Establishment of a new program and independent course.
Establishment of a new program
As soon as you have an idea about setting up a new program, you should contact the faculty office for a conversation with the faculty management. Contact the quality manager for education Henna.Harinen@umu.se.
To think about before the conversation
- What do the application documents for the education look like?
- Environmental analysis, are there already similar courses?
- Budget?
- Access to teaching skills?
- Which program advice may be relevant?
The actual application to establish a new program must comply with the Quality requirements for educational programs and main areas, Appendix 2 in the university's quality system: Quality system
- If the program is planned to be given in collaboration with other faculties, consultation must take place with all the faculties involved right from the start.
- If the program is planned to be given in collaboration with several institutions, all must be involved in the planning right from the start.
- A proposal for an education plan must be attached to the application, see Rules for education plans.
- A proposal for a local degree description must be attached to the application. The faculty's quality manager and the examination unit assist with this.
The process is long and is expected to take a year from idea to decided education plan/degree description. It is the vice-chancellor who decides on the establishment of a new programme, but before the application can be approved the following is required:
- Proposals for the education plan and degree description must be endorsed by the Student Centre.
- The proposal must be approved by the program council, when a program council already exists (e.g. for master's or master's programmes).
- The proposal must be approved by the faculty's quality council.
- The proposal must be approved by the Education Strategy Committee.
- The proposal must be approved by the faculty committee.
- The proposal must be endorsed by the university's Education Strategy Council.
Establishment of independent course
When applying to set up a new independent course, a proposal for a course plan must be drawn up. The proposal must comply with the university's regulations for course plans. There is a template for course plans at the Faculty of Medicine, see under Documents on the right. Contact the quality manager for education Henna.Harinen@umu.se for more help and support.
Many independent courses are established by the Education Strategy Board, but in cases where a course belongs to a program council's area, it can be decided by the program council in question. It is then common for a course that is part of a program (e.g. elective) to also be given as a stand-alone course. Please note: If a course is considered to be part of the area of several program councils (addresses several professional/student categories), it must be set up by the Education Strategy Board. See here for the faculty's delegation order.
Decisions about a new course must be based on the motivation for establishment as well as an assessment of aspects such as teacher competence, ensuring target fulfillment (FSR) and possible consequences for other courses or other departments and faculties.
The process is estimated to take six months from idea to decided curriculum. Before a decision can be made to establish a new course, the proposal must be approved by the faculty's quality council.
In connection with the establishment of a new syllabus, a decision on the course's examiner must be made by the head of department.
See also under the tab: Course classification