General Education Council
Summary of 1998-1999
Program Assessment
The Council developed an assessment document (Appendix
1) which was sent to each division who offered courses
in the program. The Assessment sub-committee evaluated
the 14 self-reports. The sub-committee members from the
Council were Rob Catlett, Marvin Harrell, Jerry Long,
the Director of Assessment Ed McGlone, and myself. Following
the initial evaluation most divisions received a request
for a rejoinder to respond to the observations that its
course(s) did not meet any specific program goal or guideline.
Those were returned near the end of the Spring semester,
and await the sub-committee’s evaluation to determine
if the initial judgement was due to incomplete information
or represented the committee’s misinterpretation.
Some highlights from the assessment, although still incomplete, conclude that no single course meets all the goals or guidelines of the program. Divisional responses also indicated that no course was judged to meet outright goal #5, which is to develop a commitment to scholarship, intellectual curiosity and lifelong learning. It is apparent that an extension of this current program assessment will be to use the Senior Survey that Registration implements to better evaluate aspects of goal #5 after students are three to five years post graduation.
Several divisions suggested modifications to the program. One division suggested to add various literature courses to the approved list, another to increase the science component to one year of either Biology or Physical Science with an additional course in the other area. One suggested an interdisciplinary thematic approach organized “around issues like ‘Man and Nature,’ ‘Unity and Diversity,’ ‘Freedom and Responsibility.’ Students would choose a cluster and then enroll in corresponding courses in say, Biology, History, Sociology, English or Philosophy designed for or adjusted for that theme. This is the kind of thing that falls apart if we just trot out the timed tried version of General Biology 100 and expect it won’t work as part of a larger project.” Since a major ($650,000) three year grant is pending on assessing our current program, major changes in the program await both this current assessment based primarily on self-analysis and the grant if funded.
Student feedback will be part of the final report on the Council’s assessment of the program, and features of this contribution are discussed below.
Writing Intensive Courses
The Council’s earlier development of the Alternatives
to the Competency Exams had a working definition for
a writing intensive course. After some deliberations
by the Council, and a teleconference between the Council
and renowned writing expert, Ray Smith (Indiana University),
a definition was agreed upon and submitted and accepted
by Dean Black. It states: “Writing intensive courses
must be taught by a qualified instructor. Each student
must write at least 5,000 words, not counting revisions
(and excluding essay examinations and informal writing).
They should receive periodic evaluations of their writing.
They should be required to redraft one or more papers
in light of the instructor’s criticism. Ordinarily
students will write a series of papers over the course
of a semester, not one long term paper. The instructor
is expected to provide criticism on aspects of the actual
writing (style, organization, presentation, etc), as
well as the substance of the papers.” This definition
was accepted by Dean Black.
Transfer Student Alternatives to Competency Exams
A motion was passed and approved by VP Schwenn, allowing
transfer students an opportunity to have alternatives
to the required CAAP exams. The motion reads: Students
who have completed transfer degrees, as provided for
in the “transfer and Articulation Agreement” between
the Kansas Public Community Colleges and State universities,
may fulfill this requirement by demonstrating: 1) a cumulative
grade point average of 3.0, 2) grades of “A” in
courses equivalent to EN 108 and MA 110, and 3) a score
of at least 21 on the Reading sub test of the ACT Assessment.
New Grading System and Minimum Grades
The Council recommended to Vice President Schwenn that
minimum grades of “C-” be attained in EG101
and EG102 for General Education credit when the new plus-minus
grading system becomes the norm. Likewise “C-” grades
are required where Alternatives to the Competency Examination
are used, advanced courses in math and writing, or for
those electing the TOEFL option in using advanced mathematics
courses. Minimum grades of “A-” in on-campus
EG102 and MA110 would be necessary for those using that
option of the Comp. Exam. Document.
