GENERAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE MINUTES, 1/27/16
CALL TO ORDER / ROLL CALL
Members present: L. Ametsbichler, S. Bradford, M Cracolice, R. Fanning, C. Greenfield, T.
Ravas, K. Reiser, C. Smith G. Weix
Ex-officio members present: N. Lindsay, Dean Broch Tessman
Members Absent/ Excused: B. French, J. Galloway,
Guests: J. DeBoer (Faculty Senate Chair-elect)
The Minutes from 12/2/15 were approved at the end of the meeting.
COMMUNICATION

New Student member Tayler McDermott was welcomed to the committee and members
introduced themselves. Faculty Senate Chair, John DeBoer and Honors College Dean Broch
Tessman were also in attendance.

Professor Ametsbichler is working .25 FTE in the College of Humanities and Sciences Dean’s
office while the Dean is on Sabbatical. There was concern that this administrative function may
conflict with her role as a Faculty member on the committee. Her work for the dean’s office will
not interfere with her service on the committee. It is important that there be a voice from
Modern and Classical Languages in discussions of general education.

The President has included improving the message about general education as one of the
initiatives to increase enrollment and retention. There was a Winter Retreat to discuss the
initiatives. Prior to the retreat Professors DeBoer, Reiser and Dean Tessman met to discuss the
work of the Committee to prepare for the retreat. Chair Reiser prepared the draft mid-year
summary for this meeting. Professor DeBoer and Dean Tessman attended the retreat which was
structured like a speed dating event. Each table was staffed by those charged with working on
the specific initiative. Some of the groups are moving very quickly and have established action
items. The result of the retreat in terms of general education was a draft idealized statement
that tried to capture the key ideas that we want students to understand.
Upon graduation from UM, all students—regardless of major—will be capable of serving as
engaged and powerful citizens in our democracy, and will be equipped with transferable
skills that ready them for sustained professional success in the global economy.
The action items include 1) Producing clear and meaningful learning outcomes in each
area of study; and 2) Facilitating robust, timely assessment and refinement of General Education
at UM. Subsequent discussions have concluded that there needs to be a more inclusive
transparent process regarding general education.
Currently students approach general education as a list of requirements to check off and there
are other concerns from the academic deans. The Committee should consider engaging the
deans. The message about general education needs to convince students that the liberal arts
are vital and meaningful for their success. Employers continue to report that they value the
breadth of a liberal arts education. Students in many of the professional or science majors view
general education as cumbersome. Non-science majors see the requirement of two natural
science courses as redundant. Students should be encouraged to take general education
courses throughout their four years on campus.
Chair Reiser asked that members provide feedback regarding the mid-year report. Usually the
annual report is not created until the end of the year. She is meeting with ECOS next week and
would like to provide them with the draft. One of the items on the Program of the Senate this
year was to Initiate and engage with campus-wide conversation regarding general education.
The pressure for change is not coming from the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate; it is
coming from the administration likely related to enrollment concerns and national trends. Yet,
no one has articulated the specific concerns. The number of graduation appeals related to
general education continues to be high which indicates there is still a lot of confusion.
General education is the one common experience students share. We need to do a better job of
show casing it as something UM is proud of. That the campus is engaged in an active analysis of
what general education means and how it enhances students’ university experience and their
degree. This can be part of the campus rebound from the budget crises. The campus
conversation should get as many ideas as possible. The event should show that general
education is something that we care about.
The Committee doesn’t know how the general education program might be problematic in
terms of marketing. It also doesn’t know the existing message provided to students about
general education. It would be helpful to understand the issues moving forward, so it could
invite discussion with those working to recruit students. The current preamble for general
education is five paragraphs. This could be revised to be more concise. General Education
reform is daunting and takes considerable time. A better focus for the committee might be
revitalization. The content of courses should also be considered in terms of relevance to the
students’ future lives. Math was given as an example. The discussion should involve the faculty
that actually teach the courses.
Last semester Professors Bradford and Weix worked on a re-alignment chart that may better
articulate the general education program with the MUS Core. It would not use symbolic systems
as an exemption from modern and classical languages; rather symbolic systems would stay in
the major. Students in majors with heavy credit loads could opt to take a 3 credit Cultural and
International Studies course. This re-alignment would encompass most of the existing courses,
but would have a different structure. There would no longer be a specific ethics requirement,
but ethics courses would fall in the humanities and Citizenship and Democracy categories. The
chart will be sent to members to review.

The deadline for the rolling review forms ( Ethics, Expressive Arts, and Social Science ) is
February 19th. The committee will busy after that with the review.

Chair Reiser presented the revised X and Y groups prior to the break. ASCRC wanted to create
some revisions, specifically remove references to the United States in the Y category and
political in X category. It formed a subcommittee to work on the language. Chair Reiser would
like this subcommittee to work collaboratively with the general education subcommittee that
drafted the language. She will send a communication to the ASCRC chair to this end. Professor
Muench will be included in the Y subcommittee. It was suggested that the author’s names be
included as a reference.
BUSINESS ITEMS

The committee identified the following goals for the semester.
o Better articulation of the general education program
o Clarification of learning outcomes
o Exploring the possibility of a discussion event
o Re-evaluation of the preamble

A form was submitted by the deadline last year, but was missed because it was submitted in a
file with other forms with no cover sheet. Camie will send this to members to review.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 5:30 p.m.