New Graduate Program Development and Approval Process Guide

Faculty of Health Sciences

New Graduate Program Development and Approval Process Guide

The ultimate goal of this Guide is to provide a new program development team with assistance in navigating through the process of creating and establishing a new graduate program at McMaster University. Experience suggests that each step in the document needs to be addressed to ensure smooth transition through the approval process. The Guide was developed specifically for the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) and, therefore, processes internal and external to FHS, some of which occur simultaneously, are separated in the table below. Should other Faculties express any interest in utilizing this Guide, it can be easily adapted to their specific policiesand procedures.

Program:

Department:

Projected
Start Date: Annual intake (Full Time/Part Time and domestic/visa for Full Time):
Steady state enrolment (Full Time/Part Time): Year steady state enrolment reached:

Please note that this document refers to the graduate program process only; should there be an undergraduate component as well, you will have to follow rules and regulations related to the undergraduate program approval process.

Internal Faculty of Health Sciences(FHS)Process / University Process (outside of FHS)
Spend time thinking about what the program will look like, why it is needed, what gap it will fill, and why McMaster/FHS/proposed team are the best group to implement it.
After this, think about what our ideal graduate would look like and how they would fulfill the needs gap.Familiarize yourself with the Degree Level Expectations (DLE) early in the process. Detailed information about DLEs can be found at
Suggestion:also consider your team: who will help you develop the proposal?
Discuss with the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences, feasibility of the proposed program. (Appendix A at the end of this document contains a list of the current incumbents as of June 30, 2014).
Suggestion: to expedite the entire process, schedule monthly meetings with Health Sciences Graduate Studies (HSGS) through the Graduate Associate at ext. 21609.
Discuss feasibility of the proposed program with the Associate Registrar & Graduate Secretary, School of Graduate Studies (SGS).(Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences, and Manager, HSGS, should attend the meeting).
Suggestion: askthe Associate Registrar and Graduate Secretary whether in their opinionthis program will be classified asGovernment Funded (BIU eligible) or Self-Funded. In either case, when working on your budget, explore different scenarios to ensure financial stability and viability of the program.
Check point:
Proceed, if interest in the program and its viability is affirmed by both, FHS and SGS, leadership.
Familiarize yourself with the following:

• Policy on Academic Program Reviews

• New Program Proposal Guidebook and other materials at

• University Program Approval Submission Guideline (also available through SGS or HSGS office);
• Front sections of the Graduate Calendar related to the rules and requirements on admissions, language requirements, courses, etc.

Suggestion:it is a good practice to review the details of a prior successful application.Inquire with the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences regarding getting access to such applications.
Organize a development team, which may include, but is not limited to, senior leadership from your department/program, faculty with expertise in the proposed field, financial manager, administrative staff, etc.
Create a one/two page Vision Document, a high level summary of your proposed program, which will describe current vision of the development team with regards to the areas of training, leading program/department, curriculum emphasis, and graduates’ further development opportunities and/or career options.
Comment: this document will be of a great assistance to you as your team moves through the process as it will provide all involved parties with consistent information of the essence of the proposed program in a concise form.
Develop and submit a Statement of Intent available here:
the New Programs Proposals toggle.
The purpose of this document is to provide all necessary personnel with a brief overview and rationale of the proposed program. The Statement of Intent must be endorsed by the Department Chair, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, FHS, and theFaculty Dean before it proceeds to the Associate Vice President, Faculty, and and Dean of Graduate Studies for new graduate program proposals.
Organize your department/program meeting to inform all members about the proposed program development, receive their feedback, and address their concerns (for example, regarding an increased teaching load related to the new program, other resource implications, etc.).
Suggestion: keep your program/department informed about all important stages of the new program development.
Identify your program stakeholders and analyze their involvement in the program as different groups will have different needs and focuses and may require different approaches.
List of stakeholders may include, but is not limited to, potential students, supervisors (if the program has research component), industry partners (potential employers which will hire your program graduates), Faculty Deans, Assistant Deans, other Faculty and University leadership.
Start stakeholder consultation very early in the process.
Survey your potential students and stakeholders to get data on a level of interest of the proposed program.
Suggestion from one of the programs:
We had a “stakeholders’ workshop” very early in the planning process. This was a day-long event off-site, where we invited stakeholders from the University, industry, leaders in the community, etc. This process established an essential foundation for all the planning that was to follow. By engaging the stakeholders in the development process, their buy-in later on is almost guaranteed.
Potential items for the retreat agenda(you may want to engage an external facilitator):
Presentation of the concept
Environmental Scan
Industry STEP analysis – Social, Technological, Economic, Political
The “Ideal Graduate”
Affinity analysis exercise to profile desirable graduate competencies
Idea Generation
Structured brainstorming to generate potential approaches and initiatives
Assessment and consolidation of the ideas
SWOT Analysis
Strengths: characteristics of the program that give it an advantage over others
Weaknesses: characteristics that place the program at a disadvantage relative to others
Opportunities: elements that the program could utilizeto its advantage
Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the program
Shaping the Program
Breakout groups consolidate advice under designated themes related to curriculum content, experiential learning, educational delivery, industry partnerships and marketing
Group presentations with discussion and feedback
Moving Forward
Driving and restraining forces
Implementation of the suggestions
Next steps
Important points to remember:

