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Certificate Programs
AA
Last Reviewed: July 2019
Intent
UCLA Extension certificate programs address the needs for professional advancement, career transition, practical skills training and the personal development of the individual student; and address the high-level training needs of various arts, service and manufacturing industries important to the local economy. These programs help define the character and standing of continuing higher education within the university community as well as the communities we serve at home and abroad. All programs are characterized by a balance of theory and practice appropriate to the discipline.
This policy ensures conformity with the University’s academic standards and policies; establishes requirements for the design, academic approval, oversight, and change management of our programs; and provides for the administration of the academic affairs of the students resident therein.
Definitions
- Certificate Program. A certificate program is an approved curriculum representing focused study in a coherent body of knowledge, leading to the attainment of a specified set of learning objectives. The completion of a certificate program merits the award of a formal academic testimonial. UCLA Extension is authorized by Academic Senate Regulation 811 to organize curricula leading to the award of certificates, to record such achievement in students’ records, and upon completion award an official academic testimonial. Students who complete a certificate program will receive a “Certificate,” presented on stock affixed with the gold seal of the University of California (UC). Students who complete a certificate are invited to participate in an annual graduation ceremony held by Extension. Additionally certificate program graduates obtain status as alumni of Extension and receive basic-level membership in the UCLA Alumni Association.
To ensure a common understanding within the University and by agreement between the deans of the various Extension divisions system wide, a UCLA Extension certificate program curriculum requires a student to complete at least 14 quarter term units or 120 hours of instructed contact time in credit- bearing courses or equivalent duration of work in online courses. Non-credit courses, at the decision of the academic program Department Director/ Continuing Educator (DD/CE), may be required in addition to the minimum for credit required courses. Only sequences of courses fulfilling this definition, and which have undergone the external review and approval process described herein, shall be referred to as a " certificate program " in
marketing and promotional materials. This is to differentiate them from curricula having fewer than 120 hours or that otherwise have not been established through an approval process external to Extension.
- Specialization. A specialization is a curriculum that entails sets of knowledge and/or skills that may be more than what would be covered in a single course. Specialization programs offer students focused studies that cohere to stated learning objectives and expected outcomes. The curriculum provides for at least 60 hours of instructed contact time in credit and/or non- credit courses, or a minimum of two courses at any level except 700s.
The completion of a specialization will be posted on students’ transcripts with text as described in the policy AA151 the Design, Production and Presentation of Academic Testimonials. Students who complete a Specialization will receive an “Award of Completion” which will not carry the seal of the University. Students who complete specializations are not typically eligible to participate in Extension’s annual graduation ceremony; however, as appropriate, the Dean may approve an exception. Completing students of a specialization do not receive membership to the UCLA Alumni Association, however some specialization programs may be approved for Alumni Association membership by the Dean of UCLA Extension and the UCLA Alumni Association.
Specializations are vetted by academic program departments, approved by the Department Director, and then submitted for final approval by Extension’s Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. Except as provided for programs that lead to teaching credentials, each specialization that appears to meet the minimum requirements of a certificate program may be reviewed annually by the Dean’s Office for its potential conversion to certificate program.
- Concentrations. Certain certificate programs are approved by the professional school of original jurisdiction to offer concentrations, somewhat analogous to minors offered in undergraduate degree programs. Newly proposed concentrations are subject to the approval of the Dean’s Office. Academic program departments are advised to obtain input and endorsement from the certificate program’s Advisory Board.
Types of relationship a course may have to a program’s curriculum:
- Prerequisite. Evidence of completion of a prerequisite must be made prior to admission. Units earned do not count toward the total units minimally required for completion of a program. Prerequisite courses are only presented in certificate programs that are restricted and require an admission decision.
- Required. Satisfactory completion of the course is absolutely required as a condition of completion and award.
and reviewing the program. DDs/CEs will be expected to make a concerted effort to invite at least one member of the UCLA faculty or staff to participate.
- Advisory Boards may be organized to oversee more than one certificate program provided the programs are related by discipline.
