Overview

Transcripted graduate certificates provide unique opportunities for students to pursue a focused area of study on a subject matter. Most of the graduate certificate programs are limited in scope and range from 12 to 20 credits.

The academic unit offering a transcripted graduate certificate is responsible for providing participating students with advising and other support services; the academic unit is also responsible for maintaining student files, assessing their progress and notifying the University Registrar of students’ successful completion. Completion of a university approved graduate certificate program will be noted on the student’s transcript at the end of the semester in which all of the certificate requirements have been completed.

Approval Process

Establishing a graduate certificate program requires the approval of the curriculum committees of the participating departments/divisions, their deans, the Graduate Council, The Council of Deans, and the Provost prior to submission of the proposal to MDHE/CBHE for approval.

Proposal Submission

Proposals for submitting a graduate certificate to the Graduate Council and the School of Graduate Studies should follow the following format with the information requested:

1. Complete a FORM PC including the CIP code that corresponds to the certificate.
2. Provide a description and justification of the certificate program including the skills acquired and/or knowledge gained. If it is part of an existing graduate program, indicate this.
3. Describe the program in terms of credits required, required courses, and any electives.
4. List the student learning outcomes associated with the certificate program.
5. Identify the assessments to be used to measure the student learning outcomes associated with the certificate program. (For assistance with this contact the Vice Provost of Curriculum and Assessment).
6. Indicate the number of semesters and or summer sessions to complete the program. Assume that 6 credit hours of course work toward the certificate is equivalent to onesemester. Thus an 18 hour certificate could either be 3 semesters or it 2 semesters andone summer session.
7. Estimate the total cost for books and supplies for a student completing this program.
8. Identify the program director responsible for overseeing the advising and student support services provided to students.
9. The following website from O’NET provides names of the occupations that the certificateis proposed to prepare a student for, the SOC code, and Occupational Profile:
   1. http://www.onetonline.org/find/
   2. From this website search the occupations that correspond to the subject matter of the certificate and submit the formal name(s) of the occupations and corresponding SOC code(s). Provide the URL link for each occupation description identified.
   3. Example: For graduate certificate in medieval history, type “medieval history” in the box titled “Keyword or O*NET-SOC Code. The search will reveal a number of job occupations listed in order of relevance. The first one is “English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary” and has a SOC code of 25-1123.00. The next one is “History Teachers, postsecondary” and has a SOC code of 25-1125.00. You can list both of these occupations, or more if you believe it is appropriate to the certificate program. When you click on “English Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary”, another page that summarizes that job occupation appears with the URL: http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/25-1123.00 . For “History Teachers, postsecondary” the URL: http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/25-1125.00
10. Submit proposals to the School of Graduate Studies via Courseleaf.

Note: To comply with the Federal Gainful Employment Reporting and Disclosure mandates (Department of Education), academic units offering academic certificates must:

• Maintain a link from the academic unit website describing/referencing the graduate certificate to the “Gainful Employment – Undergraduate/Graduate Certificate” pageon the Provost’s website
• Have a link to the “Gainful Employment – Undergraduate/Graduate Certificate” pageon all printed and electronic advertisement of the certificate program
• Report annually to Institutional Research, the employment status for each person completing the certificate program – these data must be collected by the academic unit and reported to IR.