Modify a Certificate

RIT Policy D01.7 (Undergraduate Academic Certificate), Section IV (Procedures for Certificate Program Revision) provides the following guidance: Once a Certificate is approved by NYSED, any change to the Certificate requires the approval of the involved academic unit(s), the College Curriculum Committee(s), and ICC. If there is a change in the total number of credits, title, or modality (addition of Distance Education format), the revised Certificate must be sent to NYSED for final approval.

If a title change is the ONLY change being made to the existing Certificate, skip all of the steps and guidance below and proceed to RIT’s guidance page for Title Changes.

Discontinuance of an existing Certificate requires NYSED approval. See RIT’s guidance page for deactivation and discontinuance of an existing program.

See additional guidance from NYSED at this link: Certificate and Advanced Certificate Program Proposals and Eligibility for New York State Financial Aid

All credit-bearing courses in a Certificate program must be approved by the University and designated as applicable to one or more registered degree programs – either as part of the major, general education, or as an open elective. This assures NYSED that the course is part of a regular curricular review process.

NYSED provides the following faculty requirements for Certificate programs:

• Faculty members teaching at the Certificate level must hold at least a master’s degree in an appropriate field and have the background for in-depth teaching, curriculum development, and program evaluation responsibilities.
• Certain occupational specializations may merit demonstration of competence alternative to a master’s degree. 
• In all institutions, faculty with master’s degrees and beyond, and with substantial collective experience in college teaching and academic administration should be strongly predominant.

NYSED does not stipulate a minimum number of credit hours for a Certificate, but RIT Policy requires that Certificates consist of at least three courses and at least 9 semester credit hours. RIT Certificates typically consist of at least 12 semester credit hours but this should not be viewed as a requirement. The guiding principle is that proposers have flexibility to ensure that the Certificate’s learning objectives are met and that a student will have the requisite skills upon completion of the Certificate. If this can be accomplished in 9 credit hours, that is acceptable.

To be eligible for financial aid, New York State requires that students be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours of courses.

If the proposed changes include a new title, refer to the following guidance page for instructions.

If the proposed changes to an existing Certificate involve more than a new title, the changes must be submitted using one of the following NYSED application forms:

• General Academic Programs (which do not lead to licensure or certification)
• Professional Programs (which DO lead to licensure or certification)

If, as part of the proposed changes, a major portion (i.e., 50% or more) of the program requirements can be completed through study delivered by distance education, a NYSED Distance Education application must be submitted along with the changed program application. Learn more about this requirement.

RIT typically requests a placeholder from NYSED for title changes and/or extensive curricular changes to allow time for current students to complete the program, and for the modified program to be reflected in all RIT systems. The placeholder date is generally seven years from the date the change proposal is submitted to NYSED.

• Refer to the following guidance document to determine the required approvals: RIT Curricular Action Approval Process for Creating New Programs or Changing Existing Programs.
• At least two weeks prior to a review by ICC, send the proposal to the Office of the Vice Provost for review and comments. An ICC review cannot be scheduled until this has occurred. Approval from Faculty Senate is not required.
• Following approval by ICC, send the following items to the Office of the Vice Provost via email:
  • Completed, approved NYSED Application
  • If applicable, a completed, approved NYSED Distance Education Application
• The Office of the Vice Provost will review the final proposal, obtain approval from the Provost, and submit the application to NYSED.

The revised program MAY NOT be advertised or admit students a formal approval has been received from NYSED.

Once the revised Certificate has been approved by NYSED, the following actions will occur:

• The Office of the Vice Provost will work with the college and Enrollment Management to determine an effective term for the changes.
• The Office of the Vice Provost will send an official campus notification to the applicable campus departments, the applicable Dean and Associate Dean, and the ICC Chair.
• The revised Certificate will be added to the undergraduate bulletin and RIT Programs of Study website during the annual bulletin process.

Refer to the following document for instructions regarding promotion of the revised program: Marketing, Recruitment and Communication Guidelines for RIT’s New or Changed Academic Programs.