Chapter 3

Authority, Procedures and the Operation of the Academic Council

3.1 Standing Committees' Authorities and Actions

(Approved: February 16, 1993)

Each standing committee shall have by-direction authority over a subset of the matters that come under the authority of the Council. In order to exercise its by-direction authority, a quorum of the subcommittee must be raised for a vote.

Meeting agenda shall indicate matters which have been considered for by-direction decisions since the last meeting of the Council, and the standing committee shall report the results of their deliberations to the council during the meeting. Support data for by-direction decisions shall be distributed with meeting agenda.

The allocation of by-direction authority is given in detail in the following sections.

3.2.1 Course Review Committee

(Approved: February 16, 1993)

The Course Review Committee possesses no by-direction authority.

3.2.2 Curricula, Certificate, and Degree Requirements Committee

(Approved: February 16, 1993) (Amended October 27, 2005) (Amended January 17, 2007)

The Curriculum, Certificate, and Degree Requirements Committee has by-direction authority to approve or disapprove the following types of requests:

1. requests for transfer of credit from another institution;
2. requests to extend the time to remove grades of Incomplete.

3.2.3 Ph.D. Committee

(Approved: February 16, 1993)

The Ph.D. Committee has by-direction authority to approve or disapprove:

1. the formation of dissertation committees;
2. advancement to candidacy.

In addition, the Ph.D. Committee has by-direction authority to approve minor deviations from standard procedures for attaining a Ph.D. at the School.

3.2.4 Special Programs Committee

(Approved: February 16, 1993) (Amended January 17, 2007)

The Special Programs Committee has by-direction authority for:

1. program approval for Bachelor's Degrees;
2. program approval for dual Master's Degrees;
3. approval for programs leading to Master's Degrees for civilian students.

3.2.5 Council Secretary

(Approved: February 16, 1993)

The Council Secretary shall execute by-direction authority to approve or disapprove requests for the following:

1. first-year thesis extensions;
2. change of pass/fail status for a course;
3. granting of waivers of enrollment limits as specified in section 6.6.

3.3 Agenda and Timing of Meetings

(Approved: February 16, 1993) (Amended January 17, 2007)

Meetings of the Council shall be held at least twice per quarter. Meeting dates, previous meeting minutes, and agenda will be circulated to:

1. Council members
2. Program Officers
3. Academic Associates
4. Department Chairs
5. Academic Deans

no later than two weeks prior to Council meetings.

The agenda of meetings of the Council will follow the following outline:

1. roll call and approval of the minutes of the previous meeting;
2. communications, including requests for inclusion of items on future agenda;
3. old business;
4. new business:
   • reports of ad hoc committees;
   • reports of standing committees;
   • other new business;
5. adjournment.

Business items may be disposed in one of the following ways:

1. approval with or without amendment;
2. disapproval;
3. tabled or referred.

Tabled items will appear as old business at the next meeting.

3.4 Procedures for Running Academic Council Meetings

(Approved: February 16, 1993)

Meetings of the Academic Council shall be conducted in accordance with Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, [2].

3.5 Procedures for Reaching the Academic Council with a Request

(Approved: February 16, 1993)

Requests to the Council are made by written memoranda. A memorandum should be addressed to the Academic Council, via the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs.

A memorandum making a request of the Council should be received by the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs no later than two weeks prior to the Academic Council meeting.

3.6 Notification of Council Decisions

(Approved: February 16, 1993)

Those petitioning the Council with a request shall be notified of the result of their request via written memorandum from the Secretary of the Council.

3.7 Appealing a Council Decision

(Approved: February 16, 1993)

Decisions made by-direction for the Council by committees may be appealed to be heard by the entire Council. The departmental representative to the Council, the student's Program Officer, the Academic Associate, or the Department Chair may present the case before the entire Council for a decision by vote of the Council.

Decisions made by the Council as a body may be appealed only on the basis of additional information being brought forth that was not considered by the Council when it made its original decision. Interested parties will present the added information to the Council who will judge if the case is to be reheard by the Council.

There is no appeal of the final actions of the Council to any other body or office.

3.8 Policies Pertaining to The Academic Council Policy Manual

3.8.1 Revising the Existing Manual

(Approved: April 1993) (Amended January 17, 2007)

The contents of the Manual of the Academic Council are controlled solely by the Council. Any content revision to the Manual requires:

1. distribution to Council members, Program Officers, Academic Associates, and Department Chairs three weeks in advance of any vote;
2. a majority vote for approval taken from a quorum of the Council.

The Secretary of the Council has the authority to make any necessary administrative revisions to the Manual and will inform the Council and others of such changes.

3.8.2 The Process for Complete Revision of the Manual

(Approved: April 1993) (Amended January 17, 2007)

The process for revision of the entire Manual flows as follows:

1. The Secretary of the Council will constitute a temporary Manual Rewrite Committee. The Secretary will, at this time, establish a deadline for the delivery of the new Manual and inform the Academic Council of the existence and powers of the Rewrite Committee. The Secretary must identify a Chair of the Rewrite Committee.
2. The Rewrite Committee will submit a plan for their task. This plan will include a skeleton Manual, this skeleton to include:
   • major section headings for the new Manual;
   • identification of sections of the old Manual that will be retained, either verbatim or with minor revision;
   • identification of sections which need major revision or invention.
   • identification of tasking for writing sections which need major revision or invention.
   • identification of responsibilities for managing each major section of the document.
3. The Council must approve this document skeleton.
4. The Rewrite Committee will task others as specified in the skeleton document, and is empowered to impose reasonable deadlines on those tasked.
5. Each section or subsection of the new Manual will be approved individually. If the Council feels that the section being presented is too large to consider for a single vote, the Rewrite Committee Chair may spontaneously disassemble the section into subsections. The Chair may then seek Council approval on some or all of these subsections. Hence, each approval vote will be two-phased:
   • the Council must approve a motion to vote on the section as a single item;
   • the Council must approve the section.
6. The Rewrite Committee may present any number of sections to the Council for approval in any meeting, provided these sections are distributed to the Council at least one week in advance.
7. Where applicable, the contents of sections of the new Manual will supersede the contents of the existing manual at the time of approval.
8. The Council may consider revision of approved Manual revisions following the procedures for revising the existing Manual.
9. After all content of the Manual is approved, the Rewrite Committee will propose a set of stylistic standards for the Manual, including but not limited to the format of the document to be maintained, the section numbering system to be used, and any online facilities for accessing the Manual.
10. The Rewrite Committee will move for approval on the entire revision. Upon approval of this motion, the old Manual will be retired and the Rewrite Committee disbanded.

3.8.3 Circulation of the Manual

(Approved: February 16, 1993) (Amended January 17, 2007)

The following individuals are entitled to and are expected to possess a hardcopy of the current Academic Council Policy Manual:

1. Council members
2. Academic Associates
3. Department Chairs
4. Program Officers
5. Departmental Ph.D. Committee Chairs and individuals appointed to supervise Engineer's Degree programs.
6. Deans

It is the duty of the Secretary of the Academic Council to maintain a current list of these individuals, and to supply them with updates of the Manual as they are created.

In addition, the Secretary of the Council shall be responsible for maintaining an online copy of the Manual, which is accessible through campus-wide computer network services.