About the Committee
Membership
Each academic department shall elect a faculty member for a three-year term who will serve on the Academic Affairs Committee. Each Department Chair will report the newly elected member to the Wheelock Faculty Assembly Officers by April 1 of each year. In addition, the Faculty Assembly shall elect at the last Faculty Assembly meeting of the academic year, one faculty representative-at large to the Committee, who will represent the College and not the department in which they serve. The AAC will elect one member as Chair of the Committee to serve a three-year term. The three-year term includes total years served on the committee. In the event an individual is elected chair after their first year on the committee, they will serve as chair until they complete their third year of service. This Chair will sit on the Cabinet. The Associate Deans of Academic and Student Affairs and the Director of Data and Enrollment Management will serve on the Committee as ex officio members appointed by the Dean. The AAC will issue invitations to selected members of the faculty and staff if agenda items warrant their presence or particular level of expertise.
Functions
1) Ensure the quality and coherence of the academic programs within the BU Wheelock College of Education & Human Development through systematic and rigorous review.
2) Review program and certificate proposals and advance approved proposals to Faculty Assembly and to either BU’s, Undergraduate Academic Programs and Policies Committee (UAPP) or to the Graduate Academic Programs and Policies (GAPP) Committee.
3) Review course proposals, including Hub proposals, and advance approved proposals to the Registrar, Director of the Undergraduate Program, and to the Hub approval workflow as appropriate.
4) Review proposals for dissolution of existing programs and recommend approved dissolutions to the Faculty Assembly.
5) Review existing academic standards and policies and recommend additions and changes therein to the Faculty Assembly.
6) Serve as a resource for faculty in the development of courses and programs.
7) Collaborate with the Professional Preparation Office (PPO) and Department Chairs to effect regular, systematic academic program review and to promote continuous program improvement.
8) Communicate major programmatic changes to the Cabinet and to Faculty Assembly.
9) Collaborate with the Data and Enrollment Management Office to ensure that approved changes to courses and programs are reflected in relevant University systems, such as the course inventory and the Academic Bulletin.