Establishment and Operation of The Committee on Education Policy and Curriculum (CEPC)

Overview/Rationale

The Committee on Education Policy and Curriculum (CEPC) of Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons (VP&S) engages the faculty in regard to the oversight of educational policies in the graduate programs based out of the school. It is empowered to work in the best interests of the educational mission without regard to parochial or political influence or departmental pressures across all of the graduate programs within VP&S. It reviews and approves all new programs of studies as well as policy changes to existing programs of study.  It functions as the school-based Columbia University Committee on Instruction for VP&S. It is also charged with the development, design, implementation, and ongoing review of all components of the MD program. 

Accreditation Standards

Standards 7, Elements 7.1-7.9, 8, Elements 8.1-8.3

MD - Program Curricular Management, Evaluation, and Enhancement 

The Committee on Education Policy and Curriculum (CEPC) of Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons (VP&S) engages in curricular revision and program evaluation activities to ensure that medical education program quality is maintained and enhanced and that medical students achieve all medical education programs objectives and participate in required clinical experiences and settings. 

MD - Program Curricular Management 

VP&S has in place CEPC as the institutional body that oversees the medical education program as a whole and has responsibility for the overall design, management, integration, evaluation, and enhancement of a coherent and coordinated medical curriculum. 

Use of Medical Educational Program Objectives 

The faculty of VP&S, through CEPC, ensures that the medical curriculum uses formally adopted medical education program objectives to guide the selection of curriculum content and to review and revise the curriculum.  The faculty leadership is responsible for each required course, and clerkship links the learning objectives of that course or clerkship to the medical education program objectives. 

MD - Program Curricular Design, Review, Revision/Content Monitoring 

The faculty of VP&S, through CEPC, are responsible for the detailed development, design, and implementation of all components of the medical education program, including the medical education program objectives, the learning objectives for each required curricular segment, instructional and assessment methods appropriate for the achievement of those objectives, content and content sequencing, ongoing review and updating of content, and evaluation of course, clerkship, and teacher quality.  These medical education program objectives, learning objectives, content, and instructional and assessment methods are subject to ongoing monitoring, review, and revision by the responsible committee. 

Accreditation Standards

Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Standards: Functions and Structure of a Medical School  

Standard 7 Curricular Content (all elements, in particular)

7.5 Societal Problems
The faculty of a medical school ensure that the medical curriculum includes instruction in the
diagnosis, prevention, appropriate reporting, and treatment of the medical consequences of
common societal problems.
7.6 Structural Competence, Cultural Competence and Health Inequities
The faculty of a medical school ensure that the medical curriculum provides opportunities for
medical students to learn to recognize and appropriately address biases in themselves, in
others, and in the health care delivery process.

Standard 8 Curricular Management Evaluation and Enhancement 

The medical school faculty engages in curricular revision and program evaluation activities to ensure that medical education program quality is maintained and enhanced and that medical students achieve all medical education program objectives and participate in required clinical experiences and settings.  

8.1 Curricular Management 

A medical school has in place an institutional body (i.e., a faculty committee) that oversees the medical education program as a whole and has responsibility for the overall design, management, integration, evaluation, and enhancement of a coherent and coordinated medical curriculum.  

Stakeholders

Compliance with this policy and procedure is mandatory for all VP&S faculty and staff, including executive leadership. This subcommittee's role is outlined in the VP&S Faculty Council Bylaws. 

• Exists by Power of and Responsibility to: 
  • Notification reporting to CEPC 
  • Responsible to the Dean of the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (Dean of Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine) 
  • Notification reporting to the Faculty Council 
  • Functions as an Institution-wide Committee on Instruction for VP&S-sponsored graduate programs 
  • Voting members (at least 12) to include: 
    • Faculty members representing both basic science and clinical specialties esp. curricular leaders 
      • All faculty will be notified of the opportunity to participate on the committee via a school-wide announcement.  Faculty can be nominated or can self-nominate.  Interested parties will submit a brief statement of interest and copy of their CV in CUIMC format.  Faculty member nominees are vetted by the CEPC chair and submitted to the Faculty Council for formal vote. 
    • Chairs of the CEPC sub-committees 
    • Two seats appointed by the Chair to balance diversity experiences (e.g., history of discrimination, marginalized communities within health care, or individuals representing new initiatives) 
    • Four students, one from each of the four classes selected by SCAB to progress longitudinally through the MD program 
  • Terms and Commitment of Service: Voting Members are invited for a 4-year term to be reviewed annually and are expected to attend 75 percent of the meetings unless excused by the Chair.  Members may serve up to 2 consecutive terms. 
  • At Large (non-voting) members are invited by the Chair of the CEPC to attend as necessary. 
    • Deans/Directors associated with the medical education program 
    • Deans of partnering schools 
    • Director of Curricular Affairs, Director of CERE, Director of CTL 
    • Associate Deans of off-site experiences (e.g., Stamford, Bassett, Harlem) 
    • New York Presbyterian Liaison 
    • Representative of other graduate programs within the school 

