Curriculum and teaching
Adopted August 31, 2004, Revised July 3, 2007, Revised August 22, 2011, Revised August 6, 2014, Revised June 22, 2018, Revised May 31, 2019, Revised June 12, 2020, Revised June 10, 2021, Revised May 23, 2022.
This document is a compilation of current College Curriculum and Teaching Committee (C&T) operational procedures. It is intended to acquaint C&T members with the committee’s organization and functions. The source of items marked with an asterisk * is the College Instrument of Governance Article IV, Sections 2 and 5; a change to these items would first require a change to the Instrument of Governance.
COMMITTEE CHARGE:
*A. The Curriculum & Teaching Committee shall act on all curricular matters requiring unit-level approval and other matters as relevant to the committee’s charge, as necessary.
*B. The committee shall make recommendations on programmatic matters, such as:
- College requirements for baccalaureate and graduate degrees;
- The initiation and termination of degree programs in the College, both graduate and undergraduate.
*C. The committee shall promote the enhancement of teaching within the College and, where appropriate, shall provide liaisons to University bodies concerned with teaching and curriculum.
COMMITTEE COMPOSITION:
*D. The committee shall consist of nine faculty members. Six of the faculty members shall be elected at large by the Assembly to serve staggered two-year terms. Faculty may serve two consecutive elected terms. Three of the faculty members shall be appointed by the Executive Committee in consultation with the Dean to serve one-year terms. Faculty may serve two consecutive appointed terms.
*E. An Associate Dean of the College and a representative of CASA shall be non-voting, ex officio members.
*To be eligible to serve on C&T a faculty member must have completed at least one academic year of full-time service at UNCG. No department can have more than one member appointed or elected to C&T. Faculty serving as voting members on C&T are prohibited from serving simultaneously on the College’s Executive Committee, Budget & Planning Committee, and Promotion & Tenure Committee. (Extrapolated from Section 5; D, G, H)
COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION:
*F. The committee shall elect a chair who shall convene the committee, preside at meetings, and serve as spokesperson. The committee shall elect a secretary to record the minutes.
*G. The committee shall meet regularly during the academic year.
*H. Curriculum and Teaching Committee meetings shall be open to non-members. The Chair may grant speaking privileges to members of the gallery at any meeting.
Traditionally, it has been the responsibility of an Associate Dean of the College, serving as an ex officio member of C&T, to consult with the Dean to identify a faculty member who is willing to serve as chair. C&T chairs have always been senior, tenured faculty (Associate Professors, Professors). The presumptive chair is officially nominated and elected at the committee’s first meeting.
In addition, during the committee’s first meeting, a faculty member is selected to record minutes of all the meetings for the academic year.
The work of C&T is facilitated by four standing committees:
Teaching Excellence Subcommittees:
Purpose: To select recipients for the three College Teaching Excellence Awards and two College Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards.
Three members (other than the Chair and Secretary) will serve on the subcommittee for the faculty awards (senior, junior and lecturer): A “Call for nominations” message is sent to College departments. When nomination letters are received, a memo is sent to the nominee to confirm their nomination and request their portfolio. The subcommittee reviews the portfolios, selects the recipients for the three awards, and informs the Dean in a memo, which highlights the reason for each selection. The Dean notifies the recipients. The Associate Dean writes to each nominee who was not selected. The Dean announces the recipients and gives them a plaque at the End of Year ceremony in the Spring.
Three members (other than the Chair and Secretary) will serve on the subcommittee for the graduate T.A. awards: A message is sent out to Administrative Council and Directors of Graduate Study in the College requesting nominations and supporting documentation for the two awards (senior and junior). Subcommittee members review the portfolios, select the award recipients, and inform the Dean in a memo. The Dean informs the Graduate School of the senior recipient.
College Appeals Subcommittee
Purpose: to review and act on appeals to the Liberal Education Commitment (LEC) and Communicating Ideas in Context (CIC).
The membership of the committee will consist of the Director of CASA (who will chair the committee), an Associate Dean of the College, a representative from the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, a representative from the Department of Classical Studies, and one member of the C&T Committee (the member who is not Chair, Secretary, or on one of the Teaching Excellence Subcommittees). The committee will meet as needed during the academic year, to review and act on appeals. Authority to review and act on appeals made during the summer will be shared by the Director of CASA and the Associate Dean of the College.
CIC Waivers, Alterations, and Modifications Subcommittee (WAM)
The two ex-officio members of C&T and the C&T Chair will consider and evaluate any WAM proposals from College departments and make a recommendation to the Dean, who decides on approving or rejecting these proposals.
COMMITTEE OPERATIONS:
- Meetings: The committee usually meets at least five times during both the Fall and Spring semesters. The Fall meeting schedule will be set during the preceding summer. The Spring meeting schedule should be agreed upon by the end of November.
