October 1, 2007
TO:
FROM:
RE:
Members of the LERT Subcommittees
John Koker, Susan Nuernberg, Barb Rau
Subcommittee Charge, Learning Outcomes and Guiding Principles
Thank you for agreeing to serve on a subcommittee of the University-Wide Liberal
Education Reform Team (LERT). The LERT has been charged by the Chancellor to lead
processes among staff, student, and faculty members that will result in the development
of a university-wide liberal education reform plan. There are several goals of the plan,
spelled out in the Chancellor’s Charge to the LERT, but in essence they are to identify
essential learning outcomes of a liberal education and lay out actions steps to achieve
those outcomes. These action steps must include cementing the relationship between
learning outcomes and assessment/development of new programs on campus.
Subcommittees of the LERT
The LERT has identified six subcommittees:
1. Admissions and Outreach will focus on how the Learning Outcomes identified by
the university community can be integrated into the recruitment and admissions
processes and communications with potential students, parents, high school
counselors and teachers and other important stakeholders.
2. Faculty will focus on how to attract, select, and motivate faculty and instructional
academic staff members that to ensure commitment to the learning outcomes of
the university through instruction, communication with students, and curricular
developments.
3. Curriculum will focus on developing a curriculum that clearly establishes
pathways to the Learning Outcomes and encourages students to think of their
curriculum, not in terms of getting a degree, but rather, of getting an education.
4. Assessment will focus on developing assessment processes that create
accountability for the Learning Outcomes and improvement of programs to
continuously improve our ability to achieve those outcomes.
5. External Relations will focus on how the university can interact with important
local and state stakeholders like the community, high schools, state legislators and
alumni in ways that improve their understanding of a liberal education and the
Learning Outcomes.
6. Integrated Marketing will focus on ensuring that the university’s marketing
materials, including brochures, web sites, and advertisements communicate the
Learning Outcomes as well as the ways in which the university is working to
ensure students achieve those outcomes.
Charge for the Subcommittees
The subcommittees are charged with the following tasks:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Involve and inform key stakeholders of the subcommittee about the LERT, its
charge, and its tasks.
Facilitate stakeholder review of the Learning Outcomes of the Liberal
Education & America’s Promise (LEAP) and obtain feedback that will help to
either refine Learning Outcomes for the campus (or obtain campus support for
the outcomes identified by LEAP).
Facilitate stakeholder review the Guiding Principles of LEAP and the draft
Guiding Principles of the LERT and obtain feedback that will help to refine
Guiding Principles for the campus.
Conduct self-study of the subcommittee’s area by answering the guiding
questions found in the AAC&U’s publication, Communicating commitment to
liberal education: A self study guide for institutions.
Prepare a report to bring back to the full LERT during the November meeting
(date to be determined.)