CSI Curriculum Committee

COLLEGE OF SOUTHERN IDAHO
CURRICULUM COMMITTEE
BY-LAWS
Approved 12/1/99
Amended 3/4/2003 Section III
Amended 5/19/03 Section VI: F4

I. Purpose

  1. The Curriculum Committee is a representative body within the College of Southern Idaho which reviews and approves all curriculum and program requirements. The Committee may recommend action to Faculty, Departments and the Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer. This Committee is ultimately responsible to the Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer.

II. The Functions of the Curriculum Committee

  1. The Curriculum Committee functions are as follows:
    1. approval of new courses
    2. approval of major changes in existing course (i.e. change in credit, change in course level, significant change in course content)
    3. discontinuance of a course
    4. review of new academic and technical programs and/or discontinuance of existing programs and make recommendations to the Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer to carry these forward to the SBOE
    5. review General Education offerings on a rotating basis
    6. consult with convening groups on curricular issues
    7. propose revisions to General Education Criteria
    8. resolve interdepartmental curricular problems
    9. guard against undue proliferation and duplication of course offerings
    10. analyze and make recommendations concerning curriculum matters relating to the articulation of courses/programs to the State Colleges and Universities using SBOE guidelines11. make all recommendations to the Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer
  2. The Chairs function is to schedule and preside over meetings, set time and place of meetings, propose agendas (with Committee approval), receive and distribute requests for Committee action, forward Committee actions and recommendations to the Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer.
  3. The Chair-elect assumes leadership of the Committee in the event of the Chairs absence or disability. In the event that the office of the Chair falls vacant, the Chair-elect will assume that office. A new Chair-elect will be elected at the next regular meeting. The Chair-elect assumes the Chair position upon completion of the Chairs term.
  4. The secretary will be responsible for the preparation of the minutes of all meetings and be custodian of the records of the Committee. He/she will be responsible for giving notice of meetings to the appropriate person, and for distributing copies of the minutes to the Committee members, faculty, and administration of the College as well as providing the Web Master a copy for Web inclusion.

III. The Membership of the Curriculum Committee

  1. All Department Chairs & Division Directors as appointed by the Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer, including voting members from:
    1. Academic Skills Department
    2. Agriculture
    3. Business
    4. English, Languages and Philosophy
    5. Fine Arts
    6. Health Science & Human Services
    7. Information Technology
    8. Trade & Industry
    9. Library & Information Science
    10. Biology
    11. Math, Engineering, and Computer Science
    12. Education
    13. Physical Science
    14. Social Science
    15. Student Advising Center
  2. Ex Officio Non-voting Members:
    1. Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer
    2. Instructional Dean
    3. Dean of Student Information & Activities
    4. Director of Admissions/Registrar
    5. One student nominated by the Student Senate (one-year term only)
    6. Director of Summer School, Dual Credit and Adult Evening
    7. Parliamentarian (appointed by the Chair)
  3. The Chair and Chair-elect will be elected from the voting members.
  4. The secretary will be selected by the Chair and approved by the Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer.
  5. Additional member responsibilities:
    1. Each member will provide a qualified replacement when a member cannot attend. In the case of a voting members absence, the replacement may vote with a written proxy from the absent member or with prior permission from the Chair.

IV. Terms of Office

  1. The term of office for the Chair will be two years. The voting members of the Committee will elect a Chair by written ballot at the last meeting of the year in spring of each year.
    1. Elections
      1. A nominating committee will be appointed by the Chair to select a slate of Chair-elect and Vice Chair-elect candidates. The committee will include the Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer as an ex-officio member. Committee members may nominate from the floor.
  2. The term of office for the Chair-elect will be the two years prior to taking the office of Chair. The voting members of the Committee will elect a Chair-elect at the last meeting of the year by ballot and on even numbered years thereafter. The voting members of the Committee will elect a subsequent Chair-elect every two years as the present Chair-elect takes the office of Chair. In the event that the office of the Chair-elect falls vacant, the Chair-elect will be voted on at the next regular meeting and will complete the term of office.
  3. All regular terms of service will begin with the first Committee meeting of a new academic year.
  4. A parliamentarian from an outside source may be appointed by the Chair or by request of the membership.

