All University Committee

AUC Initial Memo and Resources

This memo explains the functions and procedures of AUC, including detailed guidance about submitting an AUC proposal and information about its lifecycle. It also includes links to all the forms. 

Please feel free to contact co-chairs sfiedle1@fitchburgstate.edu or pstaab@fitchburgstate.edu with any questions regarding the AUC for this academic year.

The description, duties, and responsibilities of the AUC and its standing committees are detailed in the Agreement between the Board of Higher Education and the Massachusetts State University Association (the so-called Faculty or MSCA Contract). The AUC at Fitchburg State is composed of eight faculty/librarian members elected by the faculty body, three administrators appointed by the President, and three students selected by the Student Government Association.
The standing committees of the AUC are the Curriculum Committee, Academic Policies Committee, and Student Affairs Committee. All meetings are open to the university community, and participation is encouraged. The convening meetings for the subcommittees are as follows:

  • AUC Curriculum - October 16 in Hammond 314
  • AUC Policies - October 14 in Miller Oval
  • AUC Student Affairs - October 21 in Hammond G11

AUC Meetings are typically held on the first Thursday of the month. This year’s schedule of all AUC and standing committee meetings can be found here and at the end of this memo.

Proposals submitted to the AUC are generally referred to one or more of these committees for deliberation and recommendations. The AUC then deliberates on the proposals and forwards its recommendations to the President of the University, who has final right of approval.

This webpage provides a link to the current  AUC proposal submissions and links to the required forms for submitting AUC proposals. This webpage also provides information about committee membership and meeting dates for the AUC and its standing committees, as well as links to past and present meeting minutes and the AUC/ACC (the former All College Committee) archives dating back to 1979.

Any member of the Fitchburg State community may submit proposals to the All University Committee. AUC proposals are submitted via Google Forms. A detailed explanation of the proposal forms can be found below, and links to all forms can be found below. Please note that proposals will not be accepted via email.

Proposals received by 5 p.m.,10 days prior to a scheduled AUC meeting will usually be taken up by the AUC for referral to the appropriate standing committee(s) at the next scheduled meeting. Proposal forms for the 2025-2026 AY will be released on October 10 and submissions can begin to be received after that point. The final submission deadline for AUC proposals for the 2025-2026 academic year is 5 p.m. on Friday, March 27, 2026.

Each submitted proposal will be assigned an AUC proposal number and will be posted to the AUC proposal submissions website, where proposal progress will be updated throughout the governance process. Proposals for this academic year can be located by entering “2026” into the year search box under Search AUC Proposals Archive. The AUC proposal site provides information about the committee(s) to which a proposal has been referred, as well as dates and actions taken, including recommendations and amendments made to proposals. Images of the AUC proposal submission website can be found at the end of this memo.

AUC and standing committee agendas will be emailed by the committee chairs approximately one week prior to their meetings, so please watch for your proposal(s).

Referral. After a proposal has been received by the AUC, it is referred to the appropriate standing committee(s). Proposal sponsors should check the AUC proposal submission website for information regarding which standing committee(s) has received your proposal(s), and sponsors should actively track the progress of their own proposals through the governance system.

  • Sponsors do NOT need to be present at the AUC meeting at which a proposal is referred to the standing committees.
  • However, sponsor(s) or an authorized representative(s) SHOULD be present for standing committee deliberations AND subsequent AUC deliberation of your proposal(s).

Deliberation. Proposals are first taken up for deliberation at the standing committee level. Proposal deliberations may result in suggested amendments to the original proposal. The standing committee(s) will record their votes and approved amendments in their minutes, which will then be forwarded to the AUC chairs by the standing committee chairs.

Proposals are then taken up by the AUC for deliberation. The AUC reserves the right to propose the addition of new amendments or remove amendments proposed during standing committee deliberations. Amendments at any stage are documented in the minutes of all meetings and are recorded on the AUC proposal site.

Approval. Final versions of proposals are sent to the President of the University by the AUC. Proposals are not approved until the President signs off on them. In the case of a new academic program, final approval rests with the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education.

