Background to the Charge

The UUCC is the University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee.

The UUCC shall be composed of one full-time faculty member from each college (chosen annually by each college’s curriculum committee), the Associate Dean in charge of undergraduate programs from each respective college, one faculty-member-at-large from the full-time faculty (appointed by the Senate Agenda Committee), one representative from the Student Government Association, and non-voting members from the Registrar’s Office and the Library. The Chair of the UUCC shall be the Provost, or their designee. The Chair will vote only in the event of a tie.

The UUCC is charged by the Faculty Senate to “consider and make recommendations to the Senate concerning any proposals for undergraduate curriculum changes.” The UUCC is “the Senate’s designee in considering interdepartmental and inter-college disputes arising from matters concerning courses or programs offered or proposed.”

Committee Charge

No specific charge is given by SAC.

Committee Charge

The Graduate Council is a sub-committee of the Faculty Senate established to formulate, review, and recommend for adoption general academic policies and regulations for the creation and governance of graduate programs at Northeastern University.

Background to the Charge

1. The Committee will maintain regular communications with university-wide planning committees;
2. The Committee shall undertake questions concerning enrollment management policy, admission goals and standards, and policy regarding recruitment and retention of students; and
3. The Committee shall prepare annual recommendations concerning improvements in admission standards, recruitment practices, enrollment management practices, and related areas.

Committee Charge

1. The EAPC shall (a) review the experience of Academic Advisors for combined majors and specialty degree programs, particularly with a view to advising the Fall 2020 student cohort, and (b) report on current challenges to Advising across all colleges for combined majors and make recommendations for improvements.
2. In collaboration with the Registrar’s Office and other appropriate groups, the EAPC shall review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the cohort of newly admitted undergraduate students, particularly analyzing the relevant questions in Fall 2020 TRACE evaluations, recommend improvements to remote and hybrid instruction.
3. In collaboration with the Offices of the Provost and the Chancellor, the EAPC shall (a) review admission standards for MS programs across colleges, (b) analyze performance differences, as measured by letter grades, between BS, MS, and PhD students in courses where the three groups are mixed, and (c) provide recommendations on best practices to improve learning outcomes for students at all levels for these courses.
4. Other charges may be determined by the Senate Agenda Committee as new priorities arise.

Background to the Charge

This Committee is concerned with the rights and status of faculty personnel, including standards of tenure, promotion, and advancement for university faculty; and questions of professional development, academic freedom, and economic welfare.

Committee Charge

1. The Committee shall (a) investigate faculty concerns related to work circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic and how this will impact their merit and promotion evaluations, (b) how related new policies and procedures were communicated to faculty, and (c) taking into consideration passed Senate resolutions #25 & 28 (on 4/1/20) related to the impact of unexpected transition from on-ground to remote instruction and NUflex, recommend revisions to COVID-induced teaching policies and practices.
2. The Committee shall (a) evaluate how colleges and departments are evaluating faculty teaching for purposes of merit and promotion, in ways besides Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) instruments, and (b) recommend best practices and guidelines for implementation across the university.

3. The Committee, in collaboration with CATLR and other appropriate units, shall (a) investigate how well the transition to remote learning and Canvas was received by faculty, (b) investigate faculty perceptions of the effectiveness of the training procedures, and (c) make recommendations to improve future teaching and learning outcomes.
4. Other charges may be determined by the Senate Agenda Committee as new priorities arise.

Background to the Charge

According to the Faculty Senate Bylaws, the Financial Affairs Committee is a standing committee of the Faculty Senate charged with two general functions:

1. This Committee is concerned with all questions related to financial affairs of the University, including institutional surveys, reviews and recommendations on budgeting, and financial policies of the University.
2. This Committee shall prepare annual recommendations for the improvement of faculty salaries and fringe benefits.

Committee Charge

1. Considering the yearly increases in the cost of living and the special circumstances induced by the COVID-19 pandemic the Committee shall (a) examine the total faculty compensation, (b) review of match-mate institution data and compare salary raises, and (c) make recommendations for 2021 merit raises for full time faculty. 
2. The committee shall review the costs and custodian selections for fund selections in the retirement accounts, assess these in comparison to those offered by peer institutions, and provide recommendations to improve the selections to enable better faculty retirement account growth unhampered by high expenses.
3. The Committee, in collaboration with the FT-NTT-FC, shall  (a) inquire and examine the granular match-mate data for FT-NTT faculty salaries that have been obtained by the university leadership from the Colonial Group, and (b) make recommendations regarding FT-NTT faculty compensation.
4. In order to improve our competitiveness in attracting and retaining superb faculty members, working with appropriate units in the administration, the Committee shall continue to explore mechanisms and opportunities to provide subsidized housing to new and existing faculty.
5. The Committee shall provide an evaluation plan for the newly implemented equity process and its implementation.
6. Other charges may be determined by the Senate Agenda Committee as new priorities arise.

