The curriculum committee (CC) was organized in 1991 as a standing committee of the faculty with student representation and was given responsibility and authority for all four years of medical student education.
The curriculum committee consists of medical students from each class and the MD/PhD program and about 20 faculty members. Faculty members include a combination of full, associate, and assistant professors, both tenured and non-tenured. Both basic science and clinical departments are represented on the committee. Each medical school class elects its representatives to the committee. Appointment of faculty and students to the committee is by the dean. The chair and vice chair of the committee are appointed by the dean of the School of Medicine for a term of two years each. Appointments to the committee are renewable for one term (either three or four years). Appointments as chair or vice chair also are renewable for one term (two years). Meetings are generally held monthly.
The committee is divided into subcommittees that address the major charges to the curriculum committee from the dean:
Other ad hoc subcommittees are formed as needed.
The central governance structure facilitates the planning of curricular innovations and the implementation of new initiatives because the CC has the authority, including budgetary control, to complement its responsibilities. Refer to the Offices of the Dean chart for the relationship of the Curriculum Committee to the School of Medicine administration.
The CC has a resource subcommittee that oversees the funding for all first- and second-year courses and selected third- and fourth-year activities. The resource subcommittee considers budget proposals and makes recommendations to the senior associate dean and dean about funding. The source of the education budget has been a combination of hard money funds from the dean's budget, new funds, and selected resources previously allocated to departments. Generally, the sponsoring department funds discipline-based third- and fourth-year clerkships and electives.