Petition for New or Revised Degree Program

Name of institution:
Location(s), including mailing address(es), where program will be offered (i.e., main campus, extension site[s]):
Name, title, email address, and phone number of person completing petition:

Because the ATS Commission on Accrediting (“Commission”), through the work of the Board of Commissioners (“Board”), not only accredits institutions but also approves degree programs offered by an accredited school, a school must seek the Board’s approval before it (a) introduces a new degree program; (b)revises an existing degree program significantly (see section 3.e of Appendix 3 of the Board Policy Manual for what constitutes a significant revision); or (c)offers an existing approved degree (in whole or in part) at a new location. If the revision is simply a name change, please use the Petition for Change in Nomenclature for a Degree Program for that change.

The Board may approve petitions for new or revised degree programs at the master’s level or for ongoing offering of courses at an extension site based on review of the institution’s petition and documentation only. The approval of new doctoral programs and the approval of extension sites where more than half of a degree program can be earned will require the Board’s review of both the institution’s petition and the report of a focused evaluation committee authorized in response to the school’s petition, unless a visit exemption is warranted.

The institution’s petition should address all of the following factors, which the Board will consider in decisions regarding approval of new or revised degrees. The total length of this petition should be 5–7 pages, plus required appendices.

1.Type of petition
Note whether this program is new or revised; if revised, describe briefly the nature of the revision.
2.Name of degree program and letter of Degree Program Standard to which this program applies
(e.g., Standard A for MDiv, Standard B for professional MA, Standard D for academic MA, etc.). Note that professional master’s programs use “in,” such as “Master of Arts in Pastoral Ministry,” and academic master’s use parentheses, such as “Master of Arts (Religion).”

Name of degree program:

Letter of Degree Program Standard:

3.Delivery method
Specify what portion of this degree is residential or online.* Note that only academic MA programs under Degree Program Standard D may be completely online unless an exception for residency requirements is granted. See separate Petition for an Educational Experiment or Exception.
*Count hybrid courses as residential “only if the majority of instructor-directed learning occurs in situations where both faculty and students are in person on the school’s main campus or at an extension approved for the school to offer the full degree” (see Educational Standard, section ES.4.2.19); count all other hybrid courses as online.

Percent residential:

Percent online:

4.Purpose and need
Describe in 2–3 paragraphs the purpose of this new or revised program, how it supports the institution’s mission, and what need(s) it will address. Include any market analysis results.
5.Program goals/outcomes
List the student learning outcomes—typically 3 to 6—for this program, and clarify how these cover the required content areas described in the applicable Degree Program Standard.
6.Degree requirements
List the total hours required for this degree program and also list—here or in an attached appendix—the core and elective requirements for this program, including how many credits are granted for each requirement. If this is a revised degree program, append instead a chart comparing the revised requirements with the original requirements. Note that the Board has generally not approved any three-year degree programs with fewer than 72 credits or any two-year degree programs with fewer than 36 credits.

Total credits for this degree program:

List of courses for this degree program:

7.Admission requirements
Describe any special admission requirements (e.g., language).
8.Impact
Describe in 1 or 2 paragraphs any impact this proposed program might have on existing degree programs or existing resources (e.g., faculty workload).
9.Faculty resources
Describe what faculty resources are needed for this program; also append a vita of the program director. For new doctoral programs, append a list of all faculty—with a summary of their credentials—who will teach regularly in this program, noting adjunct and residential.Petitions for revised degree programs need only summarize any changes in faculty resources required.
10.Support resources
Describe the resources and support services available from the school’s library, technology, and student services areas. If any of these services are provided by another entity, append formal agreements documenting that.Note that petitions for revised degree programs need only summarize any changes in required support.
11.Financial resources
Append a three-year budget, showing projected revenue and expenses for this new degree program. (If the budget is fairly basic, it may be described here.) Petitions for revised degree programs need only summarize here any changes in required finances.
12.Assessment
Describe how this new or revised degree program will be assessed and how that assessment will be incorporated into the institution’s overall assessment plan.Note that the description here should include both direct and indirect measures of assessment, how those relate to the program goals/outcomes described in #5 above, how faculty will be involved in evaluating assessment results, and how those results will be used to improve the program and student learning outcomes.
Approval of any petition for change is effective with the date specified in the official action. Such approval expects the change will be implemented within a year of that approval date. If the change cannot be implemented within that time frame, the school must submit a satisfactory explanation for the delay and a modified time line for implementation. Absent implementation of the change or granting a request for additional time, the approval will expire one year after the initial grant date. In such cases, the school would need to submit a new petition seeking permission to implement the change after that one-year period. In addition, any contingency attached to an approved petition must be satisfied before the change can be implemented, typically within a year, unless the school provides a satisfactory explanation for the delay and additional time is granted.

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