CEHSP Program and Catalog Change Process

Catalog Rotation Policy

Approved: May 6, 2026

The College of Education and Human Service Professions has a three-year rotation policy for significant catalog changes across all majors, minors, graduate programs, and certificate programs. Exceptions to this policy are as follows:

  1. Graduate programs are updated biennially (every 2 years) per the UMD Graduate Office.
  2. Programs with accreditation-required changes that fall outside this cycle will receive an exemption. 
  3. Programs undergoing external reviews, whether accreditation-related or not, may request an exception to incorporate reviewer feedback.
  4. Undergraduate programs with classes cross-listed with a graduate program may request catalog changes in tandem with their graduate catalog submissions. 
  5. Programs whose catalog is impacted by other College decisions may request catalog changes.

The process for requesting these exceptions should be made via an email from the Department Head to the Associate Dean before October 1. Note that small, minor changes to programs (e.g., updates to websites embedded in catalogs; updates to university policy; updating the name of the contact person for the program/department) are typically updated by UMD Curriculum or the UMD Graduate School and do not need to be submitted via catalog changes.

Catalog Rotation List

Catalog Change Process

Programs submit catalog changes based on the CEHSP Catalog Rotation Policy in the fall semester for which they are scheduled. 

On behalf of the Associate Dean, the Senior Professional Advisor supporting curriculum changes emails department heads and program coordinators with links to a “track changes” Google Document and a Google Sheets sample plan. Proposed revisions will be made directly on these documents using the “suggesting” setting for Google Docs and “commenting” for Google Sheets. This allows deletions and additions to be viewed in a clear and easy-to-track manner.  

The process to submit changes to the Associate Dean is as follows:

  1. The Department Head receives the Track Changes Google Document from programs and reviews it.
  2. If approved, the Department Head completes the approval box at the top of the document and downloads it as a Word (.docx) file. (Graduate programs must also have DGS approval.)
  3. Catalog change requests are submitted to the CEHSP Associate Dean for review through the CEHSP Program and Catalog Change Google Form.
  4. Sample Plan Google Sheets do not need to be uploaded to the form. Form submission will provide notification that they have been reviewed and are approved by the Department Head.
  5. Submissions are due to the Associate Dean on October 1st.


Submissions will be reviewed by the Associate Dean in consultation with Senior Professional Advisor and, in the case of teacher licensure programs, the ALFE Licensure Officer. The ALFE Licensure Officer will also confirm that all currently required PELSB languages are included for teacher licensure programs. UMD Academic Affairs reserves the right to modify language for catalog consistency.

Once a program change has been approved and sent on to EVCAA, except late-breaking changes to PELSB requirements for teacher licensure programs, there can be no other change requests for that program catalog until it is up for review again according to the CEHSP Catalog Rotation Policy.

Deadlines

CEHSP has three major deadlines based on how long it takes to fully process the volume of requests received and to allow more opportunity to catch and correct issues that arise with changes of greater complexity:

  1. September 15: Changes that require Board of Regents (BOR) & Provost approval.
    • Program Name
    • Program Delivery Method
    • Program Delivery Location
    • Addition or inactivation of a sub plan

      Department Heads must discuss changes that would require BOR approval with the Dean and get the Dean's endorsement of the general idea before making the changes to the catalog language and submitting it to the Associate Dean.
  2. October 1: Changes that require Provost but not BOR approval.
    • Accreditation agency
    • Admission requirements above a 2.0 GPA
    • Increase or decrease in the number of credit for the program
    • For undergraduate programs, overall credit requirements above 120 credits

      Department Heads must discuss changes in this category with the Dean to be endorsed before making the changes to the catalog language and submitting it to the Associate Dean.
  3. October 1: Changes that do not require system-level approval.
    • Minor changes to catalog language, adding alternative courses that could meet a requirement, minor tweaks to honors or admissions requirements.
    • Changes that lead to a major restructuring of a program that do not require Provost or BOR approval require Department Head consultation with the Dean prior to submission.
  4. Teacher Education Programs must consult the ALFE Licensure Officer with any program changes to ensure alignment to PELSB requirements by April 1st of the spring semester prior to submitting curricular changes.  This will help to ensure the process is completed well in advance of the curricular deadlines established by the Associate Dean every fall semester.

Important Notes

Requests for program changes that impact another department must include documentation of consultation with the relevant Department Head. If a course from another department is added to or dropped from a program, provide an email response from that Department Head regarding their support for the change (in the case of added courses) or acknowledgement of the change (in the case of dropped courses). Although consultation with specific faculty who commonly teach a course, or in some cases, discussions with program coordinators or DGSs, may be recommended, these must be in addition to, not instead of, consultation with relevant Department Heads. A revised sample plan must be received and approved by the Department Head if there is a program change.