Faculty members who choose to serve on a University standing committee indicate their preferences for committee assignments to the Faculty Senate Executive Council in the spring of each year for the following academic year. Committee assignments for the upcoming academic year should generally be approved at the first senate meeting of the academic year. Each standing committee should have at least one member from each college. Each committee of the faculty will meet in September of the fall semester to elect its chair and to discuss its anticipated agenda for the year. It is recommended that a faculty member elected to chair should have one year of prior service on that committee. The election results and anticipated agenda will be submitted to the Faculty Senate Executive Council by October 1st. Each committee of the faculty submits a mid‐year and an end‐of‐year written report to the Faculty Senate Executive Council vice president and makes an oral report to the University Faculty at the last faculty meeting of the academic year.
Faculty members in their first year at the University are not expected to serve on University standing committees.
Following is a list of University standing committees and a brief description of their charges.
- Academic Appeals Committee
The Academic Appeals Committee evaluates student appeals on grades, transfer of credit hours, or other matters pertaining to academic policies and procedures.
- Academic Integrity Committee
The charge to the Academic Integrity Committee is to: (1) review academic integrity policy; (2) establish effective procedures for all steps and parties involved in the processing of academic integrity violations, including procedures for the effective and efficient process of adjudicating academic integrity violations by the Academic Integrity Committee; (3) prepare selected members of the Academic Integrity Committee to participate in academic integrity violation hearings and (4) conduct academic integrity hearings.
- Academic Standards Committee
The Academic Standards Committee reviews issues pertaining to the graduate or undergraduate Academic Policies and Procedures sections of the UT Catalog and, when appropriate, makes recommendations to the Faculty Senate and/or Administration.
- Admissions Policies Committee
The Admissions Policies Committee reviews, evaluates, and recommends University admissions policies.
- Advising Committee
The Advising Committee reviews, evaluates, and recommends improvements in the student advising system.
- Spartan Studies Committee
The Spartan Studies Committee works with the Associate Dean of the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Director of the First Year Experience, and the Assessment Coordinator for the QEP in promoting the continuous development of the general education curriculum at UT – Spartan Studies – and assuring the quality of all Spartan Studies programming. In this capacity, the committee determines which courses are included in the Spartan Studies First Year and Core curriculum, including social science, humanities, critical reading, mathematics, and culminating experience courses. The Spartan Studies Committee, in consultation with the Provost’s Office, will also be responsible for ensuring that sufficient sections of the courses within the Spartan Studies Core curriculum are offered to meet the requisite demand. The Spartan Studies Committee determines whether courses meet the criteria for inclusion in the distribution component of Spartan Studies, while departments with courses that meet those criteria will control when those courses are offered. The list below is intended to be a guide for faculty proposing courses and is not intended to be exclusive or restrictive: · Humanities Core courses engage in the study of how people process and document the human experience. They meet specific syllabus and assessment criteria and are taught by faculty with expertise in areas such as Art, Communication, language analysis, Literature, Music, Philosophy, and Religion. · Social and Behavioral Sciences Core courses educate students on the use of empirical data and theory to understand the human world. They meet specific syllabus and assessment criteria and are taught by faculty with expertise in areas such as Communication, Criminology, Economics, Geography, History, Political Science, Public Health, Psychology, and Sociology. · Text-Based Humanities Distribution courses are taught by faculty with expertise in areas such as Communication, languages other than English, Gender Studies, Literature, Philosophy, Religion, and Women’s Studies, although not all courses with such disciplinary approaches will meet the catalog criteria needed for designation as distribution courses. · Visual and Performing Arts Distribution courses are taught by faculty with expertise in the production or analysis of creative works within traditions of visual and performing arts, although not all courses with such disciplinary approaches will meet the catalog criteria needed for designation as distribution courses. · Social and Behavioral Sciences Distribution courses are taught by faculty with expertise in areas such as Communication, Criminology, Economics, Geography, History, Political Science, Public Health, Psychology, and Sociology, although not all courses with such disciplinary approaches will meet the catalog criteria needed for designation as distribution courses. 