• Scope of Responsibility - Determination and ongoing review of the following: 
  • The Medical Education Program Objectives for MD and MD-dual degree programs  
  • Learning objectives and assessment methods within and across all phases of the MD program 
    • Designation and mapping of learning objectives across all phases of MD-Program and learning opportunities 
    • Programmatic assessment of competencies across all phases of the MD curriculum utilizing a variety of measures 
    • Ensuring equity and consistency of evaluation across the MD program student body 
    • Establishing criteria for promotion within the MD program 
    • Responsiveness to emerging educational needs of future physicians-in-training 
  • Instruction within and across all MD-curricular phases driven by the LOs/assessment methods 
    • Content coverage, sequence, integration across disciplines, progression/spiraling 
    • Instructional quality/consistency, workload, efficiency (gaps vs. unintentional redundancy) 
    • Innovation within instruction 
    • Development and support of core curricular faculty 
    • Continuous quality improvement 
  • Systematic MD-curricular and co-curricular evaluation  
    • Courses, clerkships, electives, programs, curricular phases & full curriculum 
    • Peer review 
    • Assessment/instruction alignment 
  • Monitoring includes (but is not limited to): 
    • Learner experience in all instructional settings 
    • Overall learning environment: courses, clerkships, electives, programs, phases 
    • Learning outcomes relative to national norms 
  • Educational Program Policy and Resources 
    • Oversight of all educational policy including, but not limited to, MD - curricular and student affairs 
    • Oversight of faculty role job descriptions, faculty support, and accountability to position 
    • Monitoring of the efficiency of resource utilization across the curriculum 
    • Addressing emerging resource needs in support of the curriculum 
    • Review the MD Program, Diversity, Admission, Financial Aid, Student Affairs, Support and Services, Student Career Development, and the Role of the MD program at VP&S and CUIMC 
  • Compliance with all LCME standards 
  • Functions as an Institution-wide Committee on Instruction for VP&S-sponsored graduate programs 
• Subcommittees of CEPC 
  • Fundamentals Phase (oversight of all courses in the Fundamentals Phase) 
    • Chair: Fundamentals Subcommittee Chair/Co-chair 
    • Selection: to be designated by the CEPC Chair 
    • Term of Service: Three years, with term of subcommittee chair and co-chair to be staggered 
    • Voting Members 
      • Course Director Faculty (6): Directors of major fundamentals phase courses (e.g., MM, BHD, CGA, PsyM, FCM, Tutorials) 
      • Theme Director (1): selected by the Vice Dean for Education with input from the appropriate associate deans 
      • Non-course Director Faculty voting members (2): All faculty will be notified of the opportunity to serve as at large members Fundamentals Phase subcommittee chair via a school-wide announcement.  Faculty can be nominated or can self-nominate.  Interested parties will submit a brief statement of interest and a copy of their CV in CUIMC format.  Faculty member nominees are vetted by the CEPC chair, appropriate Associate Deans.  
      • Faculty Representative from College of Dental Medicine appointed by Academic Dean for Predoctoral Programs, College of Dental Medicine. 
      • Director or representative Equity/Justice in Curricular Affairs 
      • Student Curriculum Representatives (3), one from the Fundamentals phase and one from the D&I phase, selected by SCAB; and one from College of Dental Medicine selected by Academic Dean for Predoctoral Programs, College of Dental Medicine 
  • Terms and Commitment of Service: Voting Members are invited for a 3-year term to be reviewed annually and expected to attend 75 percent of the meetings unless excused by the Chair.  Members may serve up to 2 consecutive terms. 
  • At Large (non-voting) Members invited to attend as necessary by the Chair of the Fundamental Phase Subcommittee: e.g., Education Deans/Directors, Director of Curricular Affairs, Director of CTL, Director or representative from CERE, Director of Simulation Center 
  • Charge – Determination and ongoing review of the following with a focus on the Fundamental phase of the curriculum 
    • The mapping of Medical Education Program Objectives (*MEPOs) related to the phase 
    • Learning objectives and assessment methods 
    • Instruction is driven by the LOs/assessment methods 
    • Systematic Curricular Evaluation Review of Fundamentals Phase 
• MCY and D&I (oversight of MD program clerkships, sub-internships, and electives) 
  • Chair: MCY and D&I Subcommittee Chair/Co-chair 
    • Selection: to be designated by the CEPC Chair 
    • Term of Service: Three years, with term of subcommittee chair and co-chair to be staggered 
  • Voting Members 
    • Course Director Faculty: Directors of the core clerkships (e.g., Internal Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Neurology, Primary Care, OB-GYN), Directors of D&I required course(s) (e.g., R4R) 
    • Director of one of the major sub-internships (e.g., Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, or Surgery) and Director of one of the major electives: All Course Directors will be notified of the opportunity to serve as at large members of the MCY and D&I subcommittee via a school-wide announcement.  Faculty can be nominated or can self-nominate.  Interested parties will submit a brief statement of interest and a copy of their CV in CUIMC format.  Faculty member nominees are vetted by the CEPC chair and appropriate associate deans.  
