GENERAL EDUCATION COUNCIL
YEAR END SUMMARY 2001-2002
Program and policy changes:

At the final meeting of the 2000-2001 academic year, considerable discussion was held on the possibility of eliminating the 3 credit hour Applied Science requirement, as well as the Physical Education activity course. Many visitors were in attendance, with several individuals, both faculty and students, offering opinions on the proposed changes.

Early during the 2001-2002 session, the same issues were formally introduced. With little discussion, and near unanimous agreement, the Council voted to retain the Applied Science requirement, as well as the Physical Education activity course. However, the feeling of the Council was that all of the courses currently listed under Graduation Requirements, that is, the 3 credit hour Applied Science requirement (BU 241 Personal Finance; SO 261 Marriage and Family; or HL 150 Health for Human-Wholeness) as well as the 2 credit hour Physical Education requirement (PE 100 Lifetime Fitness; physical education activity course) should be moved to General Education, and the Graduation Requirements be done away with. The arguments in favor of this move were that transfer students would face fewer hurdles, and that the Council would face fewer obstacles in dealing with these courses as a part of general education.

In order to justify the transition from Graduation Requirements to General Education, it was felt that the goals of general education would need to be modified in order to accommodate the proposed changes. As a result, the following proposed sixth goal, called the Life Skills Goal, was accepted by the council:

“Develop an understanding of and appreciation for the life skills necessary to enhance the lifelong ability to function as healthy and effective citizens in an increasingly complex environment (society).”

The addition of a separate (sixth) goal of General Education was not approved by the Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, who required that the spirit of this goal be included in the five existing goals. Finally, Goal 5 was rewritten to become:

“Develop a commitment to scholarship, intellectual curiosity, lifelong learning and the life skills necessary to function as healthy and effective citizens”

The dean has not yet acted on this proposed revision.

The Council voted to move the courses included in the Graduation Requirements to General Education, and to eliminate the category Graduation Requirements. Action on this proposal is pending, and must await action on changing the goals.

Several other issues were carried over from the 2000-2001 academic year. One was the elimination of FA 220 from the general education requirements, and raising the Fine Arts requirements from 5 to 6 hours for most degrees. This action was approved, with the perhaps unwanted consequence of adding one hour of general education credit for most students.

The Council recommended that MU 124, Basic Music, remain an acceptable substitute for MU 226, Music Exploration, for education majors under the new Fine Arts requirements, and the recommendation was approved.

Another carry-over issue was the addition of JO 200, Introduction to Mass Communication, as an option in Social and Behavioral Sciences. This recommendation was approved, with the proviso that it will not apply to students majoring in elementary Education Secondary Education, or Nursing or Business. In a similar vein, the Council had previously recommended that FL 210 MC, Introduction to East Asian Cultures be allowed to fulfill the multicultural requirement of general education. This recommendation has not yet been approved.

During the 2000-2001 academic year, the Council approved and sent to the dean a proposal for an experimental offering of an Advanced Core Curriculum for a three-year trial. A steering committee was to be formed which was to include one faculty member of the General Education Council. At the beginning of the 2001-2002 academic year, although the proposal had been approved, no action had yet been taken. The Council requested that one of it’s student members be added to the steering committee, and this request was approved by the dean. The steering committee has now started to function, and looks to an implementation date for the trial to be the fall of 2003.

The Council approved the request from the theater faculty that TA 370 TD be allowed to satisfy the PE activity course requirement during the spring semester, 2002, and the proposal was approved by the dean.

Other activities:
The General Education Council was reviewed by the committee on Campus Governance of the Faculty Senate as part of its four-year review cycle. The outcome of the review is that the Council will continue to function.

The Computer Literacy survey was reviewed and modified. Also, the Graduating Senior Survey was evaluated, and many changes were recommended. The recommended changes were forwarded to the Director of Assessments and Educational Measurements.

A total of 70 students were given approval for substitutions or exemptions for transfer courses or for other reasons.

