Standing Committee on Medical Curriculum Charges and Responsibilities

Faculty Council approved—01/25/2017 (last updated 10/31/2018: see log of updates at end of document)

The Curriculum Committee is charged by Faculty Council to:

1. evaluate the curriculum;
2. monitor education outcomes;
3. formulate and ensure implementation, via the phase committees, curricular policy and academic programs leading to the MD or combined MD-professional school degree in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (Jacobs School);

The Curriculum Committee must accept input from all members of the faculty on matters of the curriculum, draft policies, and curricular organization.

The Curriculum Committee must be responsible for compliance with all LCME requirements.

Changes in Charges and Responsibilities of the Standing Committee on Medical Curriculum (this document) must require an initial presentation and discussion with the full Curriculum Committee, followed by a final vote at the next scheduled meeting. These changes will be reviewed and approved by the Faculty Council in accordance with the Bylaws. The Committee is charged with tracking all changes to the operational rules over time.

Membership of the Faculty Council Standing Committee on the Medical Curriculum (Curriculum Committee) is constructed according to the Faculty Council Bylaws.

The Curriculum Committee will meet monthly throughout the calendar year.  Emergency meetings may be called by the Co-chairs of the Committee.

Curriculum Committee members must attend all meetings or be excused by contacting the offices of either Co-chair in advance of the meeting. Two unexcused absences will be grounds for removal from the Committee.

The Phase 1 and Phase 2 Committees are standing subcommittees of the Curriculum Committee and will serve as "operations" committees to implement the policies and action items as directed by the Curriculum Committee. The Phase Committees will engage in discussions of pedagogy and best practices as necessary, and attend to the practical details of running an efficient curriculum on a day-to-day basis, and attend to any other functions specified by the Curriculum Committee or specified in this policy. Pursuant to these duties, Phase Committees may adopt policies for course or clerkship operations, subject to approval by the Curriculum Committee.

Minutes of the proceedings shall be kept and circulated to their memberships.

The Phase 1 Committee will consist of the year 1 and 2 course directors, the Senior Associate Dean for Curriculum (or designee), any Associate Deans with responsibility for curriculum supervision, development, or evaluation, and two students, one from each of the first two years to be appointed by Medical Student Polity. The committee will select one of the course directors to serve as committee chair. The chair will serve a two-year term beginning in the fall, and will be eligible for reelection for up to two consecutive terms. There is an option to be elected again in the future. In the event that the chair is no longer the course director, a new chair will be selected by the committee. Staff from the Office of Curriculum and Office of Academic Affairs may be included by the Senior Associate Dean for Curriculum as ex officio members.

The Phase 2 Committee will consist of the course and clerkship directors from all required Phase 2 courses, plus a director of an elective Phase 2 course/clerkship to be selected by the Curriculum Committee to serve a three-year term. Additional members will include the Associate Deans with responsibility for curriculum supervision, development, or evaluation, and two students, one from each of the last two years to be appointed by Medical Student Polity. The committee will select one of the clerkship directors to serve as committee chair. The chair will serve a two-year term beginning in the fall, and will be eligible for reelection for up to two consecutive terms. There is an option to be elected again in the future. In the event that the chair is no longer the clerkship director, a new chair will be selected by the committee. Staff from the Office of Curriculum and Office of Academic Affairs may be included by the Senior Associate Dean for Curriculum as ex officio members.

The Course Evaluation Sub-Committee (CESC) will consist of 15 members. One-third of the members of the CESC will be faculty members on the Curriculum Committee (CC), one-third will be faculty members not on the CC and solicited from the school at large, and one-third will be current students, one student from each of the classes and one representing the MD/PhD program.

Recruitment of non-CC Faculty members will occur through solicitation of members via Faculty Council with CC approval. Students will be chosen by election facilitated by Polity, in a manner similar to that done for the CC proper. Terms for medical students will be for the duration of their training.

Either the CESC or the CC chair can appoint administrative or professional personnel involved in curriculum development or evaluation as ex officio members.

The CC will select the members of the CESC for a 3-year term for faculty, renewable once in the case of faculty members. The CC will also choose the CESC chair.

In the case of faculty, each sub-committee member will be responsible for participating in 2-3 course evaluations per year. Students on the CESC will participate in review meetings, however will participate in 1 course evaluation per year. For the remainder of reviews, other students will be selected from the student body at large as ad hoc members to complete reviews. Only students who have taken the course under review can participate in that particular course’s evaluation.

Courses will be reviewed annually. The schedule of course reviews will be determined by the CC but timing of the reviews and workflow will be determined by the CESC. Data collection in preparation for course evaluations will be completed by members of the curriculum office and distributed to members of the review team members prior to each review. The scope of the course evaluation will include accomplishment of last year’s SMART goals, how a course integrates with other courses and any learning threads, and how students perform on subsequent Step 1 and/or Step 2 exams in those areas. 

Once a course review is completed by the assigned team in conjunction with the course director(s) and course coordinator, the team will review their findings with the full CESC to go over the evaluation and make recommendations.  The CESC will then report to the full Curriculum Committee in an abbreviated format, highlighting best practices and areas for improvement, the latter including the SMART action plan for the coming year. The CESC can recommend a more complete evaluation when necessary.  This should include broad questions such as the scope of the course, quality of teaching, potential updates, and even if a course should be continued, dropped, merged, or replaced.  If a more extensive review is needed, then an Ad Hoc committee should be formed; chaired by an associate dean and include faculty with sufficient expertise in the area to make major recommendations. 

The Curriculum Committee will establish ad-hoc committees as needed to complete its work.  Ad hoc committees will report their finding to the full Curriculum Committee for approval.

The Curriculum Committee is charged with the evaluation and crafting of curriculum content and structure based on the Mission and Goals of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (Jacobs School) and the Educational goals and competencies of the Jacobs School. The Curriculum Committee is charged with evaluation of both the vertical (Years 1-4) and horizontal (within a school year) integration of the curriculum.

The Curriculum Committee shall review the content, performance, goals and objectives of each required courses at least once every three years. The review process will involve ad hoc subcommittees composed of the course director(s), a Phase 1 faculty, a Phase 2 faculty, and a student who has completed the course.  The ad hoc committee will report to the full Curriculum Committee their results and recommendations.  Courses may be reviewed on a more frequent basis based on quality measures.

The Curriculum Committee must review all elective courses based on enrollment over the prior 4 years and make recommendations for approval, modification, or discontinuation.

The Curriculum Committee must evaluate, review, and approve all new courses proposed for the curriculum.  Required courses will be presented to the committee for full review. After discussion, the committee may ask for additional detail.  A second presentation to the committee must occur during the next meeting of the Committee and recommendations for approval will be voted on at that time.  Elective courses may be presented and voted on in the initial presentation to the Curriculum Committee, or the Committee may postpone the vote if additional data are required prior to a vote. The Committee must determine how to incorporate new required courses within the curriculum and how the architecture of the curriculum will be modified for inclusion.

The Curriculum Committee must monitor curricular content through data provided by the curriculum office and remediate gaps in the curriculum. Gaps identified by the Committee must be directed to the appropriate Phase committee(s) with the charge of incorporation into the curriculum.  Inclusion of new content may necessitate removal of some existing content and/or courses. The Phase Committee(s) must report their recommendations to the Curriculum Committee for review.

The Curriculum Committee must monitor national trends in medical education and consider whether curricular revisions are necessary.  The Committee must monitor pedagogy and the balance of active to passive learning through the employment of best practices.

The Curriculum Committee must determine if our students receive the skills, knowledge, and attitudes to fulfill our Mission and Goal statement.  Special attention must be paid to life-long learning techniques.

The Curriculum Committee shall determine grading policy of the Phase 1 and Phase 2 courses. The criteria for grading at each level shall be applied uniformly within each course.

Any changes in grading policy must be communicated to The Standing Committee on Medical Student Affairs and Academic Standing. Those changes will be incorporated into the Academic Status Policy. Changes in Grading Policy that impact the determination of Recognition of Academic Excellence (as defined in the Academic Status Policy) shall be coordinated with The Standing Committee on Medical Student Affairs and Academic Standing and aligned with the Academic Status Policy.

The Curriculum Committee shall be responsible for ensuring that a “Course Book” for distribution to all students be maintained and kept up to date.  The Course Book should contain the following:

1. Course Schedules for Phase 1 and Phase 2
2. Course requirements required to obtain an MD degree and all Joint MD degree programs
3. Contact information for Clinical Department Course Coordinators
4. Descriptions of all course offerings, including electives
5. The Grading Scale, requirements for Latin Honors, and procedures for remediation

06/27/2018: Faculty Council voted to approve the removal of grading policy from this document.

10/31/2018: Faculty Council voted to approve composition of Phase I and Phase II Committees.

2/24/2021: Faculty Council voted to approve the creation of the Curriculum Committee: Course Evaluation Sub-Committee.