Committee Reporting Structure
All committees hold periodic meetings each semester and make recommendations to the department in response to charges from the department chair, questions or concerns brought forward by individual faculty members, or matters raised within the committee itself. These recommendations are presented to the department at regularly-scheduled faculty meetings. Each committee submits an annual report detailing the work of the previous year.
English Program Committees 2016-2017
English Program Committees 2015-2016
English Program Committees 2014-2015
Standing Committees
Undergraduate Curriculum and Scheduling Committee
Graduate Program Committee
English Education Committee
Creative Writing Committee
FYW Writing Committee
Program Assessment Committee
Faculty Status Committee
Undergraduate Curriculum and Scheduling Committee
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The committee consists of four tenured/tenure-eligible faculty members, three of whom represent British literature, American literature, and creative writing, respectively. The associate chair serves as a non-voting member of the committee, advising the committee on matters such as course scheduling and long-range course projections.
In addition to these elected members, the department chair serves as a non-voting member of the committee.
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A term of service is generally two years. Elections are held in the spring. Members may be reelected to successive terms of service.
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The Undergraduate Curriculum Committee exists to advise the department chair and make recommendations to the department for approval on all matters relating to the undergraduate curriculum except for courses in the First-Year Writing Program (ENGL 1101 and ENGL 1102), individual 4/5381 Independent Study Courses, 4386 Internship Courses, or Honors Courses. The committee’s recommendations may include (but are not limited to
- major curricular changes
- course scheduling (time of day and frequency of individual offerings)
- requirements for the major or minor in English
- prerequisites for particular courses.
The committee also considers proposals for new courses, variable topic courses listed under a single course number, and special-topics courses, and makes recommendations with regard to the scheduling of these courses. The committee does not consider personnel matters per se, nor does it make recommendations with respect to which faculty members should teach particular courses. The only exceptions to this are courses cited above in which a recommendation to offer a particular course means the de facto recommendation of its proposing instructor; however, in such cases, recommendations are made solely on the basis of the proposed course and the needs of the curriculum.
Graduate Program Committee
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The Graduate Program Committee (GPC) consists of three tenured or tenure-eligible English faculty, one graduate student, and the Director of Graduate Studies, who will also serve as chair. Faculty members will represent, respectively, British literature, American literature, and creative writing. The graduate student representative is a voting member of the committee and advises that body on issues relating to the experience of graduate students within the program. S/he is elected by the English graduate students, as arranged by the Director of Graduate Studies, and is entitled to participate in all meetings except for those involving the assigning of Graduate Research Assistantships. In the event that two students are elected, they both may participate in all GPC meetings, subject to the aforementioned proviso, but may cast only one vote.
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The normal term of service for faculty members is two years and for graduate-student members one year. A year of service is understood to begin in the summer term and end immediately following the subsequent spring term. Elections are held each year in the spring for the positions of those representatives whose terms are about to expire. Faculty candidates stand for election to the specific position they wish to hold (e.g., British literature representative, American literature representative, Creative Writing representative); however, candidates may specify that they wish to stand for election in one or more categories for which they are qualified. Any member whose term is expiring may stand for re-election. Each year, following the elections, the Department Chair will convene a meeting of the incoming members to elect a committee chair. The GPC Chair will serve for one year but may stand for re-election. Should s/he resign the post during the year, the Department Chair will convene a meeting of the GPC for the purpose of electing a new chair to serve for the remainder of the year.
At the end of spring term, the Director of Graduate Studies will arrange elections by the English graduate students to select their representative(s) on the GPC.
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The GPC advises the Department on all matters relating to the graduate program. It exists to foster a spirit of collegiality and shared enterprise among graduate students and faculty, and it provides a forum to which both groups may bring concerns relevant to the general functioning of the program. The GPC's responsibilities include:
- oversight of all curricular matters related to the program
- conferral regarding advertisement of the program
- review of plans for the recruitment of graduate students
- collaboration with the College of Education in the English area of the M.Ed. exams
- design of the English M.A. oral exam
- organization of a colloquium series by graduate students and/or faculty
- social functions for all involved in the program.
English Education Committee
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The English Education Committee consists of four voting faculty members, elected by tenured, tenure-eligible, and Lecturer faculty members: two tenured or tenure-eligible English faculty members, one English education observer from any rank, and the coordinator of English education.
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Both tenured and tenure-eligible faculty members shall serve for two years. The Observer shall serve for one. The elected committee chair will serve for one year but may stand for re-election.