Background to the Charge

1. This committee oversees and receives for review evaluations of the Provost, academic deans and unit chairpersons. These evaluations are conducted on a regular schedule, typically every three years. The timetable for such evaluations shall be maintained by the Office of the Provost and shall be provided annually to the committee. Evaluations are performed in accordance with rules and procedures passed by the Faculty Senate on December 2, 2009 and approved by the Provost on December 11, 2009.
2. This committee appoints the faculty members who serve on the administrator evaluation teams, develops and provides evaluation guidelines, materials, and regulations for the teams, sets evaluation schedules and deadlines for the reports, reviews the outcomes, and submits the reports to the Senate Agenda Committee for final review and appropriate distribution.
3. Based on its reviews, the committee may also make recommendations to the Senate Agenda Committee, to the Provost, or to appropriate Vice Presidents on changes in procedures and/or evaluation instruments as deemed necessary.

Background to the Charge

1. This Committee shall be concerned with all questions relating to the development, maintenance, security, and availability of information systems and infrastructures.
2. The Committee periodically reviews information systems priorities, policies, resources, and operations and, based on these reviews, makes recommendations concerning activities that may improve operations or enhance the seamless flow of data and information to the communities that depend on it.
3. The Committee also makes recommendations to the Senate Agenda Committee, the administrative head of Information Systems, or to others in the administration (as appropriate) on matters concerning operations, resources, or policies.

Committee Charge

1. The ITPC shall (a) review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on IT infrastructure and policy changes in support of both teaching and research, (b) analyze availability of and investments in short-term and long-term computing resources in support of remote teaching and research, (c) identify the mechanisms for collecting, sharing, and reporting faculty suggestions on these topics, and (d) provide recommendations to for improvements. 
2. The ITPC shall (a) identify and engage with interested faculty, connect them with ITS, NULab, and library leadership, (b) work with these stakeholders to construct and document a set of resources specifically targeting public-facing datasets, interactive web pages, and public computing and project sharing platforms, in order to boost the availability of computational resources for faculty in the social sciences and humanities, and (c) provide recommendations for future maintenance and improvements of this infrastructure.
3. Other charges may be determined by the Senate Agenda Committee as new priorities arise.

Background to the Charge

The Committee will review and assess the direction and implementation of the university’s research mission, advocate for its needs, review periodically and make recommendations on its research resources, infrastructures, and policies, serve as a research “ombuds-body” to address structural impediments and faculty complaints, and work with the Provost, the Senior Vice President for Administration & Finance, the Senior Vice President for Institutional Advancement, and the President to insure the best possible environment for research and scholarship.

Committee Charge

1. The committee shall review NU-RES and Accounts Payable pre-award and post-award processes to identify how they can be made more efficient and more visible to faculty to better serve faculty and their funders.  In particular, the following areas should be examined leading to recommendations: (a) Adoption of template contracts and Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) to expedite contract approvals; (b) Future phases of ePAWs that can track expenditures on existing research accounts – verify the implementation of a “dashboard interface” for faculty to monitor status and delays; (c) Establishing a set of key performance indicators that can meaningfully be used by NU-RES and RPOC to monitor productivity and process efficiency for faculty investigators.
2. The committee shall examine the policies related to research activities and space. In particular, the following items should be examined leading to recommendations: (a) Implementation of template agreements regarding shared resources (space and equipment) in accordance with the recent senate resolution and with the Provost’s Office (Sr. Vice-Provost for Research); (b) Shared research activity and space restrictions, limitations (and opportunities) implemented by NU initiatives for combating COVID-19, along with recently-established policies and procedures for their execution.
3. Other charges may be determined by the Senate Agenda Committee as new priorities arise.

Background to the Charge

This Committee consists of full-time faculty members from across the University who collectively utilize the range of Library/Information Collaboration resources and services. In addition, the Dean of the University Libraries/Vice Provost for Information Collaboration shall serve as an ex officio member. To facilitate continuity of policies and responsiveness to faculty needs with respect to information resources, delivery, and utilization across the University, the Committee shall establish continuing liaison with the Senate’s Standing Academic Policy, Information Technology Policy, and Research Policy Oversight Committees.

Committee Charge

1. The Committee shall investigate policy issues involving strategic planning and infrastructure/resource adequacy to ensure broad, deep, and maximally available sources of scholarly information for the entire Northeastern community, and to guide services around the creation of new knowledge by that community.
2. The Committee shall assess information resources within and beyond the library system and shall review and recommend services that aid in the full lifecycle of student and faculty learning, research, and publication.
3. The committee shall consider and recommend new platforms and mechanisms that forge new collaborations and discoveries, especially across the colleges, schools, and campuses of the university.
4. Other charges may be determined by the Senate Agenda Committee as new priorities arise.

