Policies and Procedures

April 25, 2008

Mission and Vision

In recognition of the fact that the University of Wisconsin-Madison is one of the premier research and educational institutions in the world and that members of the biological science community are distributed across diverse schools and colleges, the MISSION of the Institute for Cross-College Biology Education (ICBE) is to serve as a bridging organization across the campus and to link the research and teaching missions of biology. Linking activities range from increasing student participation in biological research and helping to enhance outreach and educational components of grant proposals to directly fostering research on pedagogy in biology instruction. ICBE has the twin goals of improving the quality of undergraduate biology education, including faculty and future faculty development across the campus, and linking the campus biological sciences community to the public via outreach activities.

The VISION of the ICBE is that it will function like a catalyst to increase connectivity among its individual units, with researchers and educators across campus and into the broader community, thereby energizing UW Madison biology education to higher levels of creativity, innovation, and accomplishment.

The ICBE fulfills its mission to undergraduate biology by providing vision, leadership and coordination for undergraduate biology programs and majors, including Introductory Biology 151/3-152, Biology Core Curriculum, Center for Biology Education, Biology Advising, and the Biology, Biological Aspects of Conservation, and Molecular Biology majors. In so doing, the ICBE collaborates with UW Madison schools and colleges to support and promote their academic goals. The ICBE includes programs and activities that foster the development and use of innovative educational methods, enhance support services for students, forge interdisciplinary partnerships among campus educators, and secure new funding to support educational improvement.

The ICBE fulfills its mission to the public by connecting members of the campus biology community to those of other colleges and universities, as well as K-12 educators, pre-college students, and the general public, with the goal of enriching biology education within and beyond the State of Wisconsin.

Background. The Institute for Cross-College Biology Education formed in 2004, upon the recommendation of an ad hoc committee of the biological sciences divisional committee, by the provost/vice chancellor for academic affairs, with the appointment of the first director. An initial Policies and Procedures document was developed and approved in 2008. Changes to these Policies and Procedures require a majority vote of the ICBE executive committee. Note: this paragraph allows the record to be updated through the years, thereby revealing its history.

Organization

ICBE Director:

• The ICBE director is appointed by and reports to the provost/vice chancellor for academic affairs. When the position becomes vacant, a search and screen committee will be appointed by and provide recommendations to the provost.
• The director works with faculty, staff, and administrators to develop cross-departmental and cross-disciplinary connections and promotes cooperation across the campus on biology education issues.
• The director works with the biology deans and the directors of related programs to achieve common academic goals.
• The director serves as an official channel of communication for matters affecting ICBE component units to the provost and deans. S/he serves as liaison to other biological sciences governance units such as the Biological Sciences Divisional Committees and the Council of Biology Deans.

Additional roles of the ICBE Director:

• The ICBE director represents cross-college biology education programs to relevant campus units and outside the campus.
• The director, working with ICBE staff, CBE director, and the provost's office, and in consultation with the executive committee, is responsible for developing and administering the ICBE budget.
• The director leads and coordinates efforts to secure funding to support innovative biology education initiatives.
• The director regularly convenes, chairs, and provides agendas for the ICBE program committee for the purposes of communicating with constituencies and receiving advice.
• He/she supervises the performance and professional development of an administrative staff composed of academic staff and classified employees who are payrolled through ICBE.
• The director aids the cross-college undergraduate teaching programs to recruit faculty and other lecturers and acquire needed resources.
• The director fosters outreach activities that link UW-Madison cross-college biology education to other institutions and the public.
• At the beginning of each calendar year, the director acknowledges the contributions of executive committee faculty and program committee faculty and staff having appointments outside ICBE by letter, copied to the appropriate department chairs.
• The director is responsible for having biology course entries in the Timetable updated.
• The director participates in discussions relating to the physical presence and location of biology education on campus.
• The ICBE director guides the ICBE component programs (described below).

ICBE Component Programs:

1. Introductory Biology 151/3-152 is a large, two-semester introductory biology course that is fundamental to majors across the UW Campus and is team-taught by instructors recruited from diverse biology departments and programs. The 151/3-152 course chair is elected by the course faculty from among their number and provides general supervision for 151/3-152 efforts.
2. Biology Core Curriculum (Biocore) is a four-semester series of introductory to intermediate biology courses that serves the needs of exceptionally well-prepared undergraduates in diverse biology programs throughout the campus. Biocore courses are taught by instructors recruited from diverse biology departments and programs across campus. Each course is chaired by a faculty or staff instructor. Biocore has a faculty director and an associate director who supervise Biocore efforts.
3. The Biology, Biological Aspects of Conservation, and Molecular Biology majors are led by faculty chairs and advisory committees. Two academic staff members coordinate student services for these majors.
4. The Center for Biology Education (CBE), housed in the ICBE offices, develops and operates programs that foster educational improvement and innovation, on campus and in the larger community through outreach. CBE has a faculty director and an associate director who supervise CBE efforts.
5. The biological sciences advising office houses academic staff who provide professional advising services to undergraduate students interested in the biological sciences.

