I.  PURPOSE AND RESPONSIBILITY

The Year Four Curriculum Committee (Y4CC) develops policy recommendations and monitors policy implementation during the fourth year of the medical school curriculum in accordance with LCME Guidelines.  The Committee is responsible for coordination and oversight of the quality of education during Year Four.  A high priority is placed on the continuing development and refinement of the elective program.  A standing Elective Subcommittee monitors the program by reviewing new electives, providing oversight and evaluation of ongoing courses, and making recommendations for elective policy changes to the full Committee.  The Year Four Curriculum Committee resolves calendar issues and interdepartmental evaluation issues, and is a forum for information-sharing among members.

II.  ORGANIZATION

A.  Committee Composition

The Year Four Curriculum Committee is an operational as well as a policy committee, and therefore requires constituency representation. 

Members with full voting privileges include:

• Year Four Curriculum Director (serves as Committee Chair)
• Year Three Curriculum Director
• Doctoring Curriculum Director
• Chair of the Clinical Competence (CCX) Committee
• Eight of the seventeen departmental Elective Coordinators representing Anesthesiology, Carbondale Basic Sciences, Family and Community Medicine, Information and Communication Services, Internal Medicine, MD/JD Program, Medical Humanities, Medical Education, Medical Microbiology, Immunology, and Cell Biology, Neurology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pathology, Pediatrics, Pharmacology, Psychiatry, Radiology, and Surgery
• Three At-Large members (one of whom is an Elective Advisor)
• Two student representatives (one from Year Three, one from Year Four)
• Graduate of SIU School of Medicine currently in one of our Residency Programs
• Library Resources Liaison

Non-voting ex-officio members include the following:

• Associate Dean for Education and Curriculum
• Associate Dean for Student Affairs
• Year Four Coordinator
• Assistant Director, Academy for Scholarship in Education

Committee appointments are made by the Dean at the recommendation of the Faculty Council Committee on Committees.  Curriculum Directors and ex-officio members retain their committee seats as long as they serve in those positions.  Student members are elected by their respective classes and serve as class representatives until graduation.  Resident member remains until completion of program.  Remaining members are appointed for rotational three-year terms.  For the first Elective Coordinator appointments only, staggered terms will be implemented so that there is always a mix of experienced and new members. Re-appointments will be allowed.

B.  Constituency Representation

It is expected that committee members will take issues and ideas back to their respective constituent groups for discussion and present their constituent group’s opinions to the Committee.  All committee members, however, are expected to consider the best interests of the medical school and the students in their decision-making.

C.  Committee Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson

The Chair is appointed by the Dean at the recommendation of the Educational Policy Council (EPC).  The Chairperson:

• develops agenda and convenes monthly meetings, scheduling additional meetings as necessary;
• meets weekly with the Year Four Coordinator to discuss educational and student issues and to handle administrative committee operations;
• reviews and approves routine Individually-Designed Electives and Extramural Electives;
• creates standing and ad-hoc subcommittees as needed;
• facilitates short and long term planning for the Year Four Curriculum;
• represents the committee on the Educational Policy Council (EPC);
• serves as an ex-officio member of the Student Progress Committee (SPC) when requested;
• handles or delegates additional Committee responsibilities as they arise.

A vice-chairperson will be elected by the Committee to perform the necessary duties and functions of the chairperson during his/her absences.

D.  Staffing

The Year Four Curriculum Committee is staffed by the Year Four Coordinator in the Office of Education and Curriculum.  The Coordinator assists the Chairperson in developing the agenda, records and produces meeting minutes, prepares reports as requested by the committee, and handles correspondence and follow-up necessary to committee business.  The Chairperson and the Coordinator meet weekly as delineated above.

E.  Meetings and Attendance

Regular meetings are held monthly.  A schedule of Year Four Curriculum Committee meetings, including date, time, and location, is on the Y4CC website.  Members are expected to attend all meetings or to send an able and willing proxy to represent their constituency group.

F.  Procedure

• Meetings are conducted using modified Robert’s Rules of Order.
• Monthly agenda and minutes are sent to all Committee members prior to each meeting.
• Any member of the faculty or student body may ask to have an issue put on the agenda for discussion.
• A simple majority of voting membership constitutes a quorum.
• Meeting business may be conducted in the absence of a quorum, but formal votes will not be recorded.
• All Committee members are eligible to make or second a motion, but only full members cast votes.
• All motions must be seconded before they can be discussed on the floor.
• Formal votes are taken and recorded, usually by a show of hands.  A voice vote suffices only for uncontested issues.
• Motions will be decided by simple majority vote.  The Chairperson will refrain from voting unless his/her vote is needed to break a tie.
• Proxy attendance is permitted and proxy votes are counted.   
• A policy issue may not be voted upon the day it is introduced without the approval of the full Committee or in unusual circumstances.  Members are responsible for initiating discussion of these issues within their constituent group prior to voting at a subsequent meeting.
• A non-controversial operational issue may be discussed and decided on the day it is raised or deferred for a later vote at the behest of the Committee.  Controversial issues will not be acted upon at the initial meeting, but taken back to constituent groups for discussion before being voted upon at a subsequent meeting.
• The Committee may go into executive session to discuss student appeals or other issues at the request of any member of the Committee.

G.  Modifying the Operating Paper

The Operating Paper can be modified at the motion of any member of the committee.  Approval of the modification requires the support of a simple majority of the quorum at a subsequent meeting.

Approved:  August 22, 2000

Revised: June 25, 2002

Revised: November 4, 2002

Revised:  August 25, 2003

Revised:  August 7, 2006