Meeting Dates

LCS meetings take place on Wednesdays from 9:30 – 11:00 am (typically the third Wednesday of the month with exceptions *noted below).

September 21, 2022
October 19, 2022
November 2, 2022*
November 16, 2022
November 30, 2022*
December 14, 2022 ** 1:00-2:00 pm
January 18, 2023
February 15, 2023
March 15, 2023
April 19, 2023
May 17, 2023
June 21, 2023

To add these dates to your calendar, click here.

Full Terms of Reference

On behalf of Faculty Council, and in alignment with Senate, the LCS Committee shall be responsible for the development and oversight of curriculum, academic standards and pedagogy for the degrees and non-degree programming across the School, including supporting the delivery of curriculum and service courses for programs across the university in areas where Lassonde has disciplinary expertise.

The Committee is responsible for formulating policy and making recommendations to Council on matters concerning the planning, implementation, and evolution of the academic standards, regulations, curriculum and programs of
departments, including research-informed pedagogy, including taking into account the impact of the student experience and soliciting student input. The committee will undertake these responsibilities within the context of the
Faculty and University’s missions and planning objectives.

The committee is responsible for the implementation and oversight of academic items governing: Curricular Strategic Priorities (LCS); Program Evaluation & Compliance (PAGES); and Innovation in Program Delivery (TEAL).

2.1. CURRICULAR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

The committee will:

2.1.1. Bring forward recommendations and motions for approval to Faculty Council on academic standards, curriculum, regulations, teaching and learning (including modes, times and location of program delivery).
2.1.2. Review proposals for new program requirements or certificates, or changes to existing program requirements or certificates, making recommendations to Council for approval.
2.1.3. Approve proposals for new courses or changes to existing courses, forwarding to Council to appear under consent agenda.
2.1.4. Promote the development of interdisciplinary and inter-Faculty programs;
2.1.5. Formulate and make recommendations to Council on the establishment, disestablishment and modification of programs, diplomas and certificates; in concurrence with the Planning, Academic Resources & Research Committee (PARR).
2.1.6. Be responsible for coordination, oversight, accountability and reporting of such aspects of the above that are delegated to departments (programs), Council or Senate and serve as Council’s liaison with academic administrators and other collegial bodies dealing with matters related to its mandate (e.g., Provost’s Office, Academic Standards, Curriculum & Pedagogy (ASCP)).
2.1.7. Coordinate and consult with other Council Committees & Senate Committees on major academic program, principles and policy developments or changes, and issues of joint concern.
2.1.8. Constitute Sub-Committees and ad hoc working groups/task forces as deemed necessary to deal with emerging priorities in relation to curriculum, curricular policy and standards. Such as:

Sub-Committees:
1) Engineering Common Curriculum (EC²);
2) Joint Sub-Committee on Teaching Enhance & Active Learning (TEAL);
3) Program Assessment Groups on Evaluation & Systems (PAGES);
4) Non-Degree Studies
5) General Education

Task Force:
1) Math Task Force

2.2. PROGRAM EVALUATION & COMPLIANCE
2.2.1. LCS has created the committee PAGES to oversee academic processes related to Quality Assurance Process and Continual Program Improvement including the implementation of existing Senate and Faculty policies (i.e., Undergraduate Program Reviews, Graduate Program Appraisals and Accreditation, and others)
2.2.2. PAGES will review and make recommendations as needed to LCS and Faculty Council on process and policy improvements with respect to formal and informal evaluation exercises. Lassonde Faculty Council Learning, Curriculum & Students (LCS) Committee
2.2.3. PAGES will formulate new policies as deemed necessary in concurrence with PARR (e.g. PARR’s Terms of reference states it will receive reports from LCS on such items)

2.3. INNOVATION IN PROGRAM DELIVERY (TEAL)
2.3.1. LCS & the Planning, Academic Resources & Research (PARR) committee created the joint subcommittee, Technology-enhanced, experiential, and active learning (TEAL), to oversee, make recommendations and undertake analysis to provide academic solutions to advance the School’s academic priorities with respect to: E-learning, experiential education, active learning, and technology in
the classroom and in support of academic programs and initiatives.
2.3.2. TEAL will receive requests for input and make informed recommendations on policy matters concerning ancillary curriculum that may have academic implications. (e.g., associated course fees, etc.);
2.3.3. TEAL will rank and make recommendations to the Dean on academic initiative proposals going forward on behalf of the School (e.g. AIF, and LEEF, etc.)

