Administration and Governance

• Home
• Overview
  • Officers of the University
  • Organizational Chart
  • University of Ottawa Act
• Chancellor
  • Past Chancellors
• Board of Governors
  • Members
  • Committees
  • Meetings and Minutes
• Senate
  • Members
  • Committees
  • Meetings and Minutes
• President
• Vice-Presidents
  • Vice-President
    Academic and Provost
  • Vice-President
    Research
  • Vice-President
    External Relations
  • Vice-President
    Resources
  • Vice-President,
    Governance
• Deans
  • Faculty of Arts
  • Faculty of Education
  • Faculty of Engineering
  • Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
  • Faculty of Health Sciences
  • Faculty of Law
    Civil Law Section
  • Faculty of Law
    Common Law Section
  • Faculty of Medicine
  • Faculty of Science
  • Faculty of Social Sciences
  • Telfer School of Management
• Ombudsperson
• uOttawa Mission and Areas of Development
• Regulations, Policies, Procedures and Related Documents
  • Academic Regulations
  • Administrative Policies
  • Administrative Procedures
  • Privacy and Personal Information
  • Related Documents
• Elections
• Comments on the language of the services you receive
• Declaration of Student Rights at the University of Ottawa
• Contact Us

Senate >> Committees >> Council on Undergraduate Studies

Terms of Reference

The Council on Undergraduate Studies was created by resolution of the Senate on February 23, 1976 (75-76.124-126) subsequently amended September 11, 1978 (78-79.27), January 16, 1989 (88-89.20), January 10, 1994 (93-94.17), June 13, 2005 (2004-2005.77), September 11, 2006 (2006-2007.7), June 2, 2008 (2007-2008.86) and October 6, 2008 (2008-2009.20).

The Council on Undergraduate Studies is a standing advisory committee of the Senate.

Under the immediate authority of Senate, the Council performs a three-tiered function of supervision, coordination and planning of undergraduate studies, i.e. studies leading to a baccalaureate degree, a first professional degree, an undergraduate certificate or any studies of an equivalent level.

1. In its supervisory capacity, the Council ensures that academic regulations are defined so as to preserve the excellence of undergraduate programs and to promote the University's general goals and its academic plans for this academic level. More explicitly:
   1. the Council is responsible for establishing:
      • academic regulations and requirements governing admission of students to undergraduate courses and programs and
      • general requirements for baccalaureate degrees and undergraduate certificates;
   2. the Council receives the evaluation reports of undergraduate study programs from the Senate Committee on the Evaluation of Undergraduate Programs.
2. In its coordination capacity, the Council is responsible, in cooperation with the Registrar's office, for coordinating academic regulations regarding student admission, registration and promotion and academic records of undergraduate students and candidates nomination for a degree.
3. In its planning capacity, the Council advises faculties and Senate on formulating and updating the University's and faculty-specific academic development plans.

The Council's functions are as follows:

1. Establish its own general regulations and such other regulations as may be necessary for the proper conduct of its meetings.
2. Make recommendations to Senate on academic regulations to be applied at the undergraduate level. More specifically, make recommendations to standardize the following as much as possible:
   1. requirements for baccalaureate degrees and undergraduate certificates;
   2. admission requirements for undergraduate students, including for students from other post-secondary institutions;
   3. requirements for the promotion of students;
   4. the structure of undergraduate programs;
   5. the approval of the policies and guidelines governing undergraduate course timetables and the principles governing classroom allocation.
3. Make recommendations to Senate on faculty requests to create or abolish undergraduate programs.
4. Study and present to Senate requests for modifications to existing undergraduate courses or programs, making sure that changes:
   1. are consistent with regulations;
   2. do not lead to a duplication of courses already offered at the University;
   3. are consistant with the academic development plan of the faculty concerned.
5. Participate in preparing and updating the University's academic development plan. To this end:
   1. Examine the draft plan of each faculty prior to its study by the Committee on Academic Planning and forward to that Committee its recommendations, if necessary.
   2. Forward to the Committee on Academic Planning its recommendations on the priorities to be established, if required, in the development of undergraduate programs of the faculties, schools and departments. These recommendations should be based on:
      • the relative quality of the various programmes concerned;
      • the University's responsibilities of promoting bilingualism and the development of French culture in Ontario; priority will be given to programs that best meet these objectives;
      • the conformity of programs with the University's academic plan;
      • the University's responsibility with respect to continuing education, priority will be given to programs that are actually offered or could be offered to part-time students in Ottawa or in outside centres;
      • the relative importance of each program in terms of the support it provides to other programmes of study.
6. Promote the quality and relevance of the undergraduate programs offered by the University of Ottawa. To this end;
   1. Participate, with the Senate Committee on the Evaluation of Undergraduate Programs and with the academic units concerned, in the evaluation procedures for undergraduate programs put forward by an authorized professional accrediting agency or any other agency which might be established in Ontario. Examine evaluation reports and forward them to Senate together with its recommendations on follow-up steps to be taken.
   2. Examine the report on the evaluation of programs offered by each academic unit and make appropriate recommendations to Senate, if the need arises.

The Council is composed of the following members:

1. the Associate Vice-President, Academic, as Chair
2. the University Registrar
3. the Associate Vice-President, Academic (International) and Director of the International Office
   
4. the Associate Secretary of the University as Secretary and non-voting member
5. the Vice-Dean, Academic, of each faculty or the equivalent
6. a representative from the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, appointed by the Dean of this faculty
7. five regular full-time professors elected by Senate among the candidates presented by the executive committee of the various faculties. These professors are elected for a renewable three-year term
8. three full-time undergraduate students elected by Senate among the candidates presented by a nominating committee made up of the undergraduate student senators and the Vice-President, University Affairs, of the Students' Federation of the University of Ottawa who may all be candidates. Student
members are elected for a two-year term
9. the Director of Cooperative Education Programs
10. the Director of French Immersion Studies
    

Eight members, including the Chair, constitute a quorum.

The Council shall meet upon summon of its chair, as frequently as required to properly carry out its mandate.

Secretarial services are provided by the Office of the Secretary of the University.

© University of Ottawa

For additional information, consult our list of contacts.