Curriculum Review Committee (CRC) Guidelines

Department of Humanities and Media Studies (HMS)

The Curriculum Review Committee (CRC) represents the voice of the Humanities and Media Studies (HMS) faculty in the process of curricular review. Faculty initiative in creating and evaluating courses and programs is an important aspect of shared governance at Pratt Institute. The purpose of the CRC is to support, review, and recommend for approval to the department chair new and revised HMS courses and programs. The HMS CRC also advises the faculty and department chair on other curriculum-related issues and initiatives.

A faculty-led committee, this is the first body that reviews courses and programs generated by the faculty, ensuring that they meet Institute standards and preparing them to pass through the Institute-wide approval process. Provisional courses are not evaluated by departmental curriculum review committees at Pratt. They are sent directly from the faculty member to the department chair.

These guidelines will be available to all department faculty on the HMS Department’s internal website.

Membership:

The HMS CRC is reconstituted by the department chairperson each year, from selfnominations by the faculty and recommendations from the existing HMS CRC. Optimally, by the time the regular academic year ends in May, the membership of the HMS CRC for the following academic year will be established. Having a mix of experienced and relatively new faculty, as well as a mix of full-time and part-time faculty members, is important to insuring that the CRC functions as a representative body.

Any HMS faculty member can be a member of the CRC as long as she/he/they are willing to commit to the following requirements:

1. Attend committee meetings. CRC meetings will usually be held once a month during the regular academic year, at a time agreed upon by the committee members.

2. Respond to email communications regarding the committee’s work in a timely fashion.

3. Review all course or program submissions in a timely fashion and come to the committee meetings prepared to offer feedback.

4. The HMS CRC chair will usually draft email responses to the course or program submissions, but other committee members may be asked to assist with this work when the committee has a significant number of courses/programs to evaluate. Once a faculty member has committed to being on the CRC, she/he/they are expected to participate for the full academic year. Faculty members can request to join the committee before or at the beginning of each Fall semester. Such requests should be made to the department chair. Visiting and adjunct faculty members serving on the HMS CRC will receive a stipend.

At the end of each Spring semester, the CRC will select a chairperson who will act as the liaison between the CRC, the faculty, and the department chairperson during the following academic year. This choice shall be made by a simple one round vote with the winner being the candidate with the most votes. The HMS CRC chair shall receive at least one course release each year. Course releases or stipends for service on this committee should match what Pratt offers for such service in departments of equivalent size across the Institute.

In addition to the committee members from the HMS faculty, the librarian responsible for the Humanities and Media Studies collection at the Pratt Library may be invited to attend committee meetings as a non-voting member. This will allow her/him/them to remain apprised of developments in the HMS curriculum so that the library can obtain supporting materials, and to provide input as to whether the library can support proposed courses and programs.

Department chairs (or their representatives) at Pratt have the right to participate in meetings of the departmental CRCs as ex officio, non-voting members of the committee. When the HMS chairperson opts to attend committee meetings (or opts to place her/his/their representative on the HMS CRC), the chair/chair’s representative will adhere to the following guidelines:

While the department chair (or chair’s representative) may suggest issues for consideration by the committee, she/he/they will not be empowered to set the committee’s agenda.

In discussions of new or revised courses and programs, the department chair (or chair’s representative) on the HMS CRC may not override the consensus of the faculty committee members.

From time to time, the faculty members of the HMS CRC may ask the chair/chair’s representative to absent themselves from some of the committee’s discussions and votes.

HMS CRC Meetings:

At the beginning of each semester, the HMS CRC will establish a schedule of monthly meetings and share it with the department faculty, the department chair, and the assistant chair.

Review Process for Proposed Courses:

1. New or revised course syllabi or program proposals should be submitted simultaneously to the department chairperson and to the HMS CRC via GoogleDocs or email. While faculty can submit their proposals directly through Coursedog (the electronic system through which Pratt’s curriculum is managed), the HMS CRC invites faculty to solicit feedback on their syllabi/program proposals before such feedback becomes archived in Coursedog.

2. The HMS CRC members will review course and program proposals promptly. Sometimes the CRC chair will seek the expertise of HMS faculty members who are not on the committee, if the committee members have insufficient knowledge of the subject matter of the proposed course or program.

3. The HMS CRC reviews the proposal to ensure that it meets departmental, SLAS, and Institute-wide standards, using the statements and questions articulated in the appendices to this document. If any revisions are needed, the committee will send feedback to the submitter by email. Feedback will be split into two categories: Required Changes and Suggested Changes.

“Required changes” reflect items shown as required in the Provost’s syllabus template (Appendix B) but missing in the proposed syllabus, or aspects of the syllabus requiring revision because they are at odds with standard Institute practice, e.g., a syllabus showing 13 or 17 weekly class meetings instead of 15. The HMS CRC may also request changes based on the questions articulated in Appendix C. “Suggested changes” are offered to the submitter by the committee for her/his/their consideration. The final proposal may be submitted with or without these changes.

The HMS CRC will also offer suggestions for completing the course form in Coursedog, in order to assist faculty in navigating this system.

4. Once the submitter has made the required changes, considered all suggested changes, and employed the suggestions she/he/they deem appropriate, she/he/they will enter the course proposal into Coursedog. Answering all the questions in the electronic Coursedog form is as important as submitting a well-crafted syllabus. Faculty submitting course and program proposals should feel free to ask the department chair, assistant chair, and CRC for guidance in answering these questions accurately.

