Curriculum Committee Bylaws
Procedures for the Curriculum Committee
of the College of Arts and Sciences
Article I: NAME
This organization shall be known as the Curriculum Committee of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Article II: PURPOSE
The Committee assists the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences by pro-posing actions to be taken or legislated when authorized on matters relating to the undergraduate and graduate curricula of the College. Such matters include, among other things: review, action upon, and recommendation concerning course additions, deletions, and changes in existing curricula and degree programs, including catalog descriptions thereof; and study of the general curricular needs of the College, especially including keeping a control over course and program duplication.
All curricular matters of a substantive nature must be presented to the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee before being presented to the University Curriculum Committee or the Graduate Studies Executive Committee. The decisions of this Committee reflect the College’s attitude upon matters brought before it. However, a department may appeal an adverse action to either the University Curriculum Committee or the Graduate School Executive Committee, as appropriate.
This Committee shall not take a position on any proposal which has not been adequately considered by the department from which it originates. All proposals must be submitted by the chairperson of an academic department.
Article III: MEMBERSHIP
This Committee shall consist of three types of members. Each academic department in the College of Arts and Sciences shall be represented by one faculty member elected by the faculty of their respective departments. There shall be two student members, one from Humanities and Social Sciences, and one from the Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Students shall be nominated by the departmental representatives, and chosen by the Dean of the College. The Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Associate Dean of the College of Arts, the Chair of the International Business and Culture Executive Committee, and the Director of the PhD Program in Environmental Sciences shall be members ex officio. All members shall have an equal vote on all matters before the Committee.
Each member shall be expected to attend all meetings of the Committee and to be informed of the business before the Committee.
Faculty members shall serve for a term of three years on a staggered basis, with the representatives from Earth Sciences, Mathematics, and Communication elected in the same year and each three years thereafter; and from Biology, Chemistry, Foreign Languages, and History elected in the same year and each three years thereafter and from Physics, English, and Sociology and Political Science elected in the same year and each three years thereafter.
Student members shall serve for a term of one year, beginning with the Fall term of each academic year.
In the event of a member not being able to be present at any meeting, any member, except ex officio members, may send a proxy representative from the same constituary, whether faculty or student, i.e., a faculty member may send another faculty member from the same department, and a student member may send another student from the same division of the College. In such cases, the chairperson of the Committee should be notified prior to the meeting as to the identity of the proxy.
Article IV: OFFICERS
The chairperson of the Committee shall appoint a nominating committee, which shall report at the final meeting of the Committee each spring semester.
The chairperson shall:
- preside at all meetings, or designate another member to preside;
- prepare and distribute to the entire membership a tentative agenda for each meeting at least three days prior to the meeting;
- cause minutes to be kept, communicated to the members, and placed on permanent file in the Office of the Dean;
- appoint ad hoc subcommittees as required;
- disseminate information regarding action taken by the Committee when appropriate;
- invite guests to attend and participate in the discussion of matters before the Committee when appropriate;
- have the prerogative of voting on all matters before the Committee; and
- perform all other duties prescribed by these Procedures and by the parliamentary authority adopted by the Committee.
- receive revised copies of proposals modified at Committee meetings.
Article V: MEETINGS
Meetings of the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee shall be called by the chairperson as needed or upon the request of any member for a specific purpose. All meetings shall be announced to the members in writing ten calendar days prior to the meeting date.
All substantive items originating from an academic department must conform to the provisions of Article II, paragraph 3. Items proposed by the Office of the Dean shall be considered as equivalent to being from an academic department.
Substantive items, such as major changes in curricula, new curricula, course additions, deletions, and changes, shall be submitted at least seven calendar days prior to the meeting to all members. A vote of two thirds of the members present shall be required to waive the time requirement.
Non-substantive items need not be submitted to the Committee for action; however, an information copy of all such changes shall be sent to all members, bearing the heading NON-SUBSTANTIVE CHANGES, at least seven calendar days prior to the meeting. Such changes shall be considered to have the endorsement of the Committee unless an item so marked is challenged by a member of the Committee. The Committee shall have competence in deciding whether any specific item is substantive or non-substantive.
At the discretion of the chairperson, issues may be submitted to the Committee for email balloting. However, should any member of the Committee feel that further discussion as a group is necessary, that member may notify the chair within two working days of the time that the proposal was distributed. In that case, the matter will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.
The Chairperson of the Committee shall receive informational copies of all proposals amended at Committee meetings before those proposals are submitted to the University Curriculum Committee.
The agenda shall be adopted at the beginning of each meeting by a majority of those present and voting.
Ten members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for the conduct of business.
Article VI: PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY
The procedures set forth in the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order shall constitute the parliamentary authority of this Committee.
Article VII: AMENDMENTS
These procedures may be amended at any meeting of the Committee by a two-thirds majority of the total membership, provided that the proposed amendment be circulated in writing to all members at least seven calendar days prior to the meeting at which ii is to be voted upon.
Revised 3/22/1995
Revised 3/31/1998
Revised 10/13/1998
Revised 12/14/1998
Revised 3/30/2000
Revised 4/24/2003
Revised 4/5/2007
Revised 10/07/2010
Revised 9/7/2017
