1/9/01: revised 10/26/2006
BYLAWS
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Preamble
The functions of the College Academic Affairs Committee shall be to develop recommendations in consultation with the Dean or his/her designee on matters of admissions, retention, and graduation from the University, curriculum, academic standards, long range academic planning, and other matters pertinent to the Dean and to the Faculty Council on Academic Affairs (Faculty Constitution, April, 1981).
I. Membership
A. The membership of the Academic Affairs Committee shall consist of one representative from each Department/unit in the constituency as determined by that department/unit. All voting members of the department/unit may participate in the election. The Dean or his/her designee shall serve on the Committee in a non-voting capacity. Only these designated members of the Committee may vote.
B. Each department/unit shall choose an alternate representative to the Academic Affairs Committee. The alternate shall attend meetings and may vote in the absence of the unit representative.
C. The term of membership shall be two years beginning in the fall semester.
D. A member of a department who has primary teaching responsibility in an non-departmental program represented on the Committee shall be eligible to represent either his/her department or the non-departmental program, but not both.
II. Officers
A. The Committee shall elect a Chairperson. It shall be the duty of the Chairperson to preside at all meetings, to arrange for extra or extended meetings, and, with the approval of the Committee, to appoint special subcommittees when necessary or desirable, and to report to annual meetings of the College Assembly as required by the faculty constitution. The Chairperson shall bring before the Committee for consideration all matters referred to it.
B. The Committee shall elect a Vice Chairperson. It shall be the duty of the Vice Chairperson to assume the duties of the Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson, as well as other duties requested by the Committee.
C. The Committee shall elect a Secretary. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to ensure that minutes are kept of all meetings, to ensure that copies of such minutes are furnished to all members of the Committee and to other appropriate bodies, including Departmental chairpersons, and to ensure that members are notified of extra or extended meetings, if requested to do so by the Chairperson.
It shall be the duty of the Secretary to assume the duties of the Chairperson in the absence of the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson, as well as other duties requested by the Committee.
D. The Office of the Dean has agreed to assign a staff person for Committee administration. Working closely with the Secretary of the Committee, the duty of the administrative aide shall be to keep minutes of all meetings, to furnish minutes of the meetings to all members of the Committee and to other appropriate bodies, including Departmental chairpersons, to notify members of extra or extended meetings, if requested to do so by the Chairperson, and to keep a record of all college courses and programs. The staff person shall also work closely with the Chairperson in constructing and publishing the meeting agendas, and in managing Committee correspondence and records.
E. The term of office for each of the elected officers shall be one year. Election of the officers shall take place at the first meeting of the spring term every year. The term of office shall begin immediately after the close of the first meeting.
III. Meetings
A. The Committee shall have a regularly scheduled meeting at least every month during the fall and spring semesters. The Chairperson may arrange for additional or extended meetings in exceptional cases. The Committee does not normally meet during the summer terms.
Proper notification of meetings shall be made to the Committee membership through a published meeting agenda. All required documents shall be sent to each committee member not less than one week before a scheduled meeting.
B. A quorum shall consist of a majority of Committee members or alternates and decisions shall be reached by a majority vote of those present and voting.
If there is no quorum, but at least one-third of the total voting membership is present, the Committee may meet if a majority of the members present vote to do so. With the exception of the decision to meet that day and any other immediate procedural questions, the Committee may not vote on any motions before it. However, motions may be introduced and other business or action may be taken.
C. The bylaws shall be the first authority consulted on questions of procedure. Procedural matters not addressed by the bylaws shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order (most recent edition). Interpretations of the bylaws or of Robert’s Rules of Order shall be the duty of the Chairperson. Any member of the Committee may raise a point of order suggesting an alternative interpretation and place the question of interpretation before the Committee. The question of interpretation shall be decided by a majority vote of all members present.
D. Committee members will review all relevant documentation in advance of scheduled meetings. Proposed curricular actions will be presented to the Committee by a member of the department/program proposing them. Discussion and motions to vote to approve or not to approve may follow. A motion can be made and voted upon in the same meeting. If there are substantial recommendations for changes to a proposed action, a committee member may move to postpone action until a subsequent meeting. In such cases, the proposed curricular action will be re-presented at the next or a subsequent scheduled committee meeting. If a member of the department/program proposing the curricular action is not present at a scheduled meeting to answer the Committee’s questions, then discussion will be postponed until the next meeting when a department/program member is available.
E. Prior to a vote, Department or program representatives may withdraw without prejudice any motion(s) previously submitted by that Department or program. This may be done without the permission of the persons who submitted the proposal to the Committee, made the motion for a vote, or seconded the motion for a vote.
