The UW-Madison Guide is intended to serve as the source of truth that represents governance-approved degree/major/certificate and related (plan and sub-plan) requirements and the curricular paths that students can pursue in fulfilling said requirements. The content of the Guide will be published in such a way that the institution may demonstrate compliance with the Higher Learning Commission’s Accreditation Core Component 2.B. of presenting “itself clearly and completely to its students and to the public with regard to its programs, requirements, faculty and staff, costs to students, control and accreditation relationships.”
Given the need to present clear and complete information to students and to the public regarding degree/major/cert requirements, compliance with the foundational principle below is expected.
Degree/major/cert (i.e., plan and sub-plan) curriculum listings within the Guide must display any course that has:
While there is an expectation of transparency in presenting the approved curriculum, requirements and available student choices in the Guide, it is acceptable to not list a course as eligible to meet a program requirement in Guide if any of the following is true:
UW-Madison’s historical practice of allowing but not displaying alternative courses/course sequences that are not advised as the preferred path to fulfilling requirements but that have been approved by appropriate faculty as having acceptable, equivalent content to fulfill current degree/major/cert requirements will be more fully explored to better understand needs and requirements and devise policy approaches that most fully serve all needs. Until final determination of how these courses should be handled is reached, the 2018-19 Guide editors are encouraged to appropriately notate all alternative options available to students. It is recognized that these options may only be available to students whose progress toward degree would be negatively impacted by having to take additional courses to fulfill the formal, governance-approved degree/major requirements.
Higher Learning Commission’s Accreditation Core Component 2.B
02-16-2018