Interdisciplinary Program Starter Kit
How to Design Successful Undergraduate Programs That Meet Demand, Overcome Silos, and Drive Impact
Colleges and universities face growing pressure from declining enrollments, tighter budgets, and rising expectations for post-graduation success. To stay relevant, they must rethink how academic programs are structured and ensure they meet the changing needs of both students and employers.
Interdisciplinary programs offer a promising path forward by blending expertise across fields to prepare graduates with the adaptable skills needed in a rapidly shifting job market. However, many institutions encounter significant challenges when launching these programs including unclear market demand, entrenched departmental silos, misaligned faculty incentives, and high curricular development costs. Overcoming these obstacles is essential to realizing the full potential of interdisciplinary programming.
What sets exceptional interdisciplinary programs apart? The Interdisciplinary Program Starter Kit highlights six hallmarks of successful program design, offering insights to help you achieve institutional and student-focused outcomes. You’ll find guidance on how to foster collaboration across disciplines, align program goals with workforce and student needs, and address challenges in sustainability and scalability.
Six hallmarks of successful interdisciplinary program design
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Meets student interests
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Aligns with employer demand
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Benefits from clear leadership and structure
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Rewards unit and faculty participation
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Minimizes additive costs
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Meaningfully integrates disciplines
These hallmarks provide the structure to design programs that not only meet expectations but exceed them, creating value for your students and institution alike. Whether you’re creating a new program or enhancing an existing one, this starter kit equips you with tools to tackle today’s challenges and anticipate tomorrow’s opportunities.
Audience
This starter guide is designed primarily for provosts, deans and their teams, department heads, and other academic leaders responsible for interdisciplinary program development and strategy.
Sample use cases
- Reviewing new interdisciplinary undergraduate program proposals
- Assessing interdisciplinary opportunities as part of a dedicated university initiative (e.g., seed funding)
- Evaluating best practice examples of structures and programs on an interdisciplinary task force
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