Overview of Approval Processes
Faculty Senate reviews proposals regarding:
- Courses
- Policies
- Programs
Curriculum Proposal Deadlines
All proposals will be added to the agenda through Curriculog. Please see the Curriculum Proposal Deadlines (pdf) for suggested date ranges to launch proposals in Curriculog.
IMPORTANT!
The Curriculog feature to launch proposals will close for the 2024-2025 academic year on Monday, April 7, 2025, at 5 p.m.
All proposals launched prior to April 7 should reach the Faculty Senate Committee step before their last meeting of academic year (UPC on Monday April 14 and GPAC on Friday April 25), which will allow all proposals to be considered by Faculty Senate during their last meeting of the academic year on Monday, May 5.
Please keep in mind that the Department of Higher Education requires a 60-day waiting period after DHE approval before UML can announce new programs. Also keep in mind that Admissions updates require significant lead time; proposals that reach Admissions by June 1, 2025 will impact program offerings available in Spring 2026 and Fall 2026.
The Curriculog feature to launch proposals will open again for the 2025-2026 academic year on Friday, August 1, 2025.
Life of a Proposal
Proposals are created in Curriculog and progress through the approval process within the department, college, college curriculum committee, and college dean before moving on to Faculty Senate. After approval from Faculty Senate, proposals are (if applicable) sent to the governing authorities, and then processed through "UMass Lowell (UML) System Update" steps to update SiS, the catalog, degree pathways, advisement reports, department and college catalog landing pages, admissions applications, and department and program marketing web pages.
Approval Workflow
- Originator
- Department Chair or Program Coordinator
- College Curriculum Committee
- College Dean or Designee
- Undergraduate Policy Committee (UPC) or Graduate Policy and Affairs Committee (GPAC)
- Faculty Senate
- Provost and Chancellor
- President's Office (UMPO)
- Department of Higher Education (DHE)
- UML System Updates
In Curriculog, use the "Workflow Status" tab to view which steps have been approved and on which step the proposal is 'working'.
Templates (For Originators of Proposals):
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Codes
- Existing CIP Code Lookup (Excel)
Curriculum Outline "Form A"
- DHE Curriculum Outline (Form A1) - For Undergraduate Programs (doc)
- DHE Curriculum Outline (Form A2) - For Graduate Programs (doc)
- DHE Curriculum Outline (Form A) - For Minors (doc)
- DHE Curriculum Outline (Form A) - For Certificates (doc)
- DHE Curriculum Outline (Form A) - For Graduate Certificates (doc)
Degree Pathway
- Degree Pathway grid (doc)
DHE Name Change Plus Forms - "Change Name of Program & Elevate Subplan to Plan"
- Name Change Plus Form - Graduation Data (doc)
- Name Change Plus Form - Enrollment History (doc)
- Name Change Plus Form - Alumni Outcomes (doc)
DHE Phase I Forms
- DHE Phase I Letter of Intent (LOI) template (doc). The Phase I LOI template includes Form A thru Form D. You may submit the LOI as one document, or if you prefer, the individual forms are available below.
- DHE Form A1 - LOI Curriculum Outline (Undergraduate) (doc)
- DHE Form A2 - LOI Curriculum Outline (Graduate) (doc)
- DHE Form B - LOI Goals and Objectives (doc)
- DHE Form C - LOI Enrollment Projections (doc)
- DHE Form D - LOI Budget (doc)
DHE External Reviewer Forms
DHE Phase II Forms
- DHE Phase II template (doc). The Phase II template includes Form A thru Form F. You may submit Phase II as one document, or if you prefer, the individual forms are above and below.
- DHE Form E - Program Faculty (doc)
- DHE Form F1 - External Reviewer (Undergraduate) (doc)
- DHE Form F2 - External Reviewer (Graduate) (doc)