    • Theme Director (1): selected by the Vice Dean for Education with input from the appropriate associate deans 
    • Non-course Director Faculty (2): All faculty will be notified of the opportunity to serve as at large members of the MCY and D&I subcommittee via a school-wide announcement.  Faculty can be nominated or can self-nominate.  Interested parties will submit a brief statement of interest and a copy of their CV in CUIMC format.  Faculty member nominees are vetted by the CEPC chair and appropriate associate deans. 
    • Director or representative Equity/Justice in Curricular Affairs 
    • Student Representatives (2) from MCY and fourth-year classes, selected by SCAB 
    • Terms and Commitment of Service: Members are invited for a 3-year term to be reviewed annually and expected to attend 75 percent of the meetings unless excused by the Chair.  Members may serve up to 2 consecutive terms. 
  • At Large (non-voting) Members invited to attend as necessary by the Chair of the MCY and D&I Subcommittee: e.g., Education Deans/Directors, Director of Curricular Affairs, Director of CTL, Director or representative from CERE, Director of Simulation Center) 
  • Charge – Determination and ongoing review of the following with a focus on the MCY and D&I phase of the curriculum  
    • The mapping of Medical Education Program Objectives (*MEPOs) related to the phase 
    • Learning objectives and assessment methods 
    • Instruction is driven by the LOs/assessment methods 
    • Systematic curricular evaluation review of the  MCY and D&I phase 
  • Discover (oversight of research/scholarly projects in all phases of the MD program curriculum, including summer research and Dean's research fellowship and the Inquiry Domain MEPO) 
    • Chair: Discover Subcommittee Chair/Co-chair 
      • Selection: to be designated by the CEPC Chair 
      • Term of Service: Three years, with term of subcommittee chair and co-chair to be staggered 
    • Voting Members 
      • Director, Scholarly Projects 
      • Director, Global and Population Health 
      • Director, NIH Summer Program 
      • Director or representative Equity/Justice in Curricular Affairs 
      • Theme Director (1): selected by the Vice Dean for Education with input from the appropriate associate deans 
      • Non-Director Faculty (2): All faculty will be notified of the opportunity to serve as at large members of the Discover subcommittee via a school-wide announcement.  Faculty can be nominated or can self-nominate.  Interested parties will submit a brief statement of interest and copy of their CV in CUIMC format.  Faculty member nominees are vetted by the CEPC chair, appropriate associate deans and submitted to the Faculty Council for formal vote. 
      • Student Representatives (2) from first and fourth-year classes, selected by SCAB 
      • Terms and Commitment of Service: Members are invited for a 3-year term to be reviewed annually and expected to attend 75 percent of the meetings unless excused by the Chair.  Members may serve up to 2 consecutive terms. 
    • At Large (non-voting) Members invited to attend as necessary by the Chair of the Discover Subcommittee: e.g., Education Deans/Directors, Director of Curricular Affairs, Director of CTL, Director or representative from CERE, Director of Simulation Center 
  • Charge – Determination and ongoing review of the following with a focus on the Discovery within the curriculum  
    • The mapping of Medical Education Program Objectives (*MEPOs) related to the phase 
    • Learning objectives and assessment methods 
    • Systematic curricular evaluation of the Inquiry domain 
  • Assessment Subcommittee (oversight of student assessment across all phases of the MD curriculum) 
    • Chair: Assessment Subcommittee Chair/Co-chair 
      • Selection: to be designated by the CEPC Chair 
      • Term of Service: Three years, with term of subcommittee chair and co-chair to be staggered 
    • Voting Members 
      • Chairs of other CEPC subcommittees 
      • Director or representative Equity/Justice in Curricular Affairs 
      • Director of CERE 
      • Director(s), Promotion Committee 
      • Theme Director (1): selected by the Vice Dean for Education with input from the appropriate associate deans 
      • Faculty (2): All faculty will be notified of the opportunity to serve as at large members of the Assessment subcommittee via a school-wide announcement.  Faculty can be nominated or can self-nominate.  Interested parties will submit a brief statement of interest and copy of their CV in CUIMC format.  Faculty member nominees are vetted by the CEPC chair, appropriate associate deans.  
      • Student Representatives (2), selected by SCAB 
      • Terms and Commitment of Service: Members are invited for a 3-year term to be reviewed annually and expected to attend 75 percent of the meetings unless excused by the Chair.  Members may serve up to 2 consecutive terms. 
    • At Large (non-voting) Members  invited to attend as necessary by Chair of the Assessment Subcommittee: e.g., Education Deans/Directors, Director of Curricular Affairs, Director of CTL, Director of Simulation Center 
    • Charge - Determination and ongoing review of the following with a focus on assessment across all phases of the curriculum  
    • Learning objectives and assessment methods 
    • Systematic curricular evaluation/assessment across all MD phases 
    • Compliance with all LCME standards, notably Standard 9: Teaching, Supervision, Assessment, and Student and Patient Safety. 