Prior to attending AUC or standing committee meetings, please review the Procedures and Practices of the AUC and Standing Committees. The AUC will be discussing proposed revisions to these procedures and practices at our next meeting on October 5. Updates will be posted to the AUC webpage.

To submit proposals to AUC, please use the following links:

Prior to submitting to AUC, you may use these Google Docs for drafting and department procedures:

Ancillary material (e.g. syllabi) can be attached at the appropriate places on the form.

Please note that signatures are not required on the forms, but all forms submitted for curriculum changes (including new program proposals) must be reviewed by the department's curriculum committee, department chair, and appropriate dean, and must include:

  1. the results of the department curriculum committee vote,
  2. the name of the chair of the department curriculum committee,
  3. the name of the department chair, and
  4. the dean

Proposals lacking required information will be sent back to the sponsor without being assigned an AUC proposal number.

The AUC accepts proposals for both curricular and non-curricular changes. Explanations of the required forms for each type of proposal are provided below.

AUC Proposal Form. All proposals regarding something other than a new course or new academic program/concentration/certificate should use the generic “Proposal Form.”

  • Please note that this form includes a section titled Referral Note Required (RNR), which replaces the previous“ non-substantive change” and “Approval Not Required (ANR)” processes. This process allows small changes, such as a minor course title change, minor course description change, prerequisite changes, and removal of inactive courses, to be fast-tracked. However, these proposals will have a proposal number and will be searchable like any other AUC proposal. RNR requests need to be approved by the AUC. If a proposal is considered RNR, then it will not need to go through any AUC standing committee and will be sent to the Registrar's Office for processing. If, after AUC review, it is determined that this request does not meet the RNR requirements, the proposer will be notified that a full AUC proposal will need to be submitted.
  • Course renumbering proposals are considered RNR. However, departments are strongly encouraged to consult with the Registrar’s office prior to submitting a course renumbering proposal to ensure that the proposed course numbers are available. This will ensure a more seamless and timely implementation of the proposal after approval.

AUC New Course Proposal Form. The “New Course Proposal Form” is used for all new courses being submitted for consideration. If you are seeking a General Education designation for a new course, you must also file the appropriate General Education Forms (see below).

General Education Forms. If you are seeking General Education designation(s) for an existing course or with a new course proposal, the appropriate General Education Form(s) must be submitted. General Education designation requests are considered by the committees as separate actions from new course requests when both are being requested. There is a link under General Education and LA&S Resources on the AUC webpage with guidance documents for each of the General Education designations.

  • If you are seeking approval for the course to be a Foundations course, use the General Education Foundation Proposal Form.
  • If you are seeking to designate your course as an Exploration or Integration course, use the General Education Exploration and Integration Proposal Form. One course cannot be designated in both of the Foundation and Exploration/Integration categories.
  • If you are requesting to have the course count for both the major requirements and the General Education requirements, use the General Education MAJ Proposal Form.

New Academic Program Proposal Form. This form is used to create new majors, minors, concentrations (tracks), and certificates. If new courses will be needed for a new program, separate New Course Proposals (and General Education Proposals, if appropriate) should be submitted prior to the New Academic Program Proposal. The new courses need to be recommended for approval before the new program can be considered. Please note that new programs cannot be acted upon if they contain "non-existing" courses.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to the AUC chairs with questions about which forms to use or the order in which your proposals should be submitted.

Visit AUC Proposal Submissions to view current proposals and search for proposals by academic year and standing committees.

Proposals may be viewed on the AUC proposal submissions website, which is linked at the top of the AUC website as AUC Proposal Submissions. Proposals for this academic year can be located by entering “2026” into the year search box under Search AUC Proposals Archive.

Once you enter the year and/or any other search limiters, the proposals will be available for viewing. To view a proposal, simply click on the proposal title (see image below). Please note that proposals do not open in a new window, so you will need to use the "back" arrow to return to the proposal submissions page, or right-click and open the proposal in a new tab. When visiting the AUC proposals site, please be sure to scroll to the right-hand side to view all activity related to a proposal.