ICBE Executive Committee

In the month of February, and at least one other time during the year, the director shall convene a meeting of an ICBE Executive Committee having the following membership and functions.

Executive Committee Membership:

Members of the ICBE Executive Committee include the ICBE director and the faculty leaders of the component units: the CBE director, the current faculty chairs of Introductory Biology 151/3-152 and Biocore, and the current chairs of the Biology, Biological Aspects of Conservation, and Molecular Biology majors. It is expected that terms will continue as long as the individuals hold the positions that qualify them for membership on the executive committee.

In addition, to provide a wider perspective, Biological Deans Council will annually appoint two "at large" members from within the tenured UW-Madison faculty to overlapping 2-year terms on the ICBE Executive Committee. "At large" members may be re-appointed for an indefinite number of terms, and may be from any division. The ICBE executive and program committees will submit nominations for "at large" faculty members to the Biological Deans Council.

The executive committee may offer affiliate status to interested faculty or staff, who shall be approved by majority vote for renewable one-year terms.

The executive committee shall select its chair from among the tenured faculty members of the committee, excluding the ICBE director, following the procedures for preferential balloting for chair specified in faculty policies and procedures 5.30. Meetings shall be run according to Robert's Rules of Order (FP&P 5.11).

Functions:

• The executive committee will advise the director on immediate and long-term issues affecting ICBE.
• The executive committee may form ad hoc working committees to focus on specific issues and provide recommendations to the larger committee.
• At a meeting to be held in February of each year, the tenured members of the executive committee will receive the director's written annual performance report and shortly thereafter provide the provost with a letter of advice to be used in formulating compensation decisions.
• Executive committee members may submit items for meeting agendas.
• Executive committee members are expected to devise a mechanism for reporting to the executive committee from their constituencies and the program committee and vice versa, and regularly engage in such reporting.
• Recognizing the responsibility of the tenured faculty for faculty promotion, compensation, and retention, the tenured members of the executive committee will make such decisions related to any faculty members for whom ICBE is the tenure home.
• By majority vote, the executive committee shall approve of any changes to these policies and procedures.
• The executive committee may invite the attendance at meetings of staff, students, and others, except during any discussions relating to faculty performance, compensation, and retention.
• The executive committee may wish to advocate for ICBE or its component programs on campus and to the broader community.

ICBE Program Committee

Membership:

Voting members of the ICBE program committee shall include the ICBE director and the faculty chairs of component programs (CBE, Introductory Biology 151/3-152, Biocore, and the Biology, Biological Aspects of Conservation, and Molecular Biology majors. It is expected that terms will continue as long as the individual hold the positions that qualify them for membership on the program committee. "At large" members of the ICBE executive committee are welcome to attend program committee meetings, but will not be considered members.

The following academic staff members have voting membership on the ICBE program committee: the associate director of CBE, the associate director of Biocore, an academic staff member who has been annually elected from among the academic staff associated with Introductory Biology 151/3-152, and a representative annually elected from the advising/majors arm of ICBE.

The ICBE Director will serve as the program committee chair and formulate draft meeting agendas. Any member of the program committee has the right to place items on meeting agendas.

Meetings of the ICBE program committee are open to undergraduates, graduate students, and the public, pursuant to the Open Meetings law.

Functions:

• The ICBE program committee membership represents the UW-Madison community whose responsibilities and interests include biology education.
• The ICBE program committee provides advice to the director and to the executive committee (through joint members) at regular meetings throughout the year.
• The program committee may form ad hoc or working committees to focus on specific issues of interest to the Institute and the broader campus biological sciences community.
• Members of the program committee are expected to devise mechanisms for reporting from the committee to its constituencies and vice versa.
• The program committee shall annually distribute a progress report to the UW-Madison biological sciences community and others, as desired. The report shall solicit comments and suggestions regarding ICBE functions.
• Members of the program committee may recommend ICBE initiatives.
• Annually, at an early February meeting, the ICBE director will present a draft of the next fiscal year's budget for approval. The program committee shall have the authority to amend and approve a final budget.
• The program committee will develop mechanisms to obtain student input.
• Members of the program committee may recommend nominees for "at large" faculty positions on the executive committee.

The program committee may recommend changes in these Policies and Procedures to the ICBE executive committee.