Bylaws:
A Committee on Curricula consisting of eight or more members. This committee
shall serve as a joint Committee for the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Jackson
College, and shall consist of the Dean of the College for Undergraduate Education,
ex officio and without vote, seven or more faculty members, a member of the
library staff ex officio and without vote, and up to three student members,
including one graduate student. The function of this Committee shall be to
care for the wise adjustment of the curricula. All proposed changes in the
curricula should be referred to this Committee before being referred to the
Faculty for final action.
Committee Description & Workload
The A&S Curricula Committee, comprising at least seven faculty members,
three students, and three ex Officio administrators, serves as the main
group for making adjustments to the curricula of the School of Arts and Sciences.
In this capacity, the committee reviews all requests for changes to the A&S curricula from faculty and departments including changes with individual courses,
major/minor program requirements, and general A&S degree requirement policies.
Meetings are typically held three to four times a semester or via email correspondence
when possible. Committee meetings generally last one to one and one-half hours.
In addition, committee members should anticipate one to two hours document preparation
for presentation at the faculty meeting.
The committee reviews proposals from faculty, departments, and programs to add,
change, or delete individual courses, majors, minors, and A&S degree requirements.
When the text for the Bulletin is reviewed and edited, the committee acts as a liaison
between the faculty and the registrar.
Submissions to the Committee on Curricula
Submission Deadlines 2011-2012:
Fall 2011
Tuesday, 10/4/11 (for A&S Faculty Meeting on 10/26/11)
Tuesday, 11/8/11 (for A&S Faculty Meeting on 11/30/11)
Spring 2012
Tuesday, 2/14/12 (for A&S Faculty Meeting on 3/14/12)
Tuesday, 3/27/12 (for A&S Faculty Meeting on 4/11/12)
New courses (including those previously taught as Special Topics being given
a permanent number) to be offered in fall 2012/spring 2013 should be approved
by the Faculty prior to registration (Registration dates are 4/9/12 for fall
2012 and 11/8/12 for spring 2013)*. New courses submitted after the start of
registration will be available for the term only if they are using a course
number that is not currently being used by another course.
Courses that are being renumbered, retitled, or new courses submitted using a
number that is currently being used by another active course, must have been
voted prior to the date departments submit their course offerings for the term
(late January for fall semesters and early September for spring semesters).
*This new course information will be available on the Registrar's website of
course offerings but, depending on the date voted, may not appear in the
Course Offerings Booklet.
Please see Guidelines and Procedures
for submitting requests to the Curricula Committee.
The Committee on Curricula accepts submissions at any time, but cannot guarantee that
they will be reviewed in time for approval at the target A&S faculty meeting unless
they are received by the deadline.
When submitting large items such as new or greatly revised majors or minors, department-wide
renumberings, or new courses that may stir debate, faculty are advised to consult the chair
of the Committee on Curricula and to submit their proposals as early as possible to allow for
additional consultation before presentation at an A&S meeting. In particular, proposers
of new courses are advised to contact faculty who teach in related areas (in their own or
other A&S or Engineering departments) to discuss the complementarity of proposed offerings
to those currently established in the curriculum of any A&S&E department. Results
of such discussion should be briefly reported in the proposal rationale.
Submissions to the committee generally fall into one of the following categories.
- Require A&S vote:
- New courses, including those moving from Special Topics to independent status
- New programs (majors, minors, certificates, etc.)
- Minor changes to existing courses and programs
- Major changes to existing courses and programs
- Changes to A&S foundation or distribution requirements
- Require CC vote only:
- Changes to existing courses that already have independent status
- Deletions of courses from a department's or a program's
Bulletin
listing (requested by chairs and program directors only)
Other actions, such as cross-listing courses. Requests to
cross-list
existing courses should be submitted directly to the assistant registrar.
Once approved, course numbers should be included in the description of the proposal
to the Committee on Curricula.
Add a New Course or Program
"New" courses and programs are those not currently listed in the official
version of the
Bulletin.
