The Charge of the Planning and Resource Committee

Charge of the Planning & Resources Committee

Approved by Faculty Senate February 21, 2024

Function 1: The PRC will collect and carry out a preliminary check of proposals for new academic programs that require resources provided by the Institute.

• Institute-provided resources include such things as space, space renovations, new faculty or staff, additional commitments from current faculty or staff, RA slots, and equipment. (Proposals that do not require such resources should be submitted to the Curriculum Committee.)
• Proposers will fill out the “Proposal for a New Academic Program that Requires Resources Provided by the Institute” form and submit it to the PRC.
• The PRC will promptly carry out an initial review to ensure that the proposal is within the purview of the PRC and that it provides all the necessary information for evaluation.
• If a proposal has an urgent, externally-imposed deadline, it will be fast-tracked through the process that follows.
• Once a semester, the PRC will review the collected proposals and assign an impact level (high, medium and low) accompanied by a brief justification with reference to the RPI strategic plan(s) it addresses.
• The PRC will present these assessments to the Faculty Senate in an open meeting.
• The Senate will then select a set of highest-priority proposals and will invite the proposers to present them at an open Senate meeting.
• Following those presentations, the Senate will vote on how to rank the proposals (high, medium, or low impact) before passing them to the Provost for further evaluation.
• The PRC and Senate will only be addressing impact, not the resource demands of the proposals.
• To submit proposals for new educational or research programs requiring institute resources, use this form:
  • https://webforms.rpi.edu/proposal-new-educational-or-research-program-requiring-institute-resources

Function 2: The PRC will collect academically-oriented resource concerns of faculty members.

• If faculty members cannot resolve academically-oriented resource concerns at the level of their Department or School, they can submit these concerns to the PRC using the form “Reporting an Academically-Oriented Resource Concern”.
• The PRC will promptly carry out an initial review to ensure that the concern is within its purview and that all necessary information has been provided.
• Once a semester, the PRC will collect all reported concerns, assess their impact and urgency along with a brief justification, and pass them to the Provost.
• To submit academically-oriented resource concerns, use this form:
  • https://webforms.rpi.edu/academically-oriented-resource-concerns