PROPOSAL FOR AN
UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM ADVISORY
COMMITTEE
Endorsed
by IFC Executive Committee Sept. 20, 2007
NOTE:
The IFC-EC unanimously voted to forward this proposal to the IFC for
endorsement on October 2, 2007. If
endorsed, this proposal will be forwarded to Dean Sukhatme for implementation.
Rationale. Collaboration across disciplines to
strengthen both research and teaching is becoming more and more important. Key campus initiatives, such as the IUPUI
academic program, the life sciences initiative, and the Principles of
Undergraduate Learning, have curricular implications for all undergraduate
programs and would benefit from ongoing cross-disciplinary discussions among
faculty. Curricular decisions are often
made without the benefit of conversation with colleagues who might be affected
by these changes, and curricular changes often have substantial impact beyond
the department or school in which the changes are made. As stipulated in the Constitution of the
Indiana University Faculty, the curriculum is both the prerogative and the
responsibility of the faculty (Sections 2.2 and 2.4). The Constitution (2.4)
encourages collaboration among academic units when any aspect of the curriculum
has the potential to influence other academic units. Since the curriculum is both the prerogative
and the responsibility of the faculty, and since the Campus Planning Committee
has recommended the creation of a deliberative body of faculty to deal with
undergraduate curricular issues, a forum to explore collaborative,
interdisciplinary programs, to discuss curricular matters that have the
potential to affect other units and programs on campus, and to offer advice and
recommendations to IUPUI’s Chief Academic Officer, the Dean of the Faculties,
an Undergraduate Curriculum Advisory Committee is being proposed for IUPUI.
Responsibilities
of the Undergraduate Curriculum Advisory Committee (UCAC) include the
following:
1. Review of all new campus undergraduate
programs with particular consideration of proposed courses that may overlap
with or duplicate existing courses or programs in other schools, and oversee
the undergraduate course remonstrance process.
2. Mediate and propose solutions to resolve
academic disputes between undergraduate programs and schools.
3. Encourage interdisciplinary work in teaching,
curriculum development, and research, particularly in the life sciences.
4. Assure support for the Principles of
Undergraduate Learning as guiding IUPUI’s general education and undergraduate
degree programs.
5. Review changes in program requirements that
have the potential to affect course enrollments in other schools and programs.
6. Screen all activities involved in the
creation, revision, and elimination of undergraduate degree programs with a
view to upholding the integrity of the
The UCAC will serve
as an advisory body to the Dean of the Faculties on issues of undergraduate
curriculum and programs at IUPUI. The
Dean of the Faculties retains final authority over all curricular matters. For this reason the Dean of the Faculties or
his designee will serve as a non-voting member of the UCAC.
Membership
of the UCAC would include a committee of nine (9) tenured or tenure track faculty
members constituting a representative group from across the campus and the Dean
of the Faculties or the Dean’s designee. Two
new members will be elected annually by the Indianapolis Faculty Council (IFC)
from a list of nominees prepared by the IFC Nominating Committee, and a third
faculty member will be appointed by the Dean of the Faculties each year to
serve three-year terms. Each school on
campus will recommend to the Nominating Committee candidates for a Nominating
Committee slate. Three members of the UCAC will rotate off the
committee every year with three new members replacing them. The initial committee will have the nine
members serving staggered terms.
The members of the
committee should be tenure/tenure track faculty who, ideally, chair or serve on
a school’s curriculum committee or other appropriate committee. Associate deans or their equivalent from the
different schools on campus should not be considered for this committee. Faculty members recommended by their schools
will be elected from the slate prepared by the IFC’s Nominating Committee and
voted on by the IFC in the spring to serve a three-year term beginning in the Fall semester. The
Nominating Committee will slate candidates in such a way as to ensure balance
across programs and schools on the IUPUI campus. There will be no more than two (2) committee
members from any one unit with undergraduate programs at any one time
At the committee’s
first meeting each year, a chair and secretary will be appointed from the nine
(9) committee members. The primary
responsibility of the chair and secretary is to schedule meetings, prepare the
agenda, ensure an orderly discussion, and maintain minutes.
When needed, for purposes of information, representatives from the schools affected by a proposed policy or decision, and the school’s dean or associate dean for academic affairs will be invited to participate in the discussions of the committee.