by the 黑洞社区 General Education Committee

Committee Voting Members

  • Mathew Muether (LAS-Natural Sciences, Chair)
  • Jan Wolcutt (Business, Secretary)
  • Natalie Delacruz (Health Professions)
  • Robin Folkert (Applied Studies)
  • Julie Henderson (LAS-Humanities)
  • Brittany Lockard (Fine Arts)
  • Shaunna Millar (LAS- Social Sciences)
  • Roy Myose (Engineering)
  • Angela Paul (Library)
  • Sandra Sipes (Basic skills)
  • Mark Barlow (SGA Senate Member)

Committee Non-Voting Members

  • Gina Crabtree (Registrar, Ex-Officio)
  • Sally Fiscus (Associate Registrar, Ex-Officio)
  • Linnea GlenMaye (Academic Affairs Provost Office, Associate Vice President, Ex-Officio)
  • Aaron Rife (First-Year Seminar Coordinator, Guest)

Committee Meetings

  • The committee meets at 12:30 pm on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of the month.
  • All meetings have been held via Zoom.
  • Committee meetings were held on September 12, September 26, October 10, October 24, November 14, November 28, December 12, January 23, February 13, February 27, March 27, April 10, April 24.

Committee Leadership Election Result for Academic Year 2022-2023

  • The committee elected a chair and secretary for AY 2023-2024 at the April 24th meeting.
    • Chair - Mathew Muether (Brittany Lockard was elected as vice-chair to assume roles if Mathew is unavailable.)
    • Secretary 鈥� Jan Wolcott

General Education Course Proposal Review

 

Process

  • The committee meets to review the general education attribute on new and updated courses submitted through CIM throughout the Academic Year.
  • Applications are assessed for inclusion of General Education outcomes and associated assessments.
  • As needed, the committee meets with instructors of the proposed courses.
  • The committee included the FYS director in meetings involving FYS courses.

Courses Reviewed, Outcomes, and Actions

  • The committee approved 20 General Education courses. 4 of the approved courses were FYS.
  • The committee noted a high level of 300 level or above course being submitted for general education with some numbered at the 500 level.
  • The committee found that some special topics root courses may have been attributed as Gen Ed, and subsequent courses stemming from these roots may carry the Gen Ed attribute without these courses going through the committee. It will not be an issue with new courses, as these courses must now go through the committee. The committee discussed ways to try to remove the Gen Ed attribute from courses that have not gone through committee.
  • One submitted course had an upper-level status restriction which the committee recommended be removed for general course access.
  • The committee discussed the GenEd approval process for Honors courses.
    • The committee met with Kim Engber on March 27th to discuss.
    • The committee is recommending a non-voting representative from honors be assigned to the committee who attends as an ex-Officio member.
  • The committee had discussion about the overall depth of the 黑洞社区 general education catalog and whether those courses reflect the current University general education program appropriately, which should be continued in the next academic year. Three points were discussed.
    • Gen Ed courses attributed prior to recent policy changes.
    • Lack of clear guidance as to what a course not qualifying as Gen Ed would be.
    • Lack of clear process to de-attribute a course.
  • The committee recommends that the 黑洞社区 syllabus template be updated with language specific to Gen Ed (outcome and assessment requirements, etc).

Drafting of New Gen Ed Policy to Comply with Updated KBOR Transfer Policy 

 

Process

  • On Aug 16, 2022 the Faculty Senate President with support from the Senate Executive Committee charged the general education committee to produce a new 黑洞社区 GE policy which complies with the KBOR system-wide framework.
  • A subcommittee consisting of Mathew Muether, Jan Wolcutt, Roy Myose, Brittany Lockard, Sally Fiscus, Linnea Glenmaye, and Patrica Phillips met this semester to draft a proposal for the University鈥檚 GenEd Policy which would comply with the new KBOR Transfer Policy.
    • This subcommittee met on September 19, October 3, October 31, November 7, November 21, January 9

Outcomes and Actions

  • This policy proposal was approved on Jan 23, 2023, by the full GE committee to bring forward to the Faculty Senate for consideration (attached below.)
  • The committee recommends the formation of a standing diversity committee to assess diversity attribution for courses going forward.

REVIEW OF GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAM STUDENT LEARNING OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT 

PROCESS

鈥� In the fall and spring semester, the General Education Committee gathers and assesses the data that has accumulated since the last review (i.e., learning outcomes, changes) and writes a report to the Faculty Senate. 鈥� In the spring semester, the report with any recommendations for change is presented to the senate so that the senate has the time for thorough consideration prior to taking the recommendations to the general faculty later in the semester. 鈥� Any changes approved by the general faculty will be instituted in the next academic year.

ACTIVITIES

鈥� Reviewed Assessment Report from University Assessment Committee. o Met with Ashlie Jack on April 10th. 鈥� Discussed and reviewed library assessment from Angela Paul. 鈥� Discussed and reviewed FYS Assessment Report including FYS director. o Met with Aaron Rife on March 27th. 鈥� Meeting with OneStop Advising o Met with Aaron Hamilton and Kylie Johnson on March 27th 鈥� Meeting with LAS Advising o Met with Patricia Philips on April 10th.

COMMITTEE ACTIONS

鈥� No Actions taken this year 鈥� No presentations to the Senate this year.

SUMMARY OF INFORMATION/DATA REVIEWED

鈥� The committee review the Fall and Spring 2022 FYS Students surveys. o The surveys are attached at the end of this report. o FYS tracks how many students fail FYS. Last year about 90 students failed FYS. Failing FYS is highly correlated with failing their other classes. A high percentage of failures are students who simply quit coming to class.

o 67% of students would recommend their FYS to others and 62% said the FYS course contributed to their success. o The committee discussed evidence of FYS effects on student retention. 搂 The conclusion is that little empirical evidence is available on this topic.

鈥� Library Assessment o Instructors that make a library instruction request for their classes can expect to their students to receive a lesson relevant to assignments and research needs. A scaffolding schedule of information literacy skills has been created for library instruction for First-Year Seminar Classes, English 101, English 102, and other general education classes. o It is important to inform students about student success services within their first few months on campus to ensure they know what is available. Basic library services such as the facilities in Ablah Library, article searching, and Ask-a-Librarian reference help, and vocabulary such as 鈥減eriodicals,鈥� 鈥減eer-reviewed articles,鈥� and 鈥渓ibrary databases鈥� are promoted in FYS and other 100-level classes. These threshold concepts are reinforced in multiple classes. The Coordinator of Library Instructional Services has created a web page describing the library instruction program at University Libraries.