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Academic Senate

D05.1 Proposed Policy FinalVersion with Markup and line number_04_30_2020

Senate, Academic

8/27/20 Agenda

RSC- C.03.1 w/track changes for 12/10/20 Meeting

D.19 Revisions 3-23-20 DRAFT_4_9_2020

ASSA Presentation - Charge #3 2019-2020 Acad Senate_4_2_2020_PowerPoint

E06.0-FAC-Charge8-April12-2020_4_16_2020

D.19 & C.27 Policy Edits- Derooy for 11/19

C7 - Privacy Policy 3-19 clean AS

Academic Senate Standing Committee Charges 2020-2021 
 
 
 
Academic Affairs Committee (AAC) 
 
• Bring to Senate the analysis and recommendations completed last year on the 
guidelines for establishing contact time per credit hours in the case of laboratory 
intensive classes. 
• Bring to Senate the analysis and recommendations completed last year on policy 
D01.6 – Protocols for Academic Centers (joint effort with the Research & 
Scholarship Committee) 
• Bring to Senate the analysis and recommendations completed last year on the 
policy D.08 with particular attention to: 
o (a) the new D18.2 and whether D.08 should refer to D18.2 for information 
on appealing a decision; 
o (b) whether sections IV. and V. of this policy are appropriate and adequate 
in the present research and publishing environment; 
o (c)  possible inequities in process, and whether any of said processes are 
inconsistent with the processes of D18.0 (Student Conduct Process) and 
D19.0 (Student Gender-Based and Sexual Misconduct Policy). 
• Reach out to the Student Success Steering Committee (L. Mazadoorian) for their 
recommended modifications to RIT’s Academic Action Policy (D5.1.II. Academic 
Probation and Suspension) and consider bringing these before Senate. 
• Reconsider RABC’s resolution (AY18-19) regarding establishing a policy to waive 
undergraduate tuition overload charges for research credits in light of the fact 
that this was determined not to fall within the purview of policy. Consider 
bringing matter to AS for a vote to request that the Provost’s Office investigate 
further. 
• Investigate the extent that specific timelines and due dates are being adhered to 
by all colleges within the new degree proposal process. Report directly to the 
Provost any inconsistencies revealed that are not in alignment with the Provost’s 
Office deadlines. 
 
 
Academic Senate Executive Committee (ASEC) 
 
• Develop, in conversation with the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees 
and the President, a protocol to ensure regular contact and engagement between 
the ASEC and that committee. 
• Clarify the roles and responsibilities of Academic Senate standing committees, 
chairpersons and members in regard to reporting to the Senate and to members’ 
respective colleges. 
• Invite the task force that is currently reviewing HR to AS for an update. 
• Bring to the Senate a proposal that would assist colleges in setting up 
mechanisms for college-level governance. 
• Return to and vote on the proposed request to grant representation on Academic 
Senate to the faculty in the School of Individualized Study. 
• Propose, in consultation with the Provost, a consistent and regular process across 
the colleges for the evaluation of all college administration such as dept. or school 
heads/chairs, all program chairs, and all associate deans and deans. 
• Work with the Office of the Provost to develop a policy, as needed, that would 
provide transparency to and representation of faculty in the hiring of and 
appointment of all administrators at the dean’s level, including assistant and 
associate deans, and at the Provost’s level, including assistant and associate 
Provosts. 
• Clarify the appointment and representation structure for appointing University 
Council members from the Academic Senate. 
• Draft revisions to B02 as necessary to align with language in D01 regarding 
eligibility for collegial representatives to serve on GC/ICC. 
 
 
Academic Support and Student Affairs (ASSA) 
 
• Coordinate with the ad hoc committee on library holdings (contact O. Gottlieb) to 
carry on their evaluation of and assessment for the existing holdings in the 
library to support educational and student needs .Consult with the Wallace 
Library director and staff. 
• Evaluate, in consultation with the Disability Services Office and Department of 
Access Services, the adequacy of accommodations processes to assist the ongoing 
changes to course delivery in response to COVID for AY20-21. 
• Evaluate, in consultation with ILI, TLS, and CATs, the adequacy of our 
technological and learning support systems for AY20-21. 
 
