August 20, 2012
To:
Tom Gendreau, Convener
General Education Committee
From: Steve Senger, Chair
Faculty Senate
This memo is intended to serve as the initial charge letter to the General Education Committee
for the 2012-2013 academic year. Please see the revised standing committee page for reference
to the committee bylaws and previous charges and reports
(http://www.uwlax.edu/FacultySenate/FacultyCommittees/FacultyCommitteesIndex.htm).
Per Faculty Senate Bylaw II. (s): “Each faculty committee shall hold an organizational meeting
and report the name of the chairperson to the senate office by October 1. (Joint Chairpersons are
not permitted.)”
Therefore, as the convener of the General Education Committee, please arrange, as soon as
feasible, an organizational meeting. In addition to a chairperson, please also elect a secretary.
Primary responsibilities of the chairperson include:
 promptly informing the Senate office (5-8018) the results of the election of officers
and any changes in committee membership.*
 organizing and conducting meetings.
 completing a year end report on the General Education Committee activities to be
submitted to the Senate Office no later than May 31, 2013.
*The committee chairperson should carefully review Faculty Senate Bylaw II, “Faculty Standing
Committees” for information on committee attendance and the role of alternates.
Primary responsibilities of the secretary include:
 recording minutes of each meeting.
 promptly sending approved meeting minutes to Sibbie Weathers
(sweathers@uwlax.edu) so that the minutes can be posted on the faculty senate
website.
In the event the committee chooses to rotate secretarial duties, please designate one person to be
responsible for e-mailing the meeting minutes to Sibbie Weathers.
We will continue to use Posterous for both meeting announcements and reporting of meeting
minutes. Committee chairs are responsible for including the Posterous address
(post@fscommittees.posterous.com) on meeting announcements. This will satisfy the Open
Meetings requirements. Committee secretaries are responsible for sending minutes to both
Sibbie and the Posterous site.
In addition to the committee's normal duties, I ask that the committee consider and report on the
following special charges:
The committee is charged with comparing our General Education program to that of other UWSystem schools and reporting to Senate on strengths and weaknesses identified by this
comparison.
Please also see the attached information on the 2013 CHEA Awards for Outstanding Institutional
Practice in Student Learning Outcomes forwarded to us from P/VC Macpherson.
Other specific charges may be assigned to the committee during the academic year as the result
of Senate action.
If you have any questions about the charge, please feel free to contact me.
Finally, if the Senate Executive Committee or I can assist your committee in any way during the
year, please do not hesitate to ask.
saw
Enclosure
cc:
General Education Committee Members
Deadline for Applications: October 15,
2012
Award Information
2013 CHEA Award Application
(MS Word Document)
List of 2012-2013
Member Institutions
Evidence of student achievement, student learning outcomes, plays an increasingly important role in
discussions of higher education accountability, quality and effectiveness. At the same time, developing
and using capacity to address student learning outcomes is a complex and significant challenge for
colleges and universities, whether pursued at the level of an institution, a program or a major. This
award acknowledges outstanding practices in developing and applying evidence of student learning
outcomes as part of the ongoing accountability evaluation and improvement of college and university
programs of study. Up to four awards will be made each year. Awards will be presented at the CHEA
Annual Conference.
Eligibility
Applications will be accepted only from current CHEA institutional members. For members who are
prior award winners and wish to submit a proposal for another award, the second proposal will be
considered only if it is for a different program or major from the initial award or, if an initial institutional
award, is a proposal for a program or major.
Categories of Award
The application may be institution-wide, focused on a specific program or focused on a major. Each
application should contain a designation of the category for which it has been prepared: institution,
program or major. Applications will be judged within the specific award category designated.
