeframe || 45 days
- Approval Pathway: ALC → UA
- Items final at ICHE
- Approval Pathway: ALC → UA → ICHE (RSA)
- Normal approval timeframe || 60 days
- Approval Pathway: ALC → BOT (Action) → ICHE (Action)
- Normal approval timeframe || 4 to 7 months
- Approval Pathway: ALC → UA → ICHE (RSA)
All approval timeframes are for the approval processes AFTER campus approvals and any contingent approvals have been completed, starting from the accepted APPEAR submission being listed on the UAP Approvals remonstrance (1st of each month.
Meeting Schedules for Approvals
Approving body: Academic Leadership Council (ALC)
Approving document: Consent Agenda
Approving forum: Sharepoint (Agenda and supporting documentation is available after the meeting of the ALC Technical Committee (3rd Thursday) for approximately 10 days, closing at 5:00 p.m. on the 1st of the month.
Approving schedule: Monthly
Approving Body: Board of Trustees via Administrative Action Report (AAR)
Approving document: AAR
Approving forum: Board of Trustees Teams folder. uploaded by UAP staff upon the close of the ALC Consent Agenda, and by the 5th of each month.
Approving schedule: Monthly, except July
Approving Body: Board of Trustees via meeting action
Approving document: Board of Trustees New Degree Cover Sheet
Approving forum: Board of Trustees public meeting Teams folder. uploaded by UAP staff upon the close of the ALC Consent Agenda, and by the 5th of each month.
Approving schedule: Quarterly [see BOT meeting schedule here]
The BOT Cover Sheet is uploaded by UAP staff upon the close of the ALC Consent Agenda by the Agenda Deadline for the next available meeting, as establised by the office of the IU Board of Trustees.
Approving Body: Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) via Routine Staff Action (RSA)
Approving document: RSA
Approving forum: ICHE Academic Affairs and Quality Committee (AA&Q) meeting.
Approving schedule: Monthly* on the 4th Monday [see AA&Q Schedule here]
* AA&Q typically does not meet in December.
Approving Body: Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) via meeting action
Approving document: RSA
Approving forum: All new degree proposals are reviewed at the ICHE Academic Affairs and Quality Committee (AA&Q) meeting. On the recommendation of the AA&Q Committee, proposals are forwarded to the next full meeting for action
Approving schedule: Bi-monthly in odd-numbered months [see ICHE Meeting Schedule here]
Contact
Contact Academic Approvals at approval@iu.edu if you have any questions.