All requests for new items must be approved by faculty vote.
Consult the Bulletin's
section on areas of study for programs and departmental requirements, and follow the link on
that page to view official course descriptions. Do not use departmental web sites to check
for Bulletin listings, as they may contain temporary or non-Bulletin listings
of special topics offerings.
Note that courses previously taught as special topics are still considered new if they
do not have a unique, dedicated listing in the Bulletin. Any course whose existing
Bulletin entry could potentially be shared with other versions (sections) of
a special topics course must be submitted for consideration by the Committee on
Curricula as new.
Change an Existing Course or Program
Submissions in this category involve changes to items already
listed in the Bulletin.
If the item does not already have a unique Bulletin entry, the request
should be submitted as a new item. Changes that significantly alter the content or
scope of an existing course or program require faculty approval, while the Committee on
Curricula can approve minor changes without faculty vote.
As with new courses and programs, consult the
Bulletin's
section on areas of study for the latest requirements for programs and departments,
and follow the link on that page for official course descriptions. Do not use
departmental web sites to check for Bulletin listings, as they may contain
temporary or non-Bulletin listings of special topics offerings.
Changes that require action by the Committee on Curricula include the following.
- Changes to individual courses
- Course title
- Course number
- Course description, wording, or content
- Course prerequisites
- Minor changes require a vote of the Committee on
Curricula only; major changes require a vote of the faculty
- Changes to programs (majors, minors, etc.)
- Program title
- Program requirements (for example, the list of
courses that fulfill major or minor requirements)
- Program description
Changes that do not require action by the Committee on Curricula include the following.
- Changing the instructor listed in the course description. Instead,
make such changes on the registrar's semi-annual request for department listings.
- Cross-listing a course with another department. Instead, submit such requests
directly to the registrar. For convenience, the appropriate form is included among
this committee's forms.
- Changing the A&S distribution, world civilization, or culture option
classification of an existing course. Direct such requests to the Academic
Review Board.
Delete a Course
Only department chairs and program directors can submit lists of courses
their faculty have decided to remove from the
Bulletin.
All departments and programs should do this periodically to keep the Bulletin current
and accurate. Although it does not act on such requests, the Committee on Curricula
instead is a clearinghouse so the registrar can keep program listings and lists of
required courses throughout the Bulletin up to date. The committee also
reports deletions during its meeting with the A&S faculty.
Change A&S Foundation or Distribution Requirements
A faculty member, group of faculty, dean, or committee may request a change, addition,
or deletion to A&S foundation or distribution requirements. Such proposals usually
involve consultation with a wide spectrum of groups on campus, including many who are
not initially a part of the group submitting the proposal.
The Committee on Curricula facilitates this activity, which often involves consultation
with the Committee on Educational Policy as well as various deans. After these consultations
the committee generally tries to reach a consensus and votes on such proposals, recommending
them to the faculty for a vote of approval, sending them back for revision, or rejecting them
and not sending them to the faculty for a vote.
The Committee on Curricula is not the only avenue for such change, but if the change involves
only A&S requirements, the committee is the logical organization to field the request.
Proposals of this type have also been sent directly to deans or the Committee on Educational
Policy for inclusion in the agenda of the A&S faculty meeting, so that the faculty can
vote on them; but the Committee on Curricula is usually asked to review A&S issues first.
Other Actions
To initiate an action that falls outside the categories listed above, please contact
the chair of the Committee on Curricula (currcomm@tufts.edu) for instructions.
Guidelines and Procedures for Submitting Requests
Please use the instructions in this downloadable form, which outlines the
Guidelines and Procedures for Submitting Requests.
Forms and Documentation
The following are downloadable, editable Microsoft Word documents for
submitting requests to the Committee on Curricula and, for convenience,
the form for cross-listing a course, which should be routed to the assistant
registrar. Refer to the guidelines above regarding procedures, approvals,
and other protocols for submitting a request.
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