Background to the Charge

According to Faculty Senate legislation for Standing Committees, the Full-time Non-tenure-track Faculty is to be charged with reviewing and making recommendations on matters affecting this population of the Northeastern University community.

Committee Charge

1. In collaboration with FAC, the FTNTTFC shall (a) inquire and examine the data that have been obtained from the Colonial Group, (b) explore sources of more granular match-mate data for FT-NTT faculty than is currently available, and (c) and make recommendations to improve FT-NTT faculty compensation.
2. The FTNTTFC shall (a) collect data from HR and colleges regarding various titles of FT-NTT faculty across colleges, their workload and compensation (in ranges by unit or college to preserve anonymity), (b) analyze to determine if there are significant differences in workload and compensation for similar titles and across demographics, (c) examine faculty contracts for FTNTTF in regards to title and position (d) if needed, recommend changes to titles and responsibilities, and or contracts towards achieving increased uniformity.
3. Following on Resolution #14 of the AY2018-2019 Faculty Senate, the FTNTTFC shall review the availability and assignment of leadership positions for NTT faculty within each college, including chairing MS Thesis and PhD Dissertation Committees, and shall make recommendations for wider implementation of this resolution through policy and bylaw changes within each college.
4. The FTNTTFC shall follow up on professional development support, including one-term paid leaves. The FTNTTFC shall work with the Provost Office to develop an assessment plan for the ongoing semester-long professional development leaves for NTT faculty taking place during AY2020-2021, and shall make recommendations regarding wider implementation of this program.
5. The FTNTTFC shall follow up on professional development support, including one-term paid leaves. The FTNTTFC shall work with the Provost Office to develop an assessment plan for the ongoing semester-long professional development leaves for NTT faculty taking place during AY2020-2021, and shall make recommendations regarding wider implementation of this program.
   6. The FTNTTFC shall collect data related to the number of faculty – both FTNTT and TTF – working remotely and in person this year, examine whether the relative job security of different faculty members’ positions played into their decision to be remote or in person, and, if needed, recommend steps to ensure that FTNTT are not being disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
   7. Other charges may be determined by the Senate Agenda Committee as new priorities arise.

Background to the Charge

1. The Committee shall be concerned with questions of basic academic and research policy on an institutional level. Items to be dealt with should concern teaching loads, research procedures, academic requirements, classroom instruction, and all matters that pertain to classroom and laboratory activities.
2. The Committee shall also consider any academic matter or proposed program brought before the Senate that deals with relationships between the Colleges or involves more than one College.

Committee Charge

1. The committee shall conduct a full-time faculty survey on faculty satisfaction with the workload policy implementation in their unit and report on findings and recommendations. 
2. The committee shall take the lead and work with student/faculty groups, Registrar’s Office, CATLR, Director of Institutional Assessment, Associate Deans, and Provost’s office to develop and implement customized TRACE or other Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) instruments for common categories of classes, including lecture, online, hybrid/remote, labs, pop-ups, and DOCs (Senate resolution #19, 3/18/20). Include the inclusivity of learning environment recommendations from SGA (Senate resolution #13, 3/18/20). 
3. The committee shall develop policy/guidelines for inclusion of a formative midcourse SET.
4. The committee shall follow up on implementation of the new merit/compensation process in the Faculty Handbook (Senate resolution #1 10/02/19).
5. Other charges may be determined by the Senate Agenda Committee as new priorities arise.

Committee Charge

Committee Charges

1. The committee shall acquire data from recently conducted faculty surveys regarding diversity and inclusion to gauge attitudes and perceptions of faculty, (b) determine perceptions of where we are strongest and where we are weakest, (c) provide recommendations to improve inclusivity. 
2. The committee shall research what businesses and competing institutions are doing to facilitate and improve inclusive climate, identify best practices, and report recommendations.
3. The committee shall liaise with the existing workgroups, and (a) research what concrete/specific diversity and inclusion initiatives are being undertaken within each college, and make recommendations for improvement (b)  recommend mentoring and development opportunities for women and minorities in faculty ranks, (c) identify short and long term goals for improving inclusion and diversity among faculty, and provide recommendations.

4. Other charges may be determined by the Senate Agenda Committee as new priorities arise.

Committee Charge

1. Develop a definition of climate justice action within a global university such as Northeastern.
2. Provide recommendations to update and expand on the University’s 2010 Climate Action Plan by including modifications that emphasize a university-wide commitment to climate justice action.
3. Propose specific steps to enable Northeastern’ to operationalize climate justice action, including suggestions on specific mechanisms for climate justice action to be integrated into the university’s strategic planning process.