General Education Council

Summary of 2005-2006

August 3, 2006

University-Wide Faculty Open Forums on General Education

The Council hosted three faculty open forums on general education.  The first open forum focused on generating a list of characteristics/traits of a generally educated student.  The second open forum began with a panel presentation by Jim Williams, VP for Student Affairs, Bob Grover, VP for Academic Affairs, and Rod Sobieski, Dean of LA&S, followed by a roundtable discussion in which participants, working from the list of traits generated at the first forum,  identified and shared general education student learning outcomes.  At the third open forum, participants were invited to review and discuss a draft of general education goals and outcomes generated by the Council.

Modify Competency Exam Requirements

The Council approved the proposal to modify one of the ways of fulfilling the writing and math competency exam requirement, i.e., “Earning a grade of ‘A minus’ or higher in a course equivalent to EG 102/MA 110 from another accredited university or community college.” 

BA Foreign Language Requirements

Until the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures changes all their language classes to five credit hours, the Council agreed that students pursuing the BA degree will fulfill the general education requirement by taking a total of nine credit hours (rather than the required 10 credit hours) from the three hour language courses (Chinese and Arabic) currently being offered.  Council will revisit the BA Foreign Language Requirement in the Fall of 2006.

Student Survey on General Education

The Council reviewed and received the results of a student survey on general education conducted by student representatives on the Council.

 “Working Draft” of Revised General Education Goals and Outcomes

The Council approved on February 22, 2006 a “Working Draft”of General Education Goals and Outcomes.  A copy of the “Working Draft” was sent to all faculty for comment.

General Education Component Matrix

The Council designed a “General Education Component Matrix” for use by departments in identifying and/or designing courses for the general education curriculum. Departments were asked to submit proposals or a progress report to the Director of General Education by May 15, 2006.

Math Phobia Program

The Council received an update on the Math Phobia Program, directed by Shanti Ramcharan, Director of Disability Services. 

Evaluating Performance of GTAs Teaching General Education classes

The Council began work on designing an assessment instrument for evaluating the performance of GTAs who teach general education classes.

Modifying the Alternative Option for Writing Component of CAAP

The Council began discussing a request to modify criteria for the alternative option for the Writing Component of the CAAP Exam.

Respectfully submitted,

Gerrit Bleeker

Director of General Education

 

Last Updated April 17, 2007