Program Approval Processes

The Undergraduate Policy Committee (UPC) and the Graduate Policy and Affairs Committee (GPAC) will review proposals submitted via Curriculog when the proposal reaches their step in the workflow in time for the committee's agenda deadline (one week before the next meeting). The forms listed below are available for faculty to request program changes.

Curriculog Forms

Use one of these forms to request a new plan (major, minor, certificate) or subplan (option, concentration), or to change an existing plan or subplan. Multiple changes to a plan or subplan may be made in one form. 

Short Forms

Use one of these forms if this is the ONLY change you are requesting:

Other Forms

  • Correct an Error / Update Text in the Catalog
  • Documents for Core Curriculum Committee (CORE)
  • Documents for Executive Committee (EXEC)
  • Documents for Faculty Senate
  • Documents for Graduate Policy and Affairs Committee (GPAC)
  • Documents for Undergraduate Policy Committee (UPC)
  • Propose a Curricular Pilot

Timelines for Requests

Program requests made during the 2026-2027 review cycle are for changes to the 2027-2028 academic catalog, with the exception of requests for new majors. Requests for new majors follow a two-year or three-year review cycle.

Request a New Major⁠

Use the form Request a New Plan (Major/Program) to request a new major or program for the catalog. Do not use this form to change a plan that already exists in the catalog. Instead, use the relevant Change an Existing Plan form.

Requests for a new major will progress through two phases with the UMass President's Office (UMPO) and the Department of Higher Education (DHE). View the tabs below for detailed information, including the forms you will need to prepare and the steps you need to take, for each phase of the process.

During DHE Phase I the campus prepares the documents listed below.

Required Documents for Phase I:

  • Letter of Intent (LOI)
  • Form A: Curriculum Outline
  • Form B: Goals and Objectives
  • Form C: Enrollment Projections
  • Form D: Budget

These documents must be created using the DHE templates and submitted in Word document format. Faculty save the documents with the required naming conventions, and upload the final version to the Files tab in the proposal for campus review and Faculty Senate approval.

Your Steps for Phase I:

  1. Review the overall process and the required forms.
  2. Schedule a planning meeting with the Pre-Flight Team, if desired.
  3. Complete the UML PLANNING sections of the form.
    •    Upload required documents
  4. Complete the PHASE I section of the form.
    • Upload required documents
  5. Launch & approve the proposal.
    • The proposal will progress through the Pre-Flight and Phase I approval steps of the workflow.
    • After Faculty Senate approval, the Provost’s Office will submit the Phase I materials to UMPO. There will be a significant wait period before we learn of the DHE decision. While you wait, your department should prepare for the external review outside of Curriculog.
  6. Prepare for External Review.
  7. Await the Phase I Decision from DHE.
  8. Await approval of the External Reviewers from UMPO.

UMPO Phase I Review (10-20 weeks)

During the UMPO Phase I Review period, the following will take place:

  • UMPO sends Phase I materials to UMass Provosts & Chancellors; they have up to 21 days to respond.
  • UMPO sends Phase I materials to BHE for the public comment period (4 weeks).
  • UMPO submits Phase I materials to BHE's next monthly agenda (must have a minimum of 6 weeks after the end of public comment period to get on the agenda).
  • UML campus representative attends the BHE meeting

Total time with BHE ranges from 10-20 weeks, depending on the cycle of their Board meeting.

Check the Academic Governance section of the proposal for the following information:

  • Anticipated dates of review by UMass Provosts and Chancellors
  • Anticipated dates of the DHE public comment period
  • Anticipated dates of BHE's next monthly meeting
  • UML representative to attend the confirmed date of the BHE meeting
  • Date UMPO informed UML of BHE's Phase I decision
  • Decision by BHE to proceed with Fast Track or Standard Review

After you submit the Phase I materials to Curriculog, you are encouraged to begin this section outside of Curriculog, and be ready to upload the required materials when the proposal returns to you on the Prepare for External Review step.

The Department Chair or Program Coordinator should identify a pool of potential reviewers and use the Early Email Request template to solicit potential commitment from at least three external reviewers. 

When a potential external reviewer agrees to complete the review, use the DHE specific External Reviewer Resume template to request their CV/biosketch. 

When the proposal returns to you on the Prepare for External Review step, you should be ready to complete the following:

  • List the names, titles, and organizations of three confirmed external reviewers
  • Upload the Evaluator Resumes for your review team

The External Reviewer materials will be submitted to UMPO for approval, before you proceed with Phase II.

Important: the DHE Evaluator Resume template must be saved and uploaded as a Word document.

