General Education Assessment Committee
November 12, 2015
MSU, Room 312
Present: Mary Eicholtz (at-large teaching faculty), William Donner (SPRC), George Sirrakos (COE), Gil
Clary (Office of Assessment), Varsha Pandya (CLAS), David Beougher (Academic Dean), Valerie
Trollinger (VPA), Stephen Hensler (COB), Robert Folk (at-large teaching faculty).
Absent: Megan Luckenbaugh (Student Representative), Krista Prock (at-large non-teaching faculty),
Matthew Delaney (Admin & Finance), Patricia Derr (Gen Ed Committee), Kim Shively (at-large teaching
faculty).
Eicholtz called the meeting to order at 3 pm.
Minutes: Eicholtz introduced the Minutes from the October 22, 2015 meeting for approval. Motion to
approve the Minutes made by Donner; seconded by Pandya. Minutes are approved.
Committee Membership: Eicholtz welcomed new member, Robert “Moe” Folk to the Committee. He
joins the committee to complete Janice Gasker’s term through May 2016.
Spring Meeting Schedule: Eicholtz proposed Mondays from 12:30 to 1:30 pm the first and third
Monday of the month. Discussion followed. It is agreed the Committee will meet on the first and third
Monday of the month beginning February 1, 2016. Next semester, we will look at the data collected.
VSA: Task force for Best Practices include: Bill Donner, Krista Prock, Varsha Pandya, Gil Clary and Mary
Eicholtz. Eicholtz distributed a document entitled, Project Assumptions as a draft. She explained that we
want to look at senior capstones for proficiency in written communication and critical thinking. Raters
will not be looking at projects from their own departments, but from the area, i.e. Social Sciences.
Raters of the student projects will be trained in the VALUE rubrics and will rate projects in their
disciplinary category. Discussion followed.
There is much conversation that needs to occur before we begin this next project. It will include the
deans, Provost, GEC and GEAC. The chairs and APSCUF will be brought in to be transparent and try to
anticipate barriers before this project begins. We would like to collect capstone projects before the end
of next semester. Capstone project refers to a terminal project by a student. We would allow the
department chair to decide what project to utilize. There won’t be voluntary participation because this
project is mandated by the Chancellor’s office.
General Education Program: Last summer, the Provost met with the chairs of GEAC, GEC and Krista
Prock. There is a lot of discussion at the State level about general education. Eicholtz gave an
explanation of the background. GEAC was asked by the administration to get feedback and make
suggestions on how to improve the general education program at Kutztown. A lot a feedback was
received by Patti Derr, chair of the GEC. The Priority list is a condensation of items received from the
campus community. Derr is looking at the same list and we have to see what are the top three things to
change. They will meet with Provost Zayaitz mid-December to discuss this matter. Eicholtz asked if
anyone had questions about the list distributed to the members. Donner and Pandya offered their
thoughts prior to the meeting. Discussion followed. We have some of the data we need to include in our
reports. It was asked, do we need to look at competencies in the VSA. We have moved from assessing
courses to goals. It is thought that all competencies should be attached to their courses in their program
of study.
The General Education task force created the 21 domains. Eicholtz asked the Committee what we want
to do. Do we want to give them what we have at this time through the reports? Do we need to find data
in order to make changes to general education?
During the discussion of the priority list, some members thought we should reduce the domains in Goal
1 to increase the focus, as well as simplify the structure of the competencies and match them to general
education goals. It is felt we should reduce the number of domains and align goals. Many supported the
idea of a freshman experience – it could be the beginning of writing intensive and critical thinking
coursework vs. senior seminar writing intensive courses at the end of their academic career.
Final Notes: This will be the last meeting of the semester, and we will begin again in the spring.
Eicholtz requested that the liaisons contact their representative for the data, and to copy her on their
email communication.
Meeting adjourned at 3:55 pm.
/km
10/19/2015