5. The HMS CRC reviews the full proposal (course form, syllabus, and supporting documents). Faculty members on the CRC cannot vote on their own submissions. If the

submission passes with a 2/3 majority, the HMS CRC chair then enters the committee’s comments on the proposal into Coursedog, sending the proposal forward to the HMS department chair. If required elements are missing from the course form, or required changes have not been made, or there are errors flagged by the electronic system, the HMS CRC chair may be forced to route the proposal back to the faculty member for these necessary revisions.

What to Submit:

The primary document you will be submitting to the CRC is a syllabus. We assess the syllabus to make sure that it meets departmental, SLAS, and Institute standards. Our

assessment is made using the standards articulated in the evaluation form provided in Appendix B and the questions listed in Appendix C. It may also be helpful to consult the Provost’s curriculum development and revision website (link included below). The department chair/assistant chair will help assign a specific number for your course, but your proposal should indicate the level(s) at which your course will be taught. The second document you need to submit is the electronic Coursedog form. When the HMS CRC responds to your syllabus, they will also include detailed instructions to help you 4 complete the Coursedog form and compile a curriculum map that indicates how your course contributes to the HMS curriculum and to one or more of the department’s Minors (if applicable).

Please be aware that the HMS CRC is happy to answer any questions you may have throughout this process. Feel free to reach out to the HMS CRC chair or any member of the committee.

All documents and forms mentioned here can be found on the Provost’s website:

https://www.pratt.edu/policies/curriculum-development-and-revision/

When to Submit:

The process of creating a new course or substantially revising an existing course at Pratt Institute—especially if the course is to become a permanent part of the department curriculum—can be rather lengthy. The HMS CRC’s goal is to complete our part as efficiently as possible, in the hope that the more comprehensive we are in reviewing proposals, the better they will fare once we release them to the rest of the Institute process.

Your subsequent effort in promptly responding to requests for revision will also be key to the HMS CRC’s ability to approve the course/program in a timely fashion. Because the course and program review process takes place during the regular academic year (September through May), we recommend the following timetable:

Proposals for new elective courses: Submit during the Fall semester for approval by the following Spring.

Proposals for revised elective courses: Submit by the end of January for approval by the end of Spring semester.

Proposals for new required courses and revisions to required courses: Submit at the beginning of Fall semester. New required courses and substantial changes to required courses must be reviewed by the Institute Curriculum Committee, which extends the length of the review process.

Proposals for new programs and revisions to existing programs: Submit at the beginning of Fall semester. New programs and substantial changes to existing programs must be reviewed by the Institute Curriculum Committee, which extends the length of the review process.

Appendix A

HMS Mission Statement: The Humanities and Media Studies (HMS) Department offers innovative and cross-disciplinary training at the intersection of aesthetics, politics, and theory. Our curriculum explores how art, culture, literature, and media form and transform our densely interconnected world. HMS students acquire creative and critical tools with which to analyze global cultural and socio-political contexts. In our classrooms, we emphasize the histories and processes of social formation such as race, gender, sexuality, class, and ability. We are distinguished by our methodologies, which include multisensory and embodied learning, collaboration and play, textual and visual analysis, critical ethnography, and experimental archival research.

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Appendix B: Evaluation Form to Assess Proposed HMS Courses and Programs

BASIC COURSE INFORMATION COMPLETE?

Course title, number, and section

School, department, and program (if applicable)

Days, times, and place of course meetings (list number of hours course meets

if the course is new)

Course coordinator or Chairperson (if applicable)

Prerequisite courses or skills or any other restrictions for the course

INSTRUCTOR CONTACT INFORMATION COMPLETE?

Name and academic title

Office location

Contact information: office hours, phone number, appropriate times to call,

email address, class listserv, special instructions

COURSE DESCRIPTION COMPLETE?

Bulletin Description (150 words or less)

Detailed Description

Course Goal(s)

Student Learning Objectives

Course Calendar/Schedule

COURSE REQUIREMENTS COMPLETE?

Textbooks, readings, and materials

Projects, papers, and assignments

Assessment and grading

POLICIES COMPLETE?

Institute-wide policies listed in the “Community Standards” section of the

Bulletin

Policy on Students with Disabilities

Any additional school, departmental, or personal course policies

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Appendix C

Some Questions the HMS CRC Considers When Reviewing Course Proposals:

Does the course title accurately indicate the content of the course?

Does the syllabus clearly explain what the course will cover?

Does the syllabus clearly explain what will be expected of students? Each syllabus must include a week-by-week schedule that details the coursework for the entire semester.

Does the syllabus clearly explain how student learning will be evaluated?

Does the syllabus include clearly written course goals and student learning outcomes?

Are the course goals and student learning outcomes aligned with those of the HMS Department and any Minors to which the course will contribute?

Can most of the student learning outcomes be assessed through a review of students’ assignments and through the other assessment methods established by the department?

Are the major assignments in the course clearly described in the syllabus?

Does the proposed course number match the department’s guidelines for level and subject matter?

Does the course serve the department’s mission?

Does the syllabus show that the faculty member has significant knowledge of the subject matter, including an understanding of major debates in the field, familiarity with

reading/viewing material created by a wide range of thinkers, writers, researchers, and practitioners, and sufficient expertise to craft a variety of assignments that address diverse learning styles?

If the course is offered to graduate students, is the work expected of graduate students sufficiently rigorous?

Is the course sufficiently distinct from other course offerings in the department?

Is the course sufficiently distinct from courses offered by other departments?

Do the proposed number of credit hours match up with the proposed amount of instructional credit hours (1 hour = 1 credit)?

rev. April 2025

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Curriculum Review Committee (CRC) Guidelines