• VP&S Sponsored Graduate Programs Subcommittee (oversight of VP&S-sponsored graduate programs 
  • Constituency 
    • Chair: Vice Dean for Education 
      • Selection: to be designated by the Dean 
      • Term of Service: Appointments reviewed every five years or as graduate program leaders may change. 
    • Voting Members 
      • Director, Physical Therapy Program or their designee 
      • Director, Occupational Therapy Program, or their designee 
      • Director, Genetic Counseling Program or their designee 
      • Director of the Human Nutrition Program or their designee 
      • Director of the Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research or their designee 
      • Director of the MD/PhD program or their designee 
      • Associate Dean for Graduate Programs at VP&S 
    • At Large (non-voting) Members are invited to attend as necessary by the Chair of the VP&S Sponsored Graduate Programs Subcommittee and other voting members. 
  • Charge – reviews and recommends for approval all new programs of studies as well as policy changes to existing programs of study 
    • Recommends synergic policies and procedures across VP&S's educational programs 
    • Monitors programs' Compliance with Accreditation standards/Status across the school

• Student Curriculum Advisory Board: Monitors and champions the student experience, especially as co-curricular elements impact the experience.  Membership includes class presidents, vice presidents, and curriculum representatives elected by the VP&S classes. 

• Committee Meeting and Report 
  • CEPC will meet at least eight times per year 
  • CEPC's subcommittees will meet at least four times per year 
  • Meeting minutes summarizing major points of what happened at the meeting will be generated using a meeting template provided by the CEPC Chair and submitted to CEPC for review and approval
  • SCAB which will meet at least monthly 

VOTING AND QUORUM GUIDELINES ● A traditionally defined quorum (50% of committee voting membership) must be present for the usual work of the committee.  "Present" means participating in the live committee conversation around issues, whether in person or remotely via technology. ● A "change quorum" must vote (75% of voting membership) for action items.  For "change quorum" votes, 2/3 of members must vote in favor of the change 

Procedures

This policy will be reviewed and revised as necessary, but at least every three years.