 
Faculty Affairs Committee (FAC) 
 
• E6.0 – Professor of the Practice:  Review the Professor of the Practice ranks at 
peer institutions and consider whether to establish such a rank at RIT.  If there is 
a recommendation to establish such a rank, develop the policy to support the 
recommendation. This rank is designed for individuals who have deep 
professional experience and who are eminent in their field(s).   
• E24.0 Faculty Grievance Policy:  Review and consider the purview, structure, and 
scheduling exclusions of current policy and practices in light of those practices of 
our peer institutions.  Additionally, review the role of confidentiality agreements 
– e.g., the use of NDAs – in the grievance process. 
• In alignment with Recommendation 2 from the Ad hoc committee on the Future 
of Faculty (AHFoF) final report (1/30/2020), consider whether RIT would 
benefit from a policy to establish Instructor Tenure for Principal Lecturers with 
appropriate terminal degrees, and make recommendations as appropriate. 
• Clarify sections E.06.VI.B.1. and E.06.VI.C.1. in E06.0 Faculty Rank and 
Promotion for consistency of language, process, and dates of decision-making 
and notification regarding promotion to Senior Lecturer and Principal Lecturer.   
• Consider whether professional staff are adequately supported and/or have 
adequate access to teaching resources when serving in a teaching capacity. 
• Evaluate the policy on terminating a faculty member’s position due to financial 
exigency (E.22.0 Section III) and whether the policy is sufficiently clear and 
thorough regarding the inclusion of scholarship as one of the assessment criteria. 
• Review the policy on Senate representation (B02.0 Article V.) with attention to 
whether lecturers on one-year contracts should be included in the count for 
determining the number of senators allocated to each college is entitled to.   
• In collaboration with CREW, review the adequacy of existing RIT policies 
regarding maternity leave and, if needed, make recommendations for policy 
change, clarification or better training for department heads and deans. 
 
 
 
General Education Committee (GEC) 
 
• Locate outdated references to Gen Ed/Immersion information on the RIT 
website and contact the owners about updating or removing the content. 
• Using results from the General Education Course Audit, make recommendations 
about ways to improve the student learning outcomes related to communication 
and critical thinking on all campuses. 
• Propose to the Senate a revised version of Policy D01.4 that provides clarity on 
what the Perspectives are and what criteria are used to determine if a course 
qualifies. Also consider whether, for the sake of greater student flexibility, a 
single course could count simultaneously as two Perspectives, or whether there 
should be a limit on how many courses required for a student’s major could also 
count as a Perspective. 
• Per D1.0, review general education (GE) courses learning outcomes and 
assessment. 
• Audit/review of GE student learning outcomes and courses. 
• Request that GEC review the results from the General Education Course Audit 
and make recommendations if appropriate. 
 
 
Global Education Committee (GLEC) 
 
• Review policy D7.0, Foreign Travel Programs, and where appropriate, propose 
changes. 
• Propose a means or, if required, a policy to ensure participation/input of global 
campuses at all levels of RITs governance system. 
• Recommend ways to more successfully include our global campuses in the work 
of the Standing Committees of the Academic Senate and propose a policy to 
ensure consistency across the committees. 
• Investigate and propose a method for institute faculty to share global exchange 
experiences as a way to encourage and support current and future programs. 
 
 
Graduate Council 
 
• Investigate the policy regarding program GPA calculation WRT repeated courses 
(carry-over), as described above. Consider whether there is consistency in the 
way degree certification is handled with regard to repeated courses and the 
enforcement and approval of deans when courses are repeated. 
• Consider the maximum number of cross listed 500/600 courses allowed for a 
graduate degree. Explore current policy (D03.0 C. Graduate Registration), survey 
current practice across campus (including relevance to studio courses and labs), 
benchmark policy against other universities, and propose revisions if necessary. 
• Clarify the eligibility for collegial representatives to serve on GC, and ensure that 
uniform and consistent language is used between policies B02 and D01, as well as 
within policy D01 itself, in descriptions of different committees of the Senate. 
 
