Original Issuance Date: March 10, 2020
Last Revision Date: October 20, 2020
1. Purpose of Guidelines
This guideline provides information on items for UW universities to consider when establishing a professional doctorate.
2. Publishing Office(s)
The UW System Office of Academic Programs & Faculty Advancement is the publishing office. This guideline will affect the UW university faculty, instructional academic staff, faculty senates, and provosts’ offices.
3. Affected Stakeholders on Campus
The provosts’ offices will be actively adhering to this guideline. The guideline will be shared with the program planning liaisons and provosts via an email communication. A link to the guideline will be posted on www.wisconsin.edu/program-planning/.
4. Primary Responsibility
The UW System Office of Academic Programs & Faculty Advancement will monitor any need to update the guideline as well as do the three-year guideline review.
The UW universities provosts’ offices are expected to implement and maintain compliance with the guideline.
5. Guidelines
This guideline provides information on items for UW universities to consider when establishing a professional doctorate. This guideline relates to SYS 102, University of Wisconsin System Array Management: Program Planning, Delivery, Review, and Reporting.
A. Enhance Access to Professional Degrees
The goal of offering professional doctorates at the comprehensive UW universities is to provide high-quality professional doctoral programs in fields where there are clearly defined market needs. Professional doctorates are offered as a response to the evolution in a field such that a professional doctorate is necessary to continue to serve a population of students that may have previously been served at the master’s level.
The development of professional doctorates may also respond to the needs of place-bound students, regional employer needs, space limitations in UW-Madison or UW-Milwaukee programs, or a clear demonstration that UW-Madison and/or UW-Milwaukee cannot fulfill the identified need.
B. Enhance Efficiencies and Avoid Unnecessary Duplication
Collaboration with other UW universities will remain a key consideration in the development of new professional doctorates. In the case of UW System Collaborative (HLC Consortial) academic degree programs, the proposal should demonstrate that the universities have the capacity and logistical ability to jointly offer the program. The proposal should also include evidence that the professional degree does not unnecessarily duplicate already existing or similar degrees at other universities. Unnecessary is defined as the addition of a doctoral academic degree program that is already offered by 50% or more of the universities when there is a lack of convincing evidence that student demand exists to financially support and sustain its addition.
6. Contact
UW System Office of Academic Programs & Faculty Advancement
7. Guideline History
Revision 1: October 20, 2020
Original Issuance: March 10, 2020
8. Scheduled Review
March 10, 2023