Center for Curriculum and Transfer Articulation

Once faculty have become aware of the need for a new occupational or academic certificate, required program elements and certain processing information must be developed. Additionally, if the new award is to be an occupational Certificate of Completion (CCL), an Early Alert must be processed, and approval to develop the certificate must be obtained from the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost. NOP Early Alert When the new certificate is ready for processing, program information is entered into the curriculum processing form in the Academic Curriculum Review and Evaluation System (ACRES).

At the ACRES homepage, click on the NEW-CCL/AC Program Proposal link and enter the required information in the form:
Initiating College: Using the drop down menu, select the name of the initiating college.

Faculty Initiator: Enter the name(s) of the faculty member(s) initiating the proposal.

MCCCD Governing Board Approval Date: Using the drop-down menu, select the date of the Governing Board meeting at which this proposal will be submitted for approval. This will be the meeting which follows the DCC Online Agenda Date selected in the next field.

DCC Online Agenda Date: Using the drop-down menu, select the date of the Online Agenda to which the proposal will be submitted. Remember to allow adequate time for review of the proposal by the appropriate instructional council(s) and the initiating college curriculum committee. 1

Effective Term: Using the drop-down menu, select the first term when the program will be active.

Effective Year: Enter the four-digit number of the first year when the program will be active.

Vice President of Academic Affairs Approval: Enter the name of the vice president approving the processing of this proposal.

Award Type: Check the appropriate box to indicate that this program is either an Academic Certificate or an occupational Certificate of Completion.

Major Code: Enter the major code obtained from CCTA. 2

Program GPA: Enter the overall grade point average required for award of this certificate. 3

Program Availability: Check the appropriate box to indicate that this program is either College-Specific or Shared by more than one college.

Shared Programs: If the program is to be shared, check the box of all sharing colleges, including the initiating college.

CIPS Code: Enter the 6-digit CIPS code following the format indicated. See Code Resource   4

Occupational Area for Occupational Program Matrix: For a CCL, enter the Occupational Area of the MCCCD Occupational Program Matrix in which this program will be classified. See Matrix   5 This classification is not used for Academic Certificates.

Instructional Council(s) Receiving Proposal: Enter the name of the instructional council(s) responsible for evaluating this program proposal, followed by the instructional council code(s) in parentheses. See IC Contact Database.  6

Instructional Council Recommendation(s): Using the drop-down menu, indicate the recommendation of the instructional council. How do we show responses from more than one IC?

Need Statement: In the box provided, enter a brief statement explaining why the program is needed and how it will contribute to either the academic or occupational advancement of students.7

Early Alert: Using the drop down menu, indicate whether an Early Alert has been submitted for this program (CCL) or that an Early Alert is not required (AC).  See NOP Early Alert details

100 Character Program Title: Enter the full program title, which may not exceed 100 characters, including spaces.8

30 Character Program Title: Enter the 30-character program title, beginning with the abbreviation for the award type (either CCL or AC). The 30-character title may not exceed 30 characters, including spaces.9

Program Description: Enter the program description as it will appear on the Curriculum Website and in SIS.10

Program Notes: Enter the program notes, or the word None if no notes apply. 11

Total Program Credits: Enter the total number of credits students must earn to receive this certificate, including program prerequisites if they are counted in the total program credits, required courses, restricted electives, and free electives.12

Admission Criteria: Check the appropriate box to indicate whether admission requirements apply. Note: the red asterisk indicates that information must be entered in this field even if no admission requirements apply.

Admission Criteria Credits: If admissions requirements apply, and if they include credit-bearing courses, enter the total number of credits required for admission. If no admissions requirements apply, leave the field blank.

Admission Criteria Detail: List all admissions requirements, including coursework and other kinds of eligibility. If no admissions requirements apply, leave the field blank.13

Program Prerequisites: Note: In entering information in the Program Prerequisites, Required Courses, and Restricted Electives areas, care must be taken to avoid Hidden Prerequisites. 14 Check the appropriate box to indicate whether program prerequisites apply. Note: the red asterisk indicates that information must be entered in this field even if no program prerequisites apply. 15

Program Prerequisites Credits: If Program Prerequisites apply and if they include course completion, enter the total number of program prerequisite course credits students must earn. If program prerequisites do not include course completion, leave this field blank.

Program Prerequisites Detail: If Program Prerequisites apply, list all program prerequisites. List program prerequisite courses by course prefix and number, course title, and course credits. Type a plus sign (+) before the entry for any course that has a prerequisite. If a choice of courses is offered, separate the choices with the word OR and enclose the course credits for each choice in parentheses. If a combination of courses is required, join the choices with the word AND and enclose the course credits for each choice in parentheses. At the end of the entry, enter the total number of credits required for this prerequisite. If no program prerequisites are required, leave this field blank. 16

Required Courses Credits: Enter the total number of credits of the required courses in the program.

Required Courses Detail: List all program required courses by course prefix and number, course title, and course credits. Type a plus sign (+) before the entry for any course that has a prerequisite. If a choice of courses is provided, separate the choices with the word OR, enclose the course credits for each choice in parentheses, and enter the total credits for this requirement at the end of the entry. 17

Restricted Electives: Check the appropriate box to indicate whether the program requires restricted electives. Note: the red asterisk indicates that information must be entered in this field even if no restricted electives are required.

Restricted Electives Credits: If restricted electives are required, enter the total number of restricted elective credits required.

Restricted Electives Detail: If restricted electives are required, list all restricted elective choices by course prefix and number, course title, and course credits. Type a plus sign (+) before the entry for any course that has a prerequisite. If an elective choice entails a combination of courses, enclose course credits for each course in parentheses and, at the end of the entry, enter the total number of credits required for this elective choice. 18

Free Electives: Check the appropriate box to indicate whether the program requires free electives. Note: the red asterisk indicates that information must be entered in this field even if no free electives are required.

Free Electives Credits: If free electives are required, enter the total number of free elective credits required.

Free Electives Detail: If one or more courses are recommended, list them by course prefix and number, course title, and course credits. Type a plus sign (+) before the entry for any course that has a prerequisite. If an elective choice entails a combination of courses, enclose course credits for each course in parentheses and, at the end of the entry, enter the total number of credits required for this elective choice. 19

Program Competencies: List the Program Competencies. In parentheses after each competency, list therequired course(s) in which the competency is covered.20

Pre/CoRequisite Flowchart: Attach a separate document showing a Flowchart of all prerequisites and corequisites for all Program Prerequisite Courses, Required Courses, and Restricted Electives. 21