Ideas and Inquiries

Ideas and Inquiries

Center for Academic Innovation

The Center for Academic Innovation works with you to expand the University's portfolio of in-demand credentials by serving as a portal for academic initiatives originating from community college partners, business and industry, advisory boards, and community organizations as well as our colleges, schools, departments, and faculty. The Center identifies priorities, coordinates development and approval processes, and facilitates partnerships.

A primary focus of the Center is to engage internal and external stakeholders in the creation of educational experiences to prepare students for successful careers, meaningful lives, and continuous learning. Business and community outreach, pathway building, curriculum design, marketing, recruitment, program delivery, and assessment are brought together in the development process from idea to launch. The Center mobilizes the competitive advantages of the University as a premium provider of academic credentials and leverages these advantages to deliver learning opportunities to new populations and next generations of students.

Ideas and Inquiries

Do you have an idea for a new program or coursework that you would like to see offered at Rowan University?

The Center for Academic Innovation invites inquiries and ideas from internal and external stakeholders for credit-bearing coursework, credentials, pathways, and partnerships.   

The Center serves as a portal to connect ideas with Rowan University faculty, curricular review and authorization processes, and operational resources as needed for development, approval, marketing, and launch.     

Please complete our New Program Submission Form to submit your idea to the Center for Academic Innovation or contact the Center for Academic Innovation for more information.  Our team will follow up with you on status and/or next steps within two weeks. 

This form serves as a ticketing system for new academic degree programs, new program articulation agreements, new institutional affiliation agreements, and other arrangements involving approvals by the Rowan University Board of Trustees, New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, the Provost/Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, and/or the Senior Vice President for Enrollment Management and the CEO of Rowan Online.  

Resources

CAI Form Worksheet

This worksheet [PDF] mirrors the Qualtrics survey and allows you to develop your submission offline prior to submitting.

Common Resources

The following links may be useful prior to you submitting your idea.  

If you have any questions about the CAI or this form, please email Centerforacademicinnovation@rowan.edu.

Typical Program Approval Process
Preliminary Authorization Accepted      → Approval by BOT AAC   → Approval by the Senate Curriculum Committee and Faculty Senate      → Approval by the full BOT      → Academic Issues Committee and the New Jersey President’s Council

● A Request for Preliminary Authorization (aka white paper) is submitted to the Provost Office to
seek permission to use resources to develop new academic offerings. The current template is
available here.
● Accepted white papers are presented to the Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Committee. After
obtaining Preliminary Authorization at this step the academic offering can progress. Governance
dates can be found here.
● Academic offerings must be reviewed through the Senate Curriculum Committee process and voted on
by the University Senate, which is detailed here. Academic offerings are then reviewed by the
Provost Office and submitted to the Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Committee for approval by
the full Board of Trustees. Governance dates can be found here.
● New academic degree programs require approval by the State of New Jersey via the Academic Issues
Committee and the New Jersey President’s Council. This process is described in detail here.