Ramapo College will offer degree programs that meet appropriate standards of content, rigor, coherence, and length; conform to its mission; and are regularly evaluated in the spirit of continuous improvement.

INTEGRITY OF DEGREE PROGRAMS

• All proposed academic programs will follow the internal approval procedures outlined in the ARC Manual, and external procedures specified by the State.
• All existing academic programs that alter courses and/or requirements will follow the approval procedures outlined in the ARC Manual.
• All existing undergraduate academic programs will undergo an annual cycle of program review and student-learning assessment, including, but not limited to, the review and use of assessment data to improve student learning.
• All existing graduate programs will undergo an annual review of enrollment, revenue, and expenses as well as an annual cycle of student-learning assessment.
• All academic programs will meet the following definitions and/or stipulations:

Undergraduate Degree Programs:

An undergraduate degree program consists of a major, the corresponding school core, the general education program, optionally a minor and/or second major, and/or free electives.

Major: A requirement of all undergraduate degree programs, a major focuses on a particular discipline or an interdisciplinary area.

A student may not declare two majors if both are within ASB.

For students with two majors, no more than half the courses can double-count in both majors.

Concentration:  A focused area of study within a major.  A concentration:

Is free-standing in relationship to other concentrations within the major with no or few common courses on which all concentrations within that major are built,

• is substantially different from other concentrations within the major, and
• is typically employed in a major that has distinctive sub-disciplines.

The concentration appears on the transcript.

Track:  A focused area of study within a major. A track:

Functions as a subset of additional courses beyond a common set of courses on which all tracks within that major are built,

• is fairly similar to other tracks within the major,
• serves as an advisement path for different populations of students in the major, and
• is typically utilized in a major that serves populations of students with distinctly different post-graduation plans (e.g., teaching or some health professions)

A track does not appear on the transcript.

School Core:   Each School requires students who declare one of its majors to complete a core program for the majors it offers, which emphasizes the School’s theme and provides a context for later work in the major. The core programs vary in the number of credits required. Required school core courses also may fulfill General Education requirements.

Students completing a minor outside of the school of their major are not required to complete the core of the school of their minor.

A student who declares two majors in different schools must complete the School Core requirements of both schools, unless the second major is housed within HGS or SSHS  in which case the school core for the second major is not required.

Because the school core complements the major, together they typically constitute approximately half a degree program. Thus, unless otherwise required by accreditation standards, the major, (including any concentration or track) and the school core combined should not exceed 68 credits.

General Education: The hallmark of a liberal-arts education, the general-education program must provide the student the opportunity to acquire competency in at least communication (both written and oral), reasoning (both scientific and quantitative), critical thinking and analysis, and technology. The general-education curriculum should not exceed 41 credits.

In certain cases, a student may double-count courses in the major with courses in the school core or in the general-education curriculum, but a student may not triple count a course in the major, school core and general education.  A single course may not fulfill two separate General Education categories.

Minor:  An opportunity to add depth and breadth to a student’s undergraduate degree program, a minor should not exceed 20 credits (including all non-general education prerequisites). Courses fulfilling the requirements for the primary or secondary major may count towards the requirements of the minor, but may not exceed one-half of the credits required in the minor. A school core does not need to be completed for a minor.

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