Designation of School Status (A-63)

Original Implementation: February 3, 2005
Last Revision: October 30, 2007

I. Introduction

Stephen F. Austin State University is subdivided into colleges for the purpose of accommodating broad program areas with common academic interests. The colleges are further subdivided into units designated as departments, schools and divisions for the purpose of allowing smaller scholarly communities to devote attention to specific degree program for students and find collegial support for research and service along traditional disciplinary lines.

From time to time there arises a need to seek the support of the university wide academic community to allow academic units to become redrawn and re-organized as specialized units within the college pursuing a common goal and under the leadership of the college dean. Such a unit may be designated as "school".

II. Definitions

University – an entity of higher education chartered by the state to grant degrees and headed by a president.
College – the highest academic sub-unit of the university, offering programs of study leading to a degree, and headed by an academic dean.
School – the subdivision of a college organized for the common purpose of providing higher education in specialized or professional fields that lead to a degree, certification, or licensure, and headed by a director or associate dean.
Department/Division – an academic sub-unit of a college having a common disciplinary or scholarly objective and headed by a chair or other academic administrator.

III. Guidelines For Designating School Status

An academic units seeking school status will be evaluated using the following guidelines:

The unit should offer primarily professional programs and degrees.
The programs of the unit should be accredited by professional agencies.
The unit should have a total enrollment of students majoring in its programs of at least 150.
The unit must have a qualified, well-trained faculty.
The unit may have been the recipient of a substantial endowment or gift.

IV. Proposal Review and Approval

Before an academic unit of a college can receive "school" status, that unit must bring a proposal before the council of deans. The proposal should provide qualitative and quantitative data relating to the vision of the unit for acquiring the school designation. That information should be organized around the following categories:

A concise statement giving the rational for the request to re-designate the academic unit as a school. This statement should address the distinctiveness of the discipline and the advantages of school status to future graduates of the program.
A discipline specific self-study that has been completed within the last five years (with appropriate up-dates) copies of visitors’ reports, and annual assessment documents outlining the goals and accomplishments of the unit during the past five years.
Background of the unit including the history of the unit, outside drivers for the requested change in unit status, staffing for the program including a faculty list with degrees, accreditation, degree options available to students, trends in student placement, comparable programs at other universities, recommendations from an advisory board where applicable, letters of recommendation from professionals or practitioners in the field, and enrollment projections for five years.
A quality enhancement plan which addresses the continuous improvement of the effectiveness of the unit for a five year period directly following the designation of school status. Upon the recommendation of the council of deans and the approval of the provost and president, the proposal will be placed on the board of regents’ agenda for approval. After approval is received, a request for approval will be forwarded to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

Source of Authority: Provost andVice President for Academic Affairs

Cross Reference: None

Contact for Revision: Provost andVice President for Academic Affairs

Forms: None