Pending Policy Proposals

Pending Policy Proposals

The following policy proposals are being considered by one or more of the approval bodies:

  1. Establishment of Centers and Institutes: Proposes a framework for the definition, establishment, periodic review, and sunsetting of academic centers and institutes.
    Proposed by: Carolyn Haynes, Senior Associate Provost

Prior Approved Policy Proposals

2022-2023

  1. Class Attendance: Revised policy enables students to provide written notification relating to religious observances to the instructor at any time prior to the religious event (rather than the current requirement that the student notify the instructor during the first two weeks of the semester or full term).
    Proposed by: Brian Schultz, Chair, Department of Teaching, Curriculum & Educational Inquiry
  2. Courses Repeat: Enables students to invoke the course repeat policy to eliminate the grade in either of the two instances that the student completed the course, rather than only the first instance (as the current policy requires).
    Proposed by: Ted Peters, Assistant Dean, College of Arts & Science
  3. Internships:  Proposes a revision to ensure that the content reflects current actual and best practices.
    Proposed by: Jennifer Benz, Assistant Vice President
  4. Cooperative Education Programs: Proposes a new policy to guide the development and implementation of cooperative education programs (co-ops) at Miami University.
    Proposed by: Jennifer Benz, Assistant Vice President; Douglas Reichenberger, Regional Director, Career Services; Carolyn Haynes, Senior Associate Provost
  5. Teaching, Clinical Professors and Lecturers: Revised the language to clarify the expectation of service for TCPL faculty, the requirement of a formative evaluation in the second and third year, and the membership of the departmental promotion committee. Proposed by: Dana Cox, Associate Provost
  6. Academic Integrity: Creates an opportunity for students to petition to have the period of suspension waived or a dismissal held in abeyance. This petition process would allow decision-makers to take into consideration the context of the offenses and situation and any mitigating factors to determine if suspension or dismissal are suitable on a case-by-case basis.
    Proposed by: Brenda Quaye, Assistant Director for Academic Integrity Initiatives
  7. Midterm Grades: Moves the deadline for midterm grade submissions earlier (seventh week of full semester) to allow time for advisors to reach out to students and counsel them about all of their options, including Sprint courses. Proposed by: Amy Bergerson, Associate Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education

2021-2022

  1. Statement of Essential Teaching Practices: Revised current policy, “Statement of Good Teaching Practices,” to ensure that the content reflects current best practices.
    Proposed by: Tracy Haynes and Jakin Wu, co-chairs of Ad Hoc Group created by the University Senate Executive Committee
  2. Class Attendance: Proposes a revision to the current policy to enable greater flexibility to support students’ mental and emotional health.
    Proposed by: Nicole Thesz and Dan Bosworth, co-chairs of Ad Hoc Attendance Group, charged by the University Senate Executive Committee
  3. Credit/No Credit: Revised existing policy to create new grade designations for credit/no credit grading in order to better clarify a student’s level of course work mastery in the credit/no credit grade mode. At the undergraduate level, the grade X signifies the student earned credit for work of D- or better quality; Y means the student failed the course and received no credit. In 2005 ODHE mandated the award of transfer credit for D- and better work.
    Proposed by: University Registrar
  4. General Honors: Updated the policy relating to General Honors to reflect changes which have already been made in Miami’s honors programs (e.g., moving the Oxford program to an Honors College; adjusting language to reflect the Honors College requirements; creating a separate Regional Honors Program that includes a pathway into the Oxford-based Honors College) as well as the change in the graduation requirements for the baccalaureate degree from 128 credits to 124 credits which was made several years ago.
    Proposed by: Mandy Euen, University Registrar
  5. Fresh Start: Revised the existing policy to clarify that (1) the undergraduate fresh start policy can only be applied to undergraduate level coursework, and (2) graduate-level coursework cannot be applied toward the minimum of required Miami hours that must be taken for the degree when a student utilizes undergraduate fresh start.
    Proposed by: Mandy Euen, University Registrar
  6. Textbooks: Revised existing policy to comply with the “Higher Education Opportunity Act, Title I, Section 133,” which requires that Miami disclose textbooks for courses no later than the first day of class registration.
    Proposed by: Carla Myers, Associate Librarian, and Amy Bergerson, Dean of Undergraduate Education
  7. University Promotion & Tenure Committee Composition: Revised the committee composition to enable academic deans to appoint designees to serve in their place.
    Proposed by: Dana Cox, Associate Provost

