| October 2023 |

Igniting Excellence: Nominations Open for President's Excellence Awards

Recognizing Excellence: The 2023 Faculty Honors Convocation Highlights Outstanding Contributions

Curriculum & Programs

EPAC Updates

Academic Affairs is pleased to share this year’s committee members for the Educational Policy Advisory Committee (EPAC), a campus-wide curriculum committee appointed by the Faculty Senate. EPAC advises the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs about most curricular activities. These activities include, but are not limited to, proposals for new programs, courses, and significant course revisions. EPAC's review of proposed curricular changes occurs after college and department or school reviews.

• Christina Dando, College of Arts and Sciences
• Elizabeth Wessling, College of Business Administration
• Kenneth White, College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media
• Gabriel Guiterrez, College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences
• Harvey Siy, College of Information Science & Technology
• Tara Richards, College of Public Affairs and Community Service
• Omer Farooq, Criss Library

Updates Coming Soon

Many thanks to the campus community that guided EPAC on revising the bibliography section on the CIM (Course Information Management) form and suggested adding the assessment section back into the form for all courses. Please use the current guidelines until the vendor can update these. 

• Revised bibliography statement (2023 Edition): Please provide a list of relevant sources connected to the course content. When possible, the bibliography should reflect the most current knowledge in the field. This list will be reviewed by the UNO Libraries subject librarians for collection development purposes to ensure there are appropriate materials to support new curriculum. For specific resources that require institutional subscriptions/licenses such as databases or journals to support the proposed course, please contact your subject librarian directly. It is recommended that you include at least 5 and no more than 10 relevant sources.
• In response to campus requests, EPAC has voted to include the assessment section for all courses. It is currently only available for dual-listed courses but will return for all courses as a source of information on how faculty assess Student Learning Outcomes and as an indicator of the course rigor.

2024-2024 Course, Lab, Misc. Fee Proposals

It is time to begin planning for the proposed 2024-2025 Course, Lab, and Misc. Fees. The timeline for this process is available here.  Please send requests for new or changed (increased, decreased, and deleted) course, lab, and misc. fees on the Course, Laboratory, Miscellaneous Fee Proposals Form as a Word document with the signature page saved as a pdf to curriculum@unomaha.edu. Please use the subject line: 2024-2025 Proposed Fee Approval Form and submit by the deadline of December 15, 2023, to begin the campus review process. For more information, you may wish to review the UNO policies linked below.

If you have questions, please feel free to email Sarah Edwards.

Faculty Affairs

Emeritus Recommendations

Does your department have faculty who will soon be retiring? Emeritus recommendations for faculty retiring midyear in December are due November 15. For additional information on eligibility for emeritus and the recommendation process, see the Emeritus folder in the College Resources SharePoint site. Questions? Contact Candice Batton at 402.554.4452 or by email.

FDFs are an opportunity for faculty to focus and reinvigorate their research or creative activity program. Recommendations for 2024-25 FDFs are due from the colleges to Academic Affairs by Friday, 10/13. Additional information was shared with the colleges in early August.

Do you have faculty interested in learning more about being a Fulbright Scholar? In partnership with ORCA, International Programs, and the Honors Program, CFE will be hosting an information session with Fulbright Specialist Aferdita Krasniqi on Thursday, 10/5 at 1:30 pm. Register to attend.

Spring 2024 semester planning (including J-session) is already underway. Signed contracts for part-time faculty teaching in the spring including E-PAF/PAFs for new/rehires, and the PT spreadsheet are due to Academic Affairs via SharePoint by November 15. 

Important Dates

Oct 1: Academic Affairs communication with colleges including updated PT faculty spreadsheet for Spring 2024

Oct 13: College recommendations for 2024-23 FDFs due to Academic Affairs

Across Academic Affairs

Upcoming Meetings & Events

• October 11: Assistant and Associate Deans and VCs meeting
• October 11: Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center - Meet a Bak
• October 13: EPAC Meeting
• October 26: Samuel Bak Museum: The Learning Center - Curator talk: Aesthetics of Fascism
• October 27: Academic Assessment Committee Meeting

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