Undergraduate Affairs Committee

Purpose of the Undergraduate Affairs Committee

The Undergraduate Affairs Committee (UAC) is a standing oversight and advisory body for the IU Indianapolis campus comprised of associate deans and faculty members engaged in leading undergraduate curricula from across all schools conferring undergraduate degrees. The UAC has curricular responsibility for the General Education Core and supports the assessment of student learning outcomes aligned with the Profiles of Learning for Undergraduate Success in general education courses, as well as reviews and coordinates undergraduate curriculum changes involving general education courses. The UAC also reviews proposals for new undergraduate degrees, certificates, minors, concentrations, tracks, specializations, and name changes. It coordinates the updating of four-year degree maps and helps to guide the development of curricular and academic policies to support on-time degree completion by beginning students, transfer students, and re-engaged adult learners.

Priorities and goals for the UAC

• Review and approve new course proposals for the General Education Core. In partnership with the Program Review and Assessment Committee, develop and implement procedures to continuously review direct and indirect evidence of student learning from general education courses and to share feedback with academic departments to help improve student learning.
• Provide leadership with respect to improving institutional effectiveness in the realm of undergraduate education, particularly in relation to the reaffirmation of the accreditation process.
• Develop administrative academic policies regarding the implementation of the General Education Core and share these policies with the IU Indianapolis Faculty Council and with the Division of Enrollment Management, particularly the Academic Policies and Procedures Committee.
• Provide leadership for undergraduate curricular initiatives that span academic units (e.g., single articulation pathways, capstones, first-year experience, signature assignment development, the use of VALUE rubrics to assess student artifacts, degree maps).
• Coordinate and communicate curricular changes, particularly those that can have significant implications for student enrollment patterns. Monitor prerequisites to ensure that they are clearly communicated to students and reflected in degree maps.
• Review all new campus undergraduate programs with particular consideration of proposed courses that may overlap with or duplicate existing courses or programs in other schools and oversee the undergraduate course remonstrance process; mediate and propose solutions to resolve curricular disputes between undergraduate programs, in particular when remonstrances cannot be resolved between units
• Encourage interdisciplinary work in teaching, curriculum development, and research
• Review changes in program requirements that have the potential to affect course enrollments in other schools and programs
• Screen all activities involved in the creation, revision, and elimination of undergraduate degree programs with a view to upholding the integrity of the mission and vision of IU Indianapolis, as well as the value of undergraduate degrees, certificates, and programs at IU Indianapolis
• Collaborate with colleagues at IU Fort Wayne and IU Columbus to support undergraduate learning at those locations.
• Seek out opportunities to strategically advise on the creation of new degree programs that can help to address evolving state needs and support economic development.