2020-2021

  1. Guide for the Consolidating, Partitioning, Transferring, or Eliminating Academic Departments, Programs, and Divisions (University Senate ByLaws, Section 8A): Revised the guide to focus on consolidating, partitioning, transferring, or eliminating academic units, rather than curricular programs. It was proposed alongside another proposal (below) that focused on procedures for eliminating curricular academic programs (degree programs, majors, certificates, etc.).
    Proposed by: University Senate Executive Committee
  2. Changes to Academic Curriculum (Policy Library): Creates two procedures that can be used with eliminating an academic curricular program (degree program, major or free-standing certificate). The first is a process which a department can elect to use when the decision is non-controversial. In this situation, the department can follow its departmental governance procedures and then propose the elimination via the Course Information Management system (CIM) and undergo the traditional approvals that are part of any changes to the academic curriculum. The second option is a process which a department or division can use when the decision is more complicated or controversial. In this situation, the department can request a more deliberate process that is led by a process coordinator and occurs prior to proposing any changes via the Course Information Management System.
    Proposed by: University Senate Executive Committee
  3. Guidelines for Divisional and Departmental Governance Documents, 2020-2021: Provided department and divisions with suggestions for revising their governance documents to ensure that curricular decisions are made in a transparent, equitable, and purposeful manner.
    Proposed by: University Senate Executive Committee
  4. Undergraduate Student Classifications: Aligned the credit hour requirements for each undergraduate level (first year, sophomore, junior, senior) with the revision made to the credit hour requirement for bachelor’s degree (from 128 to 124 credits) several years ago.
    Proposed by: Undergraduate Academic Advising Council

2019-2020

  1. Summer and Winter Term Teaching (MUPIM 6.6): The revisions to the existing policy align the policy with existing practice. The revised policy calls for limiting faculty to teaching no more than four formal credits during the winter term. Exceptions made be made in the case of workshop offerings or when there is high demand for an additional course or section of a course and no other faculty are available and willing to teach that course other than those already scheduled to teach a single section of a winter course. Non-visiting full-time faculty will be given priority over visiting, full-time faculty when assigning winter or summer term teaching.
  2. Course Repeat (Student Handbook 1.2.C.3): Proposed revisions to the existing policy clarify some of the elements of the current Undergraduate Course Repeat Policy (e.g., implications for transcript notation of the course repeated and GPA calculations); and address gaps in the current policy (e.g., to explain whether the policy can be applied in in courses where academic dishonesty has been committed and to clearly note the implications of the policy on Latin and other honors designations).
  3. Withdrawal: This new policy proposes that Miami University revise the academic withdrawal deadline from the last day of classes to the Monday of the 12th week of the term (Fall/Spring) and proportionally equivalent (85%) date for the summer sessions and winter term.
  4. Student Evaluation of Teaching (MUPIM 7.2): Clarifies that multiple measures of teaching effectiveness should be administered on a continuous basis.
  5. Time Limits on Undergraduate Majors (General Bulletin): Focuses on students who experience a break in enrollment for a period of eight or more years or who take an extended time to complete a degree. This proposal proposes a maximum time limit (8 years) on undergraduate major completion because requirements for academic programs often change substantially after eight years.
  6. Composition of Interdivisional Committee of Advisors (Scholastic Regulations): This policy is outdated (e.g., assumes that the Regional campuses are not an academic division). The revision proposes the revise the wording of this policy to reflect the current functional composition of the committee and to include the Assistant Dean of Students as a formal member of the committee.
  7. Independent Work (General Bulletin): Align this information with the newly approved university policy relating to internships. In particular, it defines the three types of internships and articulates clearly that students will need to complete a form prior to pursuing a credit or noncredit-bearing internship.
  8. Guidelines for a Department’s Teaching Evaluation Plan(MUPIM 7.2): Updates the policy to align with current trends and practice. The current policy wording does not account for the fact that appropriate online evaluation measures may be acceptable and that faculty who employ formative evaluation mechanisms may elect to use them for summative purposes.
  9. Annual Review of Probationary Faculty Member(MUPIM 7.5): Clarifies that the department must submit separate evaluation letters (one from the departmental promotion committee and the other from the chair) during years 3, 4, and 5 of the probationary period for tenure-track faculty. Although submitting separate letters has been the practice, the wording in the policy was unclear.
  10. Transfer Credit from Foreign Universities (Student Handbook 1.1): This policy revision establishes standardized guidelines for the articulation of coursework completed at foreign institutions of higher education into Miami University; increases transparency into the conversion of international credits to that of U.S. and institutional equivalents; defines what will be accepted as official documentation of an academic record; aims to ensure fair and equitable evaluation and conversion of international coursework.
  11. Pathways Program(Student Handbook 1.2): This new policy enables students in the selective Pathways program to meet program requirements while residing on the Oxford campus.
  12. Dossier Guidelines for Tenured and Tenure-Track and TCPL Faculty(Provost’s Website): These revisions include minor wording changes to recognize faculty who incorporate open educational resources and affordable course materials in their teaching.