F. Prior to a vote, Department or program representatives may request without prejudice a one-meeting delay of a vote on any motion(s) previously submitted by that Department or program. This may be done without the permission of the persons who submitted the proposal to the Committee, made the motion for a vote, or seconded the motion for a vote.
IV. Curriculum Procedures
A. At the first meeting of the academic year, the Chair will distribute a summary of the procedures required for all curricular actions. This summary will specify what must be included in each proposal, as determined by the decisions of the Provost, the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and other relevant faculty governing bodies as determined by the Faculty Constitution. If institutions of faculty governance (acting in accordance with the Faculty Constitution) revise these procedures, and if any part of these revised procedures are inconsistent with those listed here in the by-laws, then the Committee may change those parts of its own procedures accordingly. These types of changes do not require a formal amendment to these by-laws.
B. New course proposals, credit hour changes, prerequisite changes, substantive course description changes, and changes in course numbering which affect the level of the course must be submitted to the entire Committee for a vote. The steps in this process are as follows.
1. An individual department/unit shall initially approve curricular proposals by majority vote of the members of that department/unit.
2. The department/unit shall then forward the required number of copies (as determined by the number of units in the College and the needs of other committees and administrators involved) to either the Office of the Dean or directly to the Secretary of the Committee. The standard option is to send it to the Office of the Dean for screening for completeness and fiscal responsibility, but this is not required. Departments are encouraged to send a preliminary copy to the Office of the Dean for an initial screening prior to formal submission, but this is not required.
3. Proposals and the required number of copies must be formally submitted to the Office of the Dean or to the Secretary of the Committee at least ten (10) working days prior to the Committee’s scheduled meeting. The Office of the Dean or the Secretary of the Committee shall submit, in a published meeting agenda, a list of courses, changes, and supporting material to the Committee members and Chairpersons not less than one week prior to the next meeting.
4. Individual departments/units can object to a proposal before it is brought before the Committee. In these cases, all parties should try to arrive at a mutual solution before the proposal is submitted.
5. Departments/units can issue a formal challenge during a Committee meeting to any type of proposal listed in this section (IV. B.). The challenge can be issued after the proposing department introduces its proposal to the Committee. After the challenge is issued, a motion for a vote on approving the proposal is in order. Within five working days after the meeting, a written copy of the challenge must be distributed to the Office of the Dean, the Chairperson of the Academic Affairs Committee, and the Department making the proposal. The written challenge shall contain a rationale and can include, but not be limited to, alleged duplication of existing courses(s), and /or alleged lack of clear specification that the proposed course falls within the discipline(s) of the Department from which the course was proposed.
6. After the written challenge is delivered, the Dean and the Chair of the Committee (or their chosen representatives) shall initiate a meeting with the submitting and objecting departments, with the goal of resolving the objection. If the participants agree to meet without the Dean and the Chair of the Committee in attendance, then they should make regular reports of their progress to both the Dean and the Chair.
7. If a challenge is resolved, then a vote on the proposal, with amendments if appropriate, shall be in order at the next meeting of the Committee.
If two (2) months have passed since the challenge and if either party feels the challenge cannot be resolved, then the matter shall be referred to the Committee. A written copy of the challenge and any supporting material shall be submitted to all members of the Committee. The Department/unit proposing the curricular action shall submit copies of its proposal to the Committee, as well as a counter argument in writing. The question shall be brought to the entire Committee at the next meeting to be disposed of by a majority vote of those present and voting. The recommendation of the Committee shall be forwarded to the Office of the Dean.
8. With the permission of the Department/unit representative, the Committee can amend any proposal submitted to the Committee for a vote. If the Committee votes to approve an amended proposal and if the Department/unit accepts the amendments, they must submit 3 copies of the amended proposal to the Office of the Dean. The Committee does not consider the proposal to be approved until these copies have been submitted.
9. If, after the vote, the Department/unit refuses to accept the amendments to its proposal, it can notify the Committee in writing of its refusal and request its objection be addressed at the next meeting. At the next meeting, the Committee will consider the Department/unit s request. After hearing and debating the objection, the Committee will vote on the question to drop the amendment(s). If the Committee refuses to drop the amendment(s), the submitting Department/unit can accept the amended proposal, or it can refuse to submit the amended proposal as outlined in paragraph 9.
C. Trial title-varies options not described in the catalog (but within an existing title-varies course), course deletions, non-substantive name changes, non-substantive course description changes, numbering changes not affecting the level of the course, and the addition or deletion of course prerequisites must be submitted to the Committee to be published for a 10-day challenge period. The steps for this are as follows.
1. An individual department/unit shall initially approve any of the changes listed above by majority vote of the members of that department/unit.