Reaffirmed September 11, 2025

The All-University Committee provides faculty and librarians at Fitchburg State University with a channel for participating in the decision-making process of the campus, as outlined in Article VII of the collective bargaining Agreement. To function well, the AUC and its standing committees rely on the active and collegial participation of faculty, staff, and librarians from all areas of the campus.

AUC meetings are conducted according to the parameters outlined in Article VII of the Agreement and, where the contract is silent, by Robert’s Rules of Order. The rules contained in the current (12th) edition of Robert’s Rules and explanations of how to apply them are available at http://www.rulesonline.com/. Robert’s Rules provide guidance in terms of the appropriate conduct of debate related to proposals and questions.

Committee Members are voting members and are elected or appointed to the AUC. A Proposer is the representative for an individual proposal. Guests are other members of the campus or larger community who are in attendance. 

  1. Establishing a Quorum - A quorum will be defined as a majority of eligible members being present, or in the case of an even number of members, one more than half of the eligible voting members in attendance.  If at any time during a meeting, enough members leave so that quorum is not met, no further formal action can be carried out by the committee. Informal discussions may continue, but the taking of minutes and voting are suspended, and the meeting will be adjourned.  
  2. Meeting Times - Meetings started at 3:30 PM are scheduled to run until 5:00 PM.  The committee may continue to work past 5:00 PM (or other time set by the agenda) if no voting member raises the issue of time. To continue beyond 5:00 PM, a member would have to make a motion to continue the meeting until a specific time, and a 2/3 vote of MEMBERS PRESENT would be required to continue.
  3. Submission of Proposal - Proposals are submitted to the AUC. The AUC chairs are authorized to consult with proposers regarding the best pathway for their proposals (e.g., providing guidance about whether a proposal meets the criteria for a “referral not required” (RNR) proposal).
  4. Referral of Proposals - AUC members vote to refer proposals to appropriate standing committees. 
  5. Procedure for Voting - A motion is made by a voting member, and it may be seconded by another voting member, in which case there is discussion period, and then the vote is taken.  If a motion is not seconded, the proceedings continue with no action on the motion, as though the motion was never made. 

    Motions on proposals are made to “recommend a proposal for approval” or to “consider a proposal for recommendation of approval.”  (Note: AUC and standing committees do not approve or disapprove: they only recommend or not recommend proposals. This part of the item is not negotiable. Only the President approves or rejects proposals.) 

    Members may vote “yes” or “no,” or they may abstain from voting. For a proposal to be recommended, it must receive a majority of “yes” votes from the number of voting members in attendance. (For example, if there are 19 members in attendance, the motion must get 10 “yes” votes to be recommended.  In the case of an even number of voting members present, e.g. 20, there must be 1 more than half of that number voting in the affirmative to pass the motion - for this example, 11.)  
  6. Amendments - Any voting member may make a motion to amend a proposal.  If it is seconded, the amendment is discussed and voted upon.  At any time during the discussion, the sponsor may agree to the amendment. If the sponsor agrees and there is general agreement amongst the committee members, then the amendment may be accepted by the Chair as a friendly amendment, and a vote is not necessary.  

    If the amendment is not accepted by the sponsor, they may choose to request that the proposal be tabled, so that the point of contention can be addressed before discussion by the committee continues.  (Tabling requires a motion, second, discussion, and vote.)  If the sponsor chooses to not request tabling, or there is no motion to table, then the motion for approval of the amendment is voted upon and either approved or not by the vote. Once action is made on an amendment, the motion to recommend the proposal continues. 

    No amendments that are adopted during any standing committee meeting are final.  The proposal with the amendment is taken up by the next level committee, and the amendment may be revisited at any time. Only amendments that are accepted or made by AUC become incorporated into the final proposal.  

    When a committee is acting on a proposal that was previously acted upon by a lower committee, the motion is made to “recommend the proposal as previously amended for approval.”   The committee may discuss the amendments as part of their discussions, but unless an amendment is formally reversed, the vote on the proposal includes that amendment made by the previous committee.   