V. Meetings

  1. Regular curriculum committee meetings will be held every third Wednesday of the academic calendar unless otherwise cancelled by the Committee Chair as a result of no business before the Committee.
  2. Additional meetings will be scheduled at the discretion of the Chair.
  3. Meetings will be open, and visitors may have the opportunity to speak on any item on the agenda at the request of the Chair or member.
  4. Voting
    1. No meeting of the Committee will be official if less than a simple majority of its voting members are present.
    2. A 30-day wait will be imposed prior to bringing the proposal back to the Committee for a vote for acceptance or rejection of the proposal.
    3. All matters before the Committee will be decided by a simple majority vote of the members present.
    4. Suspension of the Committee rules will require a two-thirds majority of those members present.
    5. If the department submitting a proposal to the Committee makes a major change in the proposal between the time the proposal was initially submitted and the time of the meeting, consideration of the proposal will be postponed until the next meeting. The Chair has the discretion of determining major change.
    6. The Committee normally considers curricular matters only at meetings of the membership. Only actions of minor consequence that demonstrate urgency maybe submitted for a decision by polling individual members by personal contact, telephone, or e-mail. A decision to resort to individual polling must be made by the Chair with the concurrence of two other Committee members. Only the secretary will undertake polling among the members.
    7. The Chair casts a vote only to break a tie.
  5. For your Information items submitted not requiring a committee vote:
    1. course name changes
    2. course number changes
    3. changing from variable to non-variable credit as long as total credit numbers remain the same
    4. minor changes in course description for clarification in catalog not significantly changing course content
    5. noncredit course
    6. recitation labs, noncredit
    7. first semester offering of pilot courses
  6. Minutes
    1. Minutes of the meeting will be recorded by the Committee secretary. Minutes will be read upon completion, and a copy will be distributed electronically to campus faculty/administration. Hard copies of the minutes will be placed on reserve in the CSI library as well as posted to the Curriculum Committee web site.

VI. Procedures

  1. Roberts Rules of Order will be used in all meetings.
  2. Proposals and items of consideration must be submitted to the Committee secretary ten calendar days in advance of the meeting. Proposals and items of consideration not meeting the deadline may be discussed, but no decision may be rendered; any exceptions to this rule must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Committee.
  3. Proposed agendas and necessary paperwork for each meeting will be circulated to the Committee members at least five working days in advance of each meeting.
  4. The departmental representative will present the nature and merit of his/her department's course or program proposal to the Committee on the first reading.
  5. A proposal will be placed on a meeting agenda only if it meets the following criteria;
    1. The proper forms are completed accurately and fully.
    2. The original should be sent to the committee chair as well as an email or hard copy for distribution purposes, ten calendar days prior to the next meeting.
    3. An attached syllabus with departmentally approved outcomes assessment submitted for all courses and/or for General Education review purposes.
  6. The Committee will review and make recommendations concerning all new curriculum and review noncredit courses and programs (information only).
    1. The basic criteria for the introduction of new course programs will include a and b or a, b, and c below:
      1. It will fulfill a students need for their respective programs, General Education requirements, satisfy the requests of members of the community for particular technical or business occupations, or offer courses that contribute to an enrichment of student life.
      2. It must have qualified instruction available.
      3. It is designed for transfer and must meet the needs of students on the freshman or sophomore level at their transfer institution.
    2. Approved proposals with attached syllabus will be forwarded to the Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer. Final approval will be based on compliance with syllabi policy including outcomes assessment.
    3. Non-approved proposals will be returned to the originator for resubmission by the next regular scheduled curriculum meeting.
    4. Procedure for recommending General Education course approval:
      1. If the course already exists in the CSI
        curriculum, it is necessary to fill out the
        General Education evaluation and request General
        Education approval at a regular monthly meeting.
      2. A new course must wait one year (two semesters)
        to apply for General Education designation. If
        recommended for approval, this course will be
        inserted in the catalog under “General Education
        core courses” beginning in the next fall term
  7. The Committee will make periodic reviews of curriculum, revising or deleting when necessary.
    1. The basic criteria for course revision or deletion are:
      1. lack of qualified faculty members to teach the course
      2. insufficient student demand for a particular course or program
      3. a change in curriculum requirements in a specific major field for which we offer parallel courses
      4. lack of funding
  8. The Committee will make all recommendations to the Executive Vice President & Chief Academic Officer.

VII. Ratification of and Amendments to the By-laws.

  1. This set of by-laws will become the working document of the Committee upon approval by two-thirds of the Committee members present during a scheduled committee meeting.
  2. Amendments to the by-laws may be proposed by any member of the committee. An amendment proposal must be submitted in writing to the Committee ten working days prior to the meeting. Passage of the amendment will require the approval of two-thirds of the members when a quorum is present.

CURRICULUM COMMITTEE PROPOSALS FLOW CHART