Section 2: Governance
2.6 Curriculum Advisory Committees
This section of the Handbook lists Curriculum Advisory Committees of the Faculty and describes their areas of responsibility. Curriculum advisory committees are permanent committees, have responsibilities fixed by their written charges, and report to the Faculty Senate on matters related to overseeing and administering specific areas of the College’s academic offerings.
2.6.1 General Duties of Curriculum Advisory Committees Curriculum advisory committees implement specific areas of established policy concerning the College’s curriculum, including general education and across-the-curriculum (ATC) programs. As noted below, two of these committees also advise established ATC programs and their directors. The actions of these committees shall be reported to the Faculty Senate with the agenda of the meeting of the Faculty Senate at which they are announced. No action may be announced to the Faculty Senate without prior distribution, and no action by a curriculum advisory committee may be implemented until it has been announced at a Faculty Senate meeting. Actions of these committees stand subject to a call for review by a member of the Faculty Senate during the meeting at which they are announced.
2.6.2 Appointments to Curriculum Advisory Committees Each year, at the same time it solicits preferences for standing committee membership, the FOC polls members of the faculty on their preferences for possible appointments to curriculum advisory committees. The FOC maintains a list of current committee members and monitors faculty eligibility. Each spring, the FOC makes appointments to the curriculum advisory committees and forwards the names of those appointed to the committee chairs. In making appointments, the FOC considers expressed committee preferences; time since previous committee service; current service on other committees; how the committee in question is likely to function in the immediate future; and any recommendations for appointments made by the curriculum advisory committee chairs.
2.6.3 Membership Terms on Curriculum Advisory Committees Members of all curriculum advisory committees serve staggered three-year terms, and are not eligible for reappointment to the same curriculum advisory committee for two academic years following such a term. Faculty may not serve on more than one curriculum advisory committee concurrently. Service on curriculum advisory committees does not affect a faculty member’s eligibility for appointment to a standing committee, but it may influence standing committee appointments in that no faculty member should be burdened with excessive committee responsibilities. Usually, two concurrent committee assignments, one standing and one advisory, curriculum advisory or ad hoc, constitute the maximum committee service expected of an individual faculty member.
2.6.4 Chairs of Curriculum Advisory Committees During the spring semester, each curriculum advisory committee elects a chair from its faculty membership to serve the following year (unless the committee is to be chaired by a program director). The chair-elect will notify the FOC chair immediately of his or her election. No member may chair a committee upon which he or she has not served previously for at least one year, and no member may serve as chair for more than two years during any single term of service. At the discretion of the committee chair, a committee secretary may be elected based on committee member preference and workload distribution. The curriculum advisory chair will forward the name of the committee secretary to the FOC chair.
2.6.5 Interruptions in a Term of Service If a faculty member is unable to serve part of a term on a curriculum advisory committee (due to such factors as academic leave or illness), a temporary replacement will be appointed by the FOC and forwarded to the committee chair. This replacement will serve for the duration of the faculty member’s absence. Upon return, an absentee faculty member will complete the original three-year term. Faculty members who are appointed as temporary replacements on curriculum advisory committees are eligible for consideration for a three-year term on the same or another curriculum advisory committee.
2.6.6 Curriculum Advisory Committees and Faculty Service As with all faculty committees, membership on curriculum advisory committees and/or service as a program director is regarded as an integral part of a faculty member’s professional responsibility to the College and counted as part of the faculty member’s service obligation.