Graduate Affairs & Curriculum Team

Team By-Laws

(i) Composition

The Graduate Affairs and Curriculum Team (GACT) consist of up to two (2) faculty members with graduate faculty Member or Associate Member status from the College of Arts and Sciences, the Marieb College of Health and Human Services, the College of Education, and the Lutgert College of Business, one representative from each other Academic Unit, one graduate student representative and one graduate student alternate appointed by the Student Government President (1-year term). Non-voting Ex Officio members include one representative from each of the Office of Graduate Studies, the Office of Academic and Curriculum Support, the Office of Graduate Admissions, and the Provost’s designee.

(ii) Responsibilities and Duties

The Graduate Affairs and Curriculum Team (GACT) serves as a university-wide body responsible for reviewing, coordinating, and recommending action to the Faculty Senate on matters related to graduate academic policy and curriculum. The team works to preserve the integrity, quality, and public accountability of the university’s graduate programs.

GACT will review and recommend actions on all matters pertaining to university-level policies and procedures concerning graduate education. These include, but are not limited to, graduate faculty eligibility, admission to and completion of graduate programs, theses and dissertations, the graduate grading system, graduate research committees, the distribution of graduate student assistantships and tuition waivers, the review of proposed changes to program-level policies to ensure compliance with university-level graduate policies, and honorary degrees.

The team is also responsible for developing and overseeing policies and procedures related to the creation, revision, and maintenance of graduate curriculum. It reviews proposed additions, deletions, and modifications to graduate programs, courses, catalog descriptions, and related curricular matters, and forwards recommendations to the appropriate administrative offices.

In addition, GACT reviews petitions and appeals related to university-level graduate academic policies and procedures, including admission reconsideration requests, and forwards recommendations to the Director of Graduate Studies. The GACT is not responsible for considering student appeals covered by other university or college committees including, but not limited to, grade appeals, appeals for reinstatement, appeals for residency reclassification, tuition and fee appeals, and withdrawal policy appeals. 

To ensure thorough review and coordination, the team may invite representatives from academic programs to present proposed policy or curricular changes and respond to questions. The team collaborates with relevant university bodies as appropriate and reports its recommendations to the Faculty Senate.