- To restore a certificate program curriculum that was active in the past but now closed, DDs/CEs will submit proposals to reopen as if the program were new.
- Curricula organized for the completion of requirements for teaching credentials shall be proposed as if they are certificate programs , even though they will be structured and managed as specializations. Before submittal to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC), all proposals will involve approval by the Committee on Degrees and Academic Standing (CDAS), in consultation with the UCAP committee, within the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies (GSE & IS), before submission to CTC. All communications with CTC regarding credential programs are required to go through UCLA’s GSE & IS.
Governance, Change Management and Reviews
- DDs/CEs are responsible for the proper governance and management of the certificate programs in their portfolio.
- Once a certificate program is established, the DD/CE will request feedback and input from the Advisory Board in reviewing the health and viability of the certificate program. The frequency and formality of meetings with an Advisory Board is at the discretion of the DD/CE; however documented communication with the Advisory Board should occur at least annually. This effort to solicit and obtain advising, consultation, and feedback should be documented and recorded for inclusion in the 5-year review process.
- The following changes to a certificate program must be approved internally by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. DDs/CEs should seek advice from the Advisory Board on proposed changes to the certificate program. The DD/CE will send an Advisory Notice to the UCLA academic unit, department or school, who originally approved the certificate program, to seek comment or feedback before any internally-approved changes are implemented. Applicable changes may include: o altering the listing of required courses; o offering new concentrations ; o changing admission rules and standards; or o changing program duration and minimum unit valuations for completion.
No special notification is required for additions and deletions from lists of electives or lists of defined electives.
Proposing these specific changes does not necessitate the creation of a new certificate profile in the student information/enterprise management system. DDs/CEs shall do an initial analysis if proposed changes require the creation of a new certificate program and seek advising, as needed, from the Advisory Board, the Program Services unit of the Dean’s Office and the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.
- Requests for the change of certificate program titles are subject to the approval of the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs who may request further review and/or approval.
- Each program will be periodically reviewed for its continuing relevance and vitality. DDs/CEs will employ the Procedure for 5-Year Reviews through which formal recommendations are made to the Dean about the relevancy, currency and disposition of each program.
- The Dean’s Office will maintain a master calendar and schedule the review process. As stipulated in the Procedure for 5-Year Reviews , DDs/CEs will produce a written report, with an executive summary and recommendations, by 90 days after the date of notice-to-commence the review is sent to the DD/CE by the Dean’s Office.
- For those certificate programs and specializations accredited by professional organizations or state commissions or boards, the periodic reviews required to maintain such accreditation or board approval may substitute for the internal review and follow the scheduling required by the relevant state, federal or professional entity. However, supplemental evaluation of fiscal viability and organizational/administrative components will be required, if not part of the external review process, at the same five year intervals for internal review.
Scholarship Standards and Curriculum Rules
Program Directors/CEs will establish scholarship standards and curriculum rules for each certificate program. They will serve as the foundation for student counseling and be recorded by the Registrar in systems to enable audits of student status and progress.
Scholarship Standard
Historically, the scholarship standard in Extension certificate programs was expressed as a requirement that each class in a curriculum be earned with a minimum grade, usually the grade of C. This meant that the student “passed” with a D, but was required to repeat the class even so.
800-level courses do not bear academic credit, and therefore may not be used to fulfill the minimum 120 credit-bearing hours needed to establish a certificate program. However, 800-level courses may be used, and in some cases required, in certificate curricula to express a meaningful non-credit experience such as an ethics symposium or an internship.
DDs/CEs may restrict the effective curricular relevance of any particular course by defining its effective shelf-life , thus establishing a timeframe within which a successfully completed course may be counted toward completion of a certificate or specialization program. The standard institutional default timeframe for course shelf-life is five years, however DDs/CEs may vary this timeframe for their respective subject areas.