3 · Natural Science Distribution courses are taught by faculty with expertise in areas such as Allied Health, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Marine Science, and Physics, although not all courses with such disciplinary approaches will meet the catalog criteria needed for designation as distribution courses. The Spartan Studies Committee may make recommendations to the Faculty Senate for revisions to Spartan Studies. The Spartan Studies Committee must also conduct a detailed review of the general education curriculum every seven years. The Spartan Studies Committee also has primary responsibility for the development and continued oversight of the online courses that are included in the Spartan Studies curriculum, including UTAMPA 200 Digital Literacy and UTAMPA 201 Career Exploration, though staffing for these online courses will be managed by the Spartan Studies Office. The Spartan Studies Committee has primary responsibility for assessing the effectiveness of the Spartan Studies curriculum. Assessment of the Spartan Studies curriculum will occur on an annual basis and the results will be presented to the faculty teaching courses in the Spartan Studies curriculum on a regular basis. Every effort will be made to help courses meet standards for inclusion in Spartan Studies. However, the Spartan Studies Committee, by super-majority vote (75%) will have the authority to remove individual courses from the Spartan Studies curriculum if relevant data indicate outcomes are not being met. The Spartan Studies Committee also reviews the assessment results of UTAMPA 101/102/103/104 provided by the First-Year Committee. The two committees work together with the Director of First-Year Experience and the Associate Dean for the Center of Teaching and Learning to make adjustments to the curriculum as needed to meet the requirements of the Spartan Studies curriculum. Finally, the Spartan Studies Committee is responsible for defining proposal criteria, evaluating applications, and making recommendations for the awarding of Learning Enrichment Grant funds that enhance the Spartan Studies Curriculum. Spartan Studies Directors will be tenured faculty or promoted instructional faculty and will be hired by a committee that includes: the Associate Dean of the Center for Teaching and Learning, the Associate Provost and Dean of Academic Services, and three full-time faculty members in the disciplines that would fall under the corresponding Director. A faculty vote in the respective curricular area to retain or not to retain each Spartan Studies Director will take place every three years of each Director’s tenure. Membership in the Spartan Studies Committee will consist of Spartan Studies Directors and elected faculty. Spartan Studies Directors will receive compensation commensurate with the number of courses in Spartan Studies they oversee. There will be five Spartan Studies Directors: · Director of Quantitative Reasoning · Director of the Social and Behavioral Sciences · Director of Humanities, Arts, and Languages · Director of Academic Writing and Reading · Director of the Culminating Experience 4 The remaining members of the Spartan Studies Committee will be full-time faculty elected to alternating 3-year terms by faculty in each of the areas described above. One individual will be elected from the natural sciences and one faculty member will be elected from Mathematics to form the Quantitative Reasoning Subcommittee with the Director of Quantitative Reasoning. Two individuals will be elected from different departments in the social and behavioral sciences to form the Social and Behavioral Science Subcommittee with the Director of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Four individuals with expertise in the humanities, arts, and languages will be elected with no more than two individuals from the same department, including the Director, to form the Humanities, Arts, and Languages Subcommittee with the Director of the Humanities, Arts, and Languages; at least one of these individuals must be from the Visual or Performing Arts. Two individuals will be elected from disciplines teaching UT*** 110 to form the Academic Writing and Reading Subcommittee with the Director of Academic Writing and Reading; at least one of these individuals must be eligible to teach UTAMPA 210. Finally, two faculty members at large, ideally individuals with interdisciplinary expertise, will be elected to form the Culminating Experience Subcommittee with the Director of the Culminating Experience. The Subcommittees will have primary responsibility for determining which courses will be offered within the component of the Spartan Studies Core they oversee. Because the Social and Behavioral Science and Humanities Core courses help incorporate the writing High Impact Practice into