New York State Registration
Once a proposed program leading to a new doctoral degree has received all of the necessary University approvals, the Vice Provost for Academic Administration sends it to the New York State Education Department (NYSED) for review and inclusion in Columbia's registry of authorized programs. A full list of those programs can be accessed on-line through the State Department's inventory of registered programs at http://www.nysed.gov/heds/IRPSL1.html.
The proposal must be accompanied by written evaluations from two scholars at institutions outside of New York State. While the Vice Provost formally requests the reviews, the originating unit is responsible for identifying who should be asked. A list of the questions covering the topics that should be included in the external review may be found by downloading the External Evaluation Report Form for Program Proposals which describes the topics that should be covered in external review.
To avoid delays in NYSED's registration of the proposal, the program sponsor should inform the Vice Provost of the names and institutional affiliations of the outside evaluators while the proposal is still under review within the University. The Vice Provost will send the reviewers a copy of the proposal along with the NYSED's instructions on the contents of the evaluation. The outsider reviewers send their evaluations to the Vice Provost with a copy to the program sponsor in the department or school. Upon receiving the evaluations, the contact person for the new program prepares a response and forwards it to the Vice Provost for inclusion in the materials that will be sent to NYSED.
The New York State Education Department can register a new program in as little as two or three weeks, but it can also take as long as several months, depending on the volume of other work it is handling and whether it has any questions about the new program proposal. Therefore, the earlier a proposal is ready for review, the greater the chances are that it will receive NYSED approval in time to start the new program on the desired date.
New Doctoral Degree Program Forms
The New York State Education Department is currently redesigning the forms it uses to evaluate new programs leading to a doctoral degree. Therefore, individuals preparing a proposal for a new doctoral program should contact the Office of the Vice Provost at 854-2254 or email Raquel Munoz at rm271@columbia.edu for direction on which forms to use for a new doctoral degree program.