Curriculum Committee By-Laws
COS Curriculum Committee By-Laws
Revised, April 1996, October 1996, March 2005, March 2008, September 2008
The College of Sciences Curriculum Committee was established July 1, 1993.
I. STRUCTURE OF THE COMMITTEE
A. Committee Members:
1. The Committee consists of one faculty member from each of the departments and free-standing programs within the College of Sciences. Members serve staggered three-year terms.
2. The Dean, Associate Dean and the Assistant to the Dean/Certification Officer of the College of Scienc颅es are ex officio non-voting members.
3. Two student members are appointed each Fall Semester to serve one year terms. Each Depart颅ment Chairper颅son in the College may submit the name of one student to the Chair of the Committee, who with the Vice Chair and in consultation with the Dean of the College, selects the representatives from the students nominated. The student members must represent different departments.
B. Officers:
1. At a meeting during spring semester, a Vice Chair is elected from among those faculty members in their first year. The Vice Chair serves a one-year term as Vice Chair beginning fall semester and succeeds to the Chair the following year.
2. The Chair (1) calls meetings of the Com颅mit颅tee; (2) arranges meetings with representa颅tives of other curriculum committees; (3) presides at the meetings of the Committee; (4) ensures that all proposals are forwarded to appropriate councils and offices; (5) assists in the training of the Vice Chair for future responsibilities as Chair; (6) consults with persons requesting to bring propos颅als before the Committee.
3. The Vice Chair (1) serves in the absence of the Chair, (2) assists the Chair in the con颅duct of the business of the Commit颅tee, and (3) serves as the Election Coordinator.
C. Secretary:
The office of the Dean of the College of Sciences provides the necessary clerical support for the Committee including a recording secretary.
D. Quorum:
A quorum consists of one more than half of the voting members.
II. ELECTION OF THE COMMITTEE
A. Eligibility:
All members of the faculty of the College of Sciences are eligible for voting mem颅bership on the Committee with the following excep颅tions:
1. Persons on temporary contract, such as lectur颅ers, faculty assistants, and graduate assis颅tants.
2. Persons scheduled to be absent from the campus during all of the following academic year (Fall and Spring Semesters).
3. Members of the Committee whose terms have at least one year to run.
4. The Dean and Associate Dean of the College.
B. Suffrage:
With the exception of persons included in II.A.2. and 3. above, ineligibility for membership consti颅tutes ineligibility for suffrage.
C. Election:
Each April, the Vice Chair contacts those departments whose representa颅tives' terms are due to expire at the end of the academic year. Each such department conducts an election among its faculty and notifies the Vice Chair of the department's choice of Committee representative, and alternate, for the subsequent three year term.
D. Seating:
Newly elected members are seated at the first meeting of the Fall Semester, or earlier if the positions to which they were elected become vacant.
E. Alternates:
In the event that a member's tenure of service is interrupted for as long as one term or semester, that member's alternate serves in the member's absence. In the event no alternate is available, the affected department elects a member of that department to fill the vacancy during the member's absence.
F. Election Coordinator:
The Vice Chair, serving as the Election Coordinator, is responsible for (1) notifying each department whose representative's term expires at the end of the academic year to conduct a departmen颅tal election, (2) collecting election results from each affected depart颅ment and (3) notifying the Dean and the Chair of the election results. Election results are published as part of the minutes of the Curriculum Committee.
III. DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEE
The Committee has responsibility for the program of instruction of the College of Sciences.
A. The Committee may act on or suggest proposals with regard to:
1. Policies and procedures governing the curricula for all undergraduate and graduate programs and degrees.
2. Addition of new graduate and undergraduate courses.
3. Modification or deletion of graduate and undergraduate courses.
4. Addition of new graduate and undergraduate majors and undergraduate minors.
5. Modification or deletion of graduate and undergraduate majors and undergraduate minors.
6. Recommendations for the establishment and aboli颅tion of departments and divisions within the College of Sciences.
7. Recommendations from the Council on Academic Affairs, Council on Teacher Education or Council of Graduate Studies concerning academic policies and procedures, or general education.
B. The Committee may study the offerings of the vari颅ous departments of the College of Scienc颅es.
C. The Committee may consider actions of other curric颅ulum committees and may request joint meetings.
D. The Committee may make recommendations to the President of the University through the Dean of the College of Sciences and the Vice President for Academic Affairs.