Spartan Studies, the Director of Academic Writing and Reading must also approve all courses in those areas. The respective Subcommittees have primary responsibility for the ongoing assessment of the courses for which they have oversight. Collectively, the Spartan Studies Committee will oversee the courses that are included within the distribution component of Spartan Studies as well as first-year seminar courses and the online courses students are required to complete. All courses approved by the Spartan Studies Committee for inclusion in Spartan Studies will also need to be approved via the appropriate process as determined by the Faculty Senate. All courses approved to be part of Spartan Studies must be re-approved every four years. The Associate Dean of the Center for Teaching and Learning will be responsible for tracking the approval dates of courses. The following individuals will be ex officio members of the Spartan Studies Committee: Associate Dean of the Center for Teaching and Learning, Assessment Coordinator for the QEP, and the Director of the First Year Experience
- Benefits and Salary Committee
The Benefits and Salary Committee is a means through which faculty understanding, advice, and counsel can be given on matters relating to the formulation and content of the University budget, the determination of salaries, and the allocation of capital expenditures. It has the responsibility of representing the Faculty on other aspects of the financial management of the University, as it deems pertinent, and of providing periodic reports to the Faculty on such matters. The chair of the Committee sits as a representative of the Faculty on the Trustee Committee on Administrative Affairs.
- Community Engagement and Responsible Citizenship Committee
The Community Engagement and Responsible Citizenship Committee works with Academic Affairs and Student Affairs on High Impact Practices to promote the development, implementation and evaluation of community engagement and service learning across the departments and colleges. The committee serves as a resource to make responsible citizenship a more meaningful part of our campus culture. The committee facilitates programming and education between departments, faculty, students, and staff to increase community engagement opportunities and voter registration. The Director of the Office of Student Leadership and Engagement and the Associate Dean of Career Development and Engagement will serve as non-voting ex-officio members of the committee. (Approved April 24, 2020)
- Curriculum Committee
The Curriculum Committee reviews all proposals for changes in the University curriculum (including those courses seeking International/Global Awareness (IG), Non‐Western (NW), Writing Intensive (W), and Art/Aesthetic (A) designations approved by the Spartan Studies Committee; courses approved by the First Year/Gateways
Committee; and Honors courses approved by the Honors Committee. In addition to the review of proposed changes, it is the responsibility of the Curriculum Committee to list and track changes in the curriculum to facilitate the Registrar’s efforts in compiling the UT Catalog and monitor student progress towards their program completion.
The Curriculum Committee has final approval and authority in the following areas: addition, deletion or merging of courses; substantive changes in existing course descriptions; changes in course credit hours. Substantive changes are those that impact majors, minors, or other programs, course designations, or credit hours. Non‐substantive changes include course title changes (with the exception of when a course title is changed to mirror a course title already offered), courses designated as prerequisites, and descriptions of courses. Any non‐substantive changes must be sent to the Curriculum Committee in the form of a memorandum to assist their responsibility of tracking changes in the curriculum.
The Curriculum Committee approves and forwards to the Faculty for a vote: alterations in the core curriculum and changes, deletions or additions of majors, minors, or other programs. All original documents submitted on approved forms are archived in the library.
The Curriculum Committee is an elected committee composed of nine members, each member serving a two‐year term. Each college will have two members on the committee, and the Library will elect a representative. Each position is elected in alternating years. Ex‐officio members will include the Associate Dean of the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Registrar. (See Chapter 2, Section IV, Part D, #5-#7 for further details.)
To ensure consistency among colleges, the elections for college representatives to the Curriculum Committee will be conducted in March by the respective college’s dean’s office using an approved online platform with reports going to the college’s dean, administrative assistant, and Senate Executive Committee representative. Only continuing full‐time tenure track faculty with a rank of assistant professor or greater can vote in this election and serve on the committee. (Approved December 6, 2013.)
