approved October 21, 2004

Be It Resolved:

That the responsibility for new course and programmatic creation or alteration at Montana State University-Billings rests solely with the faculty.

That the Academic Senate, representing the faculty, is generally supportive of new or innovative courses and programs that will serve our students and that have the potential to attract new FTE and generate favorable publicity for the institution.

That this support is predicated upon all members of the institution—administration, staff, and faculty—following certain prescribed guidelines and processes mandated by our accrediting bodies and by the State of Montana Board of Regents, for curricular development and implementation that must be adhered to in all cases. These guidelines are outlined generally in the Board of Regents policy manual and specifically in the “Academic Senate Manual for the Preparation of Curricular Materials” adopted by the Academic Senate on October 21, 2004, attached to this document and also located online  (revised 2011).

That during the deliberative process on new curricular development or change to existing curricula, a faculty member may appeal a negative ruling to the Academic Senate if the faculty member feels that there was prejudice or gross misunderstanding involved or if there is new information that was not available during earlier departmental or committee deliberations. However, this appeal should not be viewed as an attempt to circumvent any departmental, college, graduate committee, or undergraduate curriculum committee deliberation on curriculum.