Guidelines for selecting reviewers

The review team should embody senior leadership experience in higher education or in the industry, expert scholarship in the discipline of study, and a terminal degree. It is not necessary for each individual member of the external review team to have all these qualifications, but the whole team of 2 or 3 individuals must be comprised of these qualifications.  Candidates must be disinterested in the proposed program and have no prior relationship to the institution. Candidates working in the same sector as the proposed program (e.g. MA community college, MA state university, UMass) are not eligible as external reviewers.

Evaluator CV/Resume

Use the DHE Evaluator Resume template and follow their instructions. Do not send url links, rather provide the full vitae. (It is not necessary to include the entire list of a candidate's publications.)

After the Originator completes the "Reviewer List" field in the proposal, and uploads the DHE Evaluator Resume template as a Word doc, the Originator enters an "approval" decision to move the proposal forward to the UMPO Review & BHE Meeting step.

During Phase II, the External Review Team completes their review, and the campus prepares the documents listed below.

Required Documents for Phase II:

  • DHE Phase II Full Academic Program Proposal template
  • Form A: Curriculum Outline
  • Form B: Proposed Program Goals, Objectives, Assessments
  • Form C: Approved Projected Enrollment 
  • Form D: Budget
  • Form E: Program Faculty 
  • Faculty Vitae (aka CV or Resume template)
  • Course Summaries
  • Form F: External Review Questions / External Review Team Report
  • Institutional Response to External Review

These documents must be created using the DHE templates and submitted in Word document format.

The forms are the same for "Fast Track" and for "Standard Program Review". The difference is that if the program is fast tracked then question 8 can be skipped. Fast Track proposals will be reviewed by the BHE Deputy Commissioner. Standard Program Review will require a vote from the full Board.

(Do not submit Phase II documents until all Phase I documents have received DHE feedback).

Your Steps for Phase II:

  1. Provide the Form F External Reviewer review questions (Form F1 for undergraduate-level or Form F2 for graduate-level) to the members of your approved External Review Team.
    • Ask the reviewers to use MSWord. Note, UMPO and DHE do not accept pdf files.
    • Confirm in the Curriculog form that you have sent Form F to the External Review Team.
  2. Work with your External Review Team and begin to prepare the Phase II materials.
  3. Receive the External Review Reports from the External Review Team and share them with the Provost’s Office for review.
    • External reviewer report(s) MUST be submitted by the Provost’s Office to UMPO exactly as they were provided to UML by the external review team.
  4. Draft the Institutional Response to External Review.
    • Obtain feedback from the Provost.
    • Finalize the Institutional Response to External Review document.
  5. Complete the PHASE II section of the Curriculog form.
    • Upload the final version of all required documents.
  6. Enter the decision to "Approve" the proposal in Curriculog.
    • The proposal will progress through the Phase II approval steps of the workflow.
  7. Watch the proposal as it progresses through the workflow and respond to any questions that arise.
  8. Attend the relevant Faculty Senate committee meeting to provide an updated overview of the proposal and answer any questions the committee may have.
    • After Faculty Senate approval, the Provost’s Office will submit the Phase II materials to UMPO. 
    • The There will be a significant wait period before we learn of the DHE decision. 

UMPO Phase II Review (6-12 weeks)

During the UMPO Review period, the following will take place:

  • UMPO submits completed Phase II materials to CASA/BOT 6-weeks ahead of their next meeting.
  • UML campus representative attends the CASA meeting.
  • CASA may possibly send the Phase II materials to BOT for a Consent Agenda.
  • UMPO submits completed Phase II materials to BHE.
  • If Phase I decision was "Fast Track" then the Phase II materials will go to the Deputy Commissioner for review.
  • If Phase I decision was "Standard Review" then the Phase II materials will go to the full BHE for a vote.

Check the Academic Governance section of the proposal for the following information:

  • Anticipated date of the next CASA/BOT meeting (6-weeks out)
  • UML representative to attend the confirmed date of the BHE meeting
  • Whether CASA sent the Phase II materials to BOT for a Consent Agenda
  • Whether UML is awaiting official communication from UMPO from BHE's decision via the Deputy Commissioner (fast track) or a vote from the full Board (standard review).

UML System Updates

When the Provost's Office receives the DHE Letter of Approval from UMPO, the proposal will be moved into the UML System Updates section. UML System Updates are completed by the Registrar's Office, Admissions Office, Web Content Teams, and Data, Analytics, & Institutional Research (DAIR). 

Check the proposal's Workflow, Discussion tab, and UML System Updates section to respond to any questions that may arise. 


Stop Admitting New Students & Initiate the Phase-Out Process

Use this form to stop admitting new students to a plan (major, program, certificate, minor) or a subplan (option or concentration), start a teach-out plan for existing students (if applicable), and to ultimately suspend your plan or subplan.