- Diversity Committee
The Diversity Committee provides the leadership for initiatives that engage the faculty, staff, and students in celebrating and respecting all kinds of diversity at the University of Tampa. The Committee also advises the Provost and Deans on hiring practices and mechanisms to enhance the diversity of the faculty at the University of Tampa.
- Faculty Grants Committee
The Faculty Grants Committee is an elected committee composed of twelve members, four tenured and eight at-large, each member serving a two-year term. Each college has three members on the committee (one tenured and two at-large). Each tenured position is elected once every two years, with elections staggered across colleges in alternating years. The two at-large positions within each college are elected in alternate years.
To ensure consistency among colleges, the elections for college representatives to the Faculty Grants Committee will be conducted in March by the respective college’s dean’s office using an approved online platform with reports going to the college’s dean, administrative assistant, and Senate Executive Committee representative. Only continuing full-time tenure track faculty with a rank of assistant professor or greater can vote in this election and serve on the committee. (See Chapter 2, Section IV, Part D, #5-#7 for further details.)
The Faculty Grants Committee investigates and advances faculty development by promoting funding and course releases. As a facet of its work, it defines criteria, evaluates applications, and makes recommendations for the Research Innovation and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) Grant Program and Professional Development Awards (PDA).
- Faculty Handbook Committee
The charge of the Faculty Handbook Committee is to implement the inclusion of approved changes to the Faculty Policies and Procedures Handbook via the process described in Appendix F, to oversee the process by which such changes are made, and to oversee the annual archiving of the Handbook.
- The Faculty Sabbatical Committee
The Faculty Sabbatical Committee is an elected committee composed of eight tenured members, two from each college, serving staggered two-year terms. The committee will elect a faculty member as its chair at its first meeting of the academic year. The Faculty Sabbatical Committee will consider and evaluate the merit of each year’s pool of sabbatical proposals. Evaluation criteria and further details are described in this Handbook’s Sabbatical Policy.
To ensure consistency among colleges, the elections for college representatives to the Faculty Sabbatical Committee will be conducted in March by the respective college’s dean’s office using an approved online platform with reports going to the college’s dean, administrative assistant, and Senate Executive Committee representative. Only full-time tenured faculty with a rank of assistant professor or greater can vote in this election and serve on the committee. Tenured faculty cannot serve on a College Tenure and Promotion Committee and the Faculty Sabbatical Committee simultaneously. (See Chapter 2, Section IV, Part D, #5-#7 for further details.)
- Faculty Workload Committee
The Faculty Workload Committee (FWC) has three roles at the university. First, they investigate issues of work assigned to faculty that does not explicitly fall within the definitions of contractual obligations as stated in the faculty handbook. These issues may be generated from within the committee, from faculty who approach the committee directly, and from concerns forwarded from the Senate. When the FWC identifies work that falls outside of contractual obligations they refer the matter to the standing Benefits and Salary Committee copying the Senate Executive. Second, the FWC works with faculty and administrators to find efficiencies and practices that lesson the time commitments of existing contractually obligated faculty assignments without diminishing the quality of teaching, research, and service. Third, when significant changes to curriculum or policy are brought to the senate, the Senate Exec can choose to send these proposals to the FWC to estimate new commitments in time and energy from the faculty being requested. In such cases their report will accompany said proposal to the Senate floor. (Approved March 27, 2020)
- First-Year Committee
The First‐Year Committee works with the Director of First-Year Experience within The Center for Teaching and Learning to promote the continuous development of the first-year experience, both within and outside the classroom. This committee works within the framework established by the Spartan Studies Committee to develop and revise the UTAMPA 101/102/103/104 curriculum to meet the requirements of the general education program. In addition, the First-Year Committee will complete the assessment of the learning outcomes and provide the assessment results to the Spartan Studies committee, the faculty who teach in the program, and academic administration as required for the annual report and accreditation reports. Finally, the committee will work with the Director of First-Year Experience to develop out-of-classroom experiences and other programming that will improve students’ sense of connection to UT and student success in support of retention and persistence efforts.
