POLICIES FOR CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

A. INITIATING PROPOSALS

1. An idea or suggestion for curriculum or course modification, or for new courses or programs, can be originated by anyone, be it student, faculty member, staff member, administrator or advisor.

   The idea or suggestion will normally be brought to the attention of a departmental chair. [Or the chair of the Graduate Committee of the respective department, school or college.] If no clear connection to an established administrative unit exists, suggestions may be made to a dean or to the chief academic officer.

2. The departmental chair will normally set up an exploring committee to study the merit of the suggestion and work out a detailed proposal which is forwarded to the departmental curriculum committee and from there to the faculty of the department for approval and recommendation to the department chair.

   Note: In case the dean or chief academic officer has initiated the exploring committee, the proposal will be forwarded directly to the College Curriculum Committee or to the Intercollege Curriculum Committee. [For graduate programs, substitute the Graduate Council for the ICC. Elsewhere in this policy reference to the ICC should be taken to mean the Graduate Council in the case of graduate courses or programs.]

B. DEPARTMENT HEAD AND COLLEGE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

1. The department head is the final approval agency if the proposal is for a modification of existing courses only and its initiation will not concern other departments. Only the dean needs to be notified.
2. The department head will forward approved proposals to the College Curriculum Committee and to the dean if one or more of the following cases exist:

   • the proposal’s initiation affects other departments;
   • new, presently not existing courses are to be introduced;
   • present courses are to be eliminated;
   • new programs are to be introduced.

3. The College Curriculum Committee will notify the dean and the initiating department head of its recommendation.

C. DEAN AND INTERCOLLEGE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

The dean will initiate further action as required below, after receiving a recommendation from the department head, the College Curriculum Committee and the college faculty.

1. In case of notification by the department head of a modification of an existing course, this information will be passed on to the Office of the Registrar for the course file and, if necessary, followed up internally, e.g., catalog, and externally, e.g., the State Education Department.
2. If the initiation of the proposal is not for a new program, does not concern any other college and does not substantially change the requirements of an existing program, the dean’s recommendation will be attached and forwarded to the chief academic officer for approval and further action. The dean’s recommendation is to be accompanied by supporting documentation concerning the need for and the budgetary requirements of the proposal.
3. If the initiation of the proposal is for a new program, if it substantially changes the stated requirements of an existing program, or if other colleges are directly affected, the dean will forward both recommendations to the Intercollege Curriculum Committee as well as to the chief academic officer for their consideration. The dean’s recommendation shall in all cases be accompanied by supporting documentation concerning:

   a. The need for the proposed curriculum;

   b. Supporting statements from the deans and curriculum committees of any other college which would be involved in the proposal’s implementation;

   c. Budgetary implications of the proposal;

   d. Implications of the proposal for any support services not covered in the above (Library, Space Committee, Academic Services & Computing);

   e. Other information as currently specified by the chief academic officer.

4. In cases of graduate courses or graduate programs, the Graduate Council is substituted for the ICC. In cases of proposals that concern both undergraduate and graduate programs, the ICC and the Graduate Council will meet jointly to consider the proposal.

   a. All major changes in the nature or thrust of an existing curriculum in already-registered programs require ICC or Graduate Council approval.

   b. Curricular changes of over 20% of existing courses (or credit hours) in already-registered programs also require ICC or Graduate Council approval.

   c. The above changes in already-registered programs, if approved by the ICC or Graduate Council, the Academic Senate, and the Provost, must be sent to the State Education Department for review and approval as required.

5. The ICC will notify the chief academic officer and the initiating dean of its recommendation.

D. CHIEF ACADEMIC OFFICER, ACADEMIC SENATE, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

The chief academic officer will initiate action after receiving a curriculum-related proposal from a dean and the ICC or the Graduate Council.