Hence, for example, a student who successfully completes a course in 2012 that has a shelf-life of five years, who enrolls in a certificate program in 2018 that requires completion of that same course, will be required to re-take the course for credit. DDs/CEs or designated staff may, on a case by case basis, review and provide an exception to shelf-life of a particular course if it does not pose a compromise to a student’s knowledge attainment or the academic excellence of the program. Such exceptions may be determined by the DD/CE and a written communication shall be provided to the Certificate and Audit Coordinator in the Student and Alumni Services Department.
Course Waivers: Advanced Standing and Substitution of Courses
At the request of a student or when an academic program department makes changes to the schedule of classes, a portion of the required curriculum may be waived by two methods: advanced standing and course substitution.
Advanced standing is the means by which UCLA Extension may grant credit to a student for courses and credit they earned from other accredited educational institutions, or in special circumstances, relevant professional work experience, to be counted toward curriculum requirements in an Extension specialization or certificate program. A decision to grant advanced standing waives a course/credit, thereby lowering the number of Extension courses/units required.
A decision to allow course substitution also waives a required course by allowing a student to replace it with another approved Extension course. In special circumstances, a required course may be waived on the basis of relevant professional work experience. Course substitutions do not lower the number of Extension courses/units required.
CEs or delegated staff may approve advanced standing or course substitution and unit requirements for an individual student on a case-by-case basis taking into account the student’s academic record and/or relevant professional work experience. CEs/designated staff will consider the availability of appropriate course offerings when approving course substitutions. All substitutions are to have academic merit and applicability to the body of knowledge presented within the program.
Students may request to apply such coursework, through advanced standing or substitution, for up to 25% of the total required units of an Extension or certificate or specialization program. Exceptions to the 25% threshold may be granted to an individual student or an overall program if reviewed by the CE and approved by the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs.
If such exceptions arise out of Extension’s legacy programs or partnership agreements, a mutual understanding on advanced standing units should be stated in relevant partnerships documents such as the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or Letter of Agreement (LOA). Requests for advanced standing and/or course substitutions must be made by the student within the first quarter of candidacy in a program.
Decisions regarding course waivers, either by advanced standing or course substitution, and admissions, must be recorded in students’ records with supporting documentary evidence, including transcripts from other institutions. Transcripts will be redacted of personally identifiable information, then imaged and stored in students’ records.
Internal Articulation and Timeline for Awards
Courses can be employed within the curriculum of more than one certificate program. Students registered as candidates in multiple certificate programs where the same course satisfies a requirement or an elective rule shall be deemed to have satisfied the requirement in all, provided shelf-life requirements are met in each. To address situations where significant curricular overlap may result inadvertently in multiple awards without requiring significant additional coursework, CEs will express a rule that either prohibits the double-use of credit by restricting admission, or that requires at least half of the minimally required courses or units of the second or subsequent certificate program(s) be earned uniquely and without overlap from the first or prior certificate program(s).
Either of the following examples are valid presentations for this requirement:
- Admission to this program is not permitted by students who have established candidacy in or completed the curriculum for the _____________ certificate program;_ or,
- To earn this certificate, students making progress toward or who have previously satisfied the requirements of another UCLA Extension certificate must complete at least half the [units/courses] beyond that which satisfied the other program.
The timeline for certificates and specializations may include a retroactive award if all program requirements have been successfully met. Thus, students could complete courses required for a certificate or specialization program having not declared candidacy prior but do so later and earn an award. PDs/CEs shall consider if any curriculum or programmatic changes apply and shall review and
programs authorized to sponsor international students on F-1 student visas, the level of English proficiency for non-native speakers of English must be declared by the Program Director/CE using scores of both the Educational Testing Services’ Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), the International English Language Test System Academic (IELTS Academic), or the International Test of English Proficiency Academic-Plus (iTEP Academic-Plus). Although many English language proficiency tests exist in the marketplace, Extension primarily uses these three testing mechanisms. If a prospective international student is unable to provide English language proficiency scores from one of these three tests, the Program Director/CE may consider another comparable and equivalent test with the approval of the Dean or the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. Program Directors/CEs shall be expected to assess the quality, academic standards and comparability to either the TOEFL, IELTS Academic, or iTEP Academic-Plus in seeking the approval to accept test scores from an alternate testing mechanism.