- Graduate Appeals Committees
Committees comprised of graduate faculty within the College of Business, the Department of Nursing, and the Department of Education, respectively, hear graduate student appeals. The dean of graduate studies appoints members annually in consultation with the college deans and program directors from Education and Nursing. The appeals committees meet periodically, as needed, to respond to academic appeals by graduate students in areas of admissions, grades, complaints against faculty members, transfer of credits, and shifting of electives.
- Graduate Council
The Graduate Council, chaired by the assistant vice president and director for graduate and continuing studies and appointed jointly by the graduate and college deans, is comprised of program directors from each graduate program and the college deans, or their designees. The Graduate Council evaluates feedback, generates proposals for improvement in graduate programs, and formulates policy recommendations in areas such as admissions, academic standards, program assessment and evaluation, accreditation issues, faculty teaching loads and compensation, program promotion, and curriculum development. Please see the Graduate Policies and Procedures Manual for additional detail.
- Hearing Committee
The Hearing Committee shall consist of seven tenured members of the Faculty appointed by the Faculty Senate. Each college should have at least one representative and no more than two. From these members, the Committee shall elect a chair, and a vice chair. The members shall serve two‐year, staggered terms. Membership on the Hearing Committee precludes membership on College Tenure and Promotion Committees.
Parties to matters pending before the Hearing Committee have the right to one peremptory challenge. In the event that a five‐member hearing panel cannot be constituted from regular members because of disqualification and peremptory challenges, replacements shall be chosen from or appointed by the Senate Executive Council. If possible, the choice will be governed in a manner to maintain balance in college representation on the Hearing Committee.
The Hearing Committee affords due process and prompt resolution in performing three primary functions:
- A faculty member may ask the Hearing Committee to review a recommendation made to the president by a College Tenure and Promotion Committee regarding tenure and promotion. In no case shall the Hearing Committee substitute its judgment of the merits of the case for that of the original body. Its reviews will be limited to procedural matters related to inadequate consideration.
- The Hearing Committee shall act as a hearing panel to investigate and to make recommendations to the president in cases of dismissal for cause of a tenured faculty member.
- The Hearing Committee may also act as a hearing panel to investigate grievances involving a faculty member. Such grievances will typically involve an alleged denial of due process, academic freedom, or grievances only when all other efforts at resolution through regular administrative channels have been exhausted.
- Honors Committee
The Honors Committee works with the director of the Honors Program in promoting the continuous development of the program. In addition, the Committee monitors the qualities of and the admissions standards for the program. In this capacity, it reviews new honors course offerings and recommends them to the Curriculum Committee for core credit; discusses and approves yearly themes; sets policies and approves minor adjustments in the program; works with the director of the program and the Student Honor Council in developing and promoting lectures, films, and other activities which enrich the Honors Program; and acts as a liaison between the Honors Program and the faculty in the academic departments. The Committee also reviews and considers applications for Honors Research Fellowships, the Honors at Oxford program, and the Timothy Smith Inspiration through Exploration Award.
- Institutional Research and Outcomes Assessment (IR&OA) Committee
The IR&OA Committee works with the Institutional Research and Outcomes Assessment office in the timely dissemination of findings from University‐wide research and assessment. The committee also facilitates communication between individual departments and the IR&OA office, as well as communication between departments, about various research and outcomes assessment procedures. Additionally, the IR&OA Committee will theorize new directions for University‐wide research and outcomes assessment.
- Institutional Review Board
The Institutional Review Board consists of five appointed faculty and a representative from outside the University community. The role of the IRB is to ensure that research including human subjects done by members of the UT community conforms to federal requirements.
- Instructional Technology Committee (ITC)
The ITC Committee works to continue to develop items, concepts, and big‐picture elements for the University’s strategic plan as it applies to instructional technology, and forwards its findings and recommendations to the administration. The Committee also works to better organize, and so to better use, faculty‐run instructional technology training resources. The Committee will monitor the security of institutional technology, and, as is appropriate, will facilitate communication between the Faculty and the administration with regard to the security of instructional technology at the University.
