Establishing a new undergrad and grad programs

[Vid]

Hello folks,

I have a quick question. My chair and I are planning to discuss with our dean about establishing a new undergrad and grad program that is really a need. Our dean is a visualized leader, which means he should see some successful examples and then think about it! we are going to prepare a PowerPoint where we put successful programs in other big schools and also the needs of faculty and state, etc. what else do you guys recommend to show and discuss with our dean?

Thank you.

[lightning]

Hello folks,

I have a quick question. My chair and I are planning to discuss with our dean about establishing a new undergrad and grad program that is really a need. Our dean is a visualized leader, which means he should see some successful examples and then think about it! we are going to prepare a PowerPoint where we put successful programs in other big schools and also the needs of faculty and state, etc. what else do you guys recommend to show and discuss with our dean?

Thank you.

Uhhh, you should probably line up some allies, first. These are important people that will raise hell, if the program is denied approval.

[sinenomine]

Lots of data — what's the competition like? Where is the need for career training in the field, and what are the job opportunities in the region? Have you lost any students in the past who wanted majors in the area and transferred elsewhere? How will you staff it — do you need more faculty lines or admin support? Are there any hardware/software needs?

Just a few thoughts from someone at a school that launches new programs on a regular basis...

[AJ_Katz]

Look up the state's guidelines for evaluating new programs.  That will tell you what topics need to be addressed, such as need for the program in the region, jobs for graduates, cost of the program, etc.  If available, find proposals from other recently approved programs.

As stated above, reach out to departments that have similar programs / areas to ensure they don't see your new program as a threat to their enrollment.  You'll eventually want their letters of support.

[mamselle]

Have a solid financial plan for how it will be funded, anticipate objections, and have inbuilt strategies for counteracting them phrased in a congenial, friendly way.

You don't need to put up a full spreadsheet, but research the financials on comparable programs elsewhere and have a couple of slides in the OUTTAKES section after the THANK YOU slide that you can go to if asked more in-depth questions on those things.

And have a separate full Excel spreadsheet open and ready to share IF the discussion warrants as well.

That way, you don't look money-obsessed, but ready, polite, and on top of the issues if anyone is money-obsessed (it makes them feel more comfortable, like they have friends who speak their language).

Do you homework in all dimensions, too. Where has this been tried that it failed? Have solid answers for how your process will differ from whatever (possibly flawed) process led to those failures--again, solid answers, not pie-in-the-sky ones.

Good luck.

M.

[Cheerful]

Enrollments. Tuition revenue. Money incoming.  Net gain.  Money.

[downer]

Doesn't the chair already have a relationship with the dean and know what the dean will be expecting to see? Seems like it is the chair who should be guiding you. Is the chair new or something like that?

In addition to what others have said, it's also worth paying attention to any possible concerns from other depts that you will be treading on their toes or somehow drawing students away from their programs. Interdepartmental politics have scuppered many great proposals.

[Morden]

Institutions usually have an internal process for this, and then an external government/accreditation process. Find out the main steps of both. At my institution, there are quite a few steps to go through before you get permission to investigate further and develop a full proposal. Knowing these steps (and timelines) makes you seem more credible.

[Vid]

Thank you, folks. Great points.

Our dean will have a difficult time approving it, although this program is a real need in the state and in the region! Most likely another college is going to frown! we have to get Provost on our side while playing good politics with other departments!

Thanks again.

[mamselle]

Doesn't the chair already have a relationship with the dean and know what the dean will be expecting to see? Seems like it is the chair who should be guiding you. Is the chair new or something like that?

In addition to what others have said, it's also worth paying attention to any possible concerns from other depts that you will be treading on their toes or somehow drawing students away from their programs. Interdepartmental politics have scuppered many great proposals.

Yes, I was going to add, you need to find internal and external partners within the school to make something like this work. If it looks like a silo--single-stack, all-for-itself--type of project, it will be hard to get it accepted, those are usually problematic and unwanted, so you need rootedness and lateral support all 'round.

Grow lots of mycelium, in other words...

M.

[clean]

Where is the need for career training in the field, and what are the job opportunities in the region? Have you lost any students in the past who wanted majors in the area and transferred elsewhere? How will you staff it — do you need more faculty lines or admin support? Are there any hardware/software needs?