• Extensive consultations between the development team and other program leaders at the University, such as Deans and Associate Deans, HSGS, SGS, Provost Office are extremely useful.Guidance from some (e.g., Provost’s Office) should be sought after the meeting with the Deans (described later);
• Broad consultation from the very earliest point in development is recommended;
• Keep your “stakeholders” updated on your progress, make sure to consult with them before the proposal is submitted for approval;
• Keep in mind that the development of a new program is a multi-year endeavor.

Consult with other existing graduate programs that may have similar components/formats, or that are similar to your proposed program.
Similarly, it is important to have consultation with any programs/departments that could potentially be affected by your new program, i.e. you may draw students that traditionally applied to their program.
Conduct a market scan:

• Are there similar programs offered elsewhere?
• If yes, where are they offered?
• How much is their tuition?
• How much is their student support? What form does the support take, i.e. program scholarships, TAship, research scholarship, bursaries?
• Do they provide support to their full time thesis-based students only or the course-based and part-time students as well?

Record all your findings, create comparison tables addressing the following questions:

• What will be your niche, or how are you differentiated from the other programs?
• What will be your feeder programs and demographics of your program?
• Will your program be considered a feeder program for one of the existing programs?

Important point:
Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) will look at the proposal more favourably if the program will be attracting new student population that otherwise wouldn’t go to graduate school than drawing potential applicants from existing student population. They will also look more positively on programs that provide students with unique skills that will impact on the graduate’s future career.
Familiarize yourself with the University Program Approval Submission Guideline for universities seeking funding and OSAP eligibility for programs (October 2014). Review nine elements of the evaluation criteria as they must be addressed in the program proposal.
The Guideline will be forwarded to the development team as part of the new program development package.
Familiarize yourself with the New Program Budget Template available at

Check point:
Proceed if the program is financially sound; be conservative in your approach.
Consider your approach to the tuition for your program early in the process. Where the requested tuition fee is at the high end of a wide range or is outside the existing tuition range at the university, the Ministry asks that universities justify the tuition based on comparable programs. The templates for presenting tuition information can be found in the University Program Approval Submission Guideline.
Determine who will be the program faculty: list them in the proposal and summarize the required information (e.g.how many students they currently supervise, etc.).
Programs with internship/co-op/practicum components: what are the opportunities and what is the format of this component (length, paid/unpaid, mandatory/optional, etc.)?
Work on procuring letters of support from prospective partners.
Suggestion:provide your prospective partners with a list of pointsthat you would like them to address in a letter of support.
Consult with potential participating Faculties/Departments, library, other relevant units.
Indicate to the Deans, Chairs, Directors, Heads that you will need their letters of support for the brief.
Important points:

• Record their concerns: they will need to be addressed;
• Consider overlap with your target population and/or program curriculum with other programs/faculties – this needs to be discussed in detail;
• If you think that your program will not overlap with any existing programs, ask the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences, to either confirm it with other Associate Deans, or request that they consult with their Deans to verify it;
• If you receive a letter of support from an individual in another Faculty, make sure you obtain letters from their appropriate Chair and Dean as well.