1. In all cases - except as noted in 2. below - the chief academic officer, after consultation with the president, will be the final approval agency for curriculum matters.
2. If the proposal is for the addition of a new program of study or a major revision of an existing program of study, the chief academic officer shall submit it together with a recommendation to the Academic Senate for deliberation and appropriate action. If the matter receives approval of the Academic Senate and the president, it shall be referred to appropriate agencies of the Board of Trustees for final action.
3. The chief academic officer shall inform the initiating dean or other agency as well as the appropriate committees and Institute bodies (admissions, registrar, scheduling, placement, etc.) of the ultimate disposition of curriculum matters.

E. STUDENT LOAD AND CREDIT HOURS

1. While the normal student load is four courses, no program should require more than five major academic courses during any one quarter. The purpose of this requirement is to ensure that the student would not be burdened by too many competing academic demands.
2. Maximum student load shall not be more than 18 quarter credit hours in any one quarter with a maximum of 24 clock hours in class and laboratory. In those curricula with predominant laboratory and studio loads, the maximum scheduled clock hour load shall not exceed 30.
3. The maximum number of quarter credit hours in any baccalaureate curriculum shall not exceed 198.

F. ORGANIZATION OF THE INTERCOLLEGE CURRICULUM COMMITTEE

1. The Intercollege Curriculum Committee shall be composed of:

a. the chief academic officer or designee
b. a representative from among the academic deans
c. a representative elected at large by the Academic Senate
d. a representative from Student Government
e. a representative from each college of the Institute

Representatives of the colleges shall be elected by the faculty of each college (any full-time member of the college who has held faculty rank for three years shall be eligible for election). Each such elected representative shall be a voting member of the curriculum committee or committees of that college. Terms of these representatives shall be for three years, with the terms staggered so that approximately one-third shall expire each year.

2. Functions of the ICC shall be:

a. To study from an Institute-wide perspective undergraduate curricular proposals from constituent elements of the Institute;

b. To assure maintenance of appropriate intercollege relationships with regard to curriculum matters;

c. To assure that existing undergraduate curricula are periodically reviewed.

d. To determine what undergraduate courses at RIT qualify for general education credit.

3. More specifically, the ICC is responsible for studying each proposal submitted to it, considering

a. The academic soundness of the proposal with respect to general educational standards of the Institute and New York State degree requirements. In this connection the committee will also consider standards of accrediting agencies when appropriate.

b. Budgetary implications of the proposal with respect to its impact on the resources (faculty, staff, space, library, etc.) of the Institute.

In addition, in the case of all proposals for new undergraduate certificate, diploma and degree programs, the committee will include in its study the following:

c. In cases where it is determined that the program represents a departure from current goals and objectives of the Institute, the committee will refer the proposal to the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate for subsequent review. If it is decided that such a departure is or may be desirable, the proposal will be returned to ICC for consideration in the light of other factors it normally studies.

d. The relation of the proposed program to the current long-range plan of the Institute and the college or college involved. In this connection the committee expects to be provided with positive references to previous master plan progress reports, annual reports, or appropriate portions of budget narratives.

ICC will establish and circulate to all academic units of the Institute the procedures to be followed for submission of proposals to be reviewed in the following academic year.

4. Criteria and Guidelines for General Education Course Review

General Education courses are intended for the entire RIT student population. All courses must meet the following criteria to be eligible for General Education consideration.

Criterion #1: New York State Liberal Arts and Sciences Guidelines*
The New York State liberal arts and sciences guidelines will apply to all RIT general education courses. New York State’s general definition of such courses is:

“Courses of a general or theoretical nature that are designed to develop judgment and understanding about human beings’ relationship to the social, cultural, and natural facets of their total environment.” (*see www.highered.nysed.gov/ocue/liberalarts.htm )

Furthermore, all RIT general education courses must not violate the New York State corollaries for liberal arts and sciences courses:

• Independent of specific application
• Theoretical understandings as opposed to practical application
• Breadth and scope in principle covered
• Not definitely directed toward particular career or specific professional objectives
• Not chiefly “how to” in manipulative skills or techniques
• Not “applied” aspects of a field

Criterion #2: RIT Liberal Learning Goals
RIT students will acquire those foundations essential for success in the professional fields for which RIT prepares graduates. All RIT general education courses must provide at least one of the following:

• expressive and receptive communication (oral, written, or visual);
• critical thinking and problem solving;
• mathematics and quantitative reasoning;
• technology-based design and information discovery, processing, distribution, and presentation.

