Program Development Materials

ICCB Occupational Curriculum Approval Form 20

New programs can be sent to ICCB as permanent programs, temporary programs, or reasonable and moderate extensions from an existing program. The Illinois Community College Board must approve all new occupational curricula. Associate in Applied Science degree programs may require approval by the Illinois Board of Higher Education as well.

Permanent approval
A team of ICCB, IBHE, and ISBE staff reviews an application for a new AAS degree. The review team develops a recommendation that is presented to the ICCB and IBHE Boards for action.

An application for a certificate of seven or more semester credit hours is reviewed by staff from ICCB and ISBE. The review team develops a recommendation that is presented to the ICCB for action. If the proposed certificate is less than 30 semester credit hours, the President/CEO of ICCB may approve the certificate on behalf of the Board.

Permanent approval may be requested for any certificate or AAS degree program by submitting all documents listed on the New Program Form. Instructions are included in the following pages.

Temporary approval
Temporary approval may be requested for any certificate and for AAS degree programs that (1) address emerging occupations, or (2) meet immediate and temporary needs in the community by submitting a Form 20T and submitting all documents listed on that form. Temporary approval should be requested only for programs for which the college is uncertain about the demand or marketability. At the end of the temporary approval period, the program must receive permanent approval in order for the college to continue to offer the program.

Reasonable and moderate extensions
New certificates or degrees created as options or subsets of existing programs may be submitted as a reasonable and moderate extension, which requires only acceptance by ICCB staff. New certificates or degrees may also be created through the reasonable and moderate extension process when the new program is closely related to an existing program(s). This process allows the college to create the new program from an existing “parent program”.

AAS or certificate options include programs that are very similar to their parent program and in the same general occupational field. An option may be created by primarily using courses in the parent program or cluster of closely related curricula; e.g., from the same four-digit code, and new or different courses as needed, provided that no more than 15 credit hours are different in AAS options or no more than nine credit hours are different in certificates of 30 semester hours or more. New certificates of less than 30 semester credit hours may include no more than six credit hours different from the parent program.