Check point:
Proceed if interest in the program is affirmed; consult with appropriate individuals if there are any concerns. / Meet with the Deans. The individuals leading the program development need to meet with the Associate Vice-President (Academic), Health Sciences, the Associate Vice-President and Dean of Graduate Studies, and the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences, to discuss the proposal. Chair(s) of Departments often attend this meeting, particularly if the program will involve only one or a few departments.
For Interdisciplinary programs, Deans of all participating Faculties should attend the meeting, ideally with their Associate Dean of Graduate Studies. Program proposals must have the support of the Deans affirmed to move forward with further development and approval.
For professional programs which are regulated by external accreditation(such as, for example, Occupational Therapy), consider all governing body accreditation approvals, rules and regulations, etc.
If there is a legal requirement for graduates in a program to be certified, registered or licensed, the Ministry expects that the university has received the appropriate recognition or has started the process to receive accreditation.
Inquire whether start-up funding will be available from the Department/Schoolor other sources for the development of the proposal and/or program.
Suggestion:Start-up funding is requested via a letter to the leaders of the above mentioned units.
Start preparing your program proposal brief following the IQAP format and determining:

• program governance;
• structure: FT/PT, thesis based/course based, Masters/PhD, domestic/international, in-class/on-line
• size: number of students, breakdown by options
• curriculum
• budget, including tuition and other fees
• resources (teaching, staff, space, laboratories, etc.)
• will there be TA opportunities, graduate scholarship support?

Suggestion: refer to the section 5 of the Policy on Academic Program Reviews at

Consider external and internal reviewers and develop a proposed list of “arm’s length reviewers” (i.e. no former graduates or recent collaborators; see the Policy on Academic Program Reviews for full details on the criteria).
Consider the dates for the reviewers’ visit.
Submit the names of suggested reviewers and the proposed dates of their visit to SGS as the scheduling of the site visit often begins early in the approval process.
Important point:
In addition to the program development group and other participants, the reviewers will need to meet with the following University leaders:

• Associate Vice-President (Academic), Health Sciences
• Associate Vice-Presidentand Dean of Graduate Studies
• Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences
• Deans and Chairs of the participating Faculties and Departments
• Associate Vice-President, Faculty - if there is an undergraduate component

Provide SGS with the suggested dates of the visit as early as possible to avoid scheduling issues.
Continue working on your Program Proposal Brief using IQAP template. Distribute preparation of the sections of the brief between team members.
Conduct meetings with proposed core faculty, share your brief with them.
Suggestion: consider holding a retreat of the development team. Involve McMaster Institute for Innovation and Excellence in Teaching and Learning (MIIETL staff) and students, facilitate their perspective and feedback on the brief. Determine Program Learning Objectives (PLO) and Degree Level Expectations (DLE) appropriate for the program.
Using the information collected for your Program Brief, complete Program Approval Request Submission and Institutional Fit forms. They will be forwarded to SGS as the part of the submission package. The templates can be found in the University Program Approval Submission Guideline.
Update the letters of support, if needed, for example, if there is a new Chair, Dean, etc.
Submit all the documents related to the new program approval process tothe Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences, for detailed review and guidance on any issues that need to be resolved.
Circulate your Program Proposal Brief for the approval by the Department/School in which the new program will be hosted. Department/School leadership would have reviewed the proposed program budget and approved it. The Department/School will review the proposal to ensure that the new program meet the stated objectives within the context of the discipline.
Discuss your proposal brief at the Faculty Graduate Program Executive meeting (optional) for early input before the documents go through formal approvals.This group may have suggestions about the proposal and additional parties to consult with. Inquire with the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences, about arranging it.After the meeting, consult with the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences, on suggested revisions, so that the proposal can proceed to the nextsteps.
Validate the program budget, and proposed fees, withthe Manager, HSGS. Normally, the budget is reviewed by the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences, and the Associate Vice-President (Academic), Health Sciences, before it goes forward to the next steps. / Non-standard fees should be discussed with the School of Graduate Studies.
Determine whether there will be start-up funding approved, conditional on the program official approval at all levels, by
____ Department/School
____ FHS (Dean’s Office)
____ Provost
Suggestion: discuss your plans on how to deal with any deficit in the first years of the program operations.
Send the program budget and budget notes tothe Executive Director Finance and Administration (Academic), to verify that it is acceptable. Complete any recommended revisions. If revisions are made, check with the Manager, HSGS, the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences, and the Associate Vice-President (Academic), Health Sciences,before proceeding.
Submit all documentation (see a list at the end of this document) to School of Graduate Studies for input, with a copy to the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences. Consult with the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences, and theAssociate Registrar andGraduate Secretary, SGS,on suggested revisions, so that the proposal can proceed to the approvals steps.
Important points for the Approval Stage of the process:

