Graduate Curriculum Committee (GCC)

The Graduate Curriculum Committee reviews and approves proposals for new courses and programs, and for changes to existing courses and programs. It also oversees the multidisciplinary PhD and recommends general policy changes related to courses and curriculum to the Graduate Faculty Committee.

2022 – 2023 Roster

Name College, School, or Department Term Expiration
Tracy Boyer, Chair Freshwater Sciences 2025
Marcus Britton Sociology 2025
Paul Florsheim Community and Behavioral Health Promotion 2023
Jennifer Gutzman Biological Sciences 2024
Teresa Johnson Nursing 2024
Sara VanderHaagen Communications 2025
Anika Wilson African and African Diaspora Studies 2022

2022 – 2023 Meetings

Meetings are held Thursdays at 12:30–2:00 p.m., via Microsoft Teams.

Date Proposals Due * Documents
September 1, 2022 (Committee Orientation Only) N/A
September 8, 2022 August 18, 2022
October 6, 2022 September 15, 2022
November 3, 2022 October 13, 2022
December 1, 2022 November 10, 2022
February 2, 2023 January 12, 2023
March 2, 2023 February 9, 2023
April 6, 2023 March 16, 2023
April 27, 2023 April 6,2023
May 4, 2023 (Committee Debriefing Meeting) N/A
* Proposals for course and program additions, changes, and deletions that are subject to action by the Graduate Curriculum Committee must be in the CourseLeaf workflow queue of the GCC Chair with appropriate department and school/college approvals three weeks before the meeting date.

Previous Academic Year Meetings

2021-22

Date Documents
September 2, 2021 Orientation Agenda, Minutes
September 9, 2021 Agenda, Minutes
October 7, 2021 Agenda, Minutes
November 4, 2021 Agenda, Minutes
December 2, 2021 Agenda, Minutes
February 3, 2022 Agenda, Minutes
March 3, 2022 Agenda, Minutes
April 7, 2022 Agenda, Minutes
April 28, 2022 Agenda
May 12, 2022 Agenda

Document Archive

View previous meeting agendas and minutes.

Definition & Duties

The Graduate Curriculum Committee reviews and approves proposals for new courses and programs, and for changes to existing courses and programs. It also oversees the multidisciplinary PhD and recommends general policy changes related to courses and curriculum to the Graduate Faculty Committee.

  1. Membership
    Nine (9) members as follows:
    1. Seven (7) members elected from among the Graduate Faculty from the divisions of Arts and Humanities, Natural Sciences, Professions, and Social Sciences. At least one elected member must come from each of these four divisions, and no more than one member may serve from any one department or non-departmentalized school or college. Faculty members are elected to staggered, three-year terms, and no member may serve more than two (2) consecutive terms or portions thereof. Elected members of the committee should reflect the range of disciplinary competencies in the university and represent the schools and colleges insofar as the size of the committee allows.
    2. One (1) graduate student member appointed annually by the Student Association. The student member must be a currently enrolled graduate student.
    3. The dean of the Graduate School or designee serves as an ex-officio member.
    4. The chair of the Graduate Curriculum Committee also serves on the Graduate Faculty Committee.
    5. The Graduate Curriculum Committee elects its chair for the following year from among its faculty membership at its March meeting.
    6. The Graduate Curriculum Committee has the authority to declare vacant the seat of those committee members who fail to attend three (3) regular meetings in an academic year.
  2. Functions
    1. Review and approve proposals for new graduate credit courses and for modifications to existing courses.
    2. Review and approve proposals for new graduate programs and for modifications to existing graduate programs.
    3. Within the provisions of the university’s regulations and practices, establish procedures for reviewing courses and programs, and communicate those procedures clearly through the Graduate School’s website.
    4. Make recommendations to Graduate Faculty Committee for general policy changes related to courses and curriculum that would affect all programs. The committee may make such recommendations on its own initiative, at the request of the GFC, or at the request of the administration of the Graduate School.
    5. Oversee the Multidisciplinary Committee-Directed Ph.D. program. The Graduate Curriculum Committee reviews and approves applications for the Multidisciplinary Committee-Directed Ph.D. programs, using its best judgment on the academic merit of the proposed multidisciplinary program. The committee and the dean of the Graduate School must satisfy themselves that the proposed program cannot be carried out within an established doctoral program. The committee must further approve the membership of the student’s supervisory committee, guided by considerations of the committee member’s expertise in proposed areas of study and their commitment to the student’s program.

Source: Graduate Faculty Document No. 1539 (Approved May 7, 2018)

Syllabus Requirements for Courses Offering Graduate Credit

If specific information is not available at the time the syllabus is submitted for review, a placeholder field should still be present.

Based primarily on the following UWM faculty documents, the GCC requires each syllabus submitted for review to contain the elements specified in the table below.

