University Curriculum Committee:  Responsibilities 

Faculty Manual Section C.2.1.9.5.m (last revised December 6, 2018):

The University Curriculum Committee shall consist of one (1) faculty representative from each college and the Libraries, the Chairperson of Faculty Council (ex officio), the Provost or the Provost’s designee (ex officio), one (1) undergraduate student, and one (1) graduate student. The duties of this standing committee shall be:

1. To receive or initiate recommendations pertaining to each and every course and program offered for academic credit by any unit of the University.
2. To evaluate all proposals for new undergraduate courses and programs as well as changes in existing courses and programs for correlation with other departments before consideration and approval by the Faculty Council.
3. To evaluate all proposals for new graduate courses and programs as well as changes in existing courses and programs for correlation with other departments. Review of graduate programs is conducted after the Committee on Scholarship, Research, and Graduate Education has recommended approval prior to their submission to the Faculty Council for approval.
4. To develop necessary administrative procedures for informing interested colleges concerning courses under consideration.
5. To evaluate proposals for the establishment of new departments, and the change of academic name, change in college affiliation, dissolution, division, or merger of existing departments.
6. To recommend policies to the Faculty Council related to the operations of the Division of Continuing Education which impact curricula.

University Curriculum Committee:  Operating Procedures

Faculty Council Procedures Handbook (V-44) (Adopted April 20, 2001 – Revised August 23, 2021)

1. University Curriculum Committee (UCC) meetings are open to any member of the university community; however, participation in those meetings except for elected representatives and ex-officio members is at the invitation of the Chair of the UCC.
2. College representatives serve as liaisons between their units, UCC, and the Office of Curriculum and Catalog. Elected representatives are encouraged to send a substitute when they cannot attend a UCC meeting. Whether or not a substitute attends, the elected representative and/or the chair may decide to defer agenda items from their unit to the next meeting when the representative shall be present.
3. In the event that the Chair is not present to convene a meeting of the Committee and has not arranged for another member to act as chair, any other member of the Committee may chair the meeting provided all members are duly notified of the meeting and the agenda. If a quorum of voting members is present, the committee may elect a chair, pro tem, for that meeting only and conduct business.
4. A quorum shall consist of six (6) of eleven (11) voting members of the Committee.
5. A staff member (from the Office of Curriculum and Catalog) appointed by the Provost will act as Secretary of the Committee. The Secretary will prepare an agenda in cooperation with the Chair and shall record and prepare minutes to be distributed to the members prior to the subsequent meeting. After adoption of the minutes by the Committee, the Chair will direct the Secretary to forward them to the Chair of Faculty Council.
6. The Committee may approve UCC minutes by e-mail when this consideration has been agreed to at a regular UCC meeting and would facilitate timely receipt of the approved minutes by the Executive Committee of Faculty Council. Other items of business will only be voted on by e-mail after they have been discussed at a UCC meeting, there is a consensus among the members to have an e-mail vote, and a vote is needed prior to the next regular UCC meeting due to the timeliness of the matter.
7. It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Committee to send copies of all official correspondence of the Committee to the Chair of Faculty Council including an annual report. It is also the responsibility of the Chair to inform the Chair of Faculty Council of any significant proposals or actions made to the Committee by members of the faculty or the administration.
8. Robert’s Rules of Order, latest edition, shall govern Committee meetings.
9. The UCC shall by its own authority review, modify, delete, augment and amend the procedures set forth in the Curriculum Policies and Procedures Manual. Changes and the effective date for those changes shall be publicized to the University community well before the effective date. Changes that constitute modifications of POLICY or NEW POLICY shall be prepared as a special action item before the Faculty Council before adoption.
10. Review and modification of the Operating Procedures shall be by a 2/3 vote, 8 of 11 members, at any regular meeting.
11. The UCC shall meet every Friday – 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. beginning the first week of the fall and spring semesters and ending the last week of classes for those semesters. Priority will be given to two meetings per semester for the discussion of curricular policy and issues.
12. Under normal circumstances, items will remain on the agenda as old business for no longer than three (3) meetings. If the item has not been resolved by the third meeting, it will be removed from the agenda and it must be resubmitted with corrections to the Curriculum and Catalog office for consideration as new business.
13. New programs (degrees and majors) will first be on the UCC agenda as an information item at least one week prior to consideration for action.
14. UCC may form ad hoc committees from its members to address identified policies/issues. Additional faculty may be included to assure breadth of perspective related to subcommittee charge.
15. The UCC chair will be invited to attend the Council of Deans when Phase 0, I, and II proposals are being presented and reviewed.
16. The UCC meeting agenda will include a consent agenda for items designated as minor changes (courses and programs). A list of experimental courses approved for 1^st or 2^nd offerings will be appended to the weekly agenda.

For questions regarding UCC’s policies and procedures refer to the Curricular Handbook (pdf).