ESS Curriculum Committee Policies and Procedures

Committee Make-Up

The ESS Curriculum Committee Chair is appointed by the ESS Chair, along with the faculty committee members annually. The Graduate Student members are selected by the Graduate Student Community annually in an all-graduate students meeting at the beginning of Autumn Quarters. The Undergraduate Student members are selected via application process, which Student Services will initiate in Spring Quarters.

Committee Charge

The ESS Curriculum Committee reviews proposed changes to ESS courses and degrees. This includes reviewing faculty-generated course applications, drafting ESS degree descriptions for the degree catalog, conducting periodic reviews of ESS degree programs, discussing and responding to student feedback regarding the ESS curriculum, and approving changes to ESS degree structure/requirements. Although not directly involved in hiring, the committee may also provide feedback on teaching needs for the department based on gaps in curricular offerings.

Section 1: Member Responsibilities

In addition to participating in the regular committee meetings (held 2-3 times per quarter, excluding Summer) and weighing in on curriculum decisions over email, committee members have the duties listed in the following table.

Member	Responsibilities
Committee chair (1 faculty member)	Announces upcoming committee meetings Finalizes meeting agendas Leads committee meetings Records and saves meeting minutes to ESS Curriculum Google Drive within 48 hours of meetings Provides feedback on faculty course applications created in Curriculum Management (CM) system Works with ESS Student Services to draft program change applications Corresponds with faculty regarding changes to applications requested by curriculum committees Announces upcoming curriculum changes at ESS faculty meetings Attends College of the Environment curriculum meetings
Faculty committee members (4-5 additional faculty members, including the Associate Chair for the Undergraduate Program)	Fill in for chair as needed (i.e., announcements at ESS faculty meetings, attending College curriculum meetings) If unable to attend a meeting, review minutes and email feedback to committee within 48 hours
ESS Student Services staff (undergraduate and graduate advisers)	Assist chair in choosing meeting dates (at least 7 business days before College curriculum deadlines) and reserving rooms for committee meetings Assist chair in drafting meeting agendas Provide feedback on faculty course applications created in CM Work with chair to draft program change applications Work with computing specialists to ensure curriculum changes are reflected on ESS website/planning worksheets Provide input on possible impacts of changes to ESS degree on student degree timeline Submit course prerequisite changes through CM
Undergraduate student representative (1 student, typically a GeoClub officer)	Brings ESS undergraduate student concerns to the committee Represents undergraduate perspective in curriculum discussions Occasionally conducts listening sessions or polls to gather perspectives of ESS undergraduates
Graduate student representatives (2 students, 1 MESSAGe student and 1 research student)	Bring ESS graduate student concerns to the committee Represent graduate student/TA perspective in curriculum discussions Occasionally conduct listening sessions or polls to gather perspectives of ESS graduate students

Section 2: Course Change Process and Deadlines

Curriculum deadlines for the College of the Environment can be found at: https://environment.uw.edu/intranet/governance/curriculum-committee/

Faculty who wish to have their course applications approved by those deadlines must share a completed CM application with the committee chair and ESS Student Services in time for discussion at the last ESS Curriculum Committee meeting prior to those deadlines. Since the committee typically only meets 2-3 times per quarter, faculty are encouraged to contact the committee chair and ESS Student Services well in advance to avoid missing deadlines.

Note that the College of the Environment’s curriculum deadlines are typically about 2-3 quarters in advance of the desired effective quarter for any changes.

Approval by the ESS Curriculum Committee is only the first step in the curriculum approval process; if the ESS Curriculum Committee approves a change, the application is then routed to the College of the Environment Curriculum Committee for approval, followed by any relevant university committees. Changes to the course application may be requested at any stage in this process. It is the initiating faculty member’s responsibility to make those changes in a timely fashion; delays in making requested edits may result in missed deadlines and, as a result, a later effective date for the course changes.

In order to meet curriculum deadlines, it is important that any feedback from ESS Curriculum Committee members be received well in advance of the College deadlines. For this reason, ESS Curriculum Committee meetings are held at least 7 business days in advance of the deadlines. The chair records meeting minutes and posts those to the ESS Curriculum Google Drive within 48 hours of any meetings. After the minutes are posted, any committee members who were unable to attend will have another 48 hours to email feedback or concerns to the committee. Any feedback that is not shared with the entire committee via email or is sent after this deadline will most likely not be incorporated into curriculum applications. Add your detailed information that supports each header.

Section 3: Minor Course Changes

After the initiating faculty member has produced a complete course application in CM, minor course changes may sometimes be discussed by the committee over email. This reserves meeting time for more complicated discussions and can occasionally expedite course changes by allowing a decision to be reached prior to the next meeting. Some examples of minor course changes include:

Changing a course title
Updating a course description
Making minor changes to course prerequisites
Updating the General Education requirements met by an undergraduate course

It is the chair’s responsibility to determine which changes are eligible to be discussed over email, email the committee for their feedback, and summarize the final committee decision.

Section 4: Reviewing ESS Degree Programs

While reviewing ESS degree programs falls within the committee’s responsibility, this task is often too large to complete within the time constraints of regular committee meetings. Therefore, when larger structural changes to degree programs are under discussion, it is the responsibility of the Curriculum Chair and the Associate Chair for the Undergraduate Program to appoint faculty subcommittees to draft initial degree change proposals. These proposals can then be presented at a faculty meeting for general faculty feedback, and, after incorporation of feedback, the updated drafts will be presented to the full ESS Curriculum Committee for final review and approval.

Section 5: Course Fees

While the College of the Environment’s deadlines for course fee paperwork are the same as those for course applications, the course fee process is separate and does not involve the ESS Curriculum Committee. Faculty with questions regarding course fees should contact the ESS administrator.

Update History

October 16, 2018.