Academic quality
Programme suspension and termination
Guidance on how programmes at York St John can be suspended for recruitment or terminated.
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Suspending recruitment
The procedure for suspending student recruitment to a programme of study is separate from that for terminating a programme permanently. The suspension procedure should be used for proposals to suspend recruitment for a specified length of time, usually one intake.
A proposal to suspend programme recruitment is approved by the Strategic Portfolio Committee. It is reported formally to the Quality and Standards Committee and to the Academic Board. Specific notifications are sent to the academic school, Registry team, and the appropriate directorates using a standard email and distribution.
Expand the drop-down below for more information about the suspension procedure.
Provisional student number targets for recruitment to programmes are approved by the Executive Board on the recommendation of the Director of Strategy and Planning and PVC Learning and Teaching and reported to the Academic Board in the first term of each session.
If, in the process of target setting, it is decided that a programme should not recruit, a decision to suspend recruitment to that programme may be taken.
The times at which programme recruitment may be suspended are as follows:
| Time relative to planned programme start | Applicable programmes | How programme may be suspended |
|---|---|---|
| 20 months before | All programmes | Through periodic review, before data is sent to UCAS. |
| 14 months before | All programmes | Through annual planning and review processes. Any decision to terminate a programme should be made by the next planning cycle. |
| 3 months before | All programmes | Through a final check of recruitment. This should happen in exceptional circumstances only. |
| 10 months before | Undergraduate programmes only | Through target-setting consultation process. |
| 8 months before | Undergraduate programmes only | Through first check of progress against recruitment targets. |
| 5 months before | Undergraduate programmes only | Through second check of progress against recruitment targets. |
Where a decision to suspend programme recruitment is taken and offers to a programme have already been made, the Admissions team will notify all applicants promptly and offer every assistance to find an alternative programme place, either at York St John or elsewhere.
The University should remain committed to running a programme that has not been withdrawn by the latest date set out above. The Strategic Portfolio Committee should, however, seek to avoid the continuation of a programme that is likely to have such a small cohort that the student experience is adversely affected and exceptionally a decision to suspend recruitment at such a late point will have to be taken.
The proposal to suspend a programme's recruitment is most likely to come from the academic school or the Director of Strategy and Planning.
The formal proposal should be made using the Suspension of Recruitment Proposal form and submitted to approvals@yorksj.ac.uk for consideration by the Strategic Portfolio Committee. Arrangements for any existing applicants are an integral part of this proposal.
Terminating a programme
Responsibility for the termination of programmes of study rests with the Vice-Chancellor on the advice of the Strategic Portfolio Committee. The programme termination procedure should be used for proposals to permanently withdraw programmes from recruitment.
Where a decision to terminate a programme is taken, it is notified to the Academic Board, Quality and Standards Committee, and the appropriate Directorates.
Ideally, a decision to terminate a programme of study permanently is taken through normal planning processes and after necessary consultations and in advance of the year of the application round.
A decision to terminate a programme of study permanently will normally be signalled in an annual operating plan in the year before the academic year of the recruitment round. Within the year of the application round, a decision will only be made to suspend recruitment to a programme of study: this is the subject of a separate procedure. A decision to terminate a programme will be taken through the subsequent planning process.
University publicity will make it clear that any programme will only be run subject to a viable cohort being recruited.
Integral to the process of terminating a programme are the arrangements for existing students. Any decision to terminate a programme must therefore be subject to satisfactory arrangements being made for existing students to complete their programme and be assessed for the award for which they registered. The formal proposal should be made on the Termination of Programmes form and submitted to approvals@yorksj.ac.uk for consideration by the Strategic Portfolio Committee which recommends a decision to the Vice-Chancellor.
