LHE-7400: Academic Program and Curriculum Development in Higher Education

Kahn, M. A., & Law, L. S. (2015). An integrative approach to curriculum development in higher education in the USA: A theoretical framework. International Education Studies, 8(3), 66-76.
Kahn and Law (2015) provide an excellent bird’s eye view of curriculum development in higher education by creating and illustrating a framework that captures common elements and good practice across curriculum development models in higher education. The framework includes elements of institutional leadership, environmental variables, competencies of graduates, and pedagogical strategies, and the critical contribution of each to successful curriculum development.

Kelting-Gibson, L. (2013). Analysis of 100 years of curriculum designs. International Journal of Instruction, 6(1), 39-58.
Note: Focus your reading on the “Contemporary Curriculum” section, pp. 46-52
Kelting-Gibson (2013) provides an excellent overview of historical and contemporary curriculum models. In doing so, she defines and distinguishes curriculum, curriculum design, and curriculum theory. Additionally, the analysis of the designs is conducted with an eye towards analysis and conclusions regarding what elements of assessment (i.e., pre, formative, and summative assessments) each design addresses.

Glatthorn, A. A., Boschee, F., & Whitehead, B. M. (2005). Curriculum theory. In Curriculum leadership: Development and implementation (pp. 73-102). Sage Publications.
Note: Focus your reading on pp. 73-86 and then the “Alternative Curriculum Approaches” section, pp. 90-96.
With a focus on leadership in curriculum development. Glatthorn et al. (2005) provide an introduction to the nature, function, and major classifications of curriculum theory with an emphasis on the cyclical process of curriculum development.

Office of Academic Affairs, Georgetown University. (2022). Academic program approval process. Georgetown University.

Office of the Provost, University of Michigan. (2019 April). Approval processes for academic degree programs. University of Michigan.

University of Florida. (n.d.). Creating a new graduate degree program.

Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost, Iowa State University. (2019). From curriculum proposal to offering a new curriculum: The path through the Iowa State University and the Iowa Board of Regents approval process. Iowa State University.

Washington State University. (2017). Review process for new degrees and selected degree changes.

Letter of intent to develop a new academic degree program. (2020).
This is a sample of a letter of intent for the development of a new undergraduate degree program in Community and Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This institution requires a rather lengthy letter of intent while others may not. Every institution may have slightly different requirements. In this example, note how they refer to their regional accrediting agency, and note how the authors outline the core competencies (program goals) and address how the new program aligns with the institution’s strategic initiatives (mission). They also provide data regarding student demand, student interest, and societal demand for their program.

Buckley, J. B., & Michel, J. O. (2020). An examination of higher education institutional level learning outcomes related to sustainability. Innovative Higher Education, 45, 201-217.
Buckley and Michel (2020) present findings related to the increase in ILOs related to sustainability and how institutions are realizing goals across the campus with different practices.

McDuff, N., Hughes, A., Kingston, J. T., Morrow, E., & Ross, F. (2020). Improving equality of opportunity in higher education through the adoption of an Inclusive Curriculum Framework. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning, 22(2), 83-121.
McDuff et al. (2020) present a curriculum model focused on institutional approaches to inclusion that value diversity in their efforts to address the wider access to higher education and challenges encountered in meeting the needs of traditionally underrepresented leading to student success and degree attainment. Additionally, the authors provide a case study of the application of the Inclusive Curriculum Framework and its positive impact. This resource provides an excellent example of how institutional missions and values can be represented by and linked to curriculum models with success.

Perez-Vergara, K., Lathrop, R., & Orlowski, M. (2018) Community college program planning: A method to measure and meet community need. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 42(3), 204-217.
Perez-Vergara et al. (2018) emphasize the important role academic program planning plays in community colleges and highlight a method that includes critical elements such as market demand, learner interest, community needs, etc.

Gaff, J. G. (2007). What if the faculty really do assume responsibility for the educational program? Liberal Education, 93(4), 6–13.
Gaff (2007) provides an excellent thought piece on the roles of the faculty and the institution in academic program planning and curriculum development, the critical and shared role critical to success, problems that often arise, and recommendations for leadership to achieve greater engagement of faculty in the process.