Academic Program Development, Review, and Planning

Phase 1 includes a consultation to determine the value and purpose of the modifications and what they are intended to do for students.

Program modifications should be discussed at the School or Department level. Modifications that require submission to the MPHEC should be endorsed by the Dean/Provost, and when applicable, the Associate Vice President of Research, Innovation, and Graduate Studies.

Units that may be impacted by the program modifications should be notified. These may include the following:

• Financial Services and Student Accounts (budget/fees)
• Technology Services
• Admissions
• Research, Innovation and Graduate Studies
• Library
• Co-operative Education
• Registrar’s Office
• Recruitment
• Communications and Marketing

When the program modification and information requirements are ready to be documented for internal and external approval, the required forms should be completed. Please refer to Phase 3 for internal forms and Phase 4 for external forms.

Faculty Council

Program modifications must be presented at a meeting of Faculty Council prior to being presented to the Senate Curriculum Committee (Administrative).

Generally, the Senate Curriculum Committee Form 4: Proposed modification to a program (link below) is used for the presentation.

You should consult with your Dean's Office regarding Faculty Council meeting dates.

Senate Curriculum Committee (Administrative) and Senate

All proposed changes to curricula and new program proposals must be approved by the Acadia University Senate before they can be implemented.

Information and forms are available here.

If the modification requires a submission to the MPHEC, please use the following form:

MPHEC Program Modification Proposal Form

Undergraduate:
The deadline for undergraduate curriculum submissions is the last week of November. The Senate Curriculum Committee meets in December to review submissions and make recommendations, and reports to Senate in January or February. The Senate Curriculum Committee may meet at other times for time-sensitive items.

Graduate:
Submissions are reviewed on an as-needed basis, but only after the Faculty Council meeting has taken place and the changes have been approved.

Senate Meeting Dates

The Acadia University Senate meets monthly from September to June.

Program Modifications

The MPHEC acknowledges that universities have, as a fundamental objective, the continuous improvement of programs through renewal, change, and innovation. Universities may modify programs for a range of reasons, such as to implement the recommendations of a cyclical program review, reflect the ongoing evolution of a discipline, facilitate improvements in teaching and learning strategies, and/or respond to the changing needs of students, faculty, or industry. Universities are expected to internally monitor the evolution of their programs, to regularly review the MPHEC Assessment Standards and Criteria (released July 2025) to confirm programs remain aligned with quality assurance standards, and to determine (in consultation with the MPHEC) when a proposal for a major modification is warranted.

For all modifications, minor and major, the reference point for comparison should be the version of the program that was approved through the most recent MPHEC assessment. (Please contact the MPHEC for confirmation of the approval date, as required.)

Minor modifications are changes that do not rise to the level of a major modification and do not require submission of a proposal for modification unless they accumulate over time and lead to a program that is significantly different from the program previously approved by the MPHEC.

Examples of minor modifications:

• Changes to individual course titles and/or codes.
• The addition or deletion of a single required or elective course within a program of study, provided the deletion does not impact students’ ability to achieve the student learning outcomes.
• Changes to the credit weighting of courses (e.g., from 6ch to 3ch).
• The addition of a minor, specialization, or concentration within a 4-year degree, provided it is less than 30 credits and not formally recognized on the parchment and/or transcript.
• Adding/removing part-time options for an existing approved program offered on a full-time basis.

Major modifications are changes that have a significant impact on the program, such as those outlined in the examples below. In these cases, a proposal for a program modification is required. Through the assessment process, the MPHEC provides external validation that the modified program will continue to meet the MPHEC Assessment Standards and Criteria.

Examples of major modifications:

• Changes to program content and structure (courses, credit hours, other requirements) that equal 25% or more of the program since the last MPHEC approval or the accumulation of minor changes to program content and structure that now equal 25% or more.[i]
• The addition of a co-operative education (co-op) placement or placements.[ii]
• The addition of an honours option to an existing approved major (e.g., adding an Honours in Communication to an existing Bachelor of Arts Major in Communication).[iii]
• The addition[iv] of a specialization, concentration, or equivalent[v] that will be formally recognized on the parchment and/or transcript AND is less than 30 credits at the undergraduate level or less than 15 credits at the graduate level (e.g., adding a specialization in Gender and Sexuality that will be recognized on the transcript of an existing MA and PhD in English).[vi]
• The extension of a pilot or other time-limited program, or the transition from a pilot/time-limited program to a permanent offering.
• Changes to program duration, in some cases[vii]
• A change from in-person delivery to fully online (or online plus a work-integrated learning experience in any delivery mode).[viii]
• A change in the name of the program and/or the credential (e.g., a Certificate in Nursing Leadership changed to Certificate in Healthcare Leadership; a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion changed to a Bachelor of Health Promotion).[ix]
• Changes to the admission, promotion, or graduation requirements that might affect students’ preparedness for the program of study or their ability to achieve the learning outcomes (e.g., changes to prior education, work experience, language proficiency, standards for promotion and level of study, conditions for graduation).[x]
• Changes to the student learning outcomes that might affect what students will be able to know, do, and value through the program (e.g., the deletion of a required research methods course, introduction or deletion of a thesis or capstone course/project, introduction of a course-based option in a master’s degree, introduction or deletion of comprehensive examinations in a doctoral program, etc.).[xi]
• Changes in the program’s core complement of faculty and instructional staff if the changes may affect any of the following: the rotation of courses and supervision of students; the ability to offer essential subject matter for the discipline / for the program; the ability for students to achieve the program’s student learning outcomes; or the breadth of exposure to various faculty.
• A change in the partners of collaborative or joint programs.[xii]

