Establish a New Minor, Certificate, or Microcredential
While the establishment of a new minor, certificate, or microcredential, does not require formal approval from the California State University Chancellor's Office, it's best to consider that this could take over a year to go from initial proposal to publishing in the Catalog. Various calendars need to be taken into consideration (internal department/college committee meetings, Senate council/committee meetings, an early March publishing date for the CSULB Catalog). Please reach out with the initial draft of your proposal to the Academic Programs Team to help streamline this process.
Please note, at this time new, state-supported, standalone certificates will not be proposed to the Senate. State-supported certificates need to be paired with a traditional degree program.
For those proposing a new certificate, please review CSULB Policy Statement 24-17, Policy on Certificates and Microcredentials. Unit requirements for certificates are detailed within this policy.
- Originator obtains approval from their department/college toward the establishment of a new minor, certificate, or microcredential.
- Originator prepares a new minor/certificate/microcredential packet, which includes:
- a new minor, certificate, or microcredential proposal form (DOC)
- for any proposed program which crosses over with multiple department offerings, please fill out the Interdisciplinary Degree Information Questions (DOCX)
- for the University Resources Council (URC): a proposal for implementing a new degree, option, certificate, minor, or microcredential (DOCX)
- Originator should also:
- CERTIFICATES ONLY: Submit a Substantive Change Form (DOC - with notes) to Sharlene Sayegh.
- WSCUC review of new non-degrees is required. Read additional information on substantive change forms.
- CERTIFICATES ONLY: Submit a Substantive Change Form (DOC - with notes) to Sharlene Sayegh.
Digital copies of all proposal materials that were approved by the department and college are forwarded to the Vice Provost of Academic Programs and the Office of Academic Programs (catalog@csulb.edu). The proposal is reviewed by both offices and feedback is provided to the proposer.
When details of the documents are finalized, the Academic Programs Office will move the proposal forward toward the CSULB Academic Senate.
The proposal packet is shared with the CSULB Academic Senate Chair.
Upon their approval of the materials, the proposal will be shared with the Senate's Curriculum and Educational Policies Council (CEPC) and University Resource Council (URC) for review. Proposers will be invited to discuss their proposals with these councils, and potentially be asked to make updates to the content.
Depending on any contention with the proposal, the final recommendation by these councils may be forwarded to the Academic Senate for further review, or receive approval from the Senate.
Upon recommendation by the Academic Senate, the Vice Provost for Academic Programs seeks the President's approval.
Upon approval, an implementation date will be set. A policy statement will be distributed to campus administration, and the degree option will appear in the CSULB Catalog during the appropriate year.
