What do we mean by academic structure?
The academic structure is how UW–Madison’s academic offerings are organized and governed. Components include:
- Academic divisions: Schools and colleges that are authorized to enroll students.
- Academic units: Departments approved to offer for-credit courses and/or academic programs.
- Awards: Degrees, plans, and subplans, such as majors, certificates, and named options that students earn.
- Curricular subject listings: Structure for organizing groups of courses in a related disciplinary area or topic.
The academic structure is not simply a list of programs and departments. It defines the relationships between them so they can be managed, reported, and analyzed consistently.
Consider a student who has recently graduated. The academic structure connects a student’s Bachelor of Arts degree (award), the history major (plan), the Department of History (academic unit), the College of Letters & Science (academic division), and the history subject listing used for courses.
Each component’s foundation is in policies from the UW System Board of Regents, UW-Madison Faculty Policy and Procedures, and accreditor requirements.
A concerted effort is made to ensure UW–Madison’s data reflects this structure. The official academic structure is maintained in the Student Information System (SIS). Data from SIS are made available in the Badger Data Warehouse to support reporting and analysis. A Tableau visualization, UW–Madison’s Academic Structure (on-campus network or VPN required), provides information about the current academic structure.
Why have an academic structure?
There are several reasons:
- Reduces ambiguity by establishing relationships between schools and colleges and their departments, and by showing who is responsible for academic plans, subplans, and curricular subjects.
- Defines how elements of the academic structure are related to budgetary units.
- Facilitates the electronic integration of data systems that support the academic structure, saving time and resources required to maintain separate systems.
- Supports consistency in reporting about enrollment, degrees, courses, and other metrics connected to the academic structure.
Can the academic structure change?
Yes. Responsibility for maintaining the academic structure is shared by DAPIR and the Office of the Registrar. It is not stagnant; it changes as new school/colleges, departments, academic programs, and courses are created or changed and as needs for new data elements are identified.
The planning and approval of a new component of the academic structure begins with the department that will administer it. Then the school or college that houses the department reviews it. Finally, the University Academic Planning Council (UAPC), the University Curriculum Committee (UCC), and, where necessary, the Board of Regents must approve.
How is the academic structure’s data used?
Academic structure data supports institutional, school, and college reporting, enrollment analysis, and degree reporting. For example, two visualizations, Trends in Degrees and Trends in Student Enrollment, demonstrate the use of academic structure data. These tools show how tracking degrees and enrollment lets us spot growth trends and declines.
If you have questions about UW–Madison’s academic structure or how it is used in reporting and analysis, reach out to us.