COLLEGE OF ARTS & SCIENCES
College Curriculum and Teaching Committee
Procedures Document
Adopted August 31, 2004, Revised July 3, 2007
This document is a compilation of current College Curriculum and Teaching Committee (C&T) operational procedures. It is intended to acquaint C&T members with the committee’s organization and functions. Each fall the committee should review this document to update and revise it as is appropriate. The source of items marked with an asterisk * is the College Instrument of Governance Article IV, Sections 2 and 5; a change to these items would first require a change to the Instrument of Governance.
COMMITTEE CHARGE:
*A. The Curriculum & Teaching Committee shall act on all curricular matters requiring unit-level approval and other matters as relevant to the committee’s charge, as necessary.
* B. The committee shall make recommendations on programmatic matters, such as:
- College requirements for baccalaureate and graduate degrees;
- The initiation and termination of degree programs in the College, both graduate and undergraduate;
- An appropriate system of academic advising for students enrolled in College degree programs, as well as for “undecided” undergraduate students.
* C. The committee shall promote the enhancement of teaching within the College and, where appropriate, shall provide liaisons to University bodies concerned with teaching and curriculum.
COMMITTEE COMPOSITION:
* D. The committee shall consist of nine faculty members. Six of the faculty members shall be elected at large by the Assembly to serve staggered two-year terms. Faculty may serve two consecutive elected terms. Three of the faculty members shall be appointed by the Executive Committee in consultation with the Dean to serve one-year terms. Faculty may serve two consecutive appointed terms.
* E. An Associate Dean of the College and the Chair-Elect of the Executive Committee shall be non-voting, ex officio members.
*To be eligible to serve on C&T a faculty member must have completed at least one academic year of full-time service at UNCG. No department can have more than one member appointed or elected to C&T. Faculty serving as voting members on C&T are prohibited from serving simultaneously on the College’s Executive Committee, Budget & Planning Committee, and Promotion & Tenure Committee. (Extrapolated from Section 5; D, G, H)
COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION:
* F. The committee shall elect a chair who shall convene the committee, preside at meetings and serve as spokesperson. The committee shall elect a secretary to record the minutes.
* G. The committee shall meet regularly during the academic year.
* H. Curriculum and Teaching Committee meetings shall be open to non-members. The Chair may grant speaking privileges to members of the gallery at any meeting.
Traditionally, it has been the responsibility of an Associate Dean of the College, serving as an ex officio member of C&T, to consult with the Dean and senior faculty on the committee to identify a faculty member who is willing to serve as chair. C&T chairs have always been senior, tenured faculty (Associate Professors, Professors). The presumptive chair is officially nominated and elected at the committee’s first meeting.
In addition, during the committee’s first meeting, a faculty member is selected to record minutes of all the meetings for the academic year. As soon as possible after each meeting, the secretary emails the minutes to the C&T chair who proofreads them before emailing them to the Associate Dean’s assistant for distribution to C&T members.
The work of C&T is facilitated by three standing subcommittees:
- Best Teaching Practices Subcommittee
Purpose: To promote the enhancement of teaching by sponsoring special programs and events within the College. In the past these have included presenting workshops on best practices in 1) developing new course proposals and 2) on creating/improving teaching portfolios. Committee members have also led discussions on a current book about teaching featured in the College’s annual “Talking About Teaching” speakers series. The committee has also served in an ad hoc capacity to review proposals for special teaching initiatives sponsored by the College (i.e. team-teaching, etc.)
- Teaching Excellence Subcommittee
Purpose: To select recipients for the two College Teaching Excellence Awards and College Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award
For the faculty awards (senior and junior): A “Call for nominations” memo and flyer is sent to College departments and Alumni Affairs. When nomination letters are received, a memo is sent to the nominee to confirm their nomination and request their portfolio. The subcommittee reviews the portfolios, selects the recipients for the two awards, and informs the Dean in a memo. The Dean notifies the recipients. The subcommittee writes to each nominee who wasn’t selected. The Dean announces the recipients and gives them a plaque at the last College Assembly meeting in the Spring.
For the graduate T.A. award: A memo is sent out to Administrative Council and Directors of Graduate Study requesting nominations and supporting documentation. Subcommittee members review the portfolios, select the award recipient, and inform the Dean in a memo. The Dean informs the Graduate School. The Associate Dean writes a memo to each nominee thanking them and telling them the Graduate School will notify the recipient and invite them to Excellence Day ceremony.