Proposals for major program modifications are required to use the Information Requirements for Proposals for Program Modifications. Programs that have not previously been assessed by the MPHEC and have not had an external review within the last ten years are to be submitted using the Information Requirements for Proposals for New Degree Programs or the Information Requirements for Proposals for New Diploma and Certificate Programs.

The MPHEC reserves the right to determine that a proposed program modification in fact represents the introduction of a new program; in such a case, the university may be asked to submit additional information and/or a revised program proposal.

[i] Where a disciplinary area is offered within a broader degree (e.g., a major within a bachelor’s degree), consideration of whether the change (or accumulation of changes) comprises 25% or more ought to focus first on the major itself and then on the degree overall. If either represents a change of 25% or more, it requires submission of a proposal. Other changes to program content and structure may require submission regardless of % of courses/credit hours affected (i.e., it could comprise less than 25%) because of the impact on the program’s design (e.g., removing a thesis to have a non-thesis route; adding an honours to an approved major). Note that even if a component is optional (e.g., option not to complete a thesis or a capstone), the changes are still considered major modifications that require submission to confirm the program continues to align with the Assessment Standards and Criteria.

[ii] As defined by CEWIL standards (referenced in section 1.2.3 of the Assessment Standards and Criteria). Although the co-op component of a program is normally comprised of less than 25% of a program’s total courses/credits, approval is required to allow the program to be eligible for student financial assistance consideration. Deletion of co-op requires approval only if it was a mandatory (not optional) part of the program design.

[iii] Although addition of an honours can comprise less than 25% of a program’s total courses/credits, an honours degree has distinct outcomes from a major, results in a modified program/credential name, and may require honours-specific faculty resources (e.g., thesis supervision).  

[iv] The deletion of a specialization, concentration, or equivalent would typically be considered a suspension/termination that would not require submission, unless it results in a change to the structure of the overall degree (i.e., allowing students the option to complete a general version of the degree where previously a concentration was required for all students) or of the overall content (i.e., changes to courses or credit hours comprising 25% or more of the program – see footnote 8).

[v] See footnote 5.

[vi] The addition of a specialization, concentration, or equivalent that is 30 credits or more at the undergraduate level or 15 credits or more at the graduate level should be submitted as a new program.

[vii] Universities are encouraged to contact the MPHEC to discuss the change under consideration to determine whether it would have a significant impact on the program and therefore represent a major modification.

[viii] Once a Maritime university has had its Institutional Framework for Online and Technology-Supported Learning vetted by the MPHEC and implemented internally, it will no longer be required to submit a program proposal to change an existing in-person program to online delivery.

[ix] Changing the name of a faculty unit or department does not require submission of a proposal.

[x] This does not include block transfer of credit or advanced placement into an existing, approved program for prior learning, provided the program remains the same.

[xi] See sections 1.4 and 1.2.2 of the Assessment Standards and Criteria for information on when research methods courses, a thesis, or capstone course/project is required in a program.

[xii] Developed by two or more institutions (whether two or more universities or a university in partnership with another institution).

Please contact the Academic Program Development, Quality Assurance and Planning Coordinator for assistance.

Program Modification Form

MPHEC Program Modification Form (Download)

Health and Health Related Program Modifications (AACHHR Program Modification Form)

Health and health-related programs must first receive approval from the Atlantic Advisory Committee on Health Human Resources (AACHHR).
AACHHR Undergraduate and Graduate Health Program Modifications (Download)

The final steps to implement the modifications include:

• Addressing any conditions set by external approvers (if applicable)
• Notifying the Admissions Office of any requirement changes (if applicable)
• Updating your departmental website (if applicable)
• Ensuring the The Registrar's Office has
  • updated the Academic Calendar
  • modified the degree audit in Colleague