The Lassonde School of Engineering is committed to creating a community where students, faculty and staff feel welcome and valued, and a place and space for people to thrive in their various endeavours. This means creating policies, procedures, programs, events, and other interventions that work to eliminate barriers, and to establish and sustain the conditions that enable everyone to fully participate in our community. To reach this goal, the committee will support Lassonde’s learning journey to:
• Create a diverse, inclusive integrated teaching, learning and research environment.
• Empower diverse internal and external communities to organically grow by optimizing existing spaces and creating new ones with a culturally inclusive lens.
• Prioritize equitable outcomes by adopting a values-driven integrated approach to research, teaching & learning and operations.
• Cultivate an inclusive interdisciplinary community that brings the diverse perspectives required to envision and devise engineering and science solutions that address environmental, economic and social problems

4.1 Membership
The membership of LCS shall be as follows:

4.2 Period of Appointments
Ex-Officio Members:
• Ex-officio members shall hold their position for the duration of their appointment in that role.
Staff:
• Staff members elected and/or appointed as members shall typically serve for two-years, renewable.
Students:
• The undergraduate and graduate students elected and/or appointed as members will serve for one-year, renewable.
Staggered Committee Membership Terms:
• To avoid complete turnover of the committee membership at one time, and to maintain continuity in the running of the committee, the committee will aim for a staggered-term membership whereby only 50% of the committee membership is to be turned over each year, preventing more than one-half of the terms from expiring at the same time.

4.3 Elections/Nominations
Faculty Council engages in an annual call to for elections and call for nominations to fill positions on Council & its Committees, through its various constituents:
Full-time Faculty positions:
Chair:
• The Chair of the Committee is selected by the voting members of the LCS Committee for a one-year term with the understanding that the Vice-Chair will succeed the Chair
Vice-Chair:
• The Vice-Chair of the Committee is selected by the voting members of the Committee for a one-year term, with the understanding that they will transition to Chair of the Committee.
• The Vice-Chair will be appointed in September with the transition between the Chair and Vice-Chair to occur from May to September.
Science and Engineering Curriculum Reviewers:
• The Chair will solicit nominations from the Department Chairs for the Science and Engineering Curriculum Reviewers to align with the annual call for elections and nominations run by the Faculty Council Executive.
Staff positions:
• Nominations shall be managed by the Executive Committee of Council and will include a call for nominees from the relevant constituency and a secret ballot.
Student positions:
• Student vacancies are filled via a centralized process which will be managed by the Executive Committee. The election process is conducted by the respective student bodies of the Lassonde undergraduate student government and Lassonde graduate student associations.
EDI Champion Role:
• The committee shall select a member, other than the Chair, to take on the additional role of being the committee’s EDI Champion, beyond their normal membership tasks (see EDI Champion Role document)

4.4 Representation by Proxy
• Provisions have been made for elected and ex officio members to designate a substitute, adhering to the criteria for a faculty member to hold a licensed PEng designation, as defined in 4.1 above.

4.5 Resignations/Dismissal of Members
• Should an elected member resign from the committee, the Chair will endeavour to find a replacement. In the event a replacement cannot be found, a call will go out from the Executive Committee to solicit a replacement from Faculty Council.
• Any member may be dismissed for any of the following reasons: 1) missing three (3) consecutive meetings (except in cases of illness or other weighty grounds); and/or 2) for other cause for which the committee finds to be just.

5.1 Meetings and Protocols
• Committee meetings may be held completely virtually via videoconference (Zoom) or in a hybrid/Hyflex (in-person + simultaneous videoconference) format.
• Meetings of LCS are open to members of the Lassonde community, subject to the availability of space
• When LCS considers matters relating to specific individuals or to other matters where confidentiality must be observed, the committee may, in the notice for a meeting, declare part of a meeting to be closed or in camera.
• When LCS meets in camera, only LCS members may be present.
• LCS has adopted “York University Rules of Senate” to guide and inform its governance structure and operations.
• This committee shall make its decisions based on a simple majority of those members present and voting at a duly constituted meeting
• Committee members will notify the Chair/Secretary if they will be absent from a meeting.

5.2 Chair & Vice-Chair
• The Chair of LCS is responsible for providing leadership to the committee in pursuit of its mandate. The Chair presides at all committee meetings, acts as the official spokesperson for the committee, and ensures that the committee operates in conformity with the rules enacted by Faculty Council and Senate.
• In the case of the absence or illness of the Chair and the Vice-Chair, the committee may appoint one of the members of the committee to act as Chair pro tempore and for such period the member so appointed shall act as, and have all the powers of, the Chair.

