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C. Academic Programs

The availability of academic programs at a particular institution dramatically

influences students' choices of institutions. Each institution of higher education has a thorough internal procedure, involving Faculty consideration and approval, before a new program is ever proposed to the Council of Higher Education for its consideration. A program is developed and discussed for as long as eighteen months internally before entering the two-year review cycle of the Council of Higher Educating. Statements describing each institution's internal academic program review procedure are attached in Appendix F.

The Council of Higher Education's "Policy and Procedures for Academic Program Approval" is presently being revised by an advisory committee of academic deans, provosts and vice presidents of the state-supported institutions at the direction of the Council. The Council will approve the revised document for use beginning with the next academic program review cycle.

As part of the new "Policy and Procedures for Academic Program Approval", the proposing institution will be required to submit its assessment of the program's potential impact on its equal opportunity efforts. The State Council of Higher Education will notify au State institutions that a letter of intent has been submitted for such a particular program and ask them to express their reactions to the program being proposed. The Council of Higher Education will examine the institution's assessment of the program's impact, consider the responses of other institutions, and make a judgment about the program from a statewide perspective. A copy of the existing Council of Higher Education's "Policy and Procedures For Academic Program Approval" is attached as Appendix G.