CAAC Bylaws

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Bylaws of the Lee College Curriculum & Academic Affairs Committee

(Revised April 2024)

Article I: Charge & Scope of Duties
1. Committee Charge
  1. The primary purpose of the Lee College Curriculum & Academic Affairs Committee is to provide a single entity where all changes in academic programs and policies are presented, approved where appropriate, and passed on to faculty and administrators throughout the college. These issues include, but are not limited to:
    1. New program introduction
    2. New course approval
    3. Changes in existing programs
    4. Changes in the core curriculum
    5. Grading policy
    6. Instructional policy
    7. Avoiding course duplication
  2. If new programs need to be approved, the college president recommends them to the Board of Regents only after they have been approved by the committee.
2. Additional Scope of Duties
  1. The Committee will consider concerns other than curriculum or academic affairs per se as instructed by the President of the College.
Article II: Membership & Governance
1. Membership
  1. The membership of the Committee be as follows:
    1. Voting Members (all must be full-time faculty)
      1. One counselor elected by the counselors.
      2. One elected representative from the library.
      3. Two members from Lee College Huntsville Campus.
      4. One member elected from each of the divisions on the Baytown Campus.
    2. Non-Voting Ex-Officio Members
      1. Provost or designated SACSCOC liaison
      2. Associate Vice-President of Academic Affairs
      3. Associate Vice-President of Student Services
      4. Registrar
      5. Executive Director of School & College Partnerships
      6. Director of Advising & Transfer Programs
      7. Director of Guided Pathways
      8. Chair of the Academic Honesty Committee
    3. Floor Privileges
      1. Any faculty, staff, or administrator will be granted floor privileges at the discretion of the Committee Chair.
  2. Membership by Division Chairs
    1. If selected by a Division as its representative, a chair of a Division may serve on the Committee.
2. Officers
  1. A Committee Chair, a Committee Vice-Chair, and a Committee Secretary will serve and must be full-time faculty who are divisional representatives serving on the Committee.
  2. The Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary will be elected in April of even years by the Committee membership.
    1. The term of office for each position is two (2) academic years.
  3. The Committee Chair shall:
    1. Serve on various committees of the College that relate to the business of the Committee, including the Instructional Planning Committee.
    2. Convene subcommittees for a variety of purposes that may include, but not be limited to: Core review, updates for the Curriculum Maintenance System, or significant changes in College policy as it relates to curricular or academic affairs issues.
    3. Serve as a facilitator for all business of the Committee, and refrain from voting unless it is in case of a tie by ballots cast during a meeting.
    4. Serve as proxy for motions brought at the direct behest of the Provost.
    5. Issue calls for items, meeting agenda, and supplemental information to the campus community.
  4. The Committee Vice-Chair shall:
    1. Assume the duties of the Chair in his/her absence.
    2. Temporarily assume the duties of the Chair when the Chair is the author of a motion brought before the Committee.
  5. The Committee Secretary shall:
    1. Record annotated minutes for all Committee meetings.
    2. Prepare these minutes for posting along with the Committee agenda sent to the campus community two weeks in advance of the next scheduled meeting by the Committee Chair.
3. Voting Members
  1. Terms of Service by Voting Members
    1. Faculty members selected by their Divisions to serve on the Committee will serve two-year staggered terms.
    2. The staggering of terms is as follows:
      1. Begin terms in even years: Biology, Environmental Sciences, Chemistry, & Geology; Business Technology; Counseling & Advising; Huntsville - Academic; Healthcare Professions; Industrial Studies; Kinesiology & Wellness; Process Technology; Learning Frameworks.
      2. Begin terms in odd years: Computer Technology; English and Humanities; Huntsville - Tech-Voc; Library; Math, Engineering, Physics, & Computer Science; Social and Behavioral Science; Speech Communication, Language and Teacher Education; Technical Studies; Visual and Performing Arts.
  2. The names of selected members be given to the Associate Vice-President of Academic Affairs, who will forward the names to the Committee Chair.
  3. It will be the duty the Committee Chair to inform Counseling & Advising, Library, and/or Divisions when new members from those areas are to be elected.
  4. New divisional representatives will assume Committee membership at the beginning of the Fall semester of each academic year.
Article III: Policies & Procedures
1. Meetings
  1. Regular meetings will be held on the third Tuesday of the following months: September, October, November, February, March, April, and July.
  2. Special meetings will be held coinciding with Convocation week activities in each Fall and Spring semester.
  3. Called meetings may be convened at the Chair’s discretion, whether in-person or virtual (via synchronous meeting platforms or e-mail), for relevant emergency items.
  4. All meetings, both regular and called, will be led by the Chair unless they are unavailable.In the Chair’s absence, the Vice-Chair shall assume the duties of Chair.
  5. Roberts Rules of Order, 12th Edition Newly Revised will be followed for all Committee meetings.
  6. A quorum shall consist of at least eight voting members of the Committee.
  7. Committee members unable to attend committee meeting(s) are to send a proxy from their Division who will possess deliberation and voting rights.
2. Call for Agenda Items
  1. The Chair will issue a public call for agenda items for the Committee no less than three (3) weeks prior to a regular meeting.
  2. This call for agenda items will be distributed via an “All Users” email to the College.
3. Submission of Agenda Items
  1. Items for Committee review may be submitted by faculty members at any time during an academic year.
  2. Items for a regular meeting must be submitted prior to the deadline established in the Call for Agenda Items.
  3. A faculty member from the sponsoring department will submit a Curriculum Maintenance Request for any item to be placed on the Committee Agenda.
    1. All supporting items/materials must be submitted prior to the deadline established in the Call for Agenda Items.
    2. Supporting items/materials may include, but not be limited to:
      1. Annotated meeting minutes from the Division or Department demonstrating an affirmative vote for the item.
        