5.3 Quorum
• Per Senate rules, the quorum shall consist of a majority of voting members.

5.4 Timing and Frequency of Meetings
• LCS meetings take place on Wednesdays from 9.30 – 11.00 am, typically on the third Wednesday of the month. It is typical that additional meetings are scheduled during the period of October to January.
• The committee may conduct additional meetings as warranted by committee business.

5.5 Standing Orders Lassonde Faculty Council Learning, Curriculum & Students (LCS) Committee
• The conduct of the business of the meeting shall be subject to the “York University Rules of Senate”

5.6 Agenda, Administration, and Minutes
• LCS shall be supported by the Secretary to the Committee.
• All records of the meetings, including the minutes, shall be retained in accordance with the Common Records Schedule (CRS) for Faculty Councils (ADG15) and Faculty Council Committees (ADG17) under York University’s Information, Privacy and Copyright Office.
• The Committee Secretary shall be responsible for ensuring correspondence and decisions made by the Committee are available to relevant people or bodies, including the membership of subcommittees and secretaries of relevant Faculty Councils, including departmental curriculum committees and Chairs of departments as appropriate.

5.7 Voting
• All members of the committee are voting members unless specifically indicated otherwise, with the exception of discipline specific curricular items as defined by the membership votes in section 4. Ex officio and elected/appointed members have the same voting rights.
• Pursuant to the discretion of the Chair, members may be permitted to vote by means of an electronic communication (e-vote) which enables the votes to be gathered in a manner that permits their subsequent verification

• Reports and receives guidance from Senate’s Committee on Academic Standards, Curriculum & Pedagogy (ASCP);
• Reports to Executive (to Council);
• Reports items requiring concurrence between LCS & PARR;
• Academic Standards (concurrence);
• Annual Report in Spring to the Faculty Council;
• Receives annual and term reports/updates from all sub-committees: EC², TEAL, PAGES, Non-Degree Studies; and/or reports from any Task forces or Working Groups.

Version Number: Learning, Curriculum & Students V.2

Approved by: Faculty Council

Date: October 2022

*Click here for the PDF version

More Information

The committee will:
• Bring forward recommendations and motions for approval to Faculty Council on academic standards, curriculum, regulations, teaching and learning (including modes, times and location of program delivery).
• Review proposals for new program requirements or certificates, or changes to existing program requirements or certificates, making recommendations to Council for approval.
• Approve proposals for new courses or changes to existing courses, forwarding to Council to appear under consent agenda.
• Promote the development of interdisciplinary and inter-Faculty programs;
• Formulate and make recommendations to Council on the establishment, disestablishment and modification of programs, diplomas and certificates; in concurrence with the Planning, Academic Resources & Research Committee (PARR).
• Be responsible for coordination, oversight, accountability and reporting of such aspects of the above that are delegated to departments (programs), Council or Senate and serve as Council’s liaison with academic administrators and other collegial bodies dealing with matters related to its mandate (e.g., Provost’s Office, Academic Standards, Curriculum & Pedagogy (ASCP).
• Coordinate and consult with other Council Committees & Senate Committees on major academic program, principles and policy developments or changes, and issues of joint concern.
• Constitute Sub-Committees and ad hoc working groups/task forces as deemed necessary to deal with emerging priorities in relation to curriculum, curricular policy and standards. Such as:

