General Education Committee
25 Feb. 2014
In Attendance: LaFaun Barnhurst, Gregory Wright, Richard Squire, Melanie Jenkins,
Adam Larsen, Joseph Papenfuss, Steve Hood, Susan Larsen
I. Approval of Minutes (2-4-14)
Richard motioned we approve minutes of 2-4-14; Lafaun seconded.
Unanimous vote
Melanie reported that the curriculum committee was asked to hold off voting on descriptors
until next week.
Melanie reported the following information pertaining to the state-wide General Education
Task Force meeting held on February 13, 2014 at the Regents Building.
DQP2: language shifts. The DQP used the word competence throughout. The DQP2 is shifting
away from competence and moving toward proficiency. They (AAC&U and Lumina) think
that is a better term because proficiency suggests that it builds over time through
the curriculum. They have also dropped language about skills and added language about
fluency.
Multistate assessment initiative that Jonathan is working on. Members of the GE Task
Force discussed this at their last meeting. They are concerned that, as a state, we
are near initiative fatigue, they wonder how it fits with other initiatives, and they
insist that there must be adequate compensation.
GE Assessment at the U: The University of Utah reported that they are in the first
phase of assessing the new GE outcomes. They chose to focus this year on writing and
critical thinking. They asked each instructor of a course that claimed the outcome
to submit an artifact representative of the outcome. The GE committee is paying a
group to read and rate the artifacts using the AAC&U Value Rubrics. They anticipate
they will modify the rubrics after using them, but it is a starting place. Should
we consider, since we aren’t having good luck relying on departments and divisions?
GE innovation at SUU: SUU rolled out a new GE option last fall that moves toward an
integrated general education program. It is targeted toward focused interest groups.
They tell students they can select from 150 GE courses OR they choose a focused option,
which pairs 2-3 courses based on a potential interest: fine arts, science, etc. Those
courses are paired, then, around a theme. It is a not a true learning community, in
that the students work as a discrete cohort. Biology has 100 students, English has
25, and Econ has 40. Up to 25, then, could be in the cohort. They report student interest,
but also report problems: can’t link them in banner for a single registration, students
have used the system to get early registration for other courses and then dropped
one or more of the pairing.
Revisions to R470: Very small changes to R470 document. Clarifying issues, changing
language to reflect DQP2, and I insisted they add Snow College to the list of colleges
that could teach 3000 and 4000 level courses.
Beckie reported that CCSEQ is ready to be administered. She also noted that she has
made arrangements for the internal assessment to be a part of the graduation process.
She is working on a similar arrangement for the admission process. We discussed general
concerns about the concurrent enrollment proposal before the legislature. We are worried
about quality, oversight, compensation for that oversight, and training before the
rollout.
A. New Courses
B. 5-year Review
C. Pending
Com 2300
Art 1010
Art 1020
Art 1040
Art 1050
Art 1060
IV. Assessment