Multicultural Intensive Course Sections Assessment
Leslie Lewis reported to the Council on student evaluations
for the 975 and 981. Essentially she gave the Council
verbatim typed responses from the Instrument titled, “Evaluation
for Multicultural Intensive Courses.” This document
is attached as Appendix 2. The Council agreed that overall
student response appears positive. On the matter of section
and seat availability, Lewis presented a history of MCI
section enrollments from the Fall of 1996 through Spring
of ‘99. It appears that students had seats available
each semester. However, the Council noted issues or points
of emphasis which include; that upper division Ethnic/Gender
classes meet the General Education MCI requirement, that
beginning in 995 all AH 111 sections will be offered
as MCI sections easing the issue of seat availability
expressed by some advisors, and that new MCI sections
do not have restrictions on the number of seats offered.
It also suggested that the MCI Advisory/Assessment Task
Force be expanded to include faculty members from other
schools/colleges, that the courses be listed differently
in the catalog, and that faculty members are better reminded
of this requirement.
Student-General Education Council Forums/Focus Groups
The Council planned a focus group luncheon where students
and Council members have an open discussion. This Fall
event was canceled due to a paucity of students. It was
surprising since over the last 3-4 years these luncheons
have proven to be valuable for the Council. This one was
planned for the Monday after Thanksgiving, and several
suggested our timing was not ideal.
On March 11, 1999 some 30-32 students who had been personally
invited by Chairs, Council Members or the Director of
General Education attended a forum in the Ballroom. This
forum was structured so that students represented the
majority of discussants with a single Council member
acting as a scribe at each table. Each participant had
a list of questions (Appendix 3) to use as a starting
point, but topics were not constraint to an agenda. Not
only are the faculty summaries attached (Appendices 4-7)
but the student General Education Council representatives
presented the Council with their distillation of the
proceedings. The student summary is Appendix 8.
Present Status of Student Input
Students noted that the program goals and the role of individual
classes should be made clearer. To this end, the Director
has created an information sheet that was distributed
at the Summer SWARM sessions (Appendix 9.) This approach
is but one step in enhancing the image of the General
Education Program. The Council will also consider how
to improve the faculty components mentioned in the student
summary of the forum. Their other recommendations such
as a foreign language requirement, and the issue of effectiveness
of graduate teaching assistants (do we need a campus
wide GTA class evaluation form?) will also be discussed
by the Council. The Teachers College has already acted
on one student recommendation, and asked HPER to respond
to the Lifetime Fitness comments that range from “not
being needed” and a “joke course,” to
the perception that graduate teaching assistants sneered
at them and automatically assumed they would hate the
class.
Critical Thinking
An ongoing Critical Thinking survey is being done in conjunction
with the Division of Biological Sciences, The Assessment
Office, and the Multicultural Grant in The Teachers College.
Computer Literacy Survey
The Council voted to continue the computer literacy survey
(Appendix 10) with minor changes in the document from previous
versions. This has been a Council initiative for the last
three years. A final analysis of the results is distributed
at the first Council meeting each year.
Non-Council Activities
Flint Hills Technical College
We continue to offer courses for FHTC. This past year additional
courses were requested for a new program called, Nondestructive
Testing. We created a second speech course and an econ
course for this group in addition to the ‘regular’ offerings
we arranged for them. ESU offered approximately 49 students
almost 260 credit hours during the 991 and 993 semesters.
ESU Admissions, Student Advising Center and myself attended
the FHTC career day they held in March, and we also attended
the spring pre-enrollment and fall enrollment days along
with a representative from the Business Office.
Exceptions, Waivers or Substitutions
The Director handled approximately 96 student general
education matters this past year. Each situation was
evaluated to determine if a substitution, a waiver, or
no action on the request was needed to best meet the
needs of the student, and to maintain the academic integrity
of the requirements.
On-line BIS degree
The on-line Bachelor of Integrated Studies is evolving
into a major commitment for the Director. This is due
to on-campus visits at various corporations and community
colleges, committee work and advising. Although the bulk
of the advising is done by phone or email, the number
of students in the program (approx. 20) necessitates
that future students only have an initial advising session
in which aspects of the outstanding General Education
courses are considered, a tentative enrollment for their
first semester, and some discussion about the capstone
requirements. With the log of the initial advising session,
the students will be transferred to other faculty members
teaching in the BIS program.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rodney J. Sobieski
Director of General Education
Last Updated April 17, 2007