General Education Committee Minutes 11/29/04

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

Members Absent/Excused: S. Greymorning

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

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

The minutes from 11/22/04 were approved.

Communication:

§ None

Discussion Items:

§ Statement of Purpose Draft
The committee took a few moments to review the draft statement prepared by Garon Smith. He borrowed language from UM’s mission statement and the Academic Vision Statement.

Chair Eglin asked the committee whether anything was missing. The consensus was that technology should be included in the competencies. Also noted was that service was referenced in the first paragraph, but isn’t incorporated into the program.
The committee recommended changes to the language in the first paragraph that eliminated reference to programs and professional training, and civic responsibilities was changed to awareness. General education should ground students in areas outside of their major program and is multi-disciplinary rather than interdisciplinary.

One thing the committee should consider is that any statement made will need to be measured to show that the university is meeting the goal.

The last sentence of the third paragraph was replaced by verbiage that referenced life-long learning.

The third competency statement was revised to, “The ability to communicate and comprehend a language or symbolic system other than English.”

Some faculty are not comfortable with the symbolic systems requirement. It was developed in response to the heavy credit requirement of Foreign Languages. Perhaps the committee should consider a cultural awareness and critical thinking requirement. The learning required in symbolic systems involves critical thinking and logic and there is a cultural awareness component in Foreign Languages.

Another competency that is missing is ecology awareness. Many institutions have incorporated this into their general education programs.

Competencies can be added to the program without adding additional credit requirements.

The meeting was adjourned.