- International Programs Committee
The International Programs Committee advises the associate dean of International Programs in the development of programs and activities that provide international student support and enrichment, with a goal of attracting and retaining such students and maintaining relations with them as alumni; provide students with an array of programs that enhance their international and inter‐cultural understanding; seek to increase the engagement of faculty and staff in international programs and activities; enhance the international dimension of the curriculum; and enhance the visibility and status of The University of Tampa within the international community.
In addition, the International Programs Committee, in conjunction with the associate dean of International Programs, reviews and approves new education abroad courses or new study‐abroad components of existing courses for both curricular consistency and best practices (for study abroad experiences). For new course proposals with study‐abroad elements approved by the International Programs Committee, the committee recommends these proposals to the University Curriculum Committee for their review and approval. (Approved April 8, 2015)
- Internship Committee
The purpose of the Internship Committee is to ensure consistency in internship offerings for both credit and non-credit internships, assure that all internship endeavors are aligned with the University of Tampa’s Mission Statement and to provide guidance to stakeholders (students, faculty, university staff, external internship partners, etc.) on the benefits and best practices of the internship.
In an effort to foster consistency across departments, the committee will work with various stakeholders to create and maintain an Internship Manual. This manual will include, but will not be limited to, the following items:
● Determine what qualities are part of internships that count for course credit.
● Guidelines and forms necessary for the approval, registration, and supervision of internships.
● Guidelines and guidance for internship supervisors for relevant tasks, duties, responsibilities, learning objectives, and work hours required to earn academic credit.
● Guidelines that ensure internship partners are aligned with the University of Tampa’s Mission Statement.
● Information on the University of Tampa’s initiative Spartan Ready and it’s Spartan Ready Skills.
A key component of ensuring that all internship endeavors are aligned with the University of Tampa’s Mission Statement will be the Internship Committee's promotion of the University's initiative known as Spartan Ready. This initiative states:
“The University of Tampa graduates students who are prepared to be successful individuals with an advanced understanding of their field of study, the interdisciplinary workplace and how to be leaders who contribute to society.
Through curricular work in classes and co-curricular experiences, students develop high demand competencies that are relevant for their collegiate success and the 21st Century workforce. These make up the Pillars of Spartan Ready® which are supported by life skills education, digital proficiencies, and training to be a professional.”
The Internship Committee agrees with notable scholars that internships are a high impact experiential educational endeavor. Because of this, the committee sees itself as stewards who foster and promote the use of internships and other like experiential endeavors in all aspects of a student’s academic career.
The Internship Committee is committed to fostering a diverse environment for all stakeholders involved in the internship process and to promoting the University of Tampa’s Diversity Statement:
“The University of Tampa’s Diversity and Inclusion organizations are dedicated to providing each student with the knowledge and social spaces that promote healthy relationships within each unique identity and between each identity.”
In an effort to provide wide ranging guidance about the internship experience, the committee will have University of Tampa staff and faculty as ex-officio members. The committee may add and subtract these ex-officio members as needed in order to best meet the needs of the committee. Examples of ex-officio members are:
● Director and Associate Director of Career Services
● Director, Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry/ Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) Coordinator
● Member from the Registrar's Office
(Approved 2/5/2021)
- Library Committee
The Library Committee assists the director of the library in developing and reviewing the annual budget. In addition, the committee reviews policies and practices of the library and makes recommendations. Committee members act as liaisons to the departments on library matters.
- Louise Loy Hunter Award Committee
Consisting of the former years’ recipients of the Hunter Award, the committee meets to nominate, to consider nominations from other sources, and to select the recipient of the Hunter Award for that year. The award is intended to recognize, on an annual basis, an outstanding faculty member. The name of the award recipient is announced at the Academic Awards Ceremony each spring.