2. The changes listed in this section (IV. C.) shall be considered approved ten (10) working days after publication unless challenged by another department/unit or by the Office of the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Any challenges regarding courses or changes from a department or the Office of the Dean must be made within the ten day challenge period by written notification.
3. A challenge must be made in writing and distributed to the Office of the Dean, the Chairperson of the Academic Affairs Committee, and the Department making the proposal. The written challenge shall contain a rationale and shall include, but not be limited to, alleged duplication of existing courses(s), and /or alleged lack of clear specification that the proposed course falls within the discipline(s) of the Department from which the course was proposed. The rationale for the challenge must address the rationale presented by the department proposing the course or course change. Both parties should then meet informally to resolve the challenge. They can also request a meeting with the Dean or with the Chair of the Committee (or with their representatives). If the participants agree to meet without the Dean and the Chair of the Committee in attendance, then they should make regular reports of their progress to both the Dean and the Chair.
If two (2) months have passed since the challenge and if either party feels the challenge cannot be resolved, then the matter shall be referred to the Committee. The written challenge and any supporting material shall be submitted to all members of the Committee. The Department/unit making the change shall submit copies of its proposal to the Committee, as well as a counter argument in writing. The question shall be brought to the entire Committee at the next meeting to be disposed of by a majority vote of those present and voting. The recommendation of the Committee shall be forwarded to the Office of the Dean.
D. New Majors, programs and program changes must be submitted to the entire Committee for a vote. The steps in this process are as follows.
1. An individual department/unit shall initially approve any of the changes listed above by majority vote of the members of that department/unit.
2. The department/unit shall then forward the required number of copies (as determined by the number of units in the College and the needs of other committees and administrators involved) to either the Office of the Dean or directly to the Committee. The standard option is to send it to the Office of the Dean for screening for completeness and fiscal responsibility, but this is not required. Departments are encouraged to send a preliminary copy to the Office of the Dean for an initial screening prior to formal submission, but this is not required.
3. Proposals and the required number of copies must be formally submitted to the Office of the Dean or to the Committee at least ten (10) working days prior to the Committee’s scheduled meeting. The Office of the Dean or the Committee shall submit, in a published meeting agenda, a list of courses, changes, and supporting material to the Committee members and Chairperson not less than one week prior to the next meeting.
4. Individual Departments/units can object to a proposal before it is brought before the Committee. In these cases, all parties should try to arrive at a mutual solution before the proposal is submitted.
5. Departments/units can issue a formal challenge during a Committee meeting to any type of proposal listed in this section (IV. D.). The challenge can be issued after the proposing department introduces its proposal to the Committee. After the challenge is issued, a motion for a vote on approving the proposal is in order. However, there will be no vote until the objecting department withdraws its challenge or until 2 months has passed since the meeting, whichever is sooner.
6. After a challenge, the Dean and the Chair of the Committee (or their chosen representatives) shall initiate a meeting with the submitting and objecting departments, with the goal of resolving the objection. If the participants agree to meet without the Dean and the Chair of the Committee in attendance, then they should make regular reports of their progress to both the Dean and the Chair.
7. If the challenge cannot be resolved, then the motion to approve the proposal will be debated and voted upon at the next meeting after the two month challenge period has passed. The question shall be brought to the entire Committee at that meeting to be disposed of by a majority vote of those present and voting.
8. With the permission of the Department/unit representative, the Committee can amend any proposal submitted to the Committee for a vote. If the Committee votes to approve an amended proposal and if the department/unit accepts the amendments, they must submit 3 copies of the amended proposal to the Office of the Dean. The Committee does not consider the proposal to be approved until these copies have been submitted.
10. If, after the vote, the Department/unit refuses to accept the amendments to its proposal, it can notify the Committee in writing of its refusal and request its objection be addressed in the next meeting. At the next meeting, the Committee will consider the Department/unit s request. After hearing and debating the objection, the Committee will vote on the question to accept the request to drop the amendment(s). If the Committee refuses to accept the request to drop the amendments, the submitting Department/unit can accept the amended proposal, or it can refuse to submit the amended proposal as outlined in the previous section.
V. Ad Hoc Subcommittees
A. The Committee may, by majority vote, create ad hoc subcommittees. The Chair shall appoint the members of the subcommittee. Once the subcommittee has completed its task, it shall report back to the Committee.
VI. Bylaw Revision
A. Proposed changes in these bylaws may originate with any member of the Committee.
B. Proposed changes must be submitted at least one meeting before, but not less than two weeks, before the vote.
C. The approval of 2/3 of the representatives or alternates from all departments/programs is required for adoption.