        Technical programs should also include annotated minutes from their community boards.
      2. Documents required for approval by the THECB, SACS, or College that may include, but not be limited to:
        
        Course Syllabi
        
        Certificate/Program Plans
        
        Ancillary materials as required.
4. Publishing of the Agenda & Review of Items
  1. Committee Agenda for Regular Meetings
    1. The Agenda will include, but not be limited to: Officer Reports, Informational Reports, Old Business, New Business, and an Open Forum.
    2. The Committee Agenda will be published no less than two (2) weeks prior to a regular meeting.
    3. The Agenda will reflect all items submitted by the deadline specified in the Call for Agenda Items via the Curriculum Maintenance Request system.
  2. Committee Agenda for Called Meetings
5. Meeting Procedures
  1. At the meeting, a representative from the sponsoring department presents the proposal to the committee and fields questions.
  2. A motion is made on the proposal. If the motion is to accept, discussion of the proposal between committee members ensues.
  3. When a change is adopted, it is reflected in the minutes of the meeting
  4. When discussion is complete, a vote takes place. Only members of the Committee may vote.
6. All newly proposed programs must come to the Curriculum Committee for approval prior to being presented to the Board of Regents.
7. Items such as ACGM, WECM, or other state mandated changes must be brought to the Committee as informational items and entered into the Meeting Minutes, though Committee action is not required.
  1. These informational items will be entered in the Curriculum Maintenance System prior to the meeting so they may be included in the meeting agenda.
Article IV: Curriculum Maintenance System
1. Submission by Faculty
  1. This is denoted by “Request Status 1” in the Curriculum Maintenance System.
  2. A faculty member will submit the proper request to their division for review.
2. Division Approval
  1. The division will review the submission and vote on its merits.
  2. If the vote is successful, the division chair will confirm that an affirmative vote has been documented. This is denoted by “Request Status 2” in the Curriculum Maintenance System.
    1. Annotated division minutes must be attached to any submission.
3. Committee Review
  1. The Committee will review all proposals that have been confirmed by division chairs.
  2. If the motion passes, it will be elevated to “Request Status 3” in the Curriculum Maintenance System.
4. Associate-Vice President of Academic Affairs Review.
  1. The AVP will review the submission approved by the CAAC for compliance with THECB, SACSCOC, and any internal policies.
  2. If approved, it will be elevated to “Request Status 4” in the Curriculum Maintenance System.
5. Provost Review
  1. The Provost will review all submissions for routing and disposition.
  2. Items that require internal approval (Regents) or external review (THECB, SACSCOC, etc.) will be elevated to “Request Status 5” and forwarded as required.
  3. Items that do not require internal approval or external review will be elevated to “Request Status 5” and entered into the Lee College Catalog.
6. Board of Regents Review
  1. Items that significantly impact college policy, provide for new degrees or certificates, etc. will be elevated to the Board of Regents for review.
  2. If the Board approves the submission, it will be elevated to “Request Status 6” in the Curriculum Maintenance System.
7. Submission to the THECB
  1. Items that significantly impact college policy, provide for new degrees or certificates, etc. will be sent to the THECB for review following Board of Regents Approval.
  2. Most items (ex: substantive change, etc.) at this level will be sent to SACSCOC for parallel review.
  3. If the THECB approves the submission, it will be elevated to “Request Status 7” in the Curriculum Maintenance System.
Article V: Schedule of Deadlines
1. Items Requiring Catalog Inclusion
  1. All items to be included in the next academic year’s Catalog will be submitted for review no later than the February meeting.
2. Items for Core Inclusion
  1. All items to be submitted to the THECB for review as a Core course must be submitted for review no later than the February meeting.Core inclusion does not guarantee Catalog inclusion; if the course is new it must still be governed by the November deadline.
3. Non-Catalog Items
  1. All items that are not contingent on inclusion in the succeeding academic year’s catalog or for submission to the THECB may be submitted at any point during the academic year.
4. ACGM, WECM, or Other State Mandated Changes
  1. These informational items may be entered at any time during any meeting.
  2. THECB-mandated or SACSCOC-mandated changes or updates must be entered in the academic year specified by the change.