Additionally, all RIT general education courses must also fall within one of the following categories:

• Humanities:
• English (e.g. composition, literature, creative writing, history of the language, linguistics, literature in translation)
• Drama (e.g. public speaking, dramatic literature, dramatic interpretation, history of the drama, playwriting)
• Languages (e.g. grammar, reading, composition, history of the language, conversation, literature of the language)
• Music (e.g. music history, appreciation)
• Art (e.g. art history, appreciation)
• Philosophy (e.g. history of philosophy, logic, schools of philosophy, comparative philosophy}
• Religion (e.g. history of religion, comparative religion)
• Mathematics (e.g. Calculus, history, theory, computer science)
• Natural Sciences (e.g. biology, zoology, anatomy and physiology, physics, chemistry, geology, geography)
• Social Sciences (e.g. Sociology, cultural studies, history, psychology, anthropology, political science, economics, government)

Criterion #3: Qualified Faculty
Departments must demonstrate that they have the faculty qualified to teach the specific course. A general education course, like every other, must be taught by individuals with the proper background and knowledge to meet the goals and objectives of the course.

Review Process:
A college wishing to have a course considered for General Education credit must submit their request to the Intercollege Curriculum Committee with the following supporting documentation:

A. A cover memo affirming that the proposal has been reviewed by all appropriate department and college curriculum committees.

B. An outline for the course being reviewed in the ICC approved format.

C. A brief narrative justifying how the course being considered for general education approval is satisfying the above outlined criteria.

D. Optionally a letter of support from the college curriculum committee offering a course of this type (i.e., COLA for social science and humanities, COS for mathematics and science and GCCIS of computer science). Although not required, a letter of support will assist the ICC in expediting the review process.

The ICC will evaluate each course based upon the above outlined criteria and pass on all recommendations to the Provost. The Provost will have final approval of all requests.

G. ORGANIZATION OF THE GRADUATE COUNCIL

Graduate work at the Institute shall be governed by the Graduate Council of the Academic Senate.

The Graduate Council shall study graduate curricular proposals from an institute-wide perspective, maintain appropriate Intercollege relationships with regards to curriculum, define the essential character of graduate study at the Institute, continuously review and coordinate existing graduate programs, and establish policies and procedures for the administration of graduate study at the Institute. It shall make proposals to the Academic Senate for graduate curriculum approval or discontinuance.

The Graduate Council shall consist of eight members, each to be elected by his or her collegial faculty, the three members at large elected by the Academic Senate, one academic dean selected by the Deans Council, the Dean of Graduate Studies serving as the Provost's delegate (ex-officio, voting), and the Vice President for Academic Affairs or his or her delegate (ex officio, voting). Whenever a particular curriculum proposal is being considered in the Senate, the Dean(s) of the respective colleges(s) making the proposal shall be invited to be present and to speak. The Council shall be presided over by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The primary function of the Graduate Council, along with the academic deans, shall be to promote the development and maintenance of high quality educational programs at the graduate level at RIT and to see that the policies and procedures of the Institute are carried out effectively. The chairperson of the Graduate Council shall be coordinator for graduate study at the Institute, and shall have the authority to call and chair regular and special meetings, to appoint appropriate subcommittees of the Graduate Council, and to oversee the administration of programs and operations approved by a majority of members of the Graduate Council.

Approved December 1953
Edited July 2001
Last revised April 5, 2007