Current Chair: Jacob Horigan ’24
Definition: The Academic Affairs subcommittee mirrors the College’s Academic Affairs Office, dealing with all things related to the academic program, student/faculty interaction, and academic spaces at Bowdoin. This BSG committee primarily addresses issues relating to academic policies such as Credit/D/Fail, major/minor requirements, distribution requirements, and advising, among others. Campus museums, libraries, academic support programs, and off-campus study, among others, all fall under the jurisdiction of the BSG Academic Affairs Committee.
Past Accomplishments: In the past, the Academic Affairs committee has tackled the issues of printing allocations, advising reform, the Course Syllabi project, resolutions to modify the Fall Break/Thanksgiving Break schedule, and an exploration of the Sarah and James Bowdoin Scholar designation.
Regular Responsibilities: The Academic Affairs committee is most successful when it seeks to dovetail its work with that of the College’s Office of Academic Affairs, run by Dean Jennifer Scanlon.
- The committee must serve as a voice for the students on current issues coming through the College’s Academic Affairs Office, as well as capitalize upon opportune times to bring up student issues.
- Through the Course Syllabi project, the Academic Affairs committee provides access to online copies of syllabi to assist students during course selection.
- The Academic Affairs committee also serves as moderators for new Additional Printing Fund Requests, and must refer all approved requests to the OneCard Office.
- The VP of Academic Affairs sits on the Academic Affairs College Committee as well as the Curriculum and Educational Planning Committee (CEP).
- Representatives from the Academic Affairs committee must sit on the Student Library Advisory Group, Polaris Advisory Group and Printing Advisory Group (so long as these are all convened).
Goals:
Short-Term:
- Finalize language for and implement the new Additional Printing Fund Allocation procedure
- Begin Course Syllabi procurement and assess feasibility of a system for this project
Long-Term:
- Push back the Credit/D/Fail deadline
- Evaluate and respond to the Distribution Requirement Assessment findings