Educational Policy Advisory Committee (EPAC) serves as a campus-wide curriculum committee. The EPAC advises the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs about most curricular activities (after the appropriate department/school and college review). These activities include, but are not limited to, proposals for new programs and courses and major course revisions. Major revisions of existing courses include changes in level, credit hours, purpose and scope, content, or method of instruction. When submitting curriculum changes or new courses proposals be sure to check the schedules for all committees. Additional information on the information and process of preparing new and revised courses is available here.

EPAC review of proposed curricular changes takes place subsequent to college and department reviews. EPAC review is undertaken from a campus-wide perspective and is intended to accomplish the following purposes:

• Ensure that proposed changes are in accord with university-wide objectives and priorities as identified in the role and mission statement and relevant planning documents
• Prevent the unnecessary duplication and proliferation of curricular offerings
• Consider possible impacts of proposed curricular changes on other units and programs

When reviewing curricular changes, EPAC members consider these changes in accordance with review guidelines designed to ensure adherence to university objectives and priorities:

• Consistency with university-wide objectives and priorities
• Prevention of unnecessary duplication among departments and colleges
• Possible impacts on other units and program

Review of New Courses or Significant Changes to Existing Courses

The following course changes should be submitted to the Office of Academic and Student Affairs for review by EPAC and approval by the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Students Affairs after action has been taken in the respective college:

• Establishment of a new course
• Change in level of an existing course (e.g., from 3000 to 4000)
• Change in number of credit hours of an existing course
• Significant revision of an existing course (e.g., changes in the objectives, scope, content, or method of instruction of a course). This category does not include minor changes in the organization of a course or the customary updating of content and bibliography. Nor does it normally include changes in variable content (e.g., workshop, special topics, etc.) courses, as it is presumed that each new version of a variable content course will be reviewed by the cognizant collegiate curriculum committee(s) and dean(s). It is expected that these reviews will ensure that variable content courses do not duplicate existing offerings of other units.

Review of Minor Changes

The following changes are generally considered the prerogative of individual colleges; however, they must be reported to the Office of Academic and Student Affairs in order to update the curriculum master file maintained by the Registrar's Office, as well as the undergraduate and graduate catalogs:

• Elimination of a course
• Crosslisting of courses between two or more departments or programs
• Renumbering a course that does not involve changing its level
• Change in title
• Change in prerequisities
• Rewording for catalog description

Review Process & Procedures

Syllabus Forms for new courses and significant revisions of existing courses normally will be placed on the agenda for the next scheduled EPAC meeting (providing that the agenda for that meeting has not yet been distributed). EPAC normally meets at least once a month during the academic year, and more frequently if business warrants. Usually, a meeting is held in June to handle business left over from the previous academic year. But the EPAC does not meet in the summer.

All online CCMS and Syllabus Forms and supporting materials are available in the Office of Academic and Student Affairs for review by interested faculty prior to the EPAC meeting at which the courses are to be considered. Prior to each meeting a memorandum containing the proposed catalog descriptions of the courses to be considered is sent to the following persons: EPAC members, chairpersons of the college curriculum committees, and all deans and department chairpersons/school directors. This distribution is intended to ensure that interested persons have an opportunity to review and comment on courses before they are considered by EPAC.

Recommendations of the EPAC are published in its minutes (available below). Course syllabi and supporting documentation are returned to college offices after action has been taken.

There is a procedure for the provisional approval of proposed new courses that have not yet completed the curricular review process at the time class schedules are being prepared. Provisional approval for one semester can be obtained by submitting a completed online CCMS and Syllabus Form signed by the respective department chairperson/school director and dean to the Office of Academic and Student Affairs. A statement requesting provisional approval of the course pending completion of the review process should be included in the remarks section of the form. This enables a course to be listed in the class schedule for one semester while it completes the review process. Since class schedules are prepared several months in advance, provisionally approved courses typically complete the review process prior to the beginning of the semester in which they are scheduled.

2012-2013 EPAC Membership

Deborah Smith-Howell(Chair)

Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Dean of Graduate Studies

Bruce Chase

Arts and Sciences

Gregory Morin

Business Administration

David Carter

Education

Sherrie Wilson

Communication, Fine Arts and Media

Dhundy Bastola

Information Science and Technology

Nora Hillyer

Library

Kerry Belden

Public Affairs and Community Service

Meeting Agenda & Summaries

2012-2013 (All agenda and summaries are in .pdf format)

Agenda	Summaries
April 26, 2013
April 12, 2013	April 12, 2013
March 08, 2013	March 08, 2013
February 08, 2013	February 08, 2013
January 11, 2013	January 11, 2013
December 07, 2012	December 07, 2012
November 09, 2012	November 09, 2012
October 12, 2012	October 12, 2012
September 14, 2012	September 14, 2012