This Curriculum Committee Guide is intended to help you navigate the policies and procedures necessary to create, modify, delete, and maintain course and program offerings.
The Curriculum Committee meets on the third Friday of the month, September through December and February through May, except when holidays, Spring Break, or semester dates preclude meeting. The list of current committee members, as well as links to current forms, can be found here.
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Article XI.D.5. Curriculum Committee
- Composition: The Curriculum Committee is composed of nine voting faculty members and one voting student member chosen by procedures established by the Student Senate.Faculty members of the Committee are considered representatives of the entire faculty. Only one member of a department may serve on the Curriculum Committee at one time.
Selection of Faculty: To fill annual vacancies, each department which is not represented or which is losing representation, may present the name of one nominee to the Nominating and 14 Balloting Committee. Election is by majority vote of the faculty. Regular term of office shall be three years.
In addition, the Faculty Speaker shall appoint a faculty member to be a non-voting participant on the committee for a one-year, non-renewable term. This member shall be selected from a pool of faculty with not more than five years service at PSU. The Offices of Academic Affairs and the Registrar shall also each appoint a non-voting representative. The Chair: The Chair of the Committee is elected annually by the members of the Committee. The chair must be selected from among the voting faculty members. Consultants: The Committee may invite as many consultants as it wishes and as often as it wishes. Quorum: A quorum for electronic voting and meetings shall consist of five voting faculty members. [amended 9-2-09, 12-4-13 and 5-3-2017]
- Function:
- The Committee oversees all courses and programs offered by the University. The Committee considers proposals for curricular changes initiated by departments and other curricular groups and acts to ensure the integrity and coordination of all aspects of the curriculum.
- The Committee considers and approves, or denies by its own authority, all minor* changes in the curriculum. The Committee publishes minor* changes on the Web. Action on minor* changes becomes official on the twenty-first day after the action is posted, unless a member of the faculty lodges an objection to the change with the Faculty Speaker prior to the twenty-first day.
- The Committee brings before the Faculty the Committee’s recommendations concerning all proposed major* curricular changes.
- The Committee may, by its own initiative, develop and implement curriculum review processes.
*Major and minor are operatively and dichotomously defined. A minor change is one which is not major; a major change is one which either a member of the Curriculum Committee declared major during the meeting at which the matter was deliberated, or a member of the faculty, within 20 days of posting, has declared major to the Faculty Speaker. Upon being declared major, the Faculty Speaker will notify the Chair of the Curriculum Committee and the person responsible for the proposal. The latter person must provide, in a timely fashion, the Faculty Speaker with the proposal and any supporting materials.
[amended 12/5/07, 5-6-15 and 5-3-2017]
- Relationship with other committees: The Council of Educator Preparation reports to the Curriculum Committee.
[amended 5-7-97, 5-5-99, 11-3-99, 12-6-00, 12-3-03, 4-7-04, 4-4-07 and 5-3-2017]