UMass Lowell requires programs wishing to phase out a plan and/or one or more subplans to complete the following steps:

  1. Request a Last Admit Term - Request a "Last Admit Term" to stop new students from entering the plan and/or subplan(s). The Last Admit Term can be planned for the end of the current Admission cycle.
  2. Determine a Teach-Out Plan - Determine if a "Teach-Out Plan" is needed; if so, provide details to Faculty Senate in your proposal.
  3. Notify Enrolled Students - Upon approval of a proposal with a Teach-Out Plan, notify enrolled students.
  4. Monitor Active Students - Monitor active students (as needed) until the number of enrolled students in the plan/subplan is zero.
  5. Finalize the Phase-Out Process - Follow-up with the Curriculum Management Team when the number of students eligible to enroll equals zero.

Key Definitions

Key definitions relating to the "status" of a plan or subplan:

  • Active - The program is available in SIS for new and transfer students. All types of students (new, continuing, and returning) are able to enroll in the program, and UML is conferring degrees or certificates in the program of study. A program remains "active" in SIS until the department initiates the phase-out process.
  • Teaching-Out - A Last Admit Term has been established to correspond with the current Admission cycle. No new students will be admitted to the program, and the department has created a "teach-out plan" for all students currently admitted to the program. Teaching-out will be complete when all students are out of the program. 
  • Suspended - UML has reached the Final Admit Term and has submitted the Suspend a Program form to UMPO. UMPO has changed the program status from "active" to "suspended". Suspended programs remain dormant in the HEIRS database and may be reactivated within a 10-year period via the Reactivate a Program form.
  • Discontinued - UML does not want to reactivate the suspended program, and wants to remove the program from the HEIRS database. UML has submitted the Discontinue a Program form to UMPO and the program cannot be reactivated. After 10-years of a suspended status, a program will automatically be discontinued and permanently removed from the HEIRS database.

Teach-Out Plan

The Teach-Out Plan must detail how enrolled students in all catalog years of the program will complete their degree without additional time to graduation or additional cost. If all required courses will be available until there are no students eligible to enroll, no Teach-Out Plan is needed. If students will need exceptions to complete the program, then you should provide the Teach-Out Plan. 

We are happy to assist with creating Teach-Out Plans; email curriculog@uml.edu.

Get Curriculog Help for assistance with the forms.


Change a CIP Code for STEM OPT Eligibility

Use this form to request a change to the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Code assigned to an academic plan and/or subplan when the proposed code may qualify the program for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Optional Practical Training (STEM OPT) extension.

About CIP Codes

Every academic program is assigned a six-digit CIP Code that classifies its primary field of study. The proposed CIP Code must accurately reflect the program’s curriculum, content, and academic purpose.

CIP Codes are used for institutional, state, and federal reporting and may affect financial aid, research funding eligibility, and other regulatory requirements. For international students, the CIP Code assigned to a program also determines whether the program is recognized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as eligible for the STEM OPT extension.

NCES CIP Code Resources: Review the CIP 2020 classifications and selection guidance. Be sure to use the CIP 2020 classification rather than CIP 2010.

STEM OPT Eligibility

To support a request for STEM OPT designation, the proposed CIP Code must:

  • accurately represent the program’s curriculum and academic purpose; and
  • appear on the current DHS list of CIP Codes eligible for the STEM OPT extension.

At UML, at least 50% of the coursework required for the degree must be in an applicable STEM field. When documenting this requirement, include all UML courses with qualifying subject prefixes, as directed by the institutional review process.

Locate a STEM-Eligible CIP Code

Previously published versions of the DHS STEM Designated Degree Program List have been archived. To review the most current information, use the DHS Eligible CIP Codes for the STEM OPT Extension page.

To determine whether a proposed CIP Code is currently recognized as STEM eligible:

  1. Identify the proposed six-digit CIP Code using the NCES CIP 2020 website.
  2. Open the DHS Eligible CIP Codes for the STEM OPT Extension page.
  3. Use your browser’s Find function (Ctrl+F on Windows or Command+F on a Mac) to search for the complete six-digit CIP Code.
  4. Confirm that the CIP Code and its official CIP title appear on the DHS list.
  5. Enter the proposed CIP Code and official CIP title in the Curriculog proposal.

Placement on the DHS list does not, by itself, establish that the code is appropriate for a UML program. The proposal must demonstrate that the program’s curriculum supports the requested classification.

Please consult Deborah Cantor before submitting the proposal for assistance evaluating the curriculum and crosswalking the program to an appropriate STEM-eligible CIP Code.

Additional federal information is available through the DHS STEM OPT Hub and the ICE Schools and Programs page. 

Required Documents

Attach the following documents to the proposal:

  • Current Curriculum Outline
  • Proposed Curriculum Outline
  • Proposed Degree Pathway

Questions? Reach out to the Curriculum Management Team at curriculog@uml.edu.