Certificate Programs (A-69)
Original Implementation: April 22, 2008
Last Revision: None
The purpose for offering an undergraduate or graduate certificate program is to meet the supplemental education needs of professionals. As jobs and job-related responsibilities change, individuals often need additional training. Providing certificates for workforce development and job enhancement is a high priority for the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
A certificate program is a set of courses that provides in-depth knowledge and skill development in a content or professional area. The content contained in a set of courses for a certificate program should provide a coherent knowledge and skill base. Selected courses may come from one or more academic areas. A set of courses for a certificate program may be practice/skill oriented or academic in nature.
Process for Developing an Undergraduate or Graduate Certificate
- Faculty members recognize a need for an undergraduate or graduate certificate program. They document the need and prepare an application.
- The department, through its curriculum process, approves the application.
- The department sends the certificate program application to the college for its review and approval--adhering to the curriculum approval process established in the college.
- If approved at the college level, the certificate application is forwarded to either the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or the Graduate Council for consideration. If approved the certificate program is presented to the Dean’s Council for its approval and to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) Approval
Certificate programs that do not require THECB approval or notification are: 1) Those certificate programs for which no collegiate academic credit is given. 2) Certificate programs (A) at the undergraduate level of 20 semester credit hours or less, and (B) at the graduate and professional level of 15 semester credit hours or less.
Certificate programs that require THECB Board notification and are automatically approved, subject to review are 1) upper-level undergraduate certificates of 21-36 hours in disciplinary areas where the institution already offers an undergraduate degree program. 2) graduate-level and professional certificates of 16 - 29 hours in disciplinary areas where the institution already offers a graduate program at the same level as the certificate.
Responsibility for Certificate Programs
It is the responsibility of the academic unit offering certificate programs to establish a process for awarding and tracking certificates. Certificate records must be kept indefinitely within the academic unit.
Cross Reference: Chapter 5. Rules Applying to Public Universities and/or Health-Related Institutions of Higher Education in Texas, §5.48 Criteria for Certificate Programs at Universities and Health-Related Institutions.
Responsible for Implementation: Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Contact for Revision: Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Forms: None