Award Selection and Criteria
Applications will be reviewed by an Award Committee of individuals from higher education institutions,
higher education associations, accrediting organizations and the public. Applications will be judged by
the extent to which four award criteria have been met:
 Articulating expected outcomes for an institution, program or major
 Providing evidence of success with regard to outcomes
 Informing the public (constituents external to an institution) about expectations and success
with regard to outcomes
 Using outcomes for institutional improvement: evidence that attention to outcomes has
benefited the institution, program or major
In addition to the four criteria, the committee looks for evidence that outstanding practice related to
outcomes (1) is embedded in an institutional culture, (2) makes good use of current technology in the
methods and tools to track outcomes, (3) includes extensive use of faculty and strong faculty support,
(4) is supported by institutional leadership that is dedicated to the importance of outcomes and (5)
involves approaches to outcomes that can be replicated at other institution.
Application Format
To be considered for an award, an applicant on behalf of an institution, program or major should
complete the four sections of this application.
Section 1: Contact information for individual submitting the application
Section 2: Institutional endorsement by the chief executive officer or chief academic officer
Section 3: Application summary (100 words or less)
Section 4: Award criteria (response to each criterion not to exceed two pages)
Applications that do not conform to format and length will not be considered by the award
committee. Applications should provide full information in response to each award criterion. A
complete response to each criterion is to be included in the text. Please do not rely on a review of links
by the committee
Examples of Evidence for Award Criteria
Evidence can be the result of quantitative and qualitative approaches to gathering information. It should
be relevant to what is being claimed, potentially verifiable through replication or third-party inspection
and representative or typical of major, program or institutional performance. Evidence must involve
examination of student levels of attainment (individual students or representative samples) and may
include:
 Faculty-designed comprehensive or capstone examinations and assignments
 Performance on external or licensure examinations
 Authentic performances or demonstrations
 Portfolios of student work over time
 Samples of representative student work
Self-study reports and student satisfaction surveys do not constitute direct evidence of student learning
outcomes.
Definitions of Key Terms
For the purposes of the CHEA Award:
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Student learning outcomes is defined as "the knowledge, skills and abilities that a student
has attained at the end (or as a result) of his or her engagement in a particular set of higher
education experiences." This is distinguished from a general student outcome that is the
result of attending an institution or program.
Informing the public is defined as "providing readily available and easily understood data or
analysis that informs students and others about the success of a major, program or institution."
Public is defined as "constituents external to an institution."
Major is defined as "an institution-designated concentration that culminates in a degree" (e.g.,
history, philosophy, mathematics).
Program is defined as "a course of study in a career or professional area that culminates in a
degree" (e.g., nursing, journalism, occupational therapy).
Award Timeline
August 6, 2012
Application released to institutions
October 15, 2012
Due date for application submission
December 6, 2012
Application review completed. Award committee meets
January 9, 2013
Award recipients notified
January 15, 2013
2013 Awards announced
January 29, 2013
Awards presented at CHEA Annual Conference
Suggested Reference Materials
Council for Higher Education Accreditation (2010). Effective Practices: The Role of Accreditation in
Student Achievement.Washington, DC: Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
http://www.chea.org/pdf/Effective Practice Revised3.pdf
Council for Higher Education Accreditation (2003). Statement of Mutual Responsibilities for Student
Learning Outcomes: Accreditation, Institutions and Programs. Washington, DC: Council for Higher
Education Accreditation (CHEA).http://www.chea.org/pdf/StmntStudentLearningOutcomes9-03.pdf
Ewell, Peter T. (2001). Accreditation and Student Learning Outcomes: A Proposed Point of Departure.
Washington, DC: Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).
http://www.chea.org/award/StudentLearningOutcomes2001.pdf
See also Effective Institutional Practice in Student Learning Outcomes: CHEA Award Recipients
athttp://www.chea.org/chea award/CHEA_Awards_All.html for summaries of award-winning institutions
and programs.
Submission Methods
Applications may be submitted as email attachments in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat format and
sent toespinoza@chea.org. Applications may be also submitted via U.S. mail or other delivery service
to the following address:
Joél Espinoza
Special Assistant to the President
Council for Higher Education Accreditation
One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 510
Washington, DC 20036-1135
Due Date
Applications must be received by Monday, October 15, 2012. Acknowledgment of receipt of
application will be sent via email to the applicant.
Additional Information
For information about CHEA, please visit www.chea.org. For questions about the CHEA Award, contact
Joél Espinoza at 202-955-6126 (espinoza@chea.org).