Curriculum Committee

 

DEFINITION
The Harold Washington College Curriculum Committee (HWC3) is a standing committee of the HWC Faculty Council (HWCFC), from which it receives its charge. The Curriculum Committee is committed to maintaining academic quality and empowering academic change.

The work of the Committee is done with the intention of recommending forward to the HWCFC changes that maintain the highest level of academic quality, as is the standard at Harold Washington College.  The Committee directly supports the principal advocate of a proposal in moving forward and, if necessary, modifying a proposal based on constructive recommendations that are in the best interest of the college.

MEMBERSHIP
Only full-time faculty members shall be eligible to serve on the Harold Washington College Curriculum Committee.  The term “faculty member” shall mean a full-time employee of the Board with rank who is not designated as an administrator in the Union-Board Agreement.

Every department shall appoint one voting representative to the Committee prior to the first meeting of each semester.  The representative shall be a full-time faculty member at Harold Washington College.  In addition, a representative from the local Faculty Council and the administration shall also be in attendance in an observing and advising role, although they will not be voting members.  A quorum shall be a simple majority of voting Committee members.

The duties of the members shall be to attend and represent their department at every scheduled Curriculum Committee meeting, and to advise their department in curricular activities.  Voting members of the Curriculum Committee shall serve as the first contact for any faculty member in their department wishing to propose any curricular change.  Voting members who miss a meeting should send a substitute.  If any voting member misses two consecutive meetings, a letter of notification will be sent to the department chair.  If said member misses a third consecutive meeting (following notification of their absence to the department chair), that member shall be considered resigned, and the department chair will be asked to appoint a new representative.  If a new representative cannot be found by the next scheduled meeting, that department shall forfeit its representation on the committee and shall not be counted as necessary for quorum until a new representative is appointed.

OFFICERS:  ELECTION, TERM OF OFFICE AND DUTIES
The officers of the Harold Washington College Curriculum Committee shall consist of a Chair, Assistant Chair, Secretary and Assistant Secretary.  The Chair and Assistant Chair of the Harold Washington College Curriculum Committee shall be full-time tenured faculty members of Harold Washington College.  The officers shall be elected from voting members of the Harold Washington College Curriculum Committee for a term of one year each, and may not be elected for more than three (3) consecutive terms.

The election of the officers of the committee shall take place at the last meeting of the Spring semester every year.  In the event that only one person stands for an office, that person shall be declared elected by the presiding Chair of the committee.  The new officers will begin their duties at the beginning of the Fall semester of the next academic year.

Chair
The Chair of the committee shall conduct all meetings of the Harold Washington College Curriculum Committee.  He/She shall serve as the primary contact person for faculty with the committee, providing guidance and information in matters of curriculum.  The chair shall also bring to the attention of the committee any matters of curriculum which are of concern to the college, and shall represent the committee in all matters where such representation is required.  He/She shall schedule monthly meetings and set the agenda.  The Chair does not vote, except to break a tie.  The Chair shall also serve as archivist of the Harold Washington College Curriculum Committee records and shall transmit those records to his or her successor.

Assistant Chair
The Assistant Chair shall act as Chair in the absence of the Chair.  He/She shall serve as Chair for the duration of an unexpired term in the event that the Chair resigns the position or is unable to complete his/her term.  If the Assistant Chair succeeds to the office of Chair, the committee may elect a new Assistant Chair for the unexpired term of the former Assistant Chair.

Secretary
The Secretary shall be responsible for taking minutes and for distributing those minutes to the Harold Washington College Curriculum Committee members and to the President of the Local Faculty Council.

Assistant Secretary
The Assistant Secretary shall act as Secretary in the absence of the Secretary.  He/She shall serve as Secretary for the duration of an unexpired term in the event that the Secretary resigns the position or is unable to complete his/her term.  If the Assistant Secretary succeeds to the office of Secretary, the committee may elect a new Assistant Secretary for the unexpired term of the former Assistant Secretary.

Approved – Sept 2, 2010

Theresa Carlton, Chair                                                Gabriela Cambiaso, ELL/WL Rep

Uletta Jackson, Secretary, Biology Rep                     Ivanhoe Tejeda, Humanities Rep

Paul Wandless, Art & Architecture Rep                     Oscar Ortega, Math Rep

Anita Kelly, Business/CIS Rep                                  Maria Teresa Fregoso, Social Science Rep