- College Appeals Subcommittee
Purpose: to review and act on appeals to the College Additional Requirements (CAR), specifically the College’s Foreign Language and Writing Intensive requirements.
The membership of the committee will consist of the Director of CASA (who will chair the committee), an Associate Dean of the College, a representative from each of the Foreign Language departments, and one member of the C&T Committee (who will be appointed on an annual basis by the Chair of the C&T Committee). The committee will meet as needed during the academic year, to review and act on appeals to the College Additional Requirements. Authority to review and act on appeals made during the summer will be shared by the Director of CASA and the Associate Dean of the College.
COMMITTEE OPERATIONS:
- Meetings: The committee usually meets every other week during the Fall and Spring semesters. The Fall meeting schedule should be agreed upon in August. The Spring meeting schedule should be agreed upon by the end of November. Weekly meetings are often necessary near the end of Fall and at the beginning of Spring semesters in order to meet UCC and GSC final deadlines.
- Deadlines: Deadlines are established for the receipt of curricular items in the Associate Dean’s Office for the purpose of managing the assignment of items to agendas for particular meeting dates. The schedule of deadlines will be determined by the C&T Committee meeting schedule and the calendars for UCC/GSC action. Traditionally, deadlines are one week plus two business days prior to each scheduled meeting. This allows time for agenda packets to be assembled and distributed.
- Agendas: The Program Assistant and Associate Dean regularly monitor the submission of items requiring the Committee’s action and consult on the drafting of agendas. Items are included on agendas usually in the order in which they are received in the College Office. The day after each deadline, the Program Assistant assembles the agenda packets and sends them to committee members. Original copies of curricular items are kept in the College Office until the item has been approved by the committee.
- Processing Curricular Items: When the College office receives a curricular item, the C&T Program Assistant processes it as follows:
- Makes an entry into the current year’s log of curricular items.
- For Routine Change Requests, sends the original to either UCC or GSC and puts it on C&T agenda as an informational item.
- Assigns two “close readers” to each action item (requiring approval of committee) according to a rotation schedule of close reader assignments. Makes assignments as systematically as possible, while adhering to these rules:
- C&T chair, Associate Dean, and ex-officio’s are not close readers.
- A close reader cannot be the contact person on the curricular item.
- A close reader cannot be a member of the department that submitted the curricular item.
- Usually a team of two close readers will be assigned up to 4 items on each agenda.
- Adds item to C&T agenda.
- For action items, sends an invitation to the contact person to attend the beginning of the committee meeting. Sends a copy of the invitation to the department head. (During a meeting, the contact persons present their items at beginning of the meeting, then leave. The committee discusses & votes afterwards.)
- Preview Service: The committee offers departments a preview service to identify issues of both form and content that could keep an item from being approved during its first reading. Before a department makes all the required photocopies, the contact person may email a draft of their material to the C&T Program Assistant, or the Associate Dean, or the Committee’s Chair. Materials received by the Program Assistant will be sent to the Chair and the Associate Dean who will provide the contact person with informed advice to improve the item usually within one or two days. After receiving this feedback, the contact person can make changes, then photocopy the paperwork and submit it according to the schedule of deadlines. Please note that the preview service: (1) should be done electronically via email, rather than using hardcopies to avoid hand-delivery; (2) does not constitute formally submitting your material for committee review; hardcopies are still required for committee review (3) should be done well in advance of C&T’s submission deadlines.
- Final Action: As soon as possible after a meeting, the C&T Chair signs the original copy of the items that the committee approved. The Chair emails the contact person (and copies the program Assistant) informing them whether the item was approved (may include suggestions for revisions to facilitate approval by UCC and/or GSC) or tabled (with requirements for necessary revisions before C&T will approve). For approved items, the Assistant prepares a hardcopy memo to use as a cover to send the original copy back to the contact person. The Assistant’s memo gives specific instructions for the contact person to make the appropriate number of photocopies and send the item to UCC or GSC. Assistant keeps a photocopy of the approved item and correspondence on file.
- Minutes: After each meeting, the secretary emails the minutes to the C&T chair who proofreads and edits them before emailing them to the Associate Dean’s assistant. Assistant prints minutes to be included in the agenda packets for the next meeting.
