California State Polytechnic University, Pomona Academic Senate Report AS-2216-067/AA CLARIFICATION OF THE FORMATION, DISSOLUTION, MERGER, OR MOVEMENT OF AN ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT Academic Senate Action: Adopted: Final Disposition: Transmitted to President: AS-2216-067/AA, CLARIFICATION OF THE FORMATION, DISSOLUTION, MERGER, OR MOVEMENT OF AN ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT Background In 2006 the Senate Academic Affairs committee submitted a response, AA-2216-067/AA, to the Senate The Senate approved the committee’s recommendation, however, President Ortiz rejected the recommendation saw no need to alter existing policy, FS-153-745/AST, Policy on the Formation, Merger, & Dissolution of Departments, 1975 Please see the attachments for additional details The Senate Executive Committee sent the President’s response and the recommendation back to the Academic Affairs Committee in 2008 for reconsideration The current policy was developed under two three separate referrals recommendations The aforementioned, FS-153-745/AST is concerned with the formation, merger and dissolution of departments , and The recommendation AS-672-878/EPC which eastablished established a procedure for the discontinuance of programs The policy on discontinuance of programs was modified in 1992 under President Suzuki to include a policy on procedures for enrolled students to complete degrees, AS-809-912/AP The referral AS-672-878/EPC was accepted by President LA Bounty in a memo dated June 8, 1988 Resources Dr Les Young, Dean, College of Agriculture Dr David Still, Horticulture/Plant & Soil Sciences Dr Dan Hostetler, Chair, Horticulture/Plant & Soil Sciences Dr David Lord, Geography & Anthropology Dr Claudia Pinter-Lucke, AVP for Undergraduate Studies Dr Abolhassan Halati, Technology and Operations Management Discussion The committee spoke with faculty involved in past cases of department mergers After some discussion it became clear that one issue of concern for the faculty is the definition of consultation The committee concluded that by clarifying the definition of consultation in the 1975 referral, FS-153-745/AST, the campus will be better served This recommendation is not seeking to change the original policy, only to clarify the definition of consultation and to align the language in accordance with the current University organization The stated changes are included in the statement of policy on Academic Program Discontinuation and Policy Procedure as given in the University Manual Recommendation: CALIFORIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY, POMONA POLICY NO: 1501 AS-2216-067/AA, CLARIFICATION OF THE FORMATION, DISSOLUTION, MERGER, OR MOVEMENT OF AN ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT FORMATION, MERGER AND DISSOLUTION OF ACADEMIC PROGRAMS AND DEPARTMENTS Academic Program Discontinuation Policy and Procedure 1.0 Policy Guidelines All matters leading to the decisions concerning the formation, merger or dissolution of departments shall be handled on an ad hoc basis with adequate consultation with all concerned parties These include at the minimum the faculty and students of the affected departments, the dean of the affected schools, the Academic Dean’s Council, the faculty Senate, the dean of the Undergraduate and Graduate Studies, the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the President of the University That the definition of adequate consultation be that all parties concerned be informed and consulted on all actions and consideration which will be admitted as the basis for interim and ultimate decisions, with summary of all such information and consultation to be in ywriting, signed and dated Section 1A: Policy on Formation, Merger, Movement and Dissolution of Academic Departments The existing policy regarding the formation, merger, or dissolution states that no formal set of procedures should be followed The Academic Senate recommends that the following statements serve as guidelines for these actionsfor the formation, merger, movement, or dissolution of programs or departments: All matters leading to decisions concerning the formation, merger or dissolution of departments shall be handled on an ad hoc basis with adequate consultation with all concerned parties These parties include, at a minimum, the faculty, staff, and students of affected departments, the Deans of affected colleges, the Academic Deans’ Council, the Academic Senate, the member(s) of the Provost’s staff assigned the duties of deans for undergraduate and graduate studies, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the President of the University Adequate consultation means that all concerned parties be informed of and given a reasonable amount of time to respond to proposed changes Information provided to concerned parties shall include the following, at a minimum: a The reasons for the proposed change(s); b The history of similar proposals/actions involving the same department(s); c Anticipated changes to academic programs and associated timeline (recognizing that the changes themselves would be considered by the established senate process); d Anticipated impact(s) on the RTP process in general and of faculty below the rank of Full professor in particular e An analysis of the budget impact of the proposal AS-2216-067/AA, CLARIFICATION OF THE FORMATION, DISSOLUTION, MERGER, OR MOVEMENT OF AN ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT Records of all such information and consultation should be collected, dated and retained in the Division of Academic Affairs Additionally, the campus community shall have reasonable access to these records subject to standard confidentiality constraints The President should report his decision on the proposal and the reasons for making that decision to all concerned parties Section 1B: Policy on Discontinuance of Programs Specific Procedures for Merger and Dissolution of Department or Program Discontinuance Dissolution or Merger Discontinuance of academic programs or departments may be initiated at any level and is addressed to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Associate Vice President of Academic Programs in writing with justification for the proposal The Provost sends the proposal through the College Dean to the Department Chair The department faculty analyze the proposal in terms of potential impact on students, faculty, and resource allocation and recommend to the Department Chair appending the results of investigation The department will develop a plan whereby affected students can continue with a reasonable course plan leading to their degrees The Chair recommends to the college curriculum committee, and the proposal proceeds in a timely manner through the office of the Dean and Academic Senate to the President for a decision ... all actions and consideration which will be admitted as the basis for interim and ultimate decisions, with summary of all such information and consultation to be in ywriting, signed and dated Section... Committee sent the President’s response and the recommendation back to the Academic Affairs Committee in 200 8 for reconsideration The current policy was developed under two three separate referrals... the campus will be better served This recommendation is not seeking to change the original policy, only to clarify the definition of consultation and to align the language in accordance with the