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Approved and adopted by UCC VoteÌý -ÌýMar 15, 2024

Undergraduate Committee Charter

Charter:ÌýIn the Fall of 2023, the Department of Computer Science adopted a new strategic plan, stating that it shall pursue two coequal missions of (1) research and (2) teaching excellence. The Undergraduate Committee (UC) exists to facilitate the pursuit of teaching excellence for our undergraduate curriculum as well as all matters associated with it. Furthermore, the purpose of the UC is to act as the executive body of the department in matters relating to the undergraduate curriculum, its degree programs, and courses. The committee proactively evaluates the undergraduate curriculum, implements necessary changes, proposes improvements, and responds to faculty, staff, and student issues on matters within its scope, emphasizing diversity, equity, and inclusion. The committee is responsible for oversight of the undergraduate curriculum, including reviewing and maintaining the existing curriculum, approval of new course proposals, modifications to existing courses, textbook choices for all required foundational and core undergraduate courses, and allocation of resources for the successful administration of the courses. The committee organizes the remaining faculty members of the department into blocks based on the subject matter of the classes they teach, ensuring representation from various backgrounds. The committee consults with respective faculty when courses pertaining to those blocks require revision, always taking into account diverse perspectives and opinions. Furthermore, the committee meets with the blocks semi-regularly to facilitate continuous improvement of the respective courses. The committee is also responsible for proposing changes to degree program requirements and for new undergraduate degree programs, which must then be approved by the greater faculty.

Core Course Oversight Summary: Maintaining the courses that constitute the required undergraduate curriculum is the responsibility of the Chair(s) of the UC. For the success of the undergraduate degree program, the course outcomes and learning objectives of the foundational and core courses must stay consistent, and remain aligned withÌýour values and vision for teaching excellence, and continuous improvement.Ìý

Organization: The committee consists of members of the faculty, staff, and students of the Department of Computer Science. This committee is chaired by the Associate Chair(s) for Undergraduate Education. Committee membership may also include the department chair, the CS Undergraduate Advisors, and one non-voting undergraduate student representative on an as-needed basis. The undergraduate student representative is to be called upon when student input is needed on curriculum changes. Committee members solicit and gather issues for discussion from faculty, staff, and students and host weekly meetings. Minutes are to be recorded and made available to the faculty.Ìý Recommendations are to be made to the Chair of the Department and the Executive Committee in writing. All proposed curriculum changes, other than those that are minor, shall be published to the Computer Science Faculty for consideration and discussion. Any member of the committee may attach comments to committee proposals.

Committee Chair(s): The committee chair(s) shall call meetings, organize individuals into subcommittees, and establish procedures and guidelines for the assessment of individual topics assigned to the subcommittees.

Committee Members: Each member is responsible for participating in the official meetings, making recommendations to the committee on potential curriculum modifications, and keeping abreast of current computer science and university curricula. This committee should comprise of teaching faculty, tenured, and tenure-track faculty.

Voting:ÌýAll committee members shall have voting rights on items under consideration during committee meetings.ÌýFor a motion to pass, at least half of the present members must vote to reach quorum and the motion must receive at least 2/3 of the votes cast.ÌýTo modify this organization and charter document, the motion must receive a two-thirds majority vote of the entire membership (including those absent and abstentions).

Budget:ÌýThe committee shall not manage its budget. All expenditures are approved by the department’s finance department on an as-needed basis.

Additional Duties and Responsibilities:

• Catalog Review:ÌýEvery year in the Fall semester, the committee will perform a catalog review to ensure that it is in line with the current offerings and that the courses are updated, where needed, with the necessary prerequisites, descriptions, and credits.
• Curriculum Review:ÌýEach year in the Spring Semester, the committee will meet to review the current state of the undergraduate curriculum, with a focus on the currency of the program. Discussion of any proposed curriculum changes by the committee itself will be brought forward at this time.
• Degree Integrity Initiative:ÌýA subcommittee will focus on establishing good practices for maintaining the integrity of our degree programs.Ìý This could include but is not limited to, outlining good collaboration practices for students within courses, determining fair academic sanctions for violating syllabus policies, and supporting faculty in reviewing cases of plagiarism.
• Identify Department Award Winners and Generate Nominations for other Awards:ÌýEach year the committee is tasked with awarding the Slutz Award to undergraduate student(s) in Computer Science who demonstrate excellence and innovation in the field. Other department awards will be discussed and potential recipients nominated as needed.
• Student Concerns and Conflict Resolution:ÌýThe committee will be involved in sharing recommendations on resolving concerns from students involving faculty or grades.
• Student petitions:ÌýA subcommittee of this committee will focus on student petitions for course-related exceptions.
• Undergraduate Student Research:ÌýThe committee will be responsible for ensuring that the department maintains a clear set of guidelines for students who are interested in participating in research, such that students know which faculty have current research opportunities open and how to connect with them.
• Operational changes: Procedures such as managing student course registration, will be implemented to align with academic calendar boundaries. This alignment ensures that any adjustments made to internal operational procedures coincide with broader structural changes within the academic framework.
• Annual department-wide meeting:ÌýThe committee will be responsible for organizing an annual meeting to engage the department on the state of the undergraduate program. The purpose of the meeting will be to inform the department about current efforts, issues, and opportunities.Ìý