OLLI-SF State Curriculum Committee

February 15, 2024 

I. Goals and Responsibilities of the Curriculum Committee at OLLI/SFSU 

The Curriculum Committee (“CC”) is responsible for: 1) working with the Director to build a well-designed and varied curriculum which meets the interests of OLLI members and helps attract new members, 2) assisting the Director in identifying faculty to teach in the program, 3) reviewing proposed classes and faculty for inclusion in the OLLI academic program and 4) evaluating faculty performance and class reviews by OLLI students for completed classes. 

The CC holds at least 10 regularly scheduled monthly meetings per year, currently on the second Wednesday of the month (12:30-2:30).   

  1. Goal of CC: To provide a set of diverse course offerings for each session which is consistent with member interests and helps OLLI grow. 
  2. Responsibilities of CC: 
    1. Review all course proposals and select those to be offered in upcoming sessions. 
    2. For proposals of interest to the CC from instructors new to SF OLLI, at least 2 CC members should hold a conversation with the instructor and report their assessment to the rest of the Committee and the Director. 
    3. Coordinate with the Curriculum Development Committee regarding their periodic membership survey on curricular and program interests, provide them with updates to our spreadsheet/course database, and inform them of curricular areas needing recruitment 
    4. Review faculty and course evaluations for each session.
    5. Coordinate with the OLLI-SF State Council and the Course Development Committee to develop curriculum appropriate for the OLLI program. 
    6. Develop courses associated with upcoming high profile, citywide events. 

C. Relationship between the CC and the OLLI-SF State Council 

1. Council Responsibilities to the CC: The CC was formally created along with the OLLI Council in 2008. At that time, the first Chair of the CC was appointed by the Council. Since then, the members of the CC are the ones responsible for designating who among them will serve as Chair (or Co-chairs) of the Committee (See II-D-2 below). The name of the CC Chair (or Co-chairs) will be forwarded to the Council and the OLLI Program Director. 

2. Curriculum Committee Responsibilities to the Council (to be carried out by the CC Chair or Co-Chairs) 

  1. The Chair (or Co-Chairs) works closely with the OLLI-SF State Program Director and the OLLI-SF State Council to coordinate all activities in order to avoid duplication of efforts and scheduling conflicts, and to work within the program budget constraints. 
  2. The Chair or Co-Chairs place electronic copies of the Agendas, Minutes, and other significant committee documents in the appropriate shared electronic media reserved for those documents. 
  3. At each regular OLLI Council meeting, the Chair or Co-Chair will report on the activity of the previous CC Meeting. 
  4. The Chair (or Co-Chair) forwards committee policy recommendations to the Council Officers (Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary) if appropriate to be placed on the Council Agenda. 

II. Curriculum Committee Membership   

  1. Size. The committee consists of five to nine current OLLI members, including a Chair or Co-chairs. At each meeting, one member of the Committee serves as a Recorder who takes and distributes the minutes. 
    • Committee members will be asked annually to re-affirm their commitment to serving on the committee at the end of the second Spring session (May). 
  2. Time Commitment. CC members are expected to prepare for, attend and actively participate in the regular monthly CC meetings. Preparation typically involves 1-2 hours for review of written course proposals among other related preparation tasks. Members may be replaced after three absences within a 12month period.   

In addition, CC members are expected to participate as follows: 

  • Attend 2-3 extra meetings per year to evaluate course proposals, interview prospective faculty for upcoming academic sessions or complete special curriculum projects. 
    • Lead and/or participate on sub-committees (for example, to design and conduct member surveys, and other curriculum related tasks). 
    • Volunteer, as appropriate, to serve as the Committee Chair or co-Chair. 
    • Attend and/or host Session Faculty/Course Previews. 
    • Participate in other OLLI-SF State activities such as, General Membership Meetings and end of session celebrations. 
  • Eligibility for Membership. To be eligible, an OLLI member must: 
    • have participated in OLLI at SF State for at least one year prior to joining the Committee, 
    • be a course-taking member, having taken at least 4 courses in a variety of subject areas, and 
    • be willing to make a one-year commitment to serving on the Committee including regularly participating in meetings. 

D. Membership Application and Selection Process 

1. Consideration for Membership

The two primary ways in which OLLI members may be considered for membership in the CC are: 

  1. OLLI members who are interested in joining the CC may take the initiative to talk to either the Director or a member of the committee to find out the qualifications (Part II-C above), the duties, responsibilities and time commitment (Parts I-B and II-B above), and to express interest. If the interested person meets the qualifications in Part II-C above, the Director or CC member will inform the other CC members of the candidate’s interest, and if the CC members agree to proceed, the interested person may be considered for membership. 
  2. Alternatively, a CC member or the Director may take the initiative to recommend an OLLI member for consideration by the Committee. If other members of the CC agree to proceed, the candidate may be considered for membership. 

2. Next Steps 

  1. The candidate should send a written request to the Chair with a copy to the OLLI Program Director asking to be considered for future membership. The request should include a description of their particular interests in becoming a member and what experience they would bring to the committee.  These statements will be shared with the members of the Committee and kept on file for review when vacancies become available and at the meeting when current members are asked to reaffirm their membership on the Committee. 
  2. The candidate will then be invited to attend at least two committee meetings as a guest. For these meetings, the candidate should prepare by reading course proposals and evaluations, and offer their opinions at the committee meetings, although as a guest they will not participate in voting. 
  3. Prospective members should also be encouraged to work with current CC members on particular projects in preparation for membership. They could also be encouraged to contribute to the Course Development Committee in the interim.  When a vacancy on the CC becomes available, the CC will vote on admitting the prospective member. 