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The Education Committee’s aims are:
- To ensure that content of all pedagogy-specific courses taught in the department of English comply with NCATE, NCTE, the PSC, the BoR, and other applicable governing agencies like SACS;
- To vet and/or create documents for COE assessment packages and departmental or college-wide reviews;
- To consult with other English Department committees about pedagogy-specific courses and program procedures, protocol, and structure;
- To advise the program Coordinator about annual awards in English Education and to review Teacher Candidate issues such as Professional Development Plans (PDPs), as needed;
- To review pertinent issues, documents, and policies as they relate to the English Education program and the College of Education;
- To respond to requests made regarding the English Education Program from within the committee, by the Department Chair, or by other faculty in the English Department.
Creative Writing Committee
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The voting membership of the committee consists of the following: the Coordinator of Creative Writing; two tenured or tenure-eligible faculty members who teach creative writing; the faculty advisor of the Eclectic; and one senior lecturer or lecturer who teaches creative writing.
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A term of service is generally two years. Elections are held in the spring. Members may be reelected to successive terms of service.
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The CWC advises on all matters relating to the CW Program; it seeks and encourages opportunities for collaboration among the CW Program, the English Department, the FYW program, and other departments and entities on campus. The CWC also ensures that the CW classes and their goals support the goals and principles established by the Department of English and Philosophy. Further responsibilities of the committee include advising the department regarding the following areas:
- curricular matters related to the program (including number of courses offered, course prerequisites, course rotation, and course creation)
- shared course goals, policies, and parameters for creative writing courses
- plans for sustaining the minor
- textbook recommendations, especially for new faculty members
- possible visiting writers, often in collaboration with the FYW committee and/or other interested campus groups
- options for varied methods of instruction, including the use of technology in creative writing classes
- criteria for degree in the minor
FYW Writing Committee, Department of English and Philosophy
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All English faculty, regardless of tenure-eligible status, teach composition and participate in the evolution of the First-Year Writing (FYW) Program; the constituency of the FYW Committee reflects that diversity. Voting members of the committee are one tenured/tenure-eligible faculty, two members from the senior lecturer and lecturer ranks, and one member from the instructor and visiting assistant professor ranks. The Director of FYW will also serve as a permanent, voting member of the committee and will also serve as chair. In addition, the Associate Chair of the department will serve as a permanent but non-voting member of the committee.
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A term of service is two years for tenured/tenure-eligible faculty, who will be chosen by their peers in spring elections. A term of service for senior lecturer, lecturer, instructor and visiting assistant faculty is also two years; these members will be chosen by their peers in fall elections. Members may be re-elected to successive terms.
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The FYW Committee advises and serves as a resource to English faculty primarily in relation to the composition sequence - English 1101 and 1102 - but may also confer with other committees as appropriate on issues involving writing in other areas of the curriculum.
The Committee will consider the following in relation to the FYW Program:
- course focus and design
- shared course goals and policies
- programmatic assessment
- exemption exam procedures and course placement options
- effective implementation of technology within the curriculum
- options for supplemental instruction, including the University Writing Center
- textbook recommendations, particularly for new composition faculty
- the shared text project
- handbook revision oversight
- the FYW sequence's role in both the core and English curricula.
The FYW Committee may also be called upon to assume a leadership role in reviewing applications, interviewing candidates and offering recommendations to the Chair in relation to hiring instructors and visiting assistant professors, who teach the majority of the department's composition courses.
The FYW Committee also makes recommendations to the English Department in response to departmental requests. Questions to be considered may be brought forward to the committee chair by the department chair or by any other member of the English department.
An annual report, indicating the work of the committee for that academic year will be posted on the English Department’s website for review.
Program Assessment Committee
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The Assessment Committee consists of two tenured or tenure-eligible faculty members and one lecturer or senior lecturer.
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A term of service is two years. The tenured/tenure eligible faculty members on the committee should serve alternating terms, with one new tenured/tenure eligible faculty member rotating onto the committee each year.
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The mission of the assessment committee is three-fold:
- To develop strategies for evaluating the effectiveness of departmental programs
- To evaluate potential assessment tools, with an eye to internal needs and external assessment protocols
- To create a plan for long-term internal and external assessment
This assessment process will enable faculty to develop a clearer sense of a shared departmental purpose while respecting the expertise and integrity of individual faculty in the classroom. In addition this process will sustain the breadth of our discipline in terms of content and skill development and strengthen the programs of the department as a whole so as to communicate the value of all elements of our discipline to a liberal arts curriculum. The committee affirms that these assessment processes should not infringe on but rather enhance teaching effectiveness.
Faculty Status Committee
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The committee is composed of all tenured faculty members in the Department of English and Philosophy, with the exception of the Chair.
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This committee examines and assesses materials submitted by candidates for third-year review, promotion, tenure, and post-tenure review and makes recommendations on personnel actions related to those reviews. The committee also periodically reviews department promotion and tenure criteria and takes up other duties related to personnel issues as requested by the chair.