Academics & Teaching
The content, development, delivery and assessment of all academic programs fall under the purview of the faculty, led by the provost and dean of the faculty. The provost works closely with the associate provost, the associate dean of the faculty & dean for academic development, director of graduate programs and the dean of the School for Social Work. Together they integrate the college’s varied academic efforts to ensure excellence in teaching, learning and research and to create a thriving community for students, faculty and staff.
Committee on Academic Priorities
The provost chairs the Committee on Academic Priorities (CAP), an elected committee of faculty, charged with establishing and maintaining the educational and curricular priorities of the undergraduate, certificate and graduate programs of the college.
CAP's mandates include: the review and authorization of new programs, course offerings and changes in requirements; long-range planning of the undergraduate and graduate curriculum; review and authorizations of annual tenure-track requests; and long-range planning of the shape of the faculty (Faculty Code, VI.C.2). Through a well-defined subcommittee structure, CAP also oversees credit-hour compliance, assessment of departmental and institutional student-learning goals, honors and independent studies projects, and the college's writing intensive guidelines.
- Michael Thurston, Provost and Dean of the Faculty, Chair, non-voting
- Denise McKahn, Associate Provost, non-voting
- Hélène Visentin, Associate Dean of the Faculty & Dean for Academic Development, non-voting
- Alex Keller, Interim Dean of the College, non-voting
- Gretchen Herringer, Registrar, non-voting
- Tina Wildhagen, Faculty Council Representative, non-voting
- Jeffrey Ahlman (2025)
- Ibtissam Bouachrine (2025)
- Mlada Bukovansky (2025)
- Katwiwa Mule (2026)
- Lauren Duncan (2025)
Course Information
Latin Honors and Writing Intensive Designations
Teaching Writing Intensive (WI) Courses
Curricular Approvals and Changes--CAP Curricular Subcommittee meets monthly during the academic year to review requests for new courses and changes to existing courses.
Requests must be submitted 5 days prior to the scheduled meeting to be considered in that month.
| January 23, 2023 |
| February 27, 2023 |
| March 27, 2023 |
| April 24, 2023 |
| May 30, 2023 |
Deadlines:
| Wednesday, February 15, 2023 | Proposals for new courses to be offered Fall 2023 |
| Wednesday, September 13, 2023 | Proposals for new courses to be offered Spring and Interterm 2024 |
Consult the Curricular Approval Guidelines and Requirements link below to understand the approvals necessary for curricular additions and changes. Requests for new courses and changes to existing courses are submitted in Workday.
Curricular Approval Guidelines and Requirements
Workday Job Aids:
Chairs: Approve New Course / Course Change Requests
(for existing courses)
Credit Hours and Academically Engaged Time
Guidelines for Decrease in Enrollment Limits
Smith College Profcast
In this series of videos, Smith College faculty from a range of academic disciplines discuss timely and thought-provoking topics related to their teaching, research and academic interests. The series showcases a range of ideas and perspectives, the vibrant community of scholars at Smith and the intellectual excitement Smith students experience every day.
