General Education Committee Minutes, 2/15/08 1:10 in UC 329
Members present: K. Hill, D. MacDonald, D. Morton, D. Potts, D. Sloan, G. Weix,
Ex-officio present: A. Walker-Andrews
Members absent: S. Hines, F. Rosenzweig, K. Shanley
Guests (Subcommittee Chairs): B. Acker, T. Huff
The meeting was called to order at 1:10 pm.
Communications:
Assessment
This is an opportune time to imbed assessment into courses since all general education courses will
be reviewed to fit within the new guidelines. A section can be added to the form that will address an
assignment or exam question that will test a specific learning outcome. The answer to which will
be sent to Academic Affairs for processing. The University is required to show assessment progress
for accreditation. Associate Provost Walker-Andrews will draft a template for the committee to
consider.
Forms
One of the tasks of the committee will be to draft forms to be used for the review. Would it be more
affective to have one form used to review all categories or a specific form for each category?
Fall 2007 General Education Course Enrollment Data
The data shows that enrollment in general education courses vary widely from 1 to 464. A
reduction in course offerings is expected.
Meeting with Chairs of College of Arts and Sciences and School of Fine Arts
It was suggested that the Committee meet with the chairs of CAS and SFA to communicate the need
of more coordination, oversight and unit responsibility for general education courses. The unit
should collectively rethink general education courses to be introductory and foundational and agree
on course offerings. Administrators across colleges/schools should communicate. Courses can be
issues based, interdisciplinary and contextual or there could be a cluster of courses designed around
topics.
Philosophical Statement
There needs to be a change in the perception of general education. Chair Weix and Professor Hill
will work on a philosophical statement. It would be helpful to have a website devoted to general
education. There could be information posted to the Undergraduate Advising Center’s website.
Subcommittee Progress
Chair Weix has received 7 of the 10 draft criteria documents thus far. The deadline for the drafts is
February 29th. Chair Weix is following-up with the workgroup chairs.
Next meeting
The next meeting will be scheduled for 90 minutes the first week in March. Camie will collect
members’ schedules to find an appropriate meeting time. Members will be given the draft criteria
via email to consider prior to the meeting.
Chair Weix would like to see all the courses reviewed for implementation in fall 2009. The
deadline for the catalog is March. Ideally the workgroups that developed the criteria should review
the courses. If the criteria are approved by ASCRC and the Faculty Senate this semester than the
course review could start next fall.
Transferability initiative
OCHE is moving forward with a common course numbering system to show the legislature that
efforts are being made to “fix” the transferability problem. Courses that are significantly similar
based on content and breadth, will receive identical prefix, course number, and title. The goal is to
produce an unduplicated list of undergraduate courses offered in the MUS. All courses identified
as similar will transfer on a one-to-one basis. Faculty Councils or discipline committees will decide
which courses are significantly similar. The Councils will review course content, breadth, and
expected outcomes. The Commissioner’s Office must show results otherwise confidence in the
system will be at risk. Common course numbers, titles, and outcomes should be established for 22
disciplines by September 8th. Dr. MacGregor is working on a four digit numbering scheme. These
changes will be taking place simultaneously with the changes in UM’s general education program.
Good and Welfare:
Members should think about who is going to chair the committee next year. Professor Weix will
be chair of ASCRC and therefore cannot continue as chair of the General Education Committee.
Professor Hill would like a copy of the draft criteria to share with the BOR General Education
Council. The criteria developed by the Council are broad by design.
A new Freshmen Interest Group Coordinator has been hired and should be invited to become a
member of the committee.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.