- Online Teaching and Learning Committee
The Online Teaching & Learning Committee oversees fully online and hybrid course development at the University of Tampa by evaluating the design and delivery of such course proposals. The committee will develop instruments, such as rubrics and guidelines, to be used in the approval of fully online and hybrid courses. These instruments will be created for the purpose of ensuring that online teaching at the University of Tampa aligns with best practices, as defined by the regimes and institutions that develop such standards.
The Online Teaching & Learning Committee evaluates fully online and hybrid course effectiveness at the University of Tampa by researching, designing and developing assessment tools to ensure quality digital teaching and learning. The committee will determine best practices for collecting and analyzing data for the purpose of demonstrating elements of quality within the online learning program.
The Online Teaching & Learning Committee will be comprised of at least two representatives from each college, one from the library and one from Educational Technology. The members are approved by the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate and confirmed by the full Faculty Senate. One member of the committee will serve as the Review Coordinator, who assigns particular courses to individual members of the committee for review. A report from each reviewer comes back to the coordinator, who prepares a report outlining the required changes and deadlines for compliance. A course under review cannot be offered in fully online or hybrid form until the content has been approved by the home department and delivery method approved by the Online Teaching & Learning Committee. The committee’s review coordinator informs the faculty proposing the fully online or hybrid course, the chair of the department offering the course, the assistant or associate dean, the dean of the college, the director of Education Technology, and the Office of Graduate and Continuing Studies whether the course has been approved for fully online or hybrid teaching. The review coordinator will also assign courses for subsequent review after a specified length of time has passed to ensure that approved courses continue to meet program requirements.
- Sustainability
The Sustainability Committee facilitates programs and education throughout the university community on issues of resource conservation and global stewardship. Through these activities the committee will identify areas of progress and concern, and create a greater dialogue of contemporary issues, thereby fostering a culture of sustainability in the university community. Through collaborations with administrators, faculty, students, and the Tampa Bay community, the Sustainability Committee will address these issues in an effort to further the goals of the university. Areas in which the Sustainability Committee functions include, but are not exclusive to, education recycling, classroom sustainability, and resource and energy utilization and conservation.
- Undergraduate Research and Inquiry Committee
The Undergraduate Research and Inquiry Committee advises the director of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry, who will serve as an ex-officio member, in the development of programs and offerings related to inquiry-based experiential education (such as undergraduate research, culminating projects, internships). The goal of the committee is to advance this high-impact practice in the first-year experience, within majors, and with culminating experiences. The committee will seek to increase the engagement of faculty and staff in inquiry-based experiential education activities across the university.
In addition, the committee, in conjunction with the director, develops criteria and procedures in order to review and approve new inquiry-based courses or existing courses that have been redesigned with some inquiry-based components or added assessments. New course proposals with inquiry-based elements will require approval by the University Curriculum Committee prior to receiving approval as an inquiry-based course. The committee will also be responsible for the establishment of criteria and evaluation of proposals for any other inquiry-based projects and activities. The committee will also work with the director to develop materials for marketing and manage issues related to assessment matters.
Each college has a Tenure and Promotion Committee. Additionally, each college has committees to specifically review and address issues relevant to the colleges. All departments have ad hoc committees as needed, and some have standing committees as well.
Each standing committee of the Board of Trustees includes an appropriate representative of the University Faculty.
The president of the Faculty Senate is the Faculty representative to the Board; the chair of the Faculty Benefits and Salary Committee is the representative to the Administrative Affairs Committee of the Board; the president of the Faculty Senate is the representative to the Educational Affairs Committee of the Board. The Faculty Senate Executive Council annually selects faculty representatives to the Facilities, University Relations and Communications, Board Development and Relations, Planning, Development, Athletics, and Student Affairs Committees of the Board.
The service of a faculty member on a Board committee is tantamount to his/her service on a Faculty committee or University task force.