III. Roles and Responsibilities of CC Members 

  1. The Chair of the Committee. The members of the CC are responsible for selecting one of their members to serve as Chair. The position of Chair may be split between two members of the Committee serving as Co-Chairs. The term of office is two years with a limit of two consecutive terms. To be eligible to serve as Chair or Co-Chairs, a person must have been a member of the CC or a minimum of one year, including the year preceding assuming the position of Chair or Co-Chair. In addition, the Chair (or a Co-Chair) of the CC must sit on the OLLI-SF State Council. 
  2. Agenda. The Chair is responsible for sending out or making available on shared electronic media the agenda and supporting attachments including course proposals and other material for discussion at the upcoming meeting at least several days in advance of each meeting. The agenda should include a list of each proposal to be discussed and each interview that is scheduled.  
  3. Facilitation. Responsibility for preparing for and facilitating the meetings may be the responsibility of the Chair, Co-Chairs or shared among the Chair and other CC members as designated in the Action Items section of the Minutes (see III-E and III-F below).  
  4. Decision Making. During discussion, CC members should strive to represent the interests of the broader OLLI membership. CC members should also openly share their personal ideas and opinions with one another during discussion. While the CC may strive to reach consensus, ultimately decisions are made by majority vote of the CC members present at the meeting. 
  5. Minutes. The task of recording and distributing minutes is rotated among members according to a schedule set by the Chair or Co-Chairs. 
    • Draft Minutes:  The Recorder sends the Draft Minutes within 10 days of the meeting to the other CC members and the OLLI Program Director for their review. 
    • Draft Final Minutes: The Recorder incorporates changes into a Draft Final version and sends it to committee members and OLLI staff (currently Sam Stollerman) who updates the database for any reports generated from the database. 
    • Final Minutes: The Recorder finalizes and uploads the minutes to the Google drive after the minutes have been approved at the following monthly meeting. 

  6. Additional Tasks and Accountability. Each CC member is expected to take the lead or participate in other tasks such as arranging and/or leading the interview of prospective faculty members, revising the format of class evaluations, member surveys, Google Drive maintenance, database 

    administration, and other activities. These tasks and the name of the responsible CC member will be included in the minutes of each meeting on a list of Action Items, along with the due date for completion and reporting back to the CC. 

IV. Curriculum Proposal and Review Process 

A. Suggestion (This step applies to course ideas prior to submission of a complete proposal. When a complete course proposal has been submitted, this step is skipped and the process begins at IV-B, Proposal Review by CC.)  

  1. Someone suggests an idea for a new OLLI course. The possible sources of the suggestion include 
    1. persons who contact the Program Director (usually by email) about a course they would like to teach. 
    2. a discussion in the CC &/or a request from one or more OLLI members who would like us to offer a course in a particular subject area.In this case the Program Director (or designee) will look for and contact a potential faculty member who might be able to teach the course. 
    3. Course Development Committee recommendations. 
  2. The Program Director forwards initial written material from the potential instructor about the suggested course to the CC Chair(s) and members for screening. 
  3. After CC consideration, the CC Chair and members forward their recommendation to the Program Director on whether or not to request a full Proposal (if one has not already been received). 
  4. The Program Director or designee requests a full Proposal from the potential instructor for the recommended courses. 

B. Proposal Review by CC 

  1. Once a full Proposal has been submitted to the Program Director, the Director or designee uploads the full Proposal to the appropriate folder on the CC Google Drive or other electronic storage media. In addition, a new record is entered into the CC database to keep track of the proposal and any subsequent actions taken on that proposal. 
  2. Prior to the CC meeting, the Chair(s) emails the agenda to CC members and the Program Director with a list of courses to be discussed. 
  3. At the subsequent CC meeting, the CC members and Program Director discuss the proposals received and agree to one of the following actions for each proposal: 
    1. Approve the course for offering at a future session. 
    2. Offer the potential instructor a conversation to continue the discussion of the course and the instructor’s credentials. Note: At the discretion of the Committee, the conversation requirement may be waived for a current or past faculty member if the CC has no further questions/concerns about the proposal. 
    3. Decline the proposal and remove the course from future consideration. 
    4. Place the proposal on-hold pending further consideration and/or additional information to be requested from the instructor. 
  4. Following the CC meeting, the recorder will email minutes of the meeting to the Program Director and all Committee members, specifying the action taken on each proposal, and any questions/concerns that were expressed but not resolved. 

C. Conversation and Curriculum Committee Decision 

  1. The Program Director or designee from the CC schedules the instructor for a conversation with the committee based on the CC recommendation from IV-B above. If it is not possible to arrange a meeting with the full Committee, the Director or designee will arrange a meeting with at least two (2) CC members who are available to attend. Those in attendance will report back to the full CC at the next regular meeting. 
  2. During the conversation, the instructor will be asked to tell us about the course and respond to questions posed by participating CC members and the Director (if present) and given an opportunity to ask questions of the CC. 

D. Decision 

1.Following the conversation, the participating CC members discuss the proposal and agree to make a recommendation to the full CC as follows: a Recommend approval of the proposal. 

  1. Recommend obtaining a revised proposal which incorporates suggestions from the discussion with the CC. [to be considered by the CC at a future meeting, but usually not requiring an additional interview]. 
  2. Recommend declining the proposal. 

2.   The full CC meets and makes a decision about the course proposal. Following the full CC meeting, the Recorder includes in the minutes the action taken on each proposal, and any questions/concerns that were expressed and not resolved, including requested revisions to the proposal. 

* Adopted by the Curriculum Committee, February 6, 2013 for implementation in Spring 2013. 

Revised by the Curriculum Committee March 21, 2014. 

Revised by the Curriculum Committee September 1, 2022. 

Revised by the Curriculum Committee February 15, 2024.