Final Governance Approval of Program Modifications

The Institutional Quality Assurance Process outlines that "depending on the type of major modification, final authority for approval will be the Board of Undergraduate Studies/Board of Graduate Studies or Senate, based on the University’s quality assurance standards and in alignment with the QAF."

Curriculum change proposals should be evidence-based and are expected to demonstrate consultation, where applicable, with:

Faculty, Staff, Students, Affected Academic Units, Office of Registrarial Services (including Admission Services) and/or Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, Experiential Learning Hub (including the Co-op Program Coordinating Committee), School of Continuing Studies, etc.

Typical approval pathways for undergraduate, associate diploma, and graduate programs are outlined below.

Governance Approval Pathway

Description of a typical governance pathway.

Undergraduate and Associate Diploma Approval Pathway

Typical governance structure for Undergraduate/Associate Diploma Curriculum Changes:

Curriculum Committee
Department Chair / School Director
Program Committee or AMAP (Guelph-Humber)
College Associate Dean, Academic
Calendar Review Committee
Board of Undergraduate Studies*
Senate*

*Final approval authority is noted below, along with exceptions/additional steps/consultations to the typical governance pathway.

Graduate Approval Pathway

Typical Governance structure for Graduate Curriculum Changes:

Graduate Program Committee
Department Chair / School Director
College Associate Dean, Research & Graduate Studies
Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Division Committee(s)**
Graduate Programs and Faculty Committee
Board of Graduate Studies*
Senate*

*Final approval authority is noted below, along with exceptions/additional steps/consultations to the typical governance pathway.

**For consultation only; not an approval step.

Final Approval Authority

The table below guides the anticipated final authority depending on the type of proposal. In instances where multiple types of modifications are submitted within the same proposal, the most stringent requirements apply.

Proposal Type	Final Approval Authority	Notes or Exceptions to the Approval Pathway
Program Deletion	Senate	See Program Deletion for further information.
Merger or Separation of Two or More Programs	Senate
Additional Delivery Location	Senate
New Collaborative Specialization	Senate
New Graduate Diploma	Senate	If Type II or Type III.
New Graduate Diploma	Senate (consent agenda)	If Type I.
Name Change	Senate	If the change is to an Associate Diploma, Major, Undergraduate Degree, Graduate Program, or Collaborative Specialization. For undergraduate changes, consultation with Admission Services is necessary before proceeding to BUGS for approval.
Name Change	BGS \| BUGS	If the change is to a Minor, Area of Emphasis, Graduate Field, or other secondary credential.
Change to Degree Designation	Senate	If graduate. OR If the change results in the creation or elimination of an undergraduate degree. For undergraduate changes, consultation with Admission Services is necessary before proceeding to BUGS for approval.
Change to Degree Designation	BUGS	If the change involves two pre-existing undergraduate degrees. Consultation with Admission Services is necessary before proceeding to BUGS for approval.
Change to or Addition of Delivery Format	Senate	If changing delivery format, or with varying program learning outcomes, admission, program, or graduation requirements between delivery formats for the same credential.
Change to or Addition of Delivery Format	BGS \| BUGS	If adding a delivery format to the existing format(s), while the program learning outcomes, admission, program, and graduation requirements remain the same.
Introduction of Transfer Pathways (Undergraduate Programs only)	Senate	If the transfer pathway is with an international or domestic private partner institution. Consultation with Admission Services (and where applicable, Office of International Strategy and Partnerships) is necessary before proceeding to BUGS for approval.
	BUGS	If the transfer pathway is with a publicly-funded, domestic institution. Consultation with Admission Services is necessary before proceeding to BUGS for approval.
Significant Curriculum Change and/or Change to Program Learning Outcomes	Senate	Where resulting in differences in graduate capstone experiences (e.g., thesis-based to course-based; creation of course-based option, removal of one option, etc.).
	BGS \| BUGS
Addition or Deletion of Co-op, Work-Integrated Learning, or Significant Experiential Learning Change in a Program	Senate	If new or unprecedented experiential learning type.
	BGS \| BUGS	If addition or deletion of co-op (or other existing experiential learning type) to an existing program. For Co-op programs, operational approval from the Co-op Program Coordinating Committee (CPCC) is necessary before proceeding to BGS or BUGS.
New Minor and/or Deletion of Minor	BUGS
Admissions Change	BGS \| BUGS	For undergraduate changes, consultation with Admission Services is necessary before proceeding to BUGS for approval.
Addition or Deletion of an Area(s) of Emphasis to an Existing Program (Undergraduate or Associate Diploma Programs only)	BUGS
Changes to Program or Specialization Regulations (Undergraduate or Associate Diploma Programs only)	BUGS
New Field, Field Change, and/or Field Deletion (Graduate Programs Only)	BGS
Regular Curriculum Change	BGS \| BUGS
Addition or Removal of Program to Collaborative Specialization (Graduate Program Only)	AVPGS
Significant Change to Faculty Resources	Senate (for information only)	Changes to the faculty complement alone are operational and do not require Senate approval.