• 1-2 members of the program development team will be required to provide a brief synopsis of the proposal and attend meetings for all levels of approval to address the questions in real time. The Department Chair typically also attendsfor within-department programs. You may wish to prepare the synopsis in advance of the first meeting for program approvals or use your updated Vision document;
• Remember that the proposal may be returned for revisions at any point in the approvals process, and therefore you will need to allow extra time in casethe brief needs to be revised and submitted to the next monthly meeting.Update your synopsis as needed;
• Approved documents are forwarded for the next level of approval by SGS or the administrator handling the preceding committee. In some cases, the order of approvals may be modified with written permission from the Dean or AVP (Academic), Health Sciences;
• The program budget and budget notes need to accompany the program proposal for approvals by: the Faculty Executive Council(s), University Planning Committee (UPC) and Senate.

SGS will work with the program, who should consult with the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies (Health Sciences) to complete Program approval Request Submission and Program Approval Certification forms.
SGS will circulate the documents for this stage of approval, which is the Faculty GPCC (Graduate Policy Curriculum Council).
For Interdisciplinary program proposals, the documents will go to the GPCC of all participating Faculties for consideration of approval.
SGS will forward the approved documents to the Faculty Executive Council for approval.
For Interdisciplinary program proposals, the documents will go to the Faculty Executive Council of all participating Faculties for consideration of approval.
FHS Faculty Relations will forward the approved documents to Graduate Councilfor consideration of approval. / Graduate Council considers the proposal for approval.
Note: Fees Committee approval may occur before or concurrently with other approvals.
Important point:
Approval by the Fees Committee is needed if the fee requested is not the standard graduate program domestic or international fee. Requests for graduate program fee approvals go through the SGS office. The request needs to contain a memo from the department to the Fees Committee requesting approval for the fee. It can be short – just a one paragraph description of the program (adopted from your program proposal) and a justification for the fee –the comparison table contained in the budget justification document is very important for this. / SGS will forward the documents approved by Graduate Council to the Fees Committee and theUniversity Planning Committee for consideration of approval.
The documents are forwarded by SGS toSenate for consideration of approval.
SGS will forward the Program Proposal Brief, the McMaster Guide to Program Reviews and other materials specific to the review to all members of the review team no less than two weeks prior to their visit.
Site visit occurs to review the program proposal.
The external report, prepared by the review team, comes in to SGS within four weeks of visit. / SGS forwards the external reviewers’ report to the Faculty (multiple Faculties, in the case of ID programs) and requests that the Faculty responds to the report within two weeks of receipt.
The program prepares a written response to the criticisms and suggestions made by the review team and discusses the response with the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences. You may need to meet withher as soon as you receive the reviewer’s report to discuss the response. The program submits their final draft of the response to the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Health Sciences.
The Faculty Dean or AVP (Academic), Health Sciences, responds in writing to the review report based onthe program response. Usually, the initial draft of their response is written by the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies,Health Sciences. The response is submitted to SGS bythe Associate Vice-President (Academic), Health Sciences, office. / SGS reviews the submitted materials and may request revisions.
To align university program funding approvals with the Differentiation Policy Framework and SMAs, all new programs funding approval requests will be streamlined into one of two categories:Expedited Review or Secondary Review. In both cases, institutionsare to complete all sections of the program approvals template. Universities will be informed within 30 days of the submission deadline regarding whether a submission will undergo an Expedited Review or Secondary Review.
SGS submits documentation for consideration of approval by Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU).
MTCU invites universities to submit new program proposals to the Ministry in parallel with the submission of these programs to the Ontario Universities’ Council on Quality Assurance.
Clarifications or revisions may be required by either or both bodies. MTCU notifies the University of the decision.
If Approved, the New Program Starts!

Submission Package shall include the following materials: