Publication of General Education Requirements

The University defines its general education requirements in the annual publication of the Nicholls State University Undergraduate and Graduate Bulletin, available in printed form or online on the Nicholls Web site [1]. In addition, Nicholls' homepage provides links to the general education program site [2] and to individual degree program sites where general education requirements are specified through the "GER" designation [3].

Publication of Major Program Requirements

All requirements for associate, baccalaureate [4], and graduate [5] programs are also published in the Bulletin. Detailed, descriptive sections for each major program clarify all requirements and suggested course sequences, identifying general education requirements, University requirements, and major discipline requirements [6]. Furthermore, the Bulletin also defines specific requirements for minors, concentrations, and certifications available within major programs.

Conformity of General Education Requirements to Accepted Standards

The University's general education requirements conform to accepted collegiate standards and practices because they meet and exceed the statewide standards for general education mandated by the Louisiana Board of Regents (BOR) [7]. These requirements comply with SACS-COC requirements as described in Core Requirement 2.7.3 [8]. To maintain the quality and rigor of its specific core-curriculum requirements, the University has periodically reviewed its core curriculum. The University's core curriculum underwent an extensive campus-wide review from 1993 to 1995 resulting in documented, general education requirements that have been monitored and modified to maintain accepted standards and practices by the University's Courses and Curricula Committee and the Faculty Senate [9]. In 2003, a second general education task force was appointed to document their assessment of general education [10]. In 2004, following the task force's recommendations, the Vice President for Academic Affairs created the General Education Assessment Committee [11], charged with monitoring the general education program so that it continues to meet SACS-COC's and Louisiana Board of Regents' criteria for general education standards and best practices.

Conformity of Major Program Requirements to Accepted Standards

The University ensures that all major program requirements conform to commonly accepted standards and practices through the following means:

External Academic Program Reviews
All programs are initially reviewed and approved by the Board of Supervisors for the University of Louisiana System and the Louisiana Board of Regents [12].

Board of Regents Reviews of Existing Academic Programs/Units

The Board of Regents will periodically review and evaluate program quality and productivity at all levels of higher education. Affected institutions will be required to participate in these reviews and evaluations. Interested persons will be given an opportunity to appear before the Board of Regents prior to decisions in each particular case.

After initial, conditional approval, the Board of Regents conducts periodic reviews of each program.

An example of this external review process is illustrated in the steps taken to approve the Master of Science in Marine and Environmental Biology degree program at Nicholls State University. The process began with an evaluation of the initial proposal by the Board of Regents [13A] followed by an on-site evaluation by external reviewers [13B]. Following conditional approval and implementation of the program, a follow-up review was conducted to examine its progress [13C].

Academic Program Accreditations
The Board of Regents also requires that all state universities attain accreditation for academic programs for which accreditation is available and appropriate [14]:

Program Accreditation

Effective October 28, 1999, the Board of Regents recognizes accrediting agencies that it considers as mandatory, recommended, or optional for eligible programs offered by public community colleges, colleges/universities, and the Louisiana Technical College. A program that is eligible for accreditation by an agency that is considered mandatory must be accredited for continued program approval. If the program is not accredited, the Academic Affairs staff will recommend to the Board of Regents that the program be terminated. The Board of Regents encourages institutions to obtain accreditation of programs that are eligible for accreditation by an agency that it recommends, but the accreditation is not essential for continued program approval. Accrediting agencies that are not considered as mandatory or recommended by the Board of Regents are considered optional, and the Board of Regents encourages institutions with eligible programs to evaluate the importance of those accreditations to its students.

All degree programs at Nicholls requiring accreditation undergo regular review and have been fully accredited by national accrediting agencies identified as appropriate by the BOR [15]. Nicholls continues to maintain 100 percent accreditation of programs required by the BOR to be accredited. Of the programs recommended by the BOR to be accredited, seven out of eight have been accredited; the remaining accreditation is not currently being sought by the University. A table of NSU accreditation reports is electronically available [16].

Table 1: Accredited Programs at Nicholls State University

Accrediting Agency	Program Accredited	Date of Last Review	Date of Next Visit
Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools	Institution	1995	2006
Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications	B.A. in Mass Communication	2000	2006
American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences	B.S. in General Family and Consumer Sciences	1997	2006
American Chemical Society Committee on Professional Training	B.S. in Chemistry	2002	2007
American Dietetic Association (ADA)	B.S. in Dietetics	2004	2014
American Nurses Credentialing Centers Commission on Education	Nursing Continuing Education (N.C.E. Program)	2001	2007
American Society of Cytopathology	C.C. in Cytotechnology Programs	1998	2008
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business	B.S. in Accounting B.S. in Computer Information Systems B.S. in Finance B.S. in Management B.S. in Marketing B.S. in Business Administration M.B.A. in Business Administration	2005	2010
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs	A.S. in Respiratory Care Advanced Certificate in Advanced Respiratory Therapy	2000	2005
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs	A.S. in Cardiopulmonary Care Science	1998	2006
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs	A.S. in Emergency Medical Services–Paramedic	2005	2010
Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs	B.S. in Health Sciences Concentration in Athletic Training Science	2004	2009
Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education	B.S.N. in Nursing	2003	2013
Computer Science Accreditation Commission of the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board	B.S. in Computer Science	2000	2007
National Association of School Psychologists	S.S.P. in School Psychology	2001	2004
National Association of Schools of Art and Design.	B.A. in Art	2003	2008
National Association of Schools of Music	B.A. in Music	2005	2015
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education	M.E. in Elementary Education M.E. in Counselor Education M.E. in Administration and Supervision M.E. in Curriculum and Instruction - Reading	2003	2008
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education	B.M.E. in Music Education B.S. in Elementary Education B.S. in Secondary Education B.A. in Secondary Education B.A. in Special Education B.S. in Early Childhood Education	2003	2008
National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission	B.S.N. in Nursing	2003	2011
National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission	A.S.N. in Nursing	2004	2012

Academic Program Reviews
Every major program must undergo an internal, five-year cycle of review to ensure that all degree requirements conform to commonly accepted standards and practices [17], as described in Core Requirement 2.5 [18] and Comprehensive Standard 3.3.1 [19]. The process requires every academic department to conduct a rigorous evaluation of each major program's quality, a review of goals and objectives, and an evaluative comparison of the program's curriculum to similar curricula at other universities. Department heads submit reports to deans who are assigned as primary and secondary readers. The readers then conduct their own intensive reviews of the reports. After meeting with department heads for interviews, the deans compile and report their findings and recommendations for improvement to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The Vice President submits an evaluative report to the department heads, who must then report back to the Vice President on specific improvements made in response to the program review recommendations. Findings from all academic program reviews are used to make program improvements in curricula, faculty development, budget and staffing allocations, and instructional technology.

To enhance the review process, each department submits an annual plan for each major program, identifying specific goals and objectives linked to the University's Strategic Plan, describing assessment strategies and use of assessment results.