General Education Committee
Minutes for March 25, 2003
2:00, Badlands, Memorial Union

Members Present: Robert Harrold, Phil McClean, Char Myhre, Larry Peterson, Doug Rymph, Orven Swenson, Justin Wageman, Kristi Wold-McCormick

Minutes of the February 18, 2003 were approved as emailed.

Announcements: Carol Prafcke will no longer be participating on the General Education Committee. Philippe Danjou will be her replacement.

Student Petitions:

• A student -Motion to approve (Swenson/Harrold) carried.
• A student --Motion to approve (McClean/Harrold) carried.
• A student -Motion to approve (McClean/Swenson) carried.

Subcommittee Reports:

Humanities and Fine Arts and Communication Subcommittee: (Prafcke)
No report.

Social and Behavioral Sciences, Quantitative Reasoning, and Wellness
Subcommittee: (Peterson) Report was distributed by Peterson.

• ABEN 189 and UNIV 189 were submitted with outcomes 2 and 4. Motion to approve (Peterson/Wageman) carried.
• AGRI 189 requested outcomes 2 and 4. It had previously been approved for outcomes 1, 2, 4, and 6. The subcommittee recommended approval with only outcomes 2 and 4.
• HD&E 189 requested approval with outcomes 2, 4, 6. It had previously been approved for outcomes 2, 4, and 6. The subcommittee recommended approval with only outcomes 2 and 4.
  Motion to approve AGRI 189 and HD&E 189 with revised outcomes (Peterson/Wageman) carried.
  It was suggested that Carolyn Schnell be encouraged to let faculty know regularly what they are doing in the 189s so that other classes could build on the skills.
• CDFS 230 requested approval with outcomes 3 and 5. The subcommittee is requesting that Dr. Light resubmit replacing outcome 5 with a more appropriate outcome.

Science and Technology Subcommittee: (Harrold)
Harrold reported that the Physics 110L had well-developed labs that effectively documented Outcomes 5 and 6. Move to approve (Harrold/Swenson) carried.

Discussion of GE Administrative policy #1:

Wold-McCormick sought clarification from the committee on the GE Administrative policy #1 for The Academic Affairs Committee. They were specifically concerned about the statement that "No more than two courses from any given department may be double counted in a curriculum." They questioned if it should be each college’s choice whether or not more than two are allowed. The General Education Committee briefly discussed the issue, restating that the purpose of general education is to provide students with a broad exposure to a variety of areas. No further action was taken since there was no motion from the Academic Affairs Committee to act on. Wold-McCormick will report back to the Academic Affairs Committee.

Inventory and Review of GE Requirements embedded in majors:

Computer Usage Integrated In All Majors
Communication Activities in Upper Division Major Courses
Comprehension of Personal and Professional Ethics Integrated in Majors
Capstone Experience in All Majors

The discussion centered around how these items are measured and documented: Wageman suggested that this could be part of curriculum mapping which is an ongoing process to track concepts and skills taught, It was suggested that perhaps the Education Department could provide guidance in developing this process.

McClean suggested that any discussion of revising an annual report tool be tabled until Peoplesoft software is in place probably in late 2005. For purposes of the General Education Committee, our issue now is one of timing and not the reports themselves. Reaccredidation materials need to be completed by June 2005.

Capstone courses were also discussed. Wold-McCormick’s staff has done a survey of capstones and contacted departments for clarification where necessary. There are a wide variety of types of capstones as well as a range of credits (1-60). Peterson will try to find the original information on capstones and send reminders to the departments on their intent if necessary, and also request proof of embedded requirements. It was suggested that perhaps capstones should also be reviewed every 5 years. No further action was taken on this suggestion.

New Business:

Wold-McCormick sought discussion on an issue that arises in General Education Policy #6. Should courses that are called continuations of a General Education course be counted for General Education even if they have not been approved as such, and the General Education course that is approved is not listed as a prerequisite? Some of these courses are given credit for General Education if they are transferred in under the NDUS policies, while those taken at NDSU are not.

After discussion it was decided that Wold-McCormick would pull the information on any courses that fit this scenario and suggest departments either submit the courses for General Education approval or change the language of the course.

Meeting adjourned at 3:15pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Char Myhre