The Faculty Steering Committee represents the faculty in all appropriate matters and serves as an advisory committee to the Dean.

Functions:

• Serve at the will of the SON Faculty and advise the Dean(s) on matters related to the functioning of the School of Nursing.
• Establish and review long-term goals for the School of Nursing.
• Review the mission, goals, strategic plan, and Master Evaluation Plan of the School of Nursing annually.
• Coordinate activities of faculty committees.
• Appoint members to fill vacancies on Standing Committees and to serve on special or ad hoc faculty committees.
• Oversee the implementation of quality improvement initiatives and evaluation of the programs as designated to the various Standing Committees.
• Review bylaws annually, conduct voting on proposed amendments, and distribute current bylaws necessary to conduct the business of the Assembly.
• Provide for the April election of the Assembly chair and committee members according to the election procedure.
• Review current policies and procedures for the School of Nursing.
• Provide for dissemination of committee annual reports to the Assembly.
• At the beginning of the academic year Steering Committee will appoint an Appeals Committee to hear appeals to the outcomes of academic misconduct hearings when brought forward by students.

Relationship of Steering Committee to Standing Committees and Faculty Assembly

• Steering committee provides an avenue of interaction between the Steering Committee, the Standing Committees, and ultimately Faculty Assembly. One faculty member of each standing committee (Chair or Co-chair) will serve as liaison to, and a member of, the Steering Committee. Standing committees will recommend changes and bring forth issues related to their respective functions as outlined in Article IV below to the Steering Committee.
• Standing committees also will submit annual goals; by-law changes; new policies or procedures; quality improvement initiatives; evaluation of the program reports; and an end of year committee report.
• Standing committees may bring additional issues that impact the SON, faculty, or other Standing committees to the Steering Committee
• Steering Committee then brings issues forth to the Faculty Assembly.

Functions:

• Maintain a curriculum that is logically organized and internally consistent across all curricula within the School of Nursing.
• Maintain ongoing evaluations of all curricula.
• Recommend changes in curricula based on analysis of program evaluation, external healthcare trends, input from the faculty. Major changes in required courses will be taken to the curriculum committee for approval and brought before faculty for vote; however, all elective courses can be approved by the curriculum committee without a vote of general faculty.
• Establish long range plans and goals for the curricula.
• Provide consultation to the Associate Dean for Academic & Faculty Affairs regarding reports for accreditation and approval bodies.
• Review and act upon student petitions.
• Review and recommend policies and procedures for credit by transfer or examination.
• Review curricular and teaching sections of the School of Nursing Master Evaluation Plan.
• Undergraduate, DNP-MS, and PhD Advisory Councils provide an avenue of interaction between the faculty teaching in each of those programs and the Curriculum Committee. The Advisory Councils will make curricular recommendations for each program level.

Functions:

• Review and make recommendations for admission, progression, and graduation policies.
• Review and evaluate procedures for pre-admission advisement and program admission.
• Support the admission, readmission, and non-nursing transfer credit evaluation process through appointment of subcommittees or other procedures determined as appropriate.
• Act on exceptions to admission, progression, and graduation policies.
• Recommend recipients for student awards and scholarships to the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management and/or the Dean.
• Review policies and procedures regarding student conduct, misconduct, and grievance.
• Review student grievance petitions and faculty citations of student misconduct and make recommendations to the Dean.
• Participate in the development of long-range plans that pertain to student admission and progression.
• Review the student section of School of Nursing Master Evaluation Plan.

Functions:

• Act as a scientific peer review group for faculty in the School of Nursing.
• Prioritize and recommend funding of individual proposals based on scientific merit, to the Associate Dean for Grants & Research, and to other intramural sources upon request.
• Serve as an advisory group to the Associate Dean for Grants & Research.
• Promote the research activities of the School of Nursing faculty and students.
• Participate in development of long-range plans for research activities within the School of Nursing.
• Review and recommend Student Research Awards as requested.
• Review Research sections of the School of Nursing Master Evaluation Plan.

Functions:

• Review and recommend revisions of criteria and policies for appointments, promotion, and tenure processes.
• Execute evaluation procedures for appointment, promotion, and tenure.
• Serve as a resource to faculty regarding information about appointment, promotion, tenure, or post tenure.
• Review the School of Nursing Master Evaluation Plan relative to APT functions at least every year and submit metrics and any changes to the Steering committee.

Functions:

• Assist with implementation, evaluation, and quality assurance of the Faculty Onboarding Program.
• Manage the Faculty Mentorship program, including administering processes and resources, evaluation, and improvement.
• The Chair or committee designee shall serve as a member of the KU SON Steering Committee and shall report on the Faculty Onboarding and Mentorship Programs.
• Review Faculty Professional Development Committee sections of the School of Nursing Master Evaluation Plan.

Functions:

• Be informed of issues and trends in faculty practice.
• Work in partnership with all KUMC schools and TUKHS to promote excellence so that patient care delivery may be enhanced.
• Provide counsel and recommendations pertaining to faculty practice issues, when appropriate,
• Promote inter-professional and intraprofessional collaboration through clinical practice, education, and research.
• Review Clinical Faculty Research Grant applications and make recommendations regarding awarding the grant.
• Review the Faculty Practice Committee sections of the School of Nursing Master Evaluation Plan.

Functions:

• Demonstrate the value KU SON places on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Ensure new knowledge and best practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion are present in the curricula.
• Raise the level of knowledge and appreciation of cultural practices among patients, faculty, staff, students, preceptors, and others.
• Develop initiatives for encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion to flourish within the SON.
• Collaborate with the School of Medicine Office of Cultural Enrichment and Diversity, the School of Health Professions standing committee on cultural diversity, and the EVC's Diversity & Inclusion Cabinet
• Ensure new knowledge and best practices related to diversity, equity, and inclusion are present in the curricula.
• Raise the level of knowledge and appreciation of cultural practices among patients, faculty, staff, students, preceptors, and others.
• Develop initiatives for encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion to flourish within the SON. with other stakeholders, to advance cultural knowledge and appreciation, especially related to education, service, and research.
• Foster open communication and explore ways to partner with other KUMC offices and area agencies related to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Review the Committee for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion sections of the School of Nursing Master Evaluation Plan.