Policy 6-116: Undergraduate Certificates

1. Policy: Undergraduate Certificates
2. Guidelines

‌Purpose and Scope‌

1. Purpose. [reserved]

2. Scope. [reserved]

‌Definitions‌

[reserved]

‌Policy‌

1. ‌Policy: Undergraduate Certificates‌

   1. Undergraduate certificates are given in recognition of a pattern of courses, often drawn from several departments, which, when taken together, produce an emphasis that is not the same as an academic major or minor but that gives a student a competence worthy of some formal recognition.

   2. Undergraduate certificates shall require at least 20 semester hours of designated work. Minimum hours may be adjusted by the Undergraduate Council.

   3. Proposals for new undergraduate certificate programs are created by departments and colleges and submitted for approval to the Undergraduate Council, which will send approved proposals on to the Academic Senate and the Board of Trustees for their review and approval. Proposals for new undergraduate certificates requiring 20-29 semester hours of designated work do not need to be considered by the Utah Board of Higher Education; they will be added to the annual list of certificates submitted to the Commissioner of Higher Education in December of each year.

   4. Proposals for new undergraduate certificates requiring 30 or more semester hours of designated work need to be considered by the Utah Board of Higher Education as prescribed in Utah Board of Higher Education Policy R401.

   5. Students who fulfill the requirements of an undergraduate certificate that has been approved by the Board of Trustees will have the certificate recorded on their University of Utah transcript.

2. ‌Guidelines‌

   1. Development of new Undergraduate Certificate Programs

      1. Proposals for new undergraduate certificate programs are created by departments and colleges and submitted for approval to the Undergraduate Council providing the information outlined in Section III.B.a.b. Proposals for undergraduate certificate programs that need to be considered by the Utah Board of Higher Education shall be submitted using the template prescribed in Utah Board of Higher Education Policy R401.

      2. Proposals must be accompanied by endorsement from the department heads and deans of the college in which the contributing coursework is housed, as well as from those academic units whose students or programs could be affected by the creation of the new undergraduate certificate.

      3. Interdisciplinary undergraduate certificate programs are encouraged.

   2. Criteria for Program Submission

      1. Proposals for new undergraduate certificate programs shall include the following:

         1. Need. A statement of the need for the proposed certificate and the basis for such a need, supported by either externally or internally derived data;

         2. Educational Objectives. A statement of the educational objectives of the certificate.

         3. Impact on Existing Programs. The certificate proposal will address the question of the impact of the program on any related programs.

         4. Courses. A statement of the proposed course sequence associated with the certificate, including titles and course descriptions both for existing courses and any new courses that may be developed. The proposal will address the possibility of program delivery using distance education approaches.

         5. Student Advisement. Identify the department/college office that will coordinate the certificate program, advise students, and communicate with administrative offices.

         6. Budget. Describe the costs of the certificate program and how the program will be funded.

         7. Library Resources. Confirmation from the appropriate University library, or libraries, that current resources are sufficient to meet the research needs of the certificate program.

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            Sections IV- VII are for user information and are not subject to the approval of the Academic Senate or the Board of Trustees. The Institutional Policy Committee, the Policy Owner, or the Policy Officer may update these sections at any time.

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‌Policies/ Rules, Procedures, Guidelines, Forms and other Related Resources‌

1. Policies/ Rules. [ reserved ]

2. Procedures, Guidelines, and Forms. [ reserved ]

3. Other Related Resources.

   1. Certificates Overview July 2014

‌References‌

1. [ reserved ]

‌Contacts‌

The designated contact officials for this Regulation are

1. Policy Owner(s) (primary contact person for questions and advice): Senior Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs

2. Policy Officer(s): Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Senior Vice President for Health Sciences.

   See Rule 1-001 for information about the roles and authority of policy owners and policy officers.

‌History‌

Revision History.

1. Current version. Revision 2.

   1. Effective date: July 28, 2011 (editorially revised from Revision 1).

2. Previous versions.

   1. Revision 1. Effective Date. October 10, 2005

   2. Revision 0. Effective Date. November 8, 2004

3. Editorial Revisions

   1. Editorially revised April 5, 2024 to move to current regulations template.

   2. Editorially revised April 5, 2024to replace references to the Board of Regents with references to the Utah Board of Higher Education.

4. Renumbering

   1. Renumbered from PPM 9-8.14 and formerly as Faculty Regulations Chapter VII Section 21.