Introduction

The Compendium presents system-level review processes for creating and modifying academic degree programs, academic units, and research units.  It is designed to serve as a manual for the wide range of administrators, faculty, and staff who participate in these processes. Specifically, the Compendium articulates review processes for proposals to establish, transfer, consolidate, change the name of, discontinue, or disestablish graduate degree programs, schools, colleges, and research units. In addition, it sets forth the Five-Year Planning Perspective process in which each campus biennially prepares a list of anticipated academic program actions which it submits to the Office of the President. The Compendium also covers a variety of minor topics that sometimes arise with respect to systemwide review processes (e.g., accelerated reviews, disagreements between Senate and the Administration).

Chief among the Compendium’s guiding principles is that academic programs, academic units, and research units work best when both faculty and administrators support them. All review and approval processes should promote mutual endorsement of any proposed action. At the same time, the Regents explicitly delegated to the faculty responsibility for courses and curricula. The faculty, through the Bylaws of the Academic Senate, have placed authority for review of graduate programs with a systemwide Senate committee (Coordinating Committee on Graduate Affairs) and authority for review of undergraduate programs with Divisional committees responsible for undergraduate education (including the approval of new courses). Administrators at the campus and system levels retain authority for academic units and research units. The Compendium processes reflect the delegation and distribution of faculty and administrative powers on the campuses and systemwide.

Compendium processes, most notably the Five-Year Planning Perspective, are also intended to promote the coordination, synergy, and trade-offs possible when UC operates as a system of campuses in one university while simultaneously recognizing the vigor and individuality of the campuses. Intercampus communication and systemwide perspectives are most valuable early in the campus process of developing a proposal. Compendium processes strive to frame each anticipated proposal in the context of UC as a whole and to do so early in the proposal development process.

The Compendium refers to several individuals, committees, and agencies who participate in systemwide reviews. Their roles vary according to their mission, the proposed action, and the type of academic program, academic unit, or research unit involved. In almost all cases, individuals named may act through a designee to carry out routine responsibilities related to Compendium reviews and processes. A glossary of titles and acronyms used in the Compendium can be found at the end of the text. The Compendium is divided into five principal parts:

1. Section I covers processes for preparing and distributing information on campus academic program actions anticipated over the next five years.
2. Sections II through VI cover systemwide review processes for academic programs, academic units, and research units.
3. Sections VII through VIII cover accelerated reviews and the role of the Academic Planning Council.
4. The Compendium Glossary (included among the appendices) provides explanations about the various people, committees, organizations, and terms involved in systemwide review processes.
5. Other appendices provide flow charts, details of some review processes, and background documents.

The heart of the Compendium is Sections II through VI and their associated appendices: Section II covers undergraduate and graduate degree programs; Section III covers Academic Units (including departments, schools, and colleges); Section IV covers Reconstitutions (combinations and/or eliminations of two or more major actions as part of a unified plan by campus proponents); Section V covers Organized and Multicampus Research Units (MRUs); and Section VI covers Systemwide Entities.

The three major types of actions described in these sections are: 1) establishing a new program or unit, 2) changing the name of an existing program or unit, and 3) transferring, consolidating, discontinuing, and disestablishing an existing program or unit.

(Note that campuses are responsible for actions related to departments.) Each part of Sections II through VI generally follow the same format: introduction followed by details of the process presented in rough chronological order. The processes outlined reflect efficiencies adopted in the original Compendium and extend them wherever possible (e.g., through use of email and web sites rather than via paper transmission).