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Curriculum Committee Guidelines

Operating Guidelines

Each committee member may, in consultation with the Chair of the Undergraduate Council, name a proxy who has all of the privileges and responsibilities of the committee member, except that the Committee Chair’s proxy may not chair committee meetings. If the Committee Chair is unable to attend a committee meeting, the Chair of the Undergraduate Council will chair that meeting. A quorum of the committee consists of one more than half the total of voting members (including proxies).

The Curriculum Committee typically meets two weeks before each meeting of the Undergraduate Council. Committee meetings are open to the entire University community. The agenda for each meeting will be posted in Modern Campus Curriculum platform and will consist of proposals and informational items submitted by and approved by the various Colleges, Schools, and other academic units. These should be submitted to the Committee by the deadlines listed on the Undergraduate Council website and should be submitted in the format outlined there. Material not submitted in this format may be returned for revision prior to consideration by the Committee.

Proposals submitted to the committee may be approved and submitted to the Undergraduate Council for final approval or may be returned for revision. Proposals returned for revision must be resubmitted to the Curriculum Committee for approval before they will be forwarded to the Undergraduate Council.

Undergraduate Council Minutes – Page U12522-U12525 – April 23, 2024

Membership Guidelines

  • The role of the Curriculum Committee of the Undergraduate Council is to ensure the consistency and quality of undergraduate curricula at the University of Tennessee. In this role, the Curriculum Committee makes recommendations to the Council regarding the approval or denial of curricular changes submitted to the Council for consideration.
  • The Curriculum Committee has elected members, voting ex officio members, and non-voting ex officio members.
    • Voting membership consists of:
      • One elected faculty member of the Undergraduate Council from each baccalaureate degree-granting College or School, except three elected faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences, each of whom represents one of the College’s three divisions: Arts and Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Social Sciences.
      • Ex-officio members of the Undergraduate Council representing baccalaureate-degree-granting Colleges or Schools. The voting ex-officio membership will rotate each year, according to a schedule that allows for representation from Colleges that, collectively, awarded approximately half of the total baccalaureate degrees during the most recent academic year for which data are available. In even years (e.g., AY 2024-2025), these representatives will be from the Colleges of Agriculture; Architecture and Design; Business; Education, Health, and Human Sciences; Emerging and Collaborative Studies; and Music. In odd years (e.g., AY 2025-2026), these representatives will be from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences; Communication and Information; Engineering; Nursing; and Social Work and from the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs. The Committee should revisit this voting rotation every three to five years to account for changes in degree production.
      • One student member of the Undergraduate Council.
    • Non-voting ex officio membership consists of representatives from baccalaureate-degree-granting Colleges or Schools that are not on voting rotation and non-degree-granting campus units whose mission impacts undergraduate curricula. These units include University Honors, Teaching and Learning Innovation, and Digital Learning. The voting membership of the Committee may adjust the composition of the non-voting ex officio membership as needed.
  • The elected faculty members of the Committee will be selected by the Chair of the Undergraduate Council.
  • The Chair of the Curriculum Committee is selected from among the elected faculty members at the last committee meeting of the Spring semester of each year. The Chair serves in this capacity for one year, beginning on July 1.

Undergraduate Council Minutes – Page U12522-U12525 – April 23, 2024

Experiential Learning Subcommittees

Function

Experiential Learning Subcommittees serve in an advisory role to the Curriculum Committee and are charged with the review of requirements and review of proposal submissions for EL designations. They make recommendations for approving experiential learning courses and review courses for continuation as experiential learning designated courses.

In reviewing proposal submissions, subcommittees may correspond with originating departments and consult with faculty for possible revision and resubmission if proposals do not meet EL requirements. Subcommittees submit recommendations for approval to the Curriculum Committee for review. They will also report on the number of submissions denied or sent back for revisions as information only.

Overview of Submission Process

As faculty members or departments develop course proposals for EL designation, either as new courses or as parallel courses to existing courses, the proposals must go through departmental and college-level approval. The dean or designee of each college shall submit the course proposal with a statement of purpose and the completed EL course approval form to the Catalog Editor in the University Registrar’s Office by the specified date. The Catalog Editor will forward these to the appropriate subcommittee for review. If proposed courses carry General Education designations, they must also be reviewed by the General Education Committee for approval.

Overview of the Reassessment Process

Approved Experience Learning designated courses must be reassessed at least once every five years to ensure that they continue to adhere to the standards of their designation. Subcommittee Chairs will work with the college designee and/or department head to gather materials for the reassessment. The Subcommittee will then reassess the course. Any deficits will have to be resolved in order for the course to continue to have the EL designation. If there are no unresolved deficits, the course will retain the EL designation without further action. If deficits are not resolved after one review cycle, the Subcommittee will recommend to the Curriculum Committee that the course lose the EL designation.

Structure and Selection of Subcommittee Members

Subcommittees will exist for each approved Experiential Learning course designation. Subcommittees may range in size from 5-7 members. Each subcommittee will have faculty representation from multiple colleges with undergraduate academic programs and representatives with subject expertise in the experience learning category it represents. Members will serve a 3-year term on a rotating basis and may serve multiple terms.

There are currently three subcommittees, N-internship, R-research, and S-service learning. The structure of each subcommittee is as follows:

Internship Subcommittee

  • The Executive Director for the Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration serves as chair
  • The Executive Director for Teaching and Learning serves as a voting member
  • 1-2 elected members of Undergraduate Council, assigned by the Chair of Undergraduate Council
  • 2-3 “content experts” in internships, selected by the Director of the Center for Career Development in consultation with the Chair of Undergraduate Council; members are selected to ensure that the majority of the committee are faculty members

Research Subcommittee

  • The Faculty Director of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships serves as chair
  • The Executive Director for Teaching and Learning serves as a voting member
  • 1-2 elected members of Undergraduate Council, assigned by the Chair of Undergraduate Council
  • 3-4 “content experts” in undergraduate research, including at least one faculty member from the humanities and one from the social sciences, selected by the Director of Undergraduate Research in consultation with the Chair of Undergraduate Council; members are selected to ensure that the majority of the committee are faculty members

Service Learning Subcommittee

  • The Assistant Director for Experiential Learning serves as chair
  • The Executive Director for Teaching and Learning serves as a voting member
  • 1-2 elected members of Undergraduate Council, assigned by the Chair of Undergraduate Council
  • 2-3 “content experts” in service learning, selected by the Faculty Consultant for Service Learning in consultation with the Chair of Undergraduate Council; members are selected to ensure that the majority of the committee are faculty members

Undergraduate Council Minutes – Pages U3735-U3736 – October 18, 2016

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