Department Resources

Please contact Academic Programs for support with any of these departmental changes.

Gayle Feallock: gfeallock@csusm.edu or Rebecca Romine: rromine@csusm.edu 

• New Departments or Department Name Changes
• Requesting a New Subject Code
• Requesting Non-Curricular Changes to ARR or Degree Planner

Guidelines for Academic Department Changes and Developing New Departments

All department changes, or the development of new departments, require consultation with the impacted faculty. The dean is responsible for ensuring that these processes are followed, that all feedback is considered, and for making a recommendation to the provost.

This process is tied only to the organizational administrative units that house one or more academic credit-bearing programs (majors, minors, certificates, etc.). Typically these are called “departments” or “schools” but are hereafter referred simply as departments.

Any of the following entities may initiate this process:

• Department chair of the department being changed
• Majority of the tenured/tenure-track faculty within the department being changed
• The appropriate dean for the college in which the department is housed

Refer to the New Academic Department Request proposal form or the Academic Department Name Change proposal form.

In Curriculog:

• click on the "Other" tab in the New Proposal section in order to access these forms.
• if you would like to preview the form before you begin, click on the "Preview" button next to the form name. You can then save that Preview as a PDF, for reference.
  
  

Review and Approval

As part of the submission and review process, the proposer shall consult with all impacted individuals.
(For more information refer to the Academic Department Changes email template and the proposal form itself):

• Faculty, both tenured/tenure-track and lecturer
• Faculty who have taught in the program during the last two years
• Staff assigned to the department
• ASI representatives for the college
• AVP for Faculty Affairs
• College Dean
• Academic Senate Chair
• Provost

If there is a department vote, it shall not be binding nor does it replace the ability of faculty to submit written feedback. If there is potential for impact on other units (e.g., if the name may overlap with the purview of other departments or colleges), the proposer shall consult with representatives, who may provide written feedback. All written feedback shall be included and analyzed by the dean as part of the dean’s recommendation to the provost.

Implementation

Once approved, a number of offices on campus will be notified. While some aspects of the change may take effect more quickly, the full official process will take additional time to be fully implemented. Separate deadlines may exist for catalog copy, RTP considerations, and data records. Data records will typically be adjusted only prospectively. If Department RTP standards are revised, all continuing probationary and tenured faculty may exempt themselves using the process described in the University RTP Policy.

Note: Approval by the Provost does not indicate immediate effective date. The implementation timeline will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Once the department name change has been approved by the Provost, the Dean of Academic Programs will email campus stakeholders. The following divisions require time and coordination to address all areas across campus that may be affected by the new department or new name of the department, such as Academic Org changes, updates to class schedule, queries, etc.:

• Academic Advising
• Academic Programs
• Academic Scheduling
• Academic Senate
• Budget Office / Payroll
• College Dean
• Extended Learning
• Faculty Affairs
• Human Resources / Campus Solutions
• IITS
• Institutional Planning & Analysis
• PAR / Operations
• Registrar's Office / Admissions and EMS
• Travel
• UPD
• Vice Provost

Requesting a New Subject Code

The Department Chair or requesting faculty member must email Academic Programs to request the new code. Send the email to the Dean of Academic Programs, the Curriculum Specialist, and CC your Associate Dean.

Please reference this guide for all the elements to include in your email.

Requesting Non-Curricular Changes to ARR or Degree Planner

To request non-curricular changes to courses or programs from EMS or eAdvising, please use the ARR or Degree Planner Updates (ADP) form in Curriculog.

Examples of these changes include: 
• Roadmap changes (course order or something else non-curricular)
• Typically offered values
• Changes to Math/English Placement and/or Summer Early Start Math/Writing

Please reference this guide for additional guidelines.