Minor Modifications

Overview

Minor modifications are the most common type of academic change; they are intrinsic to maintaining robust programs. They involve a wide variety of academic changes to existing undergraduate and graduate programs.

The overarching definition of what constitutes a minor modification is provided by the University of Toronto Quality Assurance Process (UTQAP) (PDF).

Minor modifications include:

• new minor where there is an existing specialist or major (undergraduate)
• name changes to streams (undergraduate)
• new emphases and changes to existing emphases (graduate)
• name changes to fields, concentrations and emphases (graduate)
• changing admission and program requirements that don’t change the learning outcomes (undergraduate and graduate)
• a degree program’s participation in or withdrawal from a collaborative specialization (graduate)
• new courses (undergraduate and graduate)
• changes to courses (undergraduate and graduate)
• changes to mode of course delivery from in-class to online, or online to in-class (undergraduate and graduate).

Responsibility & Consultation

Minor modifications are managed by the Faculties/divisions.

Please consult your Dean’s Office with all questions about undergraduate and graduate minor modifications. Dean’s Offices will consult with the VPAP Office as needed; this may include determining whether a particular change is a major or minor modification.

Proposals Resulting in New or Changed Names

Please contact the VPAP Office about all proposed name changes and all proposals that will result in a new named entity (e.g., new minor, emphasis, etc.) prior to governance.

Graduate Minor Modifications

The VPAP office is responsible overall for implementing graduate minor modifications.

Reporting

Undergraduate

Divisions will have their own reporting deadlines to align with calendar processes. Please report program name changes and any minor modifications resulting in a new named entity (e.g., new minor, focus) to the VPAP Office.

Graduate

Once a minor modification has been approved at the appropriate Faculty/divisional level, please send a final copy of the proposal as approved through governance to grad.minormods@utoronto.ca. Please include the date of final governance approval in the body of the email. This will ensure that approved changes can be implemented in all systems (ROSI, School of Graduate Studies Calendar, etc.).

Resources

• Changing mode of delivery of courses and programs for 2022-23 and later (March 2021)
• Diagram: the minor modification process (PDF)
• Academic change processes: key characteristics and examples.
• Graduate minor modifications and SGS Calendar editorial changes
• Sample graduate calendar entries: governance vs. editorial changes

Contact

Alexandra Varela
Special Projects Officer
416.978.7709

Jennifer Francisco
Coordinator, Academic Change
416.946.0094