Chapter 1
Administrative Functions and Responsibilities

1.7 Common Board Actions

1. Course action requests
2. Creating new graduate programs
3. Creating interdisciplinary graduate programs
4. Changing master's programs to "Option B"
5. Posthumous degrees

A. Course action requests

To bring a course action before the Administrative Board for consideration, a graduate program must submit a Course Action Request Form to the Graduate School. The request will be scheduled on the agenda of the Board no earlier than two weeks after the date when the request was received. This provides the minimum time required for distribution of requests to Board members for review. The section in the Course Action Request Form for listing perspectives and skills does not have to be completed for 500-800 level courses. [Recommended by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School and approved by the Dean of the Graduate School on 3/14/91.]

The Graduate School must receive course action requests by the following deadlines.

B. Creating new graduate programs

The UNC Office of the President (UNC-OP) publishes Procedures for Developing Academic Degree Programs, which provides the policies and procedures by which all universities within the UNC system can plan and establish new academic programs, degree-related distance education courses and programs, and institutes and centers. Both the NC State Chancellor and the President of the UNC System must authorize the following:

1. plan and establish a new degree program or concentration;
2. plan a new Certificate of Advanced Study Program;
3. change the name or title of an existing degree program or concentration;
4. discontinue a degree program or concentration;
5. establish a degree-related Distance Education program in or outside NC; and/or
6. offer a degree-related course outside NC.

A department or group of faculty wishing to explore the above options should study the procedures requirements. A representative for the group should then contact the Graduate Dean or Senior Associate Dean to plan a proposal to the Administrative Board of the Graduate School. Should the Administrative Board approve the proposal, the Graduate Dean would then communicate with the Provost and the Chancellor. They, in turn, would communicate the proposal to the UNC system for approval by the Office of the UNC President and/or the Board of Governors.

C. Creating interdisciplinary graduate programs

The Graduate School strongly encourages the development of interdisciplinary efforts at NC State. Interdisciplinary programs and concentrations (M.A., M.S., Master's Degree in a Designated Field, Ph.D. or Ed.D.) must ultimately be approved by the UNC system. However, interdisciplinary program concentrations, options, and minors can be created on-campus with university approval. [Recommended by the Administrative Board of the Graduate School and approved by the Dean of the Graduate School on 12/30/87.]

To develop an interdisciplinary graduate program, the proposal must pass three phases at NC State before reaching the UNC system level (if necessary).

1. Phase 1 requires the proposing faculty to prepare a brief description of the planned program, addressing its need and its relationship to existing programs. This description should be submitted to the Dean of the Graduate School, who will schedule a preliminary review meeting. The Dean will offer advice on proposal development. The proposal will then go through an approval process in the departments, college(s), and school(s).
2. Phase 2 involves the development of the complete proposal, following the Procedures for Developing Academic Degree Programs.
3. Phase 3 is the final review of the program by the Administrative Board. For approved interdisciplinary programs or concentrations, the proposers of the program must then follow the steps outlined in the preceding section to have their proposal reviewed at the UNC system level. However, the final review in Phase 3 by the Administrative Board constitutes the final decision regarding any proposals for new interdisciplinary program concentrations, options, or minor.

D. Changing master's programs to "Option B"

Master's degree programs that require final oral examinations may petition the Graduate School for permission to operate the program with a single advisor and to eliminate the final oral examination (Option B). Option B master's degree programs may not carry an officially designated minor.

Petitions need the approval of school/college-level Graduate Studies Committees and must be made for an entire degree program, rather than for individual students. The Administrative Board of the Graduate School will review each petition and make appropriate recommendations to the Dean of the Graduate School. The petition form is entitled Proposal for Changing Non-Thesis Graduate Degree Program Requirements to Option B.

E. Posthumous degrees

Programs can petition the Administrative Board of the Graduate School to award posthumous degrees. In most cases, these petitions have been granted for students who had completed a portion of their thesis or dissertation, or at least, the research upon which the final project would have been based. The DGPs should contact the Graduate Dean or the Senior Associate Dean to prepare the request for the Board's consideration.