E. The Committee may serve as an advisory committee to the Dean of the College of Sciences on any matters of concern to College faculty.
IV. PROCEDURES OF THE COMMITTEE
A. Proposals
Written proposals may be received by the Committee from any department or faculty member of the Uni颅versity.
1. Departmental proposals:
a. Departmental proposals must first be ap颅proved by a majority vote of the members of the department(s) sending the proposal.
b. In the case of proposals for new courses, department chairper颅sons consult with a representative from the Dean's Office on matters of proposal format and style.
c. Department chairpersons forward to the Committee Chair or designee copies of all propos颅als in the form prescribed by the Council on Aca颅demic Affairs and/or the Council on Graduate Studies.
2. Other proposals:
Persons requesting to bring proposals before the Committee must consult with the Committee Chair for the purpose of defining the format appro颅priate to the proposal, and the points to be addressed in the written document.
B. Agenda
1. Proposals shall be added to the agenda for con颅sideration in the order in which they are re颅ceived by the Committee Chair or designee, except in unusual circumstances.
2. The agenda for each meeting of the Committee must be released to all faculty members of the College of Sciences prior to each meet颅ing. Representatives of depart颅ments whose pro颅posals are being considered will be present at the meeting to discuss the need for the course and to offer information concerning such matters as course content, catalog de颅scription, instruc颅tor, level at which the course is to be taught, and other pertinent issues.
3. If, in the opinion of the Committee, a proposal directly affects part of the University other than the College of Sciences, the Committee Chair may request a joint meeting of representatives of the curriculum committees involved.
4. Proposals shall be discussed at the next regu颅lar meeting after notice to the College faculty by distribution of the agenda, or at a subse颅quent meeting if the agenda is unusually lengthy.
a. A motion to approve shall be entertained, and if second颅ed, voting shall take place immediately unless the Committee Chair rules the proposal controver颅sial.
b. In the event of such a ruling, the minutes shall note that a controversial proposal has been discussed and that a motion to approve has been accepted.
c. A vote on a controversial proposal shall take place no sooner than one week after distribution of the minutes noting the controversy.
d. Further delay must be granted if a joint meeting with another curriculum committee is requested or if, in the opinion of the Committee Chair, further time is needed to permit adequate consideration of contro颅ver颅sial matters.
e. After approval, a proposal shall be sent immediately to the next appropri颅ate level.
f. If a proposal is defeated, the department may request the Committee Chair to provide a written statement of reasons for rejection. Such re颅quests must be re颅ceived no later than two weeks after the proposal was rejected. The request must be acted upon at the first regularly scheduled meeting after its receipt.
g. If a proposal has been submitted to the Committee and no action is reported after a reasonable time, or it is be颅lieved that improper procedures have been followed or that unwise actions have been taken, the proposing agency may appeal to the Vice President for Academic Affairs for assistance in achieving expeditious and wise actions.
5. Robert's Rules of Order shall be the guide for questions of procedure during Committee meet颅ings.
C. Approval
A proposal is deemed approved when the number of "yes" votes is a majority of all voting members present.
D. Executive Action
The Dean may recommend to the Committee the approv颅al of minor changes in courses and programs offered in the College. Such changes shall be reported in the minutes as approved by executive action. However, the Commit颅tee may set aside the approval of any item and process it as an agenda item.
E. Minutes
Minutes of the meetings of the Committee will be posted and archived on the College of Sciences web page.
F. Faculty Meetings
The Curriculum Committee may call faculty meetings. An agenda shall be distributed at least three days prior to each such meeting. The Committee Chair and the Dean shall work together in planning these faculty meetings.
G. By-Laws Changes
1. Changes in these By-Laws which do not alter the intent of the By-Laws shall be handled in accordance with Committee Procedures, specifically sections IV.A.2 and B.1-B.5. When such changes are proposed, a copy of the proposal will be included in the agenda which is distributed to the College faculty.
2. Changes described in IV.G.1 must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast by the voting members of the College of Sciences Curriculum Committee.
3. Any changes in these By-Laws, except those described in IV.G.1, must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast by members of the faculty of the College of Scienc颅es.
H. By-Laws Distribution
The Office of the Dean is responsible maintaining a current copy of the By-Laws on the College of Sciences web page.