Pending issues:
The Council was informed that a “First Year Experience” panel has been formed to work on revising the Freshman Seminar program, making it more closely related to general education and its goals and purposes. The panel plans to work with the General Education Council in hopes that a course or courses can be developed that will fit in with the goals of general education.
It was noted that the general education program is becoming complicated because of several majors having their own general education requirements that deviate from the cores program. Suggestions were made to simplify the program by moving the courses that are ‘major specific’ out of general education and categorize them as requirements for the specific majors. It was also noted that simplification would allow undeclared students to take general education courses that would apply to the 124 hour degree requirement without regard to the student’s eventual major.

Image and Marketing:
One issue pending from the 2000-2001 academic year was that of image and marketing. The Council had voted to ask for Faculty Senate legislation supporting general education by requiring all faculty members teaching general education courses to make clear to students how particular courses met the goals of general education, and to institute some sort of evaluation of the courses. Although this proposal was approved by the administration, the current Council put the issue on hold while alternatives were explored to this somewhat controversial action.

The image and marketing issue was discussed at length, and to a certain extent was the central theme of the year’s activity. The Council discussed ways to market the program, and to inform students and faculty of the purpose and value of the general education courses. One suggestion was a brochure to be given to students at SWARM, Hornet Nights and at the SAC office. Another was to have students or alumni speak to classes, giving testimonials about the value of their general education experience. Still another was to rename ‘General Education’ to ‘Core Curriculum’ in order to stress the importance of the required courses. There seemed to be a consensus that marketing the value of general education would be more effective than mandates and evaluations by the Faculty Senate. Image and marketing will be the main carry-over issue for the 2002- 2003 academic year.

At one of the Council meetings last year, several faculty members teaching general education courses were invited to discuss accomplishments of the program, and suggestions for improvement. Some of the accomplishments that were noted were:

General education prepares students to be successful in other courses because it teaches them how to do research, write papers and document sources.

It gives students access to ‘new’ ideas (new to them).

Math helps in critical thinking, problem solving and learning to understand and prepare statistics. Students in math classes are required to write papers exploring how mathematics will be used in their majors.

Suggestions included the following:
GTA’s who teach general education courses should be well trained and supervised, and follow a common syllabus.

Math teachers should work to overcome a ‘fear of math’ where it exists.

Students need to better understand the options available in meeting the requirements of general education, especially where upper level courses are available.

Only the best professors should be assigned to teach general education, and those need to have real interests in the topics they teach.

Teachers should emphasize how certain course material is relevant to students in life after college.

The university should develop more interdisciplinary courses and studies.

Future Issues:
The central issue for the forthcoming academic year will continue to be marketing, or gaining greater acceptance of the program by both students and faculty. Several possible directions that were discussed include:

Rewriting the goals of general education. The Council looked at the goals of the peer institutions, and may continue this process next year. The Council was reminded that it is important to keep in mind the North Central requirements for performance assessments and performance indicators. One area that is not presently included in the goals is that of technology and computer literacy.

Reviewing the courses that are offered to insure that they are appropriate to meet the goals of general education.

Insuring that the general education program is compatible with the new Regent’s requirements for admission to all universities, and with the new rule that 54 credit hours be in upper level courses.

Revising the entire general education program to make it more interdisciplinary.

Considering the possibility of mandating a single general education program for all students.

Many suggestions were received form Council members and others. They include:

One way to raise the standards at ESU might be to re-work the General Education core courses.

The need exists to challenge all levels of students, not just the lowest skilled students.

Courses cannot cover everything. General education courses should touch on the basics of the various disciplines to allow students to explore new worlds.

Students should net be exempted form general education courses.

A radical change in general education to make it more interdisciplinary would impact transfer students.

Interdisciplinary courses should only be available after students have mastered the basic skills.

General education, especially if interdisciplinary courses are offered, may well extend beyond the first two years of college.

One goal is to see the general education faculty become a ‘elite’ group that interacts with each other to make the general education experience a quality learning experience.

One other task for next year is that the constitution of the Council needs to be rewritten, largely because of the role that the Council has acquired in overseeing the competency testing program.

Last Updated April 17, 2007