Lansing Community College
Procedure Details

Procedure Title: Program Operating Plans
Procedure #: AA.034
Revision #: 000

Unit Responsible: Academic Affairs
Individual Responsible: Provost or designee

Effective Date: 09/26/2025
Initial Approval Date: 09/26/2025
Last Review/Update Date: 09/26/2025
Next Review Date: 09/01/2028

*Does this procedure support a Board Policy? Yes
If yes, identify: 3.160-Program Review

Board policies can be found at: LCC Board of Trustees Policy Page

*Does this procedure support HLC criteria and/or Assumed Practices? Yes
If yes, identify: 2A, 3F, 4A, B2

HLC Criteria can be found at: HLC Accreditation Criteria
HCL Assumed Practices can be found at: HLC Assumed Practices

*Does this procedure support a State or Federal Regulation? No
If yes, identify: N/A

*Note: Standard Operating Procedures should be in furtherance of some LCC policy and/or accreditation criteria, even if the relationship is not direct. Assistance in determining this information can be obtained from the Academic Procedure Advisory Committee (APAC) and/or the Accreditation Liaison Officer.

Program Operating Plans, BP 3.160

1. Purpose

To ensure collegewide consistency in the development and monitoring of Program Operating Plans (POPs).


2. Scope

Applies to all academic or student services programs or departments to which members of the Lansing Community College (LCC) Chapter of the Michigan Association for Higher Education (MAHE) are regularly assigned, per the MAHE contract (2024-2029).


3. Prerequisites

  • Per the MAHE contract, the Provost’s Office will collaborate with MAHE representatives to provide an accountability process and deadlines for the POPs.
  • POPs will be updated annually, but will be prepared for a two-year duration.
  • Each academic year, dedicated time will be allocated for programs to hold meetings to work on their POPs.
  • Copies of current POPs will be available to program/department faculty online.
  • Human Resources and MAHE representatives, in collaboration with the Center for Teaching Excellence, will offer a mandatory educational program to faculty and their administrative supervisors regarding POPs and effective group decision making processes.


4. Responsibilities

  • Academic Deans or their designees – Responsible for annual reviews of POPs.
  • Faculty – Responsible for preparing and submitting the POPs for the academic or student services program or department to which the faculty member(s) are assigned.
  • Center for Teaching Excellence – Responsible to provide POP training to faculty.


5. Procedure

  1. Each Academic Dean will establish a reasonable timeline which allows adequate time for the review, modification (if necessary), and approval of each POP by the contractual deadline of November 1 of each academic year.
  2. Program/Department faculty will prepare their POPs in accordance with the relevant timeline established by their Dean and/or the Dean’s designee.
    1. The faculty will begin by reviewing progress on their current annual improvement plan(s) within the context of their most recent Program Review.
    2. The faculty will take into account where they are on the Program Review cycle, anticipating budgetary needs for adjunct faculty participation in Program Review, and the possible need for faculty to participate in the Pedagogy of Equity course (POE).
    3. Each POP must include all components identified in Article IX, Section C, Paragraph 1 of the MAHE contract.
  3. Proposed changes to approved POPs must follow the guidelines identified in Article IX, Section C, Paragraphs 3-8 of the MAHE contract.


6. Reference

MAHE Contract


7. Definitions

N/A