 
Inter-College Curriculum Committee (ICC) 
 
• Review the language governing HCC, GEC and IWC with an eye toward making 
the language governing those bodies in policy consistent where possible. 
• Study undergraduate curricular proposals from a university-wide perspective, 
maintain appropriate inter-college relationships with regards to curriculum, 
assure that existing undergraduate curricula are periodically reviewed, and make 
recommendations to the Academic Senate for action on proposals of new and 
significantly modified undergraduate programs. 
• Review RIT policies that impact undergraduate curriculum that are brought to 
the committee’s attention and propose revisions as appropriate to the Academic 
Senate. 
• Work with the director of the Honors Program to bring revised language in Policy 
D1 regarding the formation of The Honors Curriculum Committee (HCC) as a 
subcommittee of ICC to the Senate for discussion and vote. 
• Clarify the eligibility for collegial representatives to serve on ICC, and ensure that 
uniform and consistent language is used between policies B02 and D01, as well as 
within policy D01 itself, in descriptions of different committees of the Senate. 
 
 
Institute Writing Committee (IWC) 
 
• Coordinate with the Office of Effective Educational Assessment about the 
mechanism and logistics related to implementing the Graduate Writing Policy in 
the revised D01.5. 
• Evaluate process for the approval of proposed WI courses, including: 
o a. Alignment with GEC approval. 
o b. Alignment with posted policy D01.1. Meet with GEC to discuss WI 
approval requirements that exist in the structure of the Course Outline 
itself, review new Appendix B. 
o c. Implement WI process flowchart and add it to relevant websites and 
documents for clarity as to the WI designation process. 
o d. Communicate this process with the Registrar, ICC, GEC, and scheduling 
officers across the Institute. 
o e. Work with the Registrar to develop a regular means of reporting, 
tracking, and reporting approvals as they come in, per the flowchart. 
• Evaluate system for the tracking and monitoring of WI courses, and the related 
student requirement for Writing across the curriculum including: 
o a. Determine if the implementation of the Writing Requirement within 
AAR is consistent with policy and aligned with Gen Ed approval process 
o b. Work with the registrar to develop regular means of reporting and 
tracking WI approvals. 
• Review IWC website with focus on mission, scope, purpose: 
• Revisit and edit posted material related to IWC processes and structure for 
consistency. This should include: 
o I. D01.5 
o II.D01.0 
o III. https://www.rit.edu/academicaffairs/academicsenate/iwc/ 
• In this review particular attention to should be directed to: 
o 1.IWC vs. UWC as the name of committee in various places 
o 2.Membership of IWC 
o 3. Better defining the relation between the IWC, University Writing 
Program, and other units. 
o 4. Advertising of process for submission for WI. 
o 5. Provision of resources to aid in creating and submitting courses for WI 
designation 
 
Long Range Planning and Environment Committee (LRPE) 
 
• Bring to Senate a proposal that would improve the availability of on-campus 
parking. 
• Confer with the Library Management Team as well as the Senate ad hoc 
committee for the IMLC and Wallace renovation to determine whether it would 
be beneficial for the library to expand its presence to other buildings on campus. 
• Revisit and report on RIT’s master plan regarding climate change preparedness 
with attention to its landscape and built environments. Benchmark as needed. 
• Document what has been learned from our response to COVID-19 in Spring 
2020, Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 from teaching, research and operations 
perspectives and make recommendations for future strategic initiatives that 
enhance RIT. 
 
 
 
Resource Allocation and Budget Committee (RABC) 
 
• Support the evaluation of the existing holdings in the library and their ability to 
effectively support research programs across all RIT colleges by comparing the 
RIT library budget to R1 and R2 university library budgets. Based on that 
comparison identify the library budget gaps that exist and need to be addressed. 
• Review and evaluate the resources, allocations and budgetary implications of 
RIT’s responses to the pandemic to keep the campus safe. This also includes the 
pandemic’s effects on RIT such as on enrollment, and auxiliary operations. 
• Consider whether present policy and practice adequately ensure regular and 
timely involvement of the RABC in assessing budget proposals and their impact. 
• Consult with the Provost to determine how well our Program Review Metrics are 
understood and how well they serve our program assessment needs. 
• Consult with the Provost to determine whether RIT would benefit from moving in 
the direction of an activity-based budgeting model within Academic Affairs. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Standing Committee Charges AY2020

11/19/20 Agenda

Rochester Institute of Technology

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