Prior to enabling entry to the United States or acceptance to Extension’s academic programs by transfer, the International Student Office (ISO) will require evidence of proficiency and achievement using either of these threshold test scores presented by prospective students, but will exempt students from taking an English proficiency exam if:
o the student is a citizen of Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, English-speaking Canada, or the United Kingdom. o the student declares English is their second language and produces a transcript showing at least four years of instruction from a high school, university or college in an English-speaking country as listed in the bullet point above, or at another accredited school, university or college in the U.S. o the student declares English is their second language and produces a transcript showing a graduate degree from a university or college in an English-speaking country as listed in the bullet point above, or at another accredited school, university or college in the U.S. o the student is transferring from Extension’s American Language Center’s Academic Intensive English Language Program (AIEP) with a minimum grade of “A-” from level 107 (or higher), in the two core subjects, to an Extension certificate program with a minimum required TOEFL score of 83 – 90 or IELTS Academic-Plus score 4.
- 4.9. These students are still required to take ESL 433C.
CEs will define the appropriate threshold level for TOEFL, IELTS Academic, and iTEP Academic-Plus test scores having taken the following factors into consideration:
o The institution-wide minimum score for which the ISO will issue an I-20 to a non-native English speaker is 83 on TOEFL, 6.5 on IELTS Academic, or 4.5 on iTEP Academic-Plus. This reflects the UCLA standard employed by Undergraduate Admissions. No exceptions will be made for students whose score is lower.
o UCLA’s threshold for graduate admissions is 87 on TOEFL. o Students who test 100 or higher on TOEFL, or 7.0 or higher on IELTS Academic, or 5.1 or higher on iTEP Academic-Plus will have met Extension’s English language proficiency requirement. o Feedback from instructors and students regarding the degree to which mastery of English is fundamental to the course of study.
Students who test at or above the minimum required for the program will be sent an I-20 enabling them to obtain an F-1 visa for travel to the United States. Students whose test scores are below 100 on the TOEFL iBT, or below 7.0 on IELTS Academic, or below 5.1 on iTEP Academic-Plus will be required to take one or two ESL courses based on the following: o Students scoring 83 – 90 on TOEFL, or 6.5 on IELTS Academic with a score of 6 or below in writing, or 4.5 – 4.9 on the iTEP Academic-Plus will be required to take both ESL X433B and ESL X433C. Undergraduate level certificate programs may, with the approval of the PD/CE, substitute English Composition XL1B and XL2I for ESL X433B and C. o Students scoring 91 – 99 TOEFL, or 6.5 on IELTS Academic, with a score of 6.5 or above in writing, or 5.0 on iTEP Academic-Plus will be required to take ESL X433 C. Undergraduate level certificate programs may, with the approval of the PD/CE, substitute English Composition XL2I for ESL X433C.
If required, students must complete the prescribed English language classes as a condition of earning their certificates. Therefore, students who are required to take ESL X433B and/or ESL X433C are advised to do so within the first two quarters of commencing the certificate program, not doing so may result in a hold on enrollment. The Registrar and the Director of Student and Alumni Services will enforce this provision by withholding the posting of the award and the production of the certificate until the required class or classes have been passed. The Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and the DD/CE have delegated authority to grant an exception to this academic requirement.
Students admitted to the United States on F-1 visas for one program are welcome to extend their stay by establishing candidacy in another program, either concurrently or in subsequent order, provided they have met the English proficiency requirements for the additional program. The ISO will provide students with notice of this requirement and enforce this provision.
