Chapter 8

Modifying the NPS Curriculum

8.1 Adding and Modifying Courses in the Course Catalog

(Approved: May 17, 1995) (Amended January 22, 2007)

Before offering a new course, a request for approval must be made to the Academic Council Course Review Committee at least four months in advance of its intended initial offering.

All requests for adding a new course or changing the NPS Course Catalog description of an existing course must be addressed as shown below:

From: ________________Chair, Department of _________________

Via: __________________Dean, School of______________________

Via: __________________Associate Provost for Academic Affairs

To: __________________Chair, Course Review Committee

Copy: ________________Office of Academic Administration and all Departments and Program Officers and Deans

A valid request must contain all of the following information:

  1. Catalog description, including the following:
    1. Course Number, title and credit hours;
    2. Curricula served (if restricted to one or a few);
    3. Course description (must highlight DoD/DoN relevance, if any);
    4. Prerequisites
    5. Security Classification, if any;
    6. Pass/Fail status, if applicable

For minor changes to an existing course, an annotated copy of the current Catalog description satisfies items (a) and (b) above.

  1. Course Syllabus. This need not be a day-by-day account, but must be detailed enough so that the Academic Council and all affected Departments can determine how much time is spent on each topic.
  2. Justification. This is to be a free-form discussion on the rationale for adding new course or changing an existing one. This must include:
  3. Duplication. A list of courses covering similar topic must be provided. If applicable, a justification of course duplication is also required. If no existing course at NPS covers a similar set of topics, a no-duplication statement must be included.
  4. Resources. A statement indicating whether a new or revised course will require a non-negligible increase in extra-departmental resources, such as a new instructor, new laboratory space, or new laboratory equipment. If a significant increase in extra departmental resources is required and endorsement from the appropriate School Dean indicating these resources will be made available must be attached.
  5. Schedule. Indicate the proposed schedule for the course (e.g. Every Spring, starting in 1994).

8.2 Removing a Course from the Catalog

(Approved: May 17, 1995) (Amended January 17, 2007) (Amended January 22, 2007)

A proposal to remove a course from the Catalog must first be circulated to all Departments and curricular offices. All requests for removing a course must be addressed as shown below:

From: _________________Chair, Department of ________________

Via: ___________________Dean, School of____________________

Via: ___________________Associate Provost for Academic Affairs

To: ___________________Chair, Course Review Committee

Copy: _________________Office of Academic Administration and all Departments and Program Officers and Deans

with a justification for the proposed action.

8.3 Changing or Adding Master's Degree Programs

(Approved: May 17, 1995) (Modified: October 25, 1995)

Departments have the right to modify their degree programs at any time, but must notify the Council of any changes via memo to the Secretary. Changes in degree programs must be submitted for approval by the Council if the proposed change:

  1. requires a waiver of rules or procedures of this Manual to effect the change; or
  2. the degree program is new; or
  3. the change is the result of a major change in emphasis.

New degree programs must be submitted one year in advance of the anticipated date of first graduation from the new degree program.

The application for the new degree program must contain:

  1. a list of required courses;
  2. a study of the impact of the new degree program on the allocation NPS resources, endorsed by the appropriate School Dean.

8.4 Adding Ph.D. Programs

(Approved: May 17, 1995)

Any Department at the Naval Postgraduate School wishing to offer a Ph.D. program must meet the following criteria:

  1. The Department must have an active master's degree program in the field of the proposed Ph.D. program.
  2. There must be adequate physical facilities, such as laboratories, and equipment, for research in the field of study. There must also be adequate library facilities accessible to support research in the field.
  3. The faculty of the Department must be diverse enough to give such a program. A reasonable number of the faculty must hold the doctorate and be currently active in research as evidenced by publications in the open literature. The Department must have two or more qualified faculty members in each subfield where it is proposed to award the doctorate. The Department must contain faculty members who have had experience, at NPS or elsewhere, in serving on doctoral committees or otherwise been involved in supervising doctoral programs.

A Department wishing to offer a Ph.D. program must submit a document to the Academic Council giving evidence that the above criteria have been met. Furthermore, the Department must specify exactly those subfields in the general discipline in which it plans to award the degree, and it supply a list of departmental faculty members who are qualified to serve on dissertation committees for each subfield.

If a Department wishes to add a new subfield to an existing Ph.D. program, the Department will apply to the Academic Council and supply evidence that it has sufficient depth in the subfield. Such evidence must include a list of faculty members in the subfield and a list of courses it anticipates offering in the subfield.

If the Academic Council determines that a Department no longer meets the criteria for a Ph.D. program, the Academic Council has the right to rescind a Department's privilege of offering a Ph.D. program.

Two or more Departments who wish to offer a joint doctoral program must follow the procedures outlined above.