Curriculum Services - Curriculum Committee
COE Curriculum Committee By-Laws
Section 7. Standing Committees: Standing Committees are permanent Committees that aid the Faculty Senate in accomplishing its duties.
A. Responsibilities:
Many functions of the College of Education are conducted by Standing Committees of the Faculty Senate. To ensure responsible faculty governance, members of the Standing Committees shall represent the Faculty in a fair, appropriate, professional, and objective manner and shall be knowledgeable of the responsibilities, functions, and operating procedures of the Committee on which they serve as stated by these By-Laws. Members who do not participate responsibly in the work of the Committee shall be removed by the President, and the President shall solicit a volunteer from amongst the Faculty Senate to fill that vacancy. The removed Committee member, and his or her Department Head, shall be notified of the action by the Senate President.
B. Composition:
Members of the Standing Committee shall be elected either by the Faculty Senate (Administrator Evaluation Committee) and/or the Faculty of the College (all other Standing Committees) as stated in these By-Laws. That is with the sole exception that each department shall select one representative for the College Curriculum Committee. Department Heads shall not be eligible to serve on Standing Committees. Faculty members may serve concurrently only on two Senate committees, one of which shall be the Steering Committee. The Chair of the Standing Committee for the following year shall be elected at the last meeting of the committee from the members who are returning.
C. Term:
Members of the Standing Committees shall serve a two-year term with half the members rotating off the committee each year whenever possible.
D. List if Standing Committees:
1. Academic Appeals Committee
2. College Curriculum Committee
3. Nominating Committee
4. Scholarship Committee
College Curriculum Committee
A. Responsibilities:
The College Curriculum Committee shall consider action on undergraduate curricular matter which affects the College as a whole or relations among Programs and Departments in the College. The primary responsibility for initiating changes in the curriculum, including the modification, addition, or deletion of courses shall reside with Programs and Departments. The Committee shall rely on the originating unit’s expert knowledge and best efforts to improve curriculum even as it attends to the broader curricular concerns of the College.
The Committee shall review all proposals from Programs and Departments concerning: (1) changes in course offerings; (2) the establishment, major modification of (including, but not limited to, name changes) or the discontinuance of any degree program; other proposals as appropriate.
The Committee shall make recommendations to the Dean, and then the Dean and/or the Associate Dean for Academic Programs shall forward proposals approved by the Committee to the Graduate School Curriculum Committee and the University Counsil Curriculum Committee as appropriate.
B. Composition:
The Committee shall consist of one faculty member from each Department. All Committee members must have Graduate Faculty status. The Associate Dean for Academic Programs shall facilitate the work of this Committee.
C. Operating Procedures:
Operating procedures may be found in Appendix C.
Appendix C: College Curriculum Committee Operating Procedures
I. Meetings:
The Chair shall convene the first meeting of the Committee with the first three weeks of Fall Semester. Ordinarily, the Committee shall meet 2-3 times per semester during the academic year, with on-line deliberations between meetings as needed. Meeting dates shall precede meeting dates set by the Graduate School’s Curriculum Committee and the University Council’s Curriculum Committee.
II. Agenda:
Individuals and/or Department representatives who have curriculum proposals before the Committee shall be invited by the Chair to present and discuss their proposals. Individuals and/ or Department representatives who have not been invited but who wish to discuss a proposal shall request permission from the Chair listed on the agenda.
The agenda and other pertinent material shall be distributed to each Committee member and posted on the COE Curriculum Committee’s website at least five days prior to each voting deadline.(http://www.coe.uga.edu/adstudents/curriculum/committee/index.html)
III. Procedures for Submitting Proposals to Committee:
1. Consult the COE Curriculum Committee website for further information, guidance, and examples. (http://www.coe.uga.edu/adstudents/curriculum/procedres/index.html)
2. New curriculum proposals shall include in the CAPA form (required by Curriculum System in the Office of the Vice President for Instruction) the following: (a) course objectives and/or learning outcomes and (b) a topical outline.
3. The comment section in the CAPA form, which cannot be removed and is public, shall be used to provide appropriate explanations.
