General Education Committee Minutes

January 15, 2002

The General Education Committee met at 12:30 p.m. in Meinecke Lounge with the following members present: Bob Harrold, Char Myhre, Steven O’Rourke, Larry Peterson (chair), Carol Prafcke, Amy Richter, Deanna Sellnow, and Orven Swenson.

Bob Harrold was identified as recorder for this meeting and the minutes of the previous meeting (December 12, 2001) were APPROVED ((Prafcke/Richter) WITH UNANIMOUS CONSENT.

Announcements: Larry Peterson announced that the University Assessment Committee (UAC) has proposed a retreat of the two committees and that he is a member of a UAC subcommittee charged with recommending a time. location, and preliminary agenda for the retreat. Potential options and the desirability of adequate lead-time were discussed.

Committee Reports:

• Carol Prafcke reported that the Humanities and Fine Arts and Communication
  Subcommittee has not met.
  
• Larry Peterson announced that the Social and Behavioral Sciences
  Subcommittee has not met since the last meeting.
  
• Bob Harrold reported that the Science and Technology Subcommittee has not
  met but that reminder letters were sent to William Bleier, Chiwon Lee, Richard
  Hammond, and Ronald Ramsay.

Petitions:

• A student petitioned for a cultural diversity waiver for EDUC 489:
  Instructional Practices/Native Americans. Deanna Sellnow provided
  corrections for parts of the petition. After discussion, a MOTION
  (O’Rourke/Prafcke) to accept the petition on the basis of combinations of
  coursework and participation in a regional Model UN was APPROVED.
  
• A student submitted a petition to substitute a two-month immersion in
  the culture of El Salvador for the cultural diversity requirement. A MOTION to
  accept this petition (Prafcke/Richter) was APPROVED.
  
• A student submitted a petition to substitute two months of
  international experience for the cultural diversity requirement. A MOTION to
  accent this petition (Prafcke/Richter) was APPROVED.
  
• An international student, submitted a petition requesting
  that the cultural diversity requirement be waived. A MOTION
  (Harrold/Prafcke) to approve this petition was APPROVED
  
• A student petition to waive the Humanities and Fine Arts
  requirement on the basis of language skills was discussed and a MOTION
  (Harrold/O’Rourke) was APPROVED.
  
• A student submitted a petition to waive the laboratory requirement on the
  basis of advising. After extensive discussion, a MOTION (Richter/Harrold) to
  deny this petition was PASSED BU UNANIMOUS CONSENT.
  
• A petition from a student to substitute Mathematics for Quantitative
  Reasoning was presented. A MOTION (Harrold/Richter) to approve this
  petition CARRIED.
  
• A student petitioned to substitute a course including information on the
  Vietnam Conflict for HIST 261 (American Indian History) or HIST 431 (The
  North American Plains) to satisfy the cultural diversity requirement. A
  MOTION (Swenson/Prafcke) to deny this petition CARRIED.
  
• A student submitted a petition to waive the wellness requirement. A
  MOTION (Prafcke/Harrold) to deny this petition CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

Steve O’Rourke requested that, when possible, copies of petitions be distributed in advance of each meeting. Carol Prafcke suggested that, as an alternative, summary sheets might be distributed prior to meetings. These topics will be revisited during the meet meeting.

The development of minimum guidelines for substituting experiences for cultural diversity requirements was discussed and a subcommittee (Sellnow/Richter) was appointed to prepare a draft statement prior to the next meeting of this committee.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:05 p.m.