Creating a New Graduate Certificate

A for-credit Graduate Certificate is an organized curriculum of credit courses offered as a distinct area of study that leads to specific educational or occupational goals. Certificate programs may consist of courses that are part of a degree program or distinct courses that are created outside of any degree program. All new for-credit Graduate Certificates must be approved by the university and must include student learning outcomes and associated assessments.

Please read the approved criteria for Graduate Certificate Policy before you begin the approval process. This document explains the minimum requirements that must be met and described on the New Certificate Transmittal form.

New for-credit certificates require an Academic Assessment Plan (AAP) to be submitted for approval during the first semester students are enrolled in the certificate. More information on AAPs is at the Institutional Assessment site.

Process Steps

The academic approval tracking system will automatically route the request (including all accompanying forms and documents) to the following groups for approval and/or notification.

1. Department (Approval is required from the Chair or other designated approver for the department that will offer the academic program, typically following review by the department curriculum committee.)
2. College (Approval is required from the Dean or other designated approver for the college or unit in the preceding step, typically following review by the college curriculum committee.)
3. OIPR (Approval of CIP code is required from the Office of Institutional Planning and Research. Note: All certificates must use a CIP code already approved for an undergraduate, graduate or professional degree program
4. GC (Approval is required from the Graduate Council.)
5. GS [N] (The Graduate School is notified of the request.)
6. UCC [N] (The University Curriculum Committee is notified of the request.)
7. OUR (Approval is required from the Office of the University Registrar.)
8. OIPR [N] (The Office of Institutional Planning and Research is notified of the request.)
9. AAC [N] (The Academic Assessment Committee is notified of request approval.)
10. College [N] (The College is notified of request approval.)

Required Documents

• Catalog copy - catalog-style description of the certificate, requirements for entry, requirements for completion, and a suggested semester-by-semester plan, prepared as a Microsoft Word document.
• Supporting documentation - memos, emails, etc. from other units to provide evidence of the availability of courses that are required for the certificate and/or to provide evidence for support of the proposed certificate if there is clear or potential overlap or duplication of content.

Enter Academic Approval Tracking

When you have prepared the required documents, click the start button below to enter the approval tracking system (requires GatorLink login).

Site Admin

• Process ID: #239
• Page name: Certificate_New_Grad
• Page title: New Grad Certificate
• URL: certificate_new_grad
• Form: Online Form ID 27