- Communication with UCC and GSC: UCC: Actions and Minutes of UCC meetings will be posted within 10 working days following each meeting on the UCC web page
http://provost.uncg.edu/Underedu/Curriculum_Committee/. Memorandums will not be sent to
submitting departments. GSC: Actions and Minutes of GSC will be posted one week following each meeting on the
GSC web page http://www.uncg.edu/grs/faculty/gsc_committee.html. When necessary, actions will be
communicated to departments by memorandum.
UCC / GSC DOCUMENTATION:
- Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
UCC Regulations and Procedures can be found online at
http://provost.uncg.edu/Underedu/Curriculum_Committee/.
- Graduate Studies Committee: Curriculum Subcommittee
GSC Regulations and Procedures can be found in the online 2007-08 Curriculum Guide pp. 53-57 http://provost.uncg.edu/Underedu/content/Curriculum_Committee/Curriculum_Guide/2007-2008%20Curriculum%20Guide.doc and pp. 53-57 in the hardcopy. Some information is also in the online Faculty Handbook http://provost.uncg.edu/faculty/h_section3.asp.
Appendix A: College C&T Committee Timeline (Dates are Approximate)
August
- Early-mid August: Determine C&T’s Fall meeting dates and time. Associate Dean sends memo to Dept Heads regarding meeting dates and deadlines for submitting curricular items.
- Third week of August:
For Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award: If necessary, Associate Dean and C&T Chair edit the “call
for nominations” memo to Administrative Council and graduate directors. (Mail it September 1.)
For College Teaching Excellence Awards:
1) If necessary, Associate Dean and C&T chair edit the “call for nominations” memo. (Mail it September 1.)
2) If necessary, C&T Chair and Excellence Subcommittee edit the memo to nominees. This memo acknowledges
the nomination and states the deadline and list of materials to be submitted for consideration.
September
- Sept 1: The call for nominations memos for both awards and the flyer for the faculty award are sent out.
- Late Sept: Teaching Excellence Award Lecture and Reception
October____________________________________________________________________________
- In late October begin determining C&T’s Spring meeting dates and time. Decide by the end of November so Associate Dean can send memo to Dept Heads.
- Oct. 15: Deadline for nominations for Teaching Excellence Award to come to 105 Foust. (We can safely extend deadline to Dec. 15 if we have too few nominees.)
December
- One or two Friday's before Winter Holiday: This is the deadline that we publish in Curriculum Guide as the date when all curricular items that need to be effective for next year must reach 105 Foust so C&T can review them.
January
- Jan18: Deadline for portfolios for Teaching Excellence Award to come to 105 Foust. (We can safely extend deadline to Feb 22 if we have too few nominees). Excellence Subcommittee reviews portfolios.
- Feb 4 : Submission deadline for GSC to receive curricular items for their Feb meeting. March 5 : Submission deadline for UCC to receive curricular items for their Feb meeting. UCC/GSC must approve items at this meeting in order for curricular items to be effective and offered next year and be published in next year’s Undergraduate and Graduate Bulletins.
- Jan 31: Deadline for portfolios for Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award to come to 105 Foust. Excellence Subcommittee reviews portfolios.
February
- C&T Chair & Best Practices Subcommittee plan an event.(This event is sometimes held in the fall semester)
- Feb. 20: For Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award:
1) C&T Excellence Subcommittee meet to decide the recipient.
2) C&T Chair or subcommittee designee writes a memo to College Dean announcing C&T’s recommendation for the
recipient. The Dean’s deadline to notify the Graduate School in writing is March 1.
March
- Early March: Associate Dean returns portfolios to nominees for Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award with a “thank you” memo saying the Graduate School will notify the award recipient.
- By end of March: For Teaching Excellence Award:
1) C&T Excellence Subcommittee reviews faculty portfolios and meet to select recipients.
2) C&T Chair or subcommittee designee writes memo to College Dean and Associate Dean announcing C&T’s
recommendation for the award recipients. College Dean writes to the recipients asking them to keep it confidential
until he announces it at College Assembly.
April
- Early April: For Teaching Excellence Award: Excellence Subcommittee writes memos to each nominee who wasn’t selected to: (1) tell them they weren’t selected (2) list positive aspects of their portfolio (3) ask them to pick up their portfolios in 105 Foust (sometimes we walk these over to faculty) (4) ask them to keep this information confidential until the Dean announces the two recipient’s names publicly at College Assembly. Associate Dean’s assistant will mail memos and keep a copy on file.
- Before the last C&T meeting: C&T Chair (Associate Dean’s assistant may assist) prepares the Annual C&T Report, which lists all the curricular items reviewed by the committee, and other activities during the academic year.