Program Research and Recommendation Committee

For a new degree or certificate built mostly from courses Butte College already offers, such as a certificate drawn from the core of an existing degree.

Steps

1. Submit the New Program Proposal Form (Word document).
2. The PRR co-chairs, the Curriculum Committee chair, and a representative of the Office of Instruction review the proposal.
3. If the program needs no new ongoing resources, it goes on a PRR agenda as an action item.
4. After PRR acts, the program moves through the regular curriculum approval process.

If the program would need new ongoing resources or is a substantive change, the co-chairs refer it to Workflow 2. Faculty may appeal that decision to the full committee.

For a new program that needs new courses and new college resources, such as facilities, equipment, budget, or staff.

What to Submit

• New Program Proposal Form (Word document)
• A program narrative with everything Title 5 and the California Community Colleges Program and Course Approval Handbook require
• Labor market information, for career education programs
• A program map

Steps

1. PRR reviews the proposal for fit with the college mission, need, impact on existing programs, resources, and curriculum standards. The department chair, program faculty, and dean may be asked to attend.
2. PRR forms a Program Advisory Team to analyze the proposal in depth.
3. The team submits the New Program Research Form (Word document) and recommends approval, approval with qualifications, or no approval.
4. PRR reviews the team’s findings and votes on whether to recommend the program to the President’s Leadership Team. If PRR does not recommend it, the co-chairs explain why in writing.
5. The chief instructional officer takes PRR’s recommendation to the President’s Leadership Team.

Outcomes

• If the President’s Leadership Team endorses the program, it goes through the curriculum process. New resources go on the department’s unit plan, and requests for new full-time faculty go through faculty prioritization.
• If the President’s Leadership Team does not endorse it, you receive its reasons in writing. You may stop there, or take the program to the Curriculum Committee knowing the president will recommend that the Board of Trustees not approve it.

A program vitality analysis is a full, data-informed look at an existing program’s health, done outside the regular program review cycle. Program faculty or administrators can request one, or program review can recommend it.

Steps

1. Submit AP 4021 Appendix A: Request to Initiate a Program Revitalization or Discontinuance Process (PDF) with the program’s most recent unit plan and program review.
2. PRR discusses the request and may form a Program Advisory Team with program faculty, the department chair, the managing administrator, and advisory committee and community members. If PRR already has enough information, it can recommend an outcome without a team and record its reasons in writing.
3. Over at least one full semester, the team studies quantitative indicators (Appendix B (PDF)) and qualitative indicators (Appendix C (PDF)), such as enrollment trends, productivity, completion, labor market demand, equity impact, and program quality.
4. PRR hears the team’s recommendation as a discussion item at one meeting and acts on it at the next. Both are public meetings, and the team’s analysis is attached to the agenda.

Outcomes

• Continue: PRR documents its conclusion and forwards it to the Academic Senate and the President’s Leadership Team.
• Continue with qualifications: PRR sets interventions and a timeline, then reviews the program again when that period ends.
• Discontinue: PRR writes a report with a teach-out plan for students and a collective bargaining plan for affected faculty and staff. The report goes to the superintendent/president, who decides whether to bring it to the Board of Trustees. Both rely primarily on the advice of the Academic Senate.

For a department that wants to discontinue a program for curricular reasons.

Steps

1. Submit AP 4021 Appendix A: Request to Initiate a Program Revitalization or Discontinuance Process (PDF).
2. The co-chairs weigh the impact on students, related programs, the range of programs Butte College offers, and community employers and the local labor market.
3. If the impact is not significant, the request goes on a PRR agenda as an information item, and the department continues through the regular curriculum process.

If the impact is significant, the co-chairs tell the department and the Curriculum Committee chair in writing and ask for the request to be resubmitted for a full review under Workflow 3.