- Federal Financial Aid Student Eligibility. To maintain status for federal grants and loans, each quarter federal financial aid students must be enrolled in required or elective courses formally identified in the certificate program curriculum, and in a full-time course of study. Program units may not promote their certificate programs as qualifying for federal monies unless the program carries a minimum of 36 units, offers the requisite number of approved units in each quarter and has been formally approved by Extension's and UCLA's Financial Aid Offices. Federal requirements for
a timeframe reasonable to student goals and aligned with timeframes published in promotional and curriculum materials. Students will have support services, including information regarding financial aid and I- issuance as relevant for international students. All students should be informed about all relevant policies concerning their status as students, including but not limited to grading and grade grievance policies, and student conduct and discipline policies. These relevant policies shall be publicly listed on Extension’s website. In addition to academic program department staff advisors, student affairs officers and student services staff, Extension shall provide a secure web-based information service that will allow students in certificate and specialization programs to view their progress and to plan their enrollments in upcoming quarters.
- Issuance of Certificates and Awards of Completion. Students are welcome to request an audit of their progress and verification of their completion at any time. Program department personnel will verify completion and request the posting of the award and its production by the Registrar’s office. The Registrar’s office will conduct a final audit of the student’s completion. The act of award is a matter of record, and therefore will appear on students’ transcripts with a posting date corresponding to the final meeting date of the last class taken in the curriculum.
- Academic Honors. Students who complete their curriculum with an earned GPA of 3.5 or higher shall be entitled to have both certificate and academic record annotated as Earned with Distinction. The registrar will calculate and post such notations.
- Records Privileges. The Registrar’s office will issue replacement certificates for a fee. Graduates of UCLA Extension certificate programs are granted a lifetime privilege of free transcripts.
Program Suspension and Closure
The authority to close a program rests with the Dean. The decision will be based on a review and recommendation by the CE, with the endorsement of the Department Director and Associate Dean of Academic Affairs. A decision to close or suspend a program may arise from a five- year review or other review process. The decision to close a program drives an immediate stop of the enrollment of new candidates and an intention to end the program. Conversely, the decision to suspend a program is with the intention to continue the program but temporarily pause it for evaluation and potential changes.
In program suspension, new enrollments/candidacies are discontinued while significant changes of curriculum are being evaluated and prepared for proposal. At the request of the DD/CE, a program may be put in a status of suspension for up to one year, after which the program could be closed. Although DDs and PDs/CEs are encouraged to complete an evaluation within a year of suspension, if more time is needed, DDs shall notify the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs of a continued evaluation period.
At the time a program is scheduled for closure or temporary suspension, all students currently enrolled in the program must be notified of the action as soon as possible. Student advisement and consultation should ensure that students’ academic planning and the program’s course scheduling reflects students’ needs in completing their academic body of work.
Candidates already enrolled in certificate programs that have closed will be given time to complete the courses necessary for the award. Departments will facilitate a teach-out plan and continue to offer courses that facilitate program completion. To assist the completion by candidates in the so-called pipeline , program department personnel will provide special notification to this population of upcoming courses, and plan courses in the closed curriculum through to these students’ projected dates of completion. Renewal of candidacies in programs that have closed will not be allowed.
For candidates enrolled in a program that becomes suspended, departments will facilitate a student’s completion of the program’s requirements prior to suspension. Departments may also elect to grandfather these students into the “new” program after curriculum changes have been finalized.
The Associate Dean of Academic Affairs has the authority to close a specialization provided the department has presented an acceptable plan for managing a graceful discontinuation.
References and Listing
This policy will be publicly listed. Questions and comments are welcomed by the Office of the Dean , Continuing Education and UCLA Extension , (310) 825- 2362; DeansOffice@uclaextension.edu.
For additional information, see:
- Assembly of the Academic Senate, Academic Council, University of California. Chapter 5, University Extension Credit Courses; Article 3, Degree Credit for Courses, 811. Manual of the Academic Senate University of California. Regulations of the Academic Senate. Part III, Colleges, Schools, and Graduate Divisions. Title III, Courses. Updated, January 12, 1996.
- University of California, Board of Regents. 105.2(a, b). "Duties, Powers, and Privileges of the Academic Senate ." Bylaws and Standing Orders of the Regents. 105 Standing Order of the Regents. Amended March 19,
- University of California, University Extension Council. "Policies for Certificate Programs for the University of California," April 1998.
