Rule R6-001A: Creation, Significant Modification, and Discontinuance of the Academic Units of Free-standing Division, Department, School, College, and Library

1. Facilitation
2. Proposals

‌Purpose and Scope

1. Purpose.

   The purpose of this rule is to document the process for the creation, significant modification, and discontinuance of the academic units of free-standing division, department, school, college, and library.

2. Scope.
   
   This rule applies to all existing and proposed free-standing divisions, departments, schools, colleges, and libraries at the University. See Policy 6-500 for the process for curricular changes.

‌Definitions

The definitions provided in Policy 6-001 apply for this rule.

‌Rule

1. ‌Facilitation

   1. Curriculum Management and Academic Planning (CMAP) facilitates the process for creation, significant modification, and discontinuance of a free-standing division, department, school, college, or library.

2. ‌Proposals

   1. If a proposal includes curricular changes, the process described in Policy 6-500 also applies.

   2. A proposal for one or more of the following actions shall be submitted to CMAP using the provided software program and template:

      1. Creation of a new free-standing division, department, school, college, or library

      2. Name change of a free-standing division, department, school, college, or library

      3. Consolidation of a free-standing division, department, school, college, or library

      4. Transfer of a free-standing division, department, school, college, or library to a different school, college, or library

      5. Discontinuance of a free-standing division, department, school, college, or library

   3. Required Documentation

      1. Curriculum Management Plan (if applicable)

         1. See Rule R6-001CMP and Guideline G6-001CMP for details.

   4. Proposal Support

      1. For all of the above actions, a letter of support from the following is required:

         1. Department chair(s) or equivalent

         2. College/School dean(s)

         3. Other university academic units with related curriculum or discipline(s) (if applicable)

         4. Community or industry groups (if applicable)

   5. Proposal Review

      A proposal to create, significantly modify, or discontinue a free-standing division, department, school, college, or library ordinarily requires reviews and recommendations from the following levels. This process may run sequentially or concurrently, as determined appropriate by the cognizant executive vice president or designee.

      1. Unit Faculty/Academic Governance Committee

      2. College Council or College Curriculum Committee

      3. Undergraduate Council (if applicable)

      4. Graduate Council

      5. Cognizant Executive Vice President

      6. Academic Senate

   6. Proposal Finalization

      1. In compliance with Utah Board of Higher Education policies and as advisory to the university president, the Board of Trustees approves proposals to create, significantly modify, or discontinue a free-standing division, department, school, college, or library. See Utah Board of Higher Education policies R220 and R401.

      2. In addition to approval by the university president, the required approvals and notifications outside of the institution are governed by Utah Board of Higher Education policies, accreditation requirements (Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)), and Utah law.

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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.

2. Procedures, Guidelines, and Forms.

3. Other Related Resources.

   1. https://curriculum.utah.edu/

‌References

1. Policy 6-500: Curriculum Management and Administration

2. Utah Code Section 53H-3-303

‌Contacts

The designated contact officials for this regulation are:

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

2. Policy Officer(s): Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Executive 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 0.

   1. Approved by the Academic Senate on January 5, 2026, with effective date of January 13, 2026.

   2. Legislative History

   3. Editorial Revisions