Roles and Responsibilities
of University Committee on Curriculum
Role.
The role of the University Committee on Curriculum (UCC) is to fulfill the responsibility delegated to the faculty to shape the curriculum. The curriculum refers to programs of study, those requirements and courses which contribute to the completion of all or some requirements that lead to the awarding of a credential known as a degree or certificate. The determination to offer a credential is a responsibility delegated to the provost who, as the chief academic officer of the university, is responsible for the administrative support essential to assure the sustained offering of degrees and certificates.
Responsibility.
Bylaws for Academic Governance.
- 4.5.3. The University Committee on Curriculum shall exercise the faculty's delegated authority to review and approve or reject all changes in undergraduate curricula and degree requirements recommended by the University Committee on Undergraduate Education, and to review and approve or reject changes in graduate and graduate-professional curricula and degree requirements recommended by the University Committee on Graduate Studies. The University Committee on Curriculum shall not reject a recommendation from either the University Committee on Undergraduate Education or the University Committee on Graduate Studies without providing a rationale for the rejection and consulting with the appropriate committee. In addition, the University Committee on Curriculum shall exercise the faculty’s delegated authority to review and approve or reject all undergraduate and graduate courses proposed by academic units.
- 4.5.4. The University Committee on Curriculum shall advise the Provost on criteria for the establishment and deletion of courses and curricula.
- 4.5.5. The University Committee on Curriculum shall coordinate its activities with those of other committees, as appropriate.
The University Committee on Curriculum reviews all requests for new or changed undergraduate, graduate and graduate-professional program curricula and courses.
a. The UCC reviews each program to determine that the requested change:
- fulfills University requirements (e.g.: 120 credits for a bachelor’s degree; 30 credits for a master’s degree). is a cohesive, stand-alone, high-quality program.
- includes the correct credit count for individual sections of the degree program. has a realistic choice of courses from which to select.
- is clearly stated so a student can understand readily.
- avoids hidden prerequisite courses.
- allows room for electives (particularly for undergraduate programs).
- avoids unnecessary duplication of programs.
- has the appropriate sign-offs and required approvals from other units.
b. The UCC reviews the responses from the University Committee on Undergraduate Education, the University Committee on Graduate Studies, and the Teacher Education Council before it approves or does not approve a curricular request.
c. The UCC reviews all course requests in terms of the:
- degree program to which they relate.
- appropriateness of the course number (e.g.: 100-299; 300-499; 500699; 800-999; 900-999) in relation to the course content.
- attributes of the course description and its ability to reflect course content accurately.
- relationship between course content and the long title (which appears in the Course Descriptions catalog) and the short title (which appears on the transcript).
- appropriateness for listing: as Remedial-Developmental-Preparatory (RDP).
- with an Integrative Studies attribute.
- as a Tier I or a Tier II writing course.
- necessary preparatory requirements:
- prerequisite.
- recommended background.
- co-requisite.
- restrictions.
- semester alias.
- relationship to other courses.
- appropriate sign-offs and requested approvals from other units.
d. The UCC responsibility for the review of all curricular requests provides the committee with a unique vantage point from which to observe and consider curricular trends and make recommendations for policy changes by sending proposals to the University Committee on Undergraduate Education, the University Committee on Graduate Studies, and/or the Teacher Education Council for action.
Relationship to Other University Standing Committees.
UCC review and approval of any request for a new or changed undergraduate, graduate, or graduate-professional curriculum occurs in accordance with a schedule coordinated to provide the University Committee on Undergraduate Education, the University Committee on Graduate Studies, and/or the Teacher Education Council the opportunity to review those aspects of program requests that are within their respective purview for action. Course requests are not sent to these committees.
- University Committee on Undergraduate Education (UCUE) makes recommendations regarding undergraduate program requests.
- University Committee on Graduate Studies (UCGS) makes recommendations regarding graduate program requests.
UCUE and UCGS recommendations involve consideration of the policy implications for the overall quality of academic programs including the implementation of an admission or grade-point requirement, a moratorium (suspension of admission), or a discontinuation. Among the Issues they may consider are: faculty capacity, critical mass of students, completion rates, placement of graduates, program assessment, intellectual rigor, research opportunities and the scope and kind of support provided for students. - Teacher Education Council (TEC) reviews programs that lead to teacher certification to determine if, in addition to the changes the UCC will approve, teacher certification policy and requirements are met.