  • Faculty Doc. 1895R6: Uniform Syllabus Policy
  • Faculty Doc. 3196R1/GFC Doc. No. 916: Requirements for Graduate Credit in Graduate (G) Level Courses and Combined Undergraduate/Graduate (U/G) Level Courses
  • Faculty Doc. 2838: UWM Credit Hour Policy
  • Faculty Doc. 2691: APC change to Selected Academic and Administrative Policy 22 (Examinations, Final)

Requirements for all syllabi

A. Class Information

Class Information consists of a description of a class and other essential information.

Requirement Faculty Doc. No.
  1. The following information is required for all classes:
    1. Course title and number.
    2. Class meeting times and location(s).
    3. Instructors’ and teaching assistants’ names.
    4. Instructors’ and teaching assistants’ e-mail addresses and/or phone numbers.
    5. Short description of course objectives that may include the catalog description.
    6. Required and recommended readings, with full citations.
 1895R6 (PDF)
g. Grading policies, including the weight given to each graded component. 3196R1 (GFC 916) (PDF)
h. A chronology of topics, including approximate due dates and exam dates, including the final examination date and time. 2691 (PDF)
i. Specific information on the investment of time by the average student necessary to achieve the learning goals of the course in accordance with the campus credit-hour policy. 2838 (PDF)
  1. The following information is required for classes where it is applicable:
    1. Section number of class.
    2. Instructors’ and teaching assistants’ preferred names-in-use.
    3. Source of each reading, if not a textbook to be purchased at the bookstore.
    4. Special out-of-class requirements (computers, software, field trips, etc.).
    5. Attendance requirements.
    6. Saftey policies, with reference to risk management issues when appropriate.
    7. Assignment policies (late penalties, scope, size, etc.).
  2. The following information is recommended:
    1. Prerequisites.
    2. Special skills required of students beyond the formal prerequisites.
    3. Additional information on grading (scales, expectations, etc.).
    4. Specific due date for assignments.
    5. Examination dates.
    6. Make-up and incomplete policies (Refer to B. Departmental Policies below).
    7. Instructors’ and teaching assistants’ pronouns-in-use.
    8. Use of non-binary nouns and pronouns for students (e.g. “they,” “them,” “their”) throughout syllabus.
 1895R6 (PDF)

B. Departmental Policies.

Each syllabus should contain links (or the URL addresses) for the following kinds of policies unique to the culture and practice of the department:

  1. Courses for which final examination are not mandatory. and

  2. Any other standing policies that can affect the conduct of a course (attendance, incompletes, safety, fees, etc.).

    Department may wish to provide their faculty a sample syllabus or even a template syllabus for lecture and lab courses to ensure that information crucial to conduct of classes they offer is consistent. Faculty and instructors should be provided all syllabus guidelines prior to each semester.

C. University Policies

Each syllabus will provide the following link to the Secretary of the University Website that contains the following University policies: /secu/syllabus-links/.

Additional requirements for U/G courses0

Requirement Source

Coursework assigned exclusively to graduate students that accounts for at least a third of their grade. (This can be reflected in different qualitative expectations in completing assignments that are similar to those given to undergraduates. The specific expectations must be stated in the syllabus.)

Examples of appropriate learning opportunities for graduate students include:

  • Weekly or bi-weekly meetings with graduates students outside of scheduled class time.
  • Holding regularly scheduled Web-based discussions among the graduate students.
  • Requiring graduate students to critically analyze current literature in the field.
  • Having graduate students lead class discussions or give a presentation.
  • Having graduate students complete a more complicated or sophisticated design or laboratory project.
  • Writing a substantial research paper.
 3196R1 (GFC 916) (PDF)

Rationale

Courses offered for credit to both undergraduate and graduate students must be structured in ways that provide appropriate learning opportunities for both groups. Graduate students should be asked to complete course requirements that are consistent with the goals of graduate education in their chosen fields (e.g., mastery of knowledge, creative scholarship, research competence). Simply assigning different weights to the same set of requirements for undergraduate and graduate students, or requiring more pages for a paper are generally insufficient on their own as bases of differentiation.

Additional requirements for online/hybrid courses

  1. Clear statement that the course is online or blended. If blended/hybrid, state which aspects are online, and which are face-to-face.
  2. Specification of course interactions:
    • Between the instructor and students (e.g., email, CANVAS discussion, phone, Skype, voiceover slides, etc.).
    • Between students, for any asynchronous or synchronous discussions (e.g., CANVAS, Skype, social media site, etc.).
    • Between the students and the course content (e.g., CANVAS discussion, UWM or external Websites, etc.).
  3. Minimum technical requirements, e.g., computer configuration, any necessary hardware or software.
  4. Listing or description of the necessary computer skills for success in the course.

  5. Contact information for technical help:

    UWM Help Desk:

Additional requirements for variable topics courses

Include complete information for one subtitle as outlined above, and identify (list) two other potential subtitles.

Additional requirements for group activities

If groups are used for activities, a description of how individuals and/or groups will be assessed.