Committee Function

1. Evaluates all common curriculum course proposals for approval, revision, or rejection according to stated guidelines.
2. Monitors common curriculum objectives through periodic evaluations supervised
   by the chairperson.
3. Prepares an annual statement of proceedings and achievements for distribution to
   interested parties.

Membership

1. The membership of the committee will be constituted by one representative from each department having an introductory course (but only one representative from the three sciences), two representatives from departments which teach courses in the common curriculum other than intro courses, plus the Dean of the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences and other ex officio members.
2. The Dean of the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences and serves as the chairperson of the committee.
3. The common curriculum librarian and the Assistant/Associate Dean of the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences should ordinarily be invited to the committee's meetings as consultants to the committee.

Committee Selection

Common Curriculum Committee members will be nominated by the Council of Chairpersons and appointed by the Dean for a three year term, renewable.

The Chairperson

1. Convenes the first meeting of the academic year, schedules subsequent meetings, arranges for minutes of committee deliberations, maintains the rotating committee membership schedule, signs correspondence relating to committee business, and has the right to create standing committees.
2. Submits course proposals for consideration, advising the members on matters of staffing load, expenses entailed, and propriety of the proposal in light of existing courses already in the common curriculum program. When existing courses are under review, the program director, if requested by the committee and with permission of the faculty member, provides student evaluation and opinion; the manner of gathering such information is at the director's discretion. General staff, administrative, and support functions are provided the committee by the program director.
3. Ensures that courses listed under department acronyms are done so with the consent of the appropriate departments.

Standing Responsibilities

1. The primary responsibility of the committee is to maintain and ensure the liberal education intent of the common curriculum program through:

a) Review of new course proposals, which may be approved, returned for revision, or rejected by a majority vote;
b) Provision of timely guidelines for the construction and submission of course proposals, such guidelines being available on request and provided each new faculty member when he/she joins the university.

2. The committee and program director have a standing responsibility to formulate administrative recommendations in regard to the efficient and effective functioning of the common curriculum program. Since the common curriculum program is housed in the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences, such recommendations will be forwarded by the program director to that Dean; and since the Dean of the college is also the Common Curriculum director, recommendations from the committee are automatically forwarded to the Dean of the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences.

Operating Procedures

1. The Common Curriculum Committee is a standing committee of the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences. Because of the essentially humanities and liberal arts character of the common curriculum, and because the bulk of the courses and faculty come from the college, the program itself is housed by the
direction of the Provost / Vice President for Academic Affairs in the office of the Dean of the College of Humanities and Natural Sciences.

2. A quorum for committee deliberations is five members. A simple majority of those present is necessary to approve motions. Proxy voting will not be the normal procedure, although individual requests for such will be entertained on a situational basis with details arranged by the program director.

3. No course proposal will be reviewed until appropriate documentation has been supplied to the program director and thence to the committee members.

4. Committee deliberations shall be closed with formal voting restricted to elected/appointed members.

5. The committee may consult with relevant authorities, in person or writing, as the members deem appropriate. Upon invitation, the course organizer may be present (to assist the committee in questions of scope, intent, and focus of the proposed course) but will not be present during actual voting on the proposal.

6. The organizer of a course proposal will be notified by the program director of the common curriculum within ten working days of the result. Copies of such notices with reasons for rejection, revisions, etc. will be sent to the respective committee member and to the administrative head of the organizer's department or college.

7. Course approval is granted initially for a period of two years with the expectation that the course will be offered at least once during that time. At the end of the two-year approval, the organizer and his/her appropriate administrative unit will be asked if the course is to be renewed. If so, the committee will review the
course in question. The committee may approve it, request revisions, or reject the course. If the course is approved, it remains active for a period of four years, with automatic review at four year intervals until such time as the organizer, the appropriate academic unit, or the committee requests its removal from the common curriculum program.

8. As a general rule, courses to be taught in each semester must be submitted to the committee three weeks before the master schedule for the semester is due in the Dean's Office.

9. Appeals of the decisions of the committee will be submitted to the Council of Chairpersons, the Dean, and ultimately to the University Courses and Curriculum Committee.

Revised and Approved by College Assembly 11-20-2008