    Amendments from one committee are present in the minutes of the meeting, but no actual changes are incorporated into the proposal until AUC takes final action on the proposal.  Then approved amendments are included in a revised proposal that is sent to the President.   
  7. Rules of Engagement - At Fitchburg State University, the AUC shall recognize the practices and protocols of both Article VII of the Agreement and Robert’s Rules of Order for the conduct of all governance committee meetings, noting the following specific details regarding the rules of engagement in debate:
    • Committee members with questions or comments will be called upon first.
    • Any written comments that any proposer, guest, or committee member wishes to share regarding an agenda item of the AUC or any of its standing committees must focus on the content of the proposal. Written comments must be submitted electronically solely to the committee Chair(s) at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting. Chairs will disseminate the comments to the committee 48 hours in advance of the meeting at which the proposal in question will be discussed. As they are provided ahead of time, anyone submitting comments may assume they have been read by committee members and need not read them in full. Written comments will not become part of the official record unless voted on by the committee.
    • Comments at the committee meeting will be limited to a reasonable amount of time. Following Robert’s Rules Art. VII.Debate.42: No member may speak a second time to a question until any other member who desires to speak to the question has had an opportunity to do so. Rebuttals or responses may be acknowledged at the Chair’s discretion.
    • Decorum in Debate: Robert’s Rules Art. VIII. In debate, a committee member, proposer, or guest must confine comments to the question before the assembly, avoiding personalities and individual names. The meeting minutes should follow the same convention.
    • When debate appears to the Chair to be concluded, the Chair may ask if the committee is “ready for the question.” Debate is not closed by the Chairperson’s calling the question, as any committee member can reopen the debate, provided the committee member does so “with reasonable promptness” after the Chair calls the question. Nevertheless, if the majority of the committee wish to close the debate, they can do so by either re-calling the previous question, or allowing each member to speak once more on each question.

These Procedures and Practices will be reviewed annually by the AUC with the invited input of the community.

The schedules for all governance committees are available on their AUC webpage:

All AUC meetings will be held in person in Miller Oval this year. Standing committees will determine their own meeting modalities, and meeting links and/or locations will be provided on meeting agendas. Agendas for all meetings will be emailed by the committee chairs approximately one week prior to their meetings

Committee Meeting Schedule for AUC 25-26

All meetings are held from 3:30 - 5 p.m. in Miller Oval unless otherwise noted.  

  • Oct. 9, 2025
  • Nov. 6, 2025
  • Dec. 4, 2025
  • Feb. 5, 2026
  • March 5, 2026
  • April 9, 2026
  • April 30, 2026
  • May 5, 2026
  • May 12, 2026 (2:30 - 4:30 p.m.)
  • May 14, 2026 (2:30 - 4:30 p.m.)

All University Committee Members

Administrative Members: 

  • Dr. Franca Barricelli - Academic Affairs (Secretary)
  • Dr. Patricia Marshall - Provost Office
  • Pamela McCafferty - Enrollment Management and Student Success

Faculty Members: 

  • Dr. Steven Fiedler - Biology and Chemistry (Co-Chair)
  • Dr. Laura Garofoli - Psychological Science
  • Dr. Jonathan Harvey - Humanities
  • Dr. Mathangi Krishnamurthy - Biology and Chemistry
  • Dr. Peter Staab - Mathematics (Co-Chair)
  • Dr. Kisha Tracy - English Studies
  • Dr. Paul Weizer - Economics, History, and Political Science
  • Dr. Mark Williams - Behavioral Sciences

Student Members: 

  • Michael Burns - Student Representative (Vice-Chair)
  • Josh Cronin - Student Representative
  • Chisomo Phiri - Student Representative

AUC Standing Committees

See individual committees for members and meeting schedules.

Archived Minutes, Reports, Summaries, and Notes

AUC proposals, actions, summaries, and minutes which were created before April 24, 2026, shall be deemed archived for reference, research, or recordkeeping purposes, without meeting WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards.