General Education Committee Minutes, 2/10/11
Members present: J. Adams, J. DeBoer, J. Edmunds, J. Edwards, A. Lawson, J. Luckowski, D.
Reisenfeld, D. Sloan, T. Thibeau, N. White
Ex-Officio Members Present: E. Johnson, A. Walker-Andrews
Members absent: E. Adams, J. Rabinovitch
Guest: S. Ohare, Executive Director, Office for Student Success
The minutes from 1/27/11 were approved.
Communication:

New student member Jeff Adams was welcomed to the Committee.

The meeting time may change in March to Tuesday’s at 4:00 to accommodate Modern
and Classical Languages. Chair Thibeau may have occasional conflicts with this time
that are unpredictable. Thus, it would be helpful to have a chair-elect in place to chair
meetings if necessary. The next meeting will be Thursday, February 24th at 10:10. The
Committee will discuss and vote on the matter electronically.
Business Items:

Professor DeBoer was elected as chair-elect.

Executive Director O’Hare provided the Committee with a summary of the preregistration process for incoming freshman. Every freshman is registered in a math and
composition course. If they have declared a major they are registered for core courses
identified by their department. Undeclared students are registered in courses according
to their responses on the academic interest questionnaire.
Schedules are built using the academic planner. Last year it was apparent that there was
a need for information to be in central database. A new software program will provide
this functionality. Improvements will also be made in communication to students. A
new portal page, “My Academics” will provide students with an orientation check list.
The page is linked to a test scores dash board and is updated daily. When a test score or
medical record is received the To Do list shows a check mark. Last year approximately
30% of the freshmen had issues with clearing medical holds.
The portal page will be customized according to the students major. It will likely
include a welcome letter from the Academic Dean and perhaps a welcome video from
the President. There will also be a peer advisor video about general education courses.
Undeclared students will have a message from the Undergraduate Advising Center on
how to explore different majors.
Another project being discussed is a scrolling list of general education courses with
descriptions (advertisements prepared by the instructor). Professors of under enrolled
general education courses may be particularly interested in this. It was suggested that
professors create short videos to entice students to take their courses. This will provide
students with a better idea of the course content and professor’s style.
There will also be an online Financial Literacy course available for students and parents.
Student member Edmunds indicated that Judy Pavlish with the Missoula Credit Union
has been working with ASUM on Financial Training in High Schools.
Communication reminders will be sent to parents as well. Parents will be encouraged to
participate. Approximately 20% of the entering freshmen are undeclared and typically
half of the declared students will change their majors.
The academic questionnaire has been updated to include more specific questions about
AP exams. The problem related to AP credits is that admission information is processed
prior to the completion of the exam.

Associate Provost Walker-Andrews spoke briefly about the “Big Questions” pilot
proposal. A committee has been working on this idea that was part of the academic
strategic plan. The pilot program will connect “Big Questions” curriculum with the
general education structure. It will take advantage of students’ interests in areas such as
world health or global warming. The pilot will include the following:
o First year: Freshman Seminars taught by tenure track faculty will be reestablished provided funds are made available. Two hundred students will be
invited to participate in the cohort.
o Second year: General education courses will be linked together according to
themes.
o Third year: students will be required to participate in an activity appropriate for
their major such as study abroad, research or production.
o Fourth year: There will be a capstone project with possible collaboration across
disciplines.

Associate Provost Walker-Andrews hopes the General Education Committee will
review the Essential Learning Outcomes in conjunction with the Preamble and
determined whether these are appropriate student learning outcomes for the general
education program. If the Committee agrees that these are appropriate then work can
begin to assess the general education program. This will likely involve selecting a few
of the Outcomes and collecting work samples from courses that demonstrate students
progress in these areas.

The University must identify Core themes for the new accreditation process. An initial
report is due on March 1st. Associate Provost Walker- Andrews will be giving a report
to the Faculty Senate today. Faculty were asked to provide input and for the most part
recommended that the core themes be taken from the academic strategic plan. Feedback
was also solicited from various campus committees and other sectors of the university.
The themes identified are:
o Partnering for Student Success
o Education for the Global Century
o Discovery and Creativity to Serve Montana and the World
o Dynamic Learning Environment
o The Planning- Assessment Continuum
Several central values were also identified such as sustainability and leadership. The
report is still a work in progress. There will be opportunity for revision as the
accreditation cycle unfolds.
The meeting was adjourned.