General Education Committee Minutes 11/22/04

Members Present: J. Eglin, S. Kalm, T. Manuel S. Miller, D. Pletscher G. Smith

Members Absent/Excused: S. Greymorning, K. Hill, R. Welsh,

Ex-Officio Present: L. Carlyon, A. Walker-Andrews

Chair Eglin called the meeting to order at 3:10 PM.

The minutes from 11/15/04 were approved.

Communication:

§ Chair Eglin provided an update from the Regents meeting.

o The transferability issues that interest the Regents include general education but also majors.

o At the request of the Regents there was meeting between the MUS student association representatives and faculty representatives. It seems the students are more concerned about finding out what will transfer than the number of credits that transfer. This information is now available on Banner. You can enter core courses and the system will provide what will transfer. There is also a list of transfer equivalencies on the Web.

Discussion Items:

§ The statement of purpose may give the committee a template to work through other issues. The statement should encompass the vision of general education across the university system, UM’s mission and the academic plan. The statement should have an assertion of the goals of general education.

Chair Eglin asked committee members what common strands were noticed by examination of the other MUS university’s statements. There seems to be a common theme of life-long learning. General Education provides the foundation for life-long learning by broadening the student’s knowledge base, but also provides students with competencies needed for a productive life, and exposes them to diversity of ideas and experiences. General education is not a set of finite skills or core knowledge. Students should learn to think for themselves, to explore their internal and external world and interface with culture.

The current general education system does have a plan. It just isn’t introduced in the catalog with a philosophy. Montana State University’s statement of purpose borrows from the Board of Regents vision and then list specific themes from their plan. UM could do the same thing with a sentence or two from each of the perspectives and competencies. Garon Smith volunteered to create a draft document with information from the current general education plan, mission statement, and Board of Regents language.

§ Chair Eglin would like to address the issue of how the required credits are listed in the catalog. The other campuses are much more explicit.

Students come to the university with varying skill levels so it is difficult to have a set number. There could be a statement of the typical general education required credits.

§ The committee will also need to consider what is not included in the general education program, such as technology, diversity, and health issues. Initially the statement of purpose should reflect the current system because at least it is somewhat functional.

§ Should there be something incorporated into general education that speaks to the uniqueness of the University of Montana? Is there something in general that all UM students acquire from their experience at UM?

The meeting was adjourned.