Faculty Senate

Procedure for Program Alteration

» When merging, abolishing, or suspending a program, ALL DOCUMENTATION from the
previous phase(s) must be sent to the next phase.

Phase 1 of 4

Written initiation by appropriate level administration or faculty. Must be sent to all of the following:
1. Affected unit(s) or program
2. College Curriculum Committee
3. Dean's Office
4. University Curriculum Committee
5. Other relevant committees

Must include rationale for proposed action.

1. Written initiation. This could come either from an appropriate level of administration, or from faculty.
It must include some rationale for the proposed action. It must be sent to the affected unit(s) or program,
the College Curriculum Committee, the University Curriculum Committee, and other relevant committees.

The proposal is sent to all these committees concurrently, in the spirit of an open process of governance.
This proposal is addressed to the College Curriculum Committee (CCC) in the college where the affected
program resides. In the case of a program alteration that involves more than one college, the proposal is
addressed to CCCs in both colleges. The CCC(s) then owns and coordinates the proposal through the
next four steps in this Procedure.


THE UCC EXPECTS TO RECEIVE A COPY OF THE WRITTEN INITIATION AT THE SAME TIME
THAT THE PROPOSAL IS SENT TO OTHER RECIPIENTS. THIS IS MOST EFFECTIVELY
ACCOMPLISHED BY EMAILING A COPY OF THE PROPOSAL TO THE CHAIR OF THE UCC.

Phase 2 of 4

Next Steps:
1. Response from department(s) or unit(s) affected, if action is initiated by administration
2. Recommendation from department(s), in case action initiated by faculty

Types of Curricular change and Notes: Responses should be forwarded to those who
initiated the action.

Response from department(s) or unit(s) affected, in case action is initiated by administration. Recommendation
from department(s), in case action initiated by faculty.

This response is also addressed to the CCC. The CCC must receive this unified response that comes from
the unit(s) or administrative office(s) within 25 working days of the submission of the original proposal.

If a situation arises where additional time is needed, a formal request for such additional time should be
sent to the CCC. The CCC collects these responses, and will coordinate dissemination of these responses
to all parties involved.


AS INDICATED ABOVE, ANY SUCH RESPONSES AND RECOMMENDATIONS SHOULD BE
INCLUDED IN THE SET OF MATERIALS SUBSEQUENTLY FORWARDED TO THE UCC.
MINORITY REPORTS AND DISSIDENT COMMENTS SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE SET OF
MATERIALS SENT TO THE UCC, OR MAY BE SENT SEPARATELY TO THE UCC.


Phase 3 of 4

1. College Curriculum Committee (CCC) discusses proposed action with department(s) or
unit(s) involved


College Curriculum Committee discusses proposed action with department(s) or unit(s) involved.

These meetings will occur one week after department responses have been received by the CCC. The
purpose of these meetings is to clarify the responses from the department(s) or unit(s), and to provide
an opportunity for the CCC to solicit additional feedback from individuals in the department(s). The
CCC will preserve confidentiality of such feedback if requested. The CCC will then collate these
responses and present these to the faculty community in the college(s).


THE RESPONSES COLLATED BY THE CCC SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE SET OF MATERIALS
SENT TO THE UCC.

2. CCC holds open meetings for all concerned faculty to voice opinions

College Curriculum Committee holds open meetings for all concerned faculty to voice opinions.

The CCC will make available to the faculty community in the college(s) a collated set of documents
including (a) the original proposal, (b) response(s) from concerned department(s) or unit(s),
(c) a summary of the CCC meeting with the department(s) or unit(s), (d) a summary of any individual
comments that have been received by the CCC. These documents will be made available to the college
faculty 10 working days before the open meeting(s). The goal of these meetings is to collect a varied
set of opinions and comments from the faculty body at large.


ALL OF THESE MATERIALS, ALONG WITH A SUMMARY OF COMMENTS MADE AT THE OPEN
MEETINGS, SHOULD BE FORWARDED TO THE UCC.

3. CCC brings recommendations to college faculty
4. College faculty makes recommendation to College Dean(s)

Phase 4 of 4

Final Steps: 1. Recommendation/action by college deans to University Curriculum Committee

TO CONSIDER PROPOSALS CONCERNING PROGRAM MERGERS, ABOLITIONS, AND
SUSPENSIONS, THE UCC MUST RECEIVE MATERIALS AT LEAST TWO WEEKS PRIOR TO
THE MEETING AT WHICH IT WILL CONSIDER THE PROPOSAL AND FORMULATE ITS
RECOMMENDATION TO STEERING.

2. University Curriculum Committee sends recommendation to Faculty Steering
3. Faculty Senate sends recommendation to Provost
4. Provost makes recommendation for action