Curriculum Review Process

Curriculum Review Process – Supporting Notes

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Reviewing Entities

Faculty Congress Curriculum Review Committee

Committees and Processes

Instructional Faculty, Tenure-track;
Chair is elected by Congress from Congress membership. One member and one alternate from each College, One member and one alternate from Graduate Council, Curricular Coordinator (non-voting, ex officio)

Scope of Review

Review for completeness of due diligence on cross-college issues, monitoring for unwarranted duplication of course offerings. Final review for completeness and conformity with university regulations, and consistency with the university’s mission and strategic plan.

Graduate Council

Committees and Processes

The Graduate Council consists of the one graduate faculty member appointed from each graduate program (usually the Chair of the graduate program, not including separate tracks within programs), faculty members appointed by the VCAA to represent major academic units at the University (colleges, and divisions within CAS) not otherwise represented on the Council, a faculty member appointed by the UHH Congress to represent the Congress, the University Registrar, a representative from the University Admissions Department, and one graduate student elected from the UH Hilo Graduate Student Council and who is enrolled and in good standing.

Faculty are appointed by the VCAA and serve for three-year terms, with the exception of the UH Hilo Congress representative, who serves for a one year term. The student representative serves for a one year term. The VCAA serves as an ex-officio, non-voting member.

Scope of Review

Review of courses, including proposed syllabi, checking for graduate level quantity and quality in course content. Review for clarity in communication of student performance expectations and consistency with the Graduate Handbook and other relevant guidelines. Examine for consistency of graduate level content across UHH graduate programs, to the extent that comparisons may be made.

College Curriculum Review Body

Committees and Processes

Instructional Faculty, Tenure-track.
The faculty of each College is responsible for defining a specific, published process, internal to that College, for the proposal and initial faculty review of new or modified courses, majors, programs, and degrees. Deans shall insure that these processes are developed in a manner that includes faculty consultation and approval. Reasonable deadlines for faculty approval will be designated; if those deadlines are not met, then the Dean is authorized to implement a provisional process and/or a provisional faculty review committee or committees.

Interdisciplinary Programs: Each interdisciplinary program will follow the process used in the college designated as its “Home”; the home college will be determined in consultation with the affected faculty and deans, with the final decision made by the VCAA. Written acknowledgement from all impacted departments or colleges must be included with new interdisciplinary program proposals and any major modifications.

Scope of Review

College Processes must include, at a minimum

1. Detailed review by a committee of instructional faculty, the composition of which is to be determined by the college
2. Vote and approval by affected tenured and tenure-track faculty, with the college to determine who is affected

Deans should require the review body to perform due diligence to address the following issues, and Deans must ultimately provide or certify the following before forwarding the proposal to the campus-wide review body:

1. the availability of resources, including teaching personnel, space requirements, and operating budget;
2. that any cross-program or departmental implications have been identified, verified and resolved;
3. academic integrity, i.e., the proposed course or program reflects intellectual rigor and teaching excellence;
4. program coherence, e.g., articulation with other existing courses, determining placement within the major; and
5. that the impact on course and seat capacity can be managed
6. Consistency with university mission and strategic plan

Academic Affairs Curriculum Office

Proofreads and edits typos, formatting and syntax, works with the Registrar’s Office to establish proper consistency in catalog entries, numbering, titles, and prerequisite listings. This Office is not part of the approval process. The responsibility of this office is to facilitate and track proposals on behalf of the faculty.

Proposing Faculty Member or Group

Committees and Processes

Faculty eligibility to new and modified curriculum items is determined by each College. Entities other than faculty in degree-granting colleges who wish to propose new courses or programs should work through an appropriate instructional faculty unit.

Scope of Review

Bear the responsibility to act professionally and diligently in proposing new or modified curriculum items. To the extent possible, should ensure that proposals are consistent with the missions of the organizational units that will be affected or responsible for the new or changed curricular item(s); are reasonable in the demands they will place on the university’s physical, fiscal, and human resources; and, are primarily intended for the benefit of students and the educational processes of the university.

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This chart reflects operational relationships and working titles only. Not all staff/faculty positions are included on this chart.