Presented at a Special Meeting on March 31, 2025 and passed as amended on April 7, 2025, two motions to update by-laws governing the University Senate were passed:

• Recommendation to the UConn Board of Trustees to update the University By-Laws, Article IX, “The University Senate”
• Resolution to Change the By-Laws, Rules & Regulations of the University Senate, Article I

Combined, these two resolutions propose changes to the governance of the University Senate for clarity, simplicity, modernization, and flexibility. The Senate By-Laws will be updated on the Policy website to reflect these changes at the start of the AY 2025-2026, and the Recommendation to the UConn Board of Trustees to update the University By-Laws, Article IX will be moving through the approval process with the UConn Board of Trustees during the summer. Once approved, updates will be shared on the Senate website.

During its regular meeting on April 7, 2025, the University Senate approved two resolutions presented by the Scholastic Standards Committee to amend the By-Laws, Rules & Regulations of the University Senate, Article II. E.9 (Attendance) and Article II.B.2 (Readmission).

Summary of Changes:

• Article II.B.12 (Readmission): language updated to match current readmission practices, which do not include criminal history as a part of the evaluation process. The full resolution is available here.
• Article II.E.9 (Attendance): language updated for clarity around how instructors are to manage class sessions affected by University closings. The full resolution is available here.

During its regular meeting on February 3, 2025, the University Senate approved an Omnibus Resolution presented by the CCC+ Committee to amend the By-Laws, Rules & Regulations of the University Senate, Article II, C.2.a – d.

The Omnibus proposal included suggested changes to the following:

• TOI  Clean-Up (TOI-6 lab requirement and Focus Area language)
• 40-credit requirement
• Reserve Caps (add 25% availability for 1000-level courses)
• Catalog year (clarify language around additional flexibility)
• CC exemption for transfer-oriented students
• CCC+ membership (add Themes)

Article II.C.2.c.Courses (related to Reserve Caps) was amended on the floor. The Omnibus motion passed as amended. The full resolution can be found here. These changes will be reflected in the By-Laws, Rules & Regulations of the University Senate when they become activated in the fall 2025 semester.

Additional information is available on the Common Curriculum website.

The Senate Scholastic Standards Committee presented a motion to the University Senate during its regular meeting on December 3, 2024, to propose updates to the language of the By-Laws, Rules & Regulations of the University Senate to integrate governance of academic dates for both summer and winter programs. This change also codified Juneteenth (June 19th) as a non-teaching holiday effective in June 2025.

The full resolution language, including vote counts can be found here.

During its regular meeting on April 1, 2024, the University Senate passed a motion presented by the Senate Scholastic Standards Committee initiating several changes to the Bylaws, Rules & Regulations of the University Senate II.E.13. Scholastic Standing & Dismissal. These bylaw changes will come into effect starting in Fall 2024.

Overview of Bylaw Changes:

• Name changes of overall process:
  • Rename “scholastic standing” to “academic standing” when referring to the overall process or individual academic standings
  • Rename “scholastic probation” to “academic Notice”
• Removal of scholastic warning standing and credit-based scholastic standing criteria
• Change in minimum required time away from UConn after dismissal:
  • Reducing the minimum required time away for students following academic dismissal from 2 semesters to 1 semester after the first academic dismissal and from 8 semesters to 4 semesters for second academic dismissal.
• Clarifying language added regarding the impact of summer and winter classes on academic standing
• Change in how a student is returned to good academic standing:
  • Both semester GPA (sGPA) and cumulative GPA (cGPA) must be above 2.0 for a student to return to good standing, regardless of the number of earned credits
  • No student with at least a 2.3 sGPA average after completing all courses for which they are registered at the end of a semester is subject to dismissal; the student will be continued on academic notice if such status is warranted, until both the sGPA and cGPAs are at least 2.o.
• Moving language about end of semester to II.H.1: University Calendar
• Small edits to readmission language to more accurately reflect the holistic readmission process for dismissed students.

The full motion language can be viewed here and the University Senate bylaws will be updated to reflect these changes before they come into effect for Fall 2024.

During its regular meeting on Monday, February 5, 2024, the University Senate approved a resolution to amend the University Senate Bylaws I.C.3.d Senate Committees to give the President of the Avery Point, Hartford, Stamford and Waterbury student governments the authority to nominate students to serve on University Senate Committees. More information and the approved resolution can be viewed here.

During its regular meeting on February 5, 2024 the University Senate passed a resolution to the By-Laws, Rules and Regulations of the University Senate, Article I.C.3.d Senate Committees to grant the authority to nominate students to serve on University Senate committees to the Presidents of the Avery Point, Hartford, Stamford and Waterbury student governments.

The full resolution language is available here (Proposal V).

2021-2022 By-Law Changes | University Senate (uconn.edu)