4. Originators of proposals shall review existing College (and, if relevant, University) curriculum to determine possible duplication and/or conflicts. Proposers of new programs and/or courses shall make efforts to avoid unnecessary duplication. To identify potential duplication with existing courses or programs, proposers should review course titles and descriptions in the Graduate Bulletin, examine pertinent CAPA descriptions and course syllabi, and discuss possible overlap with respective faculties. Documentation of this process of review should be included with the program or course proposals. Failure to verify that the proposed course is not in duplication or competition with another course/program will delay the proposal moving forward.
Proposals that may appear to be duplicates of or in competition with current curriculum shall be supported by a strong rationale for the proposal and letter(s) from other units stating their support of or concern about the proposal. Conflicts that are not resolved among units will be decided by the Committee.
Process for Dealing with Potential Duplication or Conflict:
1) If a possible conflict(s) or duplication(s) is identified by the proposer, the proposer should contact the relevant department(s) and include the results of that contact/negotiation in the documentation submitted with their original application. Documentation from the other unit stating their support of or concern about the proposal must be sent to the Curriculum Committee.
2) If, during the review process, the COE curriculum committee identifies a potential conflict or duplication, the committee will table the proposal and notify the parties involved that a potential duplication or conflict has been identified—outlining the nature of the issue and the involved department(s). The Department Head, Curriculum Committee Representative and the Course Initiator (if not the Department Head) of involved Departments will be notified. Parties will be encouraged to work together to explore the potential duplication/conflict and/or to craft an official response to send back to the Curriculum Committee.
3) If the involved departments explore and reconcile the issue, each party notifies the Curriculum Committee of their approval of the new proposal and how the potential duplication or conflict was addressed.
4) If the involved departments are unable to reconcile the issue:
a. The department that originally proposed the course/program should prepare a formal response to the objection raised by the department with the concern(s). This should be prepared by the Department Head with support of faculty member(s) as deemed appropriate and then submitted to the COE Curriculum Committee.
b. The COE Curriculum Committee will then share that response with the Department Head of the department that raised the objection. That Department Head will be invited to prepare a response to share with the committee within one week of receipt; and that response will be shared with the Department that originally proposed the course/program.
c. The issue will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the COE Curriculum Committee. The Department Heads (or their designees) will be invited to the meeting to support their responses as the committee has questions.
d. On the day of the meeting, each Department Head (or their designee) will be allotted time for dialogue with the committee separately before the committee discusses the proposal. And, as per COE Curriculum Committee By-Laws, committee members from both involved departments will abstain from voting.
5. Proposals for two or more courses that are highly related to each other or that are related to a proposal for a new degree or area of emphasis should be presented together as a package.
IV. Procedures for Considering Proposals:
1. At the start of each voting session, all materials are disseminated to committee members. All course proposals (changes and new courses) entered into CAPA will then be open for voting; however, if any member of the committee indicates the proposal “needs discussion,” voting is suspended and will not be discussed or voted upon until the next face-to-face meeting. Proposals for new degree programs and areas of emphasis will be voted on only during face-to-face meetings and representatives of the proposing program or department will be invited to attend.
2. In all cases committee members will evaluate proposals to: (a) determine the need for and desirability for the proposed course or program; (b) determine whether a course description is congruent with its level, credit hours, objectives, and title satisfies a need of the Department, College and/or University; (c) evaluate the effect on the originating Department and other program areas in the College.
3. After a review of the proposal has been completed, the Committee (including the Chair) shall vote on one of the following actions: Approve the proposal, approve the proposal with required changes, or to reject the proposal and return it to originating Department with suggestions for changes or a rationale for rejection.
a. Members from departments within an interest in the proposal shall abstain from voting.
b. A proposal must be approved by a 2/3 vote from the non-abstaining members.
4. If a proposal is approved, the Chair shall recommend the proposal to the Dean who shall forward approved proposals to the Graduate Schools Curriculum Committee (graduate curriculum matters) and the University Council Curriculum (undergraduate curriculum matters). If the proposal is rejected, the department can (a) revise and resubmit the proposal based on feedback of the committee or (b) appeal to the COE Associate Dean for Academic Programs.