Enrollments. Tuition revenue. Money incoming.  Net gain.  Money.

Note particularly the NEW/INCREASE in enrollment.  IF existing students are simply going to change majors, this is not an increase and additional resource needs will be a net drain to the system.

In addition to these factors, I would focus on the students:
Will students get better paying jobs?
Are these jobs IN the local area?  (Training students for jobs that they have to move to obtain, is not a good idea as not all students are going to move, so it is a waste of resources)
QUANTIFY these numbers.... You probably dont have time, but this looks like a marketing project, and I am sure that there are marketing texts that would outline the generic steps to take. 

The bottom line question the dean will need to know are  How many net new students will this generate, what new new resources will this require (faculty lines).  Everything else will be to justify these 2 numbers.

I suggest that the Occupation Outlook Handbook would be a place to start as it would be an authoritative source to show the salary level and job growth in that field. 
Im sure that there is some salary guide for faculty that teach that specific discipline published by the 'big conference' in that area.

To sell to faculty, which is later, you will have to assure that none of THEIR jobs will be lost, and that none of their raises will be reduced.
(I have worked at places where new programs must be paid for by the university before the student enrollment comes in to help pay for it, so the newly hired faculty can only be paid for by reducing the raises of the existing faculty... and IF it takes decades for enrollment to catch up to make these hires self funding, there is animosity by the rest of the university faculty! ) 

[lightning]

When I said to line up some "allies" first, as the very fist step, I actually meant powerful people who are apart from other potentially competing academic units at your school.

These powerful people could include external industry people who partner with the university and your unit directly. So, these might be: the very higher-ups in the companies that eventually hire the graduates from your unit; powerful (donating) alumni; private sector research partners; higher-ups in from federal grants agencies; general donors from the community who are interested in new innovative programs; local & state politicians; members of the board of governors; chancellors/provosts/presidents/CEOs (people above the dean who might want to adopt a flashy new idea and brand themselves with it ); lists of students (with contact info) who WANT to be in the program); university staff who work closely with the decision makers & influence their decisions, etc. If you are not already a friend/colleague/acquaintance of some of these powerful people or at the very least your name is familiar because of your great work that everyone knows about, it's time to get out of your silo & socialize your idea (and yourself).

Yeah, socializing the idea is a lot of work. But, this is how it done, when people more important than the dean are bugging your dean to adopt your idea.

A lot of you thought I was referring to the faculty in competing academic units who might get in the way because they see your new program idea as a threat to their enrollments.

Socializing the idea with members of faculty/staff/admins in other potentially competing units, is also paramount. It's even more effective if you were genuinely their friend/colleague on campus-wide committees, where you worked together amicably and efficiently. The familiarity and trust capital that you have been saving up by being collegial, can now be spent in the socialization of your idea. Think of socializing as professional networking for your idea, a type of informal presentation--you never want people to hear about your great idea for the first time in the formal approval process--you want them to have heard about the idea many times, before it even gets to them in the formal approval process)

Data? Spreadsheets? Filling out the forms? Letters of support? Pitches to committees? Fancy pptx? Yeah, sure, of course. Table Stakes. You need data, spreadsheets, pptx, documents, etc. to sit at the program approval table. To actually get the program approved, you need to socialize the idea with colleagues and bring the heat and the honey from your powerful allies.

[mamselle]

Good point.

Northeastern's co-op and internship programs might be one model, which I believe has been studied for its ability to generate new programs by garnering the kind of external interest and student-employment support lightening is referring to.

   https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/coop-vs-internship/

is an internal source; external studies may give more insight:

   https://www.burning-glass.com/labor-insight-case-study-northeastern-university/

and more formal case studies might offer more: the bibliography for this one might be useful:

   https://www.ericdigests.org/2000-2/new.htm

Depending on what field this is in, the transferable data may be closer or more transcendent, but the basic idea is definitely important.

And it works better in the science/engineering and finance/accounting/business sectors than in the humanities, although some of the latter applications have also been tried.

M.

[mleok]

Vid, if you're having a hard time navigating the politics of your institution, then this seems like a task fraught with peril. I would proceed with caution.

[mamselle]

And to piggyback on mleok's reminder, what is your position there? Are you TT, tenured, full?

That determines who should be doing some of the heavy lifting as well in this case.

M.