Governance of Themes

Broad oversight of Themes policy and procedure is the purview of the Common Curriculum Committee (CCC). Such governance may include:

• Monitoring of “gatekeeping” or “turf wars” – No department or unit should intentionally try to keep another department or unit out of their theme or stake a claim to a particular subject area. CCC+ reserves the right to mediate disputes of this nature or moderate the number of themes covering a particular topic.
• Oversight of course availability – Managing departments or units are responsible for ensuring that courses within their theme are meeting the offering requirements noted above. CCC+ will also periodically monitor the offerings of courses within Themes to ensure compliance with guidelines. CCC+ reserves the right to remove courses from a Theme or de-activate the Theme altogether as appropriate for non-compliance with offering requirements.

Review of Proposed Themes

For the near future, departments or units wishing to propose a Theme should submit a letter of intent to CCC+ outlining their intentions and proposed courses. This letter can be sent before reaching out to relevant departments so that CCC+ can preview the Theme and 1) highlight any potential areas of concern, 2) suggest additional courses to include, and/or 3) help facilitate communication with relevant departments/units. Once a department or unit has been approved for a Theme, they can then begin the work of securing permissions to use proposed courses. The lead contact on the Theme will be given the link to the official proposal page.

Review and oversight of Themes within CCC+ will be handled by a Themes subcommittee that will operate like CCC+’s other subcommittees. That is, the subcommittee will be managed by co-chairs who will coordinate other subcommittee members in the review and approval of proposed Themes.

Themes proposed for offering will follow the same workflow as regular Common Curriculum courses and will require the approval of the following bodies:

• All Department C&Cs represented in the Theme
• All School and/or College C&Cs represented in the Theme
• Common Curriculum Committee (CCC)
• Senate Curricula & Courses Committee
• University Senate