General Education Course Proposal Form 2010
Selected Topics and Electives
YSU graduates must take one course in this area from a list of approved interdisciplinary courses. Alternatively, a
student may select one additional general-education approved course from mathematics, natural science, artistic and
literary perspectives, or societies and institutions.
Please note that the alternative courses (i.e., Electives) need not be submitted for this category, as they are courses
already certified in other domains.
General-education course proposals must include this page, the pages on Criteria Response and Narrative, and a syllabus
that includes a calendar. Send the general-education coordinator this sheet, signed by those listed below, via interoffice
mail. Send the entire completed form and syllabus electronically to the coordinator, Tod Porter at tsporter@ysu.edu.
Note: Cells will expand as you type in them (this is a Word table). You can also copy material into the cells from other
documents as needed.
Department or Program:
Course number, title, and catalog description:
Faculty teaching the course:
Estimated number of sections to be offered in
Other departments requiring this course:
Fall semester:
Spring semester:
Department or program chair signature
Date
Dean’s signature
Date
Coordinator, GEC, signature
Date
Chair, Academic Senate, signature
Date
GEC Proposal Number (GEC Use Only):
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General Education Course Proposal Form 2010
Criteria Response
Here are the basic requirements for Selected Topics, which are multiple-outcome courses:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
identify clearly the outcomes which questions, concepts, examples and/or methods will satisfy;
integrate the outcomes utilized;
include a clear statement of pedagogical approaches and objectives;
demonstrate that faculty have appropriate qualifications;
encourage, but not require, team teaching. Team teaching requires the involvement of more than one faculty
member from the inception of the project, including conceptualization of the course, building of the syllabus, and
actual classroom presentations;
6) require students to demonstrate (and faculty to assess) the integration of outcomes.
Please indicate in a few sentences how the course satisfies the target GER learning outcomes (see appendix for the full
list of GER learning outcomes).
LO number:
How course satisfies LO:
LO number:
How course satisfies LO:
Narrative
Write a narrative justifying the inclusion of the course in the Selected Topics domain. The narrative should speak directly
to the goals required (including 1, 2, and 3, where relevant) and demonstrate how those goals will be met and assessed.
Your response should integrate and expand upon key points from the Criteria Response. Include up to an additional two
pages if necessary. Identify and address any other goals attained as well. Please address your response to the General
Education Committee members: an interdisciplinary committee composed of members who may not be familiar with
the discipline being represented.
Attach a syllabus that includes a calendar.
GEC Proposal Number (GEC Use Only):
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General Education Course Proposal Form 2010
Selected Topics Information
Selected Topics and Electives from the Model
Students must take one course in this area from a list of approved interdisciplinary courses. Alternatively, a student
may select one additional general-education approved course from mathematics, natural science, artistic and literary
perspectives, and societies and institutions.
Please note that the alternative courses (i.e., Electives) need not be submitted for this category, as they are courses
already certified in other domains.
Selected Topics Criteria for Courses That Combine Outcomes
Selected Topics combines outcomes in ways not accommodated by the current domains; they include more than one
outcome but may have a dominant one, such as diversity, that is not currently required in any single domain. A multipleoutcome course must






identify clearly the outcomes which questions, concepts, examples and/or methods will satisfy;
integrate the outcomes utilized;
include a clear statement of pedagogical approaches and objectives;
demonstrate that faculty have appropriate qualifications;
encourage, but not require, team teaching. Team teaching requires the involvement of more than one faculty
member from the inception of the project, including conceptualization of the course, building of the syllabus,
and actual classroom presentations;
require students to demonstrate (and faculty to assess) the integration of outcomes.
Selected Topics and Electives Learning Outcomes
Students will demonstrate the ability to:
1. Write and speak effectively.
2. Acquire, process and present quantitative and qualitative information using the most appropriate
technologies.
3. Reason critically, to distinguish among forms of argumentation, and to derive justified conclusions.
Students will demonstrate an understanding of:
4. The importance of ethical reflection and moral reasoning.
5. The use mathematics for problem-solving and decision-making.
6. The scientific method.
7. The interrelationships among science, technology, and society.
8. Artistic expression in multiple forms and contexts.
9. The relationships between physical, mental, and emotional well-being and the quality of life of the
individual, the family, and the community.
10. The development of cultures and organizations of human societies throughout the world and their changing
interrelationships with Western Society.
11. The organization of and theories behind legal, governmental, and social systems as well as economic
markets.
12. Diversity in America in all of its forms.
13. The natural environment and the processes that shape it.
GEC Proposal Number (GEC Use Only):
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General Education Course Proposal Form 2010
General-Education Information
Submit newly proposed courses for certification as general-education courses and previously approved by the University
Curriculum Committee (UCC) directly to the General Education Committee (GEC). Proposed courses or those with changes in title,
description, prerequisite, etc., should also be submitted to the college-curriculum committee. Send the material to the generaleducation coordinator via e-mail; send the signed cover sheet via regular interoffice mail.
The General-Education Committee (GEC) reviews and certifies courses for general-education credit and reviews and certifies
capstone courses in the major or program. The GEC will use the outcomes and the criteria to make judgments about certification
and to ensure, to the extent possible, that the outcomes of general education are achieved. Departments, programs, colleges, and
the GEC are mutually accountable for ensuring that their majors achieve breadth and depth of coverage.
All general-education courses will attempt to integrate the following learning outcomes wherever possible:






LO 1: Write and speak effectively.
LO 2: Acquire, process and present quantitative and qualitative information using the most appropriate technologies.
LO 3: Reason critically, to distinguish among forms of argumentation, and to derive justified conclusions.
LO 5: The use mathematics for problem-solving and decision-making.
LO 10: The development of cultures and organizations of human societies throughout the world and their changing
interrelationships with Western Society.
LO 12: Diversity in America in all of its forms.
The GEC expects that writing assignments will extend beyond writing for tests.
All general-education courses must satisfy the outcomes in a given domain and must be designed for the general student body.
Exceptions to this principle include courses submitted by departments to satisfy the capstone requirement in the major; and courses
approved as substitutes for general-education requirements. The requirements of general education in a given domain may be met
by substitution of a more advanced course when that course satisfies the outcomes for that domain and obtains certification.
Any department proposing courses must offer assurances to the GEC that faculty members who teach a general-education course
meet the minimal qualifications required by Higher Learning Commission guidelines (“hold graduate degrees that include substantial
study [typically a minimum of 18 semester hours at the graduate level] appropriate to the academic field in which they are
teaching”). The GEC interprets this guideline to mean that anyone teaching in an interdisciplinary program need meet the minimum
for only one of the disciplines involved in that interdisciplinary program.
In each of the domains where multiple outcomes are to be addressed, the General-Education Committee will be looking for a
substantive description that explicitly and directly addresses how the course fulfills the primary outcomes. When outcomes beyond
those designated as the featured or primary outcomes of a particular domain are involved, such as in Artistic and Literary
Perspectives, the course must explicitly and directly address the secondary outcome only within the context of the primary
outcomes.
GEC Proposal Number (GEC Use Only):
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