Curriculum Committee Scope and Policy for Review of Curriculum

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Curriculum Committee Scope and Policy for Review of Curriculum

Scope:
The Curriculum Committee will examine submitted curriculum for the following issues:
	Impact across programs
		Curriculum must be checked for impact on other programs and when impact occurs the other departments must be consulted and named
		Documentation should include any of the following:
			Email
			Reference to a meeting and name or title of persons consulted
			Other relevant documents
	Financing
		Primarily for new programs or program changes requiring increased staffing
		All financial statements must be from the person in charge of maintaining those finances
		Must have accompanying documentation
			Spreadsheets for yearly breakdowns
			Other relevant documents as needed
	Grammar and Spelling
		Curriculum must have proper grammar and spelling
	Continuity and Clarity
		All Curriculum must have an overall summary including:
			An overall justification for changes (why are the changes being made?)
			Brief description of each change (what changes are being made?)
		Each form should contain enough information that it can stand alone if read apart from other forms in a submission
			Answer all the questions on the forms
		Curriculum must be clear in meaning, rationale, and purpose. If confusion arises, it must be addressed
	Formatting
		Must be submitted on proper forms
		Print on only white paper
		All required documents are present
		Use paper clips, not staples
	Justification
		All curriculum must be submitted with logical and defendable justification
			Include any referenced documentation such as:
				Policies
				Letters, meeting minutes, or memos
				Web page URLs
				Quoted statistic sources, etc.
			Textbooks are not justification for curriculum changes
	Other Issues as they arise
		The Curriculum Committee retains the right to examine curriculum for other issues given a consensus of the committee members

Committee Member Review Process:
The following is the review process for the Committee:
	The Dean’s Administrative Assistant amasses the electronic and printed documentation for curriculum submitted
		Once curriculum has been submitted, there must be no changes in those documents prior to the meeting where it will be discussed or the entire process must start again from the beginning
	The Dean’s Administrative Assistant forwards PDF copies the to Curriculum Committee Secretary and they will place on the network share and email a link to the committee
	The Committee chair sets the agenda one week before the next meeting. The agenda will be mailed to each committee member along with links to curriculum under review
		Submitting faculty will be invited to meetings for clarifications
	The Committee Members are then responsible for reviewing the curriculum prior to the next meeting. This includes:
		Examining the curriculum for issues that may exist
		Making notes of any questions that committee members may have
		Marking on the forms any grammar or spelling errors.
	The two types of review: Please refer to checklist for information
		First Reading
			Preliminary Review is a step that does not require the submitting faculty to go through the entire form process. Instead, they need only submit documents electronically
			Preliminary Review is used to quickly address issues in curriculum and get those changes back to the submitting faculty with the least amount of time
			There is no vote on curriculum at this level
			At the preliminary review level, there is no need to check for the proper colored forms
			After the meeting where this is discussed, the curriculum is returned to the submitting faculty for revisions and then full submission
		Second Reading
			Requires that the appropriate documentation be in the chair’s possession, and signed, before a vote will take place
			Otherwise the process is as for Preliminary Review
			Curriculum voted through is signed by the Chair and delivered to the Dean’s office by the Chair
			Curriculum voted down is returned to the submitting faculty member for revision
			Curriculum could be voted through pending certain revisions. In these instances, the curriculum is returned to the faculty member who is required to make those changes. Once those changes have been made and returned to the chair, the chair will sign the forms and give them to the dean

Committee Positions and Responsibilities
	Committee Chair
		The Chair’s primary responsibility is to call and set the agenda for meeting
		The Chair is also responsible for signing all forms passed by committee
		The Chair is also responsible for facilitating the meetings
		The Chair is also responsible for gathering any and all comments for given curriculum and returning those comments to the submitting faculty member. It should be noted that where possible all comments should come from the entire committee and not from individuals
		The Chair also has all the same responsibilities as Members at Large
	Secretary
		The Secretary is responsible for taking minutes
		The Secretary is responsible for posting those minutes on the curriculum committee website
		The Secretary must also manage the network drive where curriculum is stored. This includes:
			Creating folders and placing curriculum in the necessary folders on the drive
			Informing the rest of the committee where the curriculum they need is stored
		The Secretary is responsible for maintaining and updating the website
		The Secretary also has all the same responsibilities as Members at Large
	Dean's Administrative Assistant
		Ex-officio member
		Attends first readings as necessary
	Committee Members at Large
		Members at Large are responsible for reviewing curriculum prior to meeting time
		Members are responsible for communicating their concerns, corrections, and comments to other committee members and ultimately the submitting faculty
		Members at Large are required to attend meetings except in extenuating circumstances. If unable to attend, the member is still responsible for submitting their comments on the curriculum
	Committee Elections
		Committee Elections should be held at the first meeting of the Academic year
		Elections require a quorum
	Meeting Schedules:
		Meetings are scheduled at the best time for the largest number of committee members
		The frequency of meetings should be determined by workload, but may be determined by the Chair or committee majority consensus
		The last meeting of the year should fall a week before the final UCC meeting. If workload demands this may be moved up until the last week of regular class
		The first meeting of the year should fall prior to the start of academic year

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