- Deadlines: Deadlines are established for the receipt of curricular items through the Courseleaf System for the purpose of managing the assignment of items to agendas for particular meeting dates. The schedule of deadlines will be determined by the C&T Committee meeting schedule and the calendars for UCC/GSC action. Deadlines are typically at least one week prior to a scheduled meeting. There is a separate deadline for 1) New Program Proposals, New Course Proposals, and Program Revisions, and 2) Amended Course Proposals. Items in group 1 have an earlier deadline, since they require more time for review by the Committee.
- Agendas:The Program Assistant and Associate Dean regularly monitor the submission of items requiring the Committee’s action and consult on the drafting of agendas. Items are included on agendas usually in the order in which they are received in the College Office. The day after each deadline, the Program Assistant will post the agenda (on Canvas) for committee members. Members will receive notification through the Courseleaf system about curricular items to review.
- Processing Curricular Items: C&T Program Assistant processes curriculum items as follows:
- Amended Course Change Requests: Every ten amended course change requests received by the Committee will be typically assigned to two close readers on a rotating basis. The Program Assistant will notify the two close readers of the assignment. As soon as possible, the two close readers should review the items and indicate one of three recommendations on the Amended Course Change Google Sheet: 1) approve 2) approve with changes—a description of the changes is required; or 3) send to the full C & T Committee for addition to the next scheduled meeting agenda.
- Assigns two close readers to each action requiring approval of the Committee (including items referred to the Committee through the process described in D. a. above) according to a rotation schedule of close reader assignments.
- Adds item to C&T agenda.
- For action items, sends an invitation to the contact person to attend the committee meeting.
- Committee Deliberations: The purpose of the committee’s deliberations is to be helpful and ensure that proposals are ready for the next level of University approval (Undergraduate Curriculum Committee and/or Graduate Studies Committee). Most proposals reviewed by the committee are for establishing new courses or revising existing programs. On occasion, the committee will review requests to plan or establish new degree programs or discontinue existing programs. The committee has the discretion to conduct its deliberations online in order to save time, expedite the consideration of time-sensitive proposals, or because inclement weather or another emergency would prevent the committee from meeting.
- Voting: Official votes are taken on proposals that have been reviewed and discussed by the committee. Voting options include: returning the proposal for clarification, revisions, or the receipt of additional information, Approving the proposal, Not Approving the proposal, and Abstaining. All members of the committee (including the chair) vote. Ex-Officio members of the committee do not vote. Votes should occur only when a quorum of the committee is present. Proposals are acted on by a simple majority of the votes cast. The committee has the discretion to do online voting.
- Final Action: For items considered through the process described in D. b. above, the C & T Chair approves or returns items in the Courseleaf system, per the committee’s actions, as soon as possible after a meeting. The Associate Dean will monitor the Amended Course Change Google Sheet and approve or return items in the Courseleaf system for those items considered through the process described in D. a. above (actions 1 and 2).
- Minutes: After each meeting, the secretary emails the minutes to the C&T chair and Associate Dean who proofread and edit them before emailing them to the Program Assistant, who includes the minutes in the agenda for the next meeting.
Appendix A: College C&T Committee Timeline (Dates are Approximate)
Spring or Summer prior to academic year: Determine C&T’s fall meeting dates and time. Associate Dean notifies Dept. Heads regarding meeting dates and deadlines for submitting curricular items.
August
Third week:
For Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award: If necessary, Associate Dean and C&T Chair edit the “Call for nominations” memo to Administrative Council and graduate directors.
For College Teaching Excellence Awards:
- 1) If necessary, Associate Dean and C&T chair edit the “Call for nominations” memo.
- 2) If necessary, C&T Chair and Faculty Teaching Excellence Subcommittee edit the memo to nominees. This memo acknowledges the nomination and states the deadline and list of materials to be submitted for consideration.
September
By Sept 1: The call for nominations memos for both teaching excellence awards are sent out.
October
In late October, begin determining C&T’s spring meeting dates and time. Decide by the end of November, so Associate Dean can notify Dept. Heads.
Late October: Deadline for nominations for Teaching Excellence Award to come to 105 Foust. (We can safely extend deadline to Dec. 1st if we have too few nominees.)
January
End of January: Deadline for portfolios for Teaching Excellence Award to come to 105 Foust. Excellence Subcommittee reviews portfolios.
End of January: Deadline for portfolios for Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award to come to 105 Foust. Excellence Subcommittee reviews portfolios.
February
Feb. 20: For Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award:
- 1) C&T Excellence Subcommittee meet to decide the recipients.
- 2) Subcommittee designee writes a memo to College Dean announcing C&T’s recommendation for the recipients, including some information about why each recipient was selected. The Dean’s deadline to notify the Graduate School of the senior TA award winner in writing is March 1.
March
Early March: Dean notifies the winners of the Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards, and afterward, Associate Dean notifies those nominees not selected.
By middle of March: For Teaching Excellence Award:
- 1) C&T Excellence Subcommittee reviews faculty portfolios and meets to select recipients.
- 2) C&T Excellence Subcommittee designee writes memo to College Dean and Associate Dean announcing C&T’s recommendation for the award recipients, including some information on why each recipient was selected. Dean notifies the winners, and afterward, Associate Dean notifies those nominees not selected.
105 Foust Building
P.O. Box 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402