Sub-Committees:
Engineering Curriculum Committee (EC²) – As a subcommittee of LCS, EC² is responsible for the coordination and oversight of Engineering curriculum across the School to:
• Streamline the management process of common curricular review, approval and improvement;
• Be responsible for creation of a master accreditation unit (AU) map and accreditation unit management monitoring graduate attribute (GA) performance and identify opportunities for continual improvement;
• Soliciting and implementing feedback from variety of stakeholders (i.e. student, faculty and industry). This mandate is broadly explained as curricular responsibility, curricular management processes, resources and operationalization.
Program Assessment Group on Evaluation and Systems (PAGES) – LCS has created the committee PAGES to oversee academic processes related to Quality Assurance Process and Continual Program Improvement including the implementation of existing Senate and Faculty policies (i.e., Undergraduate Program Reviews, Graduate Program Appraisals and Accreditation, and others)
PAGES will review and make recommendations as needed to LCS and Faculty Council on process and policy improvements with respect to formal and informal evaluation exercises.
PAGES will formulate new policies as deemed necessary in concurrence with PARR (e.g. PARR’s Terms of reference states it will receive reports from LCS on such items)
Technology Enhanced & Active Learning (TEAL) – LCS & the Planning, Academic Resources & Research (PARR) committee created the joint sub-committee, Technology-enhanced, experiential, and active learning (TEAL), to oversee, make recommendations and undertake analysis to provide academic solutions to advance the School’s academic priorities with respect to: E-learning, experiential education, active learning, and technology in the classroom and in support of academic programs and initiatives.
TEAL will receive requests for input and make informed recommendations on policy matters concerning ancillary curriculum that may have academic implications. (e.g., associated course fees, etc.);
TEAL will rank and make recommendations to the Dean on academic initiative proposals going forward on behalf of the School (e.g. AIF, and LEEF, etc.).
Non-Degree Studies – The Sub-Committee on Non-Degree Studies (NDS) ensures compliance with School and Senate policies, promotes consultation and liaison, and provides advice on matters relating to non-degree studies activities in Lassonde. It is mandated on behalf of Senate to ensure that high quality courses and programs offered outside of the “for credit” approval structures to enhance the School and University’s reputation and provide real benefits in terms of student success, whether through an access lens, or as a professional development, or life-long learning opportunity.
The School must respond quickly to non-degree opportunities in an evolving educational and labour market landscape to remain current and competitive. It is acknowledged that the expertise for program development and the responsibility for approving programs reside with the offering School/Unit. The purpose of this sub-committee is to ensure that non-degree activities are of high quality, enhance Lassonde and York’s standing and profile, and maintain rigorous standards within the legislative framework.
The committee carries out its mandate with the following specific responsibilities:
• Creates processes, receives proposals and provides proposal approvals, as well as provides input on guidelines and any relevant regulations that may inform best practices for governing and delivering non-degree activities at the School.
• Prepares and provides the annual report of the School’s non-degree activities and communicates it to the Vice-Provost Academic.

Dean, Vice/Associate Deans, Librarian, Chair of Council, 2 Students (1 Undergraduate, 1 Graduate), 3 Science Curriculum Reviewers, 4 Engineering Curriculum Reviewers (PEng), 1 Staff, Assistant Dean Students (non-voting), Secretary to Committee (non-voting)

*Members deemed as “Science Curriculum Reviewers” will vote on science curriculum, while “Engineering Curriculum Reviewers” (licensed PEng holders) will vote on engineering curriculum. All other business will be voted on by the committee as a whole.

*At least half of the voting members of the Committee, the majority of whom are full-time faculty members, constitutes quorum.

Period of Appointments
Ex-Officio Members:
• Ex-officio members shall hold their position for the duration of their appointment in that role.
Staff
• Staff members elected and/or appointed as members shall typically serve for two-years, renewable.
Students:
• The undergraduate and graduate students elected and/or appointed as members will serve for one-year, renewable.
Elections/Nominations
Faculty Council engages in an annual call to for elections and call for nominations to fill positions on Council & its Committees, through its various constituents:
Full-time Faculty positions:
Chair: • The Chair of the Committee is selected by the voting members of the LCS Committee for a one-year term with the understanding that the Vice-Chair will succeed the Chair
Vice-Chair:
• The Vice-Chair of the Committee is selected by the voting members of the Committee for a one-year term, with the understanding that they will transition to Chair of the Committee.
• The Vice-Chair will be appointed in September with the transition between the Chair and Vice-Chair to occur from May to September.
Science and Engineering Curriculum Reviewers:
• The Chair will solicit nominations from the Department Chairs for the Science and Engineering Curriculum Reviewers to align with the annual call for elections and nominations run by the Faculty Council Executive.
Staff positions:
• Nominations shall be managed by the Executive Committee of Council and will include a call for nominees from the relevant constituency and a secret ballot.
Student positions:
• Student vacancies are filled via a centralized process which will be managed by the Executive Committee. The election process is conducted by the respective student bodies of the Lassonde undergraduate student government and Lassonde graduate student associations.
Representation by Proxy
• Provisions have been made for elected and ex officio members to designate a substitute, adhering to the criteria for a faculty member to hold a licensed PEng designation, as defined in 4.1 above.
Resignations/Dismissal of Members
• Should an elected member resign from the committee, the Chair will endeavour to find a replacement. In the event a replacement cannot be found, a call will go out from the Executive Committee to solicit a replacement from Faculty Council.
• Any member may be dismissed for any of the following reasons: 1) missing three (3) consecutive meetings (except in cases of illness or other weighty grounds); and/or 2) for other cause for which the committee finds to be just.