190.5 Academic Policies Committee Operating Procedure

190.5 Academic Policies Committee Operating Procedure

A. Background

The Faculty Constitution (Article V. Section 5a) establishes the Academic Policies Committee (APC) as a standing committee of the faculty.

B. Policy

The Academic Policies Committee (APC), in cooperation with the academic administration, shall develop curricular policies and recommend changes in these policies for all undergraduate academic programs -- regular session, summer session, and special programs. In addition, the committee is charged with developing policies on all academic matters affecting undergraduates, including, but not limited to academic calendar, course-weight proposals, graduation requirements, general education requirements, probation, transfer of credit, grading, and dual-degree programs (engineering, medicine). The committee shall submit its recommendations to the faculty.

C. Guidelines

1. Oversight of Academic Regulations. The committee should periodically review the university's academic regulations (as set forth in the University Catalogue) and the policies and procedures concerning academic affairs, and in light of such review should identify regulations, policies and procedures that need to be studied, clarified, amended, or substantively changed, and undertake such action as appropriate. The committee should keep the faculty informed about policies under consideration or review through faculty notices, communication with department chairs, or other available means.

2. Requests for Review of Academic Regulations. Requests for a review of any academic regulation should be presented to the chair of APC in written form. Generally these requests come from a member of the Academic Administration, a Department Chair, or the Chair of a Faculty Committee, but requests may also be received from individual faculty. If APC determines that a request is outside its purview or requires no action, the committee chair will notify the originator of the request.

3. Approval of Courses for General Education Requirement (GER), Asian-African Credit, or Concentrations, After review and approval by the Curriculum Committee, new course proposals requesting GER credit, Asian-African credit, or concentration approval will be forwarded by the chair of the Curriculum Committee to the chair of APC, who will present it to APC for action. (As indicated in Policy 190.1, course proposals should be sent to the Curriculum Committee with statements indicating approval for such credit by the originating department, the Asian-African Committee, or concentration oversight committees.) After the APC vote, the Chair will report decisions to the Chair of the Curriculum Committee, who will then make all appropriate presentations to the faculty.

4. Review of Academic Majors and Concentrations. Proposals for new academic majors or concentrations and proposals for changes to the requirements for an existing academic major or concentration are submitted first to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean, and then to the APC. (See Policies 109.1 and 109.3)

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