UMass Boston

Generally speaking, governance refers to the procedures for establishing new programs and courses or making changes to existing programs and courses at UMB. Our governance process —the materials that faculty must submit as part of a proposal and the levels of review that proposals must pass through—has been developed in accordance with both state and UMass system requirements. As such, governance at UMB serves two broad purposes: to safeguard the quality and consistency of academic programs across the campus and to ensure the university is in compliance with state and university system regulations regarding academic standards, student experience, and public records.

In addition to making sure that academic programs conform to general standards as defined by the university and its accrediting body, the governance process works to make sure that these programs are high quality, sustainable, consistent with the university mission, and serve students well.  To help achieve these goals, the governance process is guided by three key principles that are derived from the Standards for Accreditation laid out by the New England Commission for Higher Education:

1. The quality and integrity of academic programs and courses and the student experience within them
2. Coherence and consistency within and across various academic programs
3. Responsible stewardship of university resources

As per the Faculty Council Constitution, issues related to curriculum are the purview of the faculty. This means that most levels of review are conducted by various faculty bodies (the specific workflow for each different type of proposal is visible in the Curriculog system—to see this, follow the instructions for how to view the workflow for a proposal in Curriculog). However, some administrative input is necessary for matters related to implementation, so there are administrative levels of review related to each proposal. In addition, some types of proposal require off-campus approval. While the governance process may seem convoluted, each level of review serves a specific purpose by focusing on a particular set of issues related to course and program development